The 13 best albums of all time - #3

Y - The Pop Group

When Y by The Pop Group was released in 1979, the (music) world split in two. On one side stood the punk traditionalists/neo-reactionaries, prog lovers, HM Greboes and Children of the Top of the Pops Generation on the other stood a small group of fresh faced punk-funkateers armed with nothing but a couple Ornette Coleman LP’s, a healthy dose of dub sensibility, the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud and a burning rage at the creeping darkness of consumer fascism. Despite originally not featuring the truly mind numbingly good 1st single ‘She is Beyond Good & Evil’, the album never fails to stir the heart, mind, body & soul.

From the opening attack of Thief of Fire the original album blew all the cobwebs, dust and inertia that had gathered in the dimly lit corridors of the new pop orthodoxy, clean away). A truly astonishing production job by Dennis Bovell give a completely new depth to the overall sound. The aspects of dub separation and gallons of reverb that had been liberally poured over the tracks gave the listener the sense of listening to Chic backing a ranter at Speakers Corner from the bottom of a mine shaft. Piano tinkle, tumble and echo around fluid funky basslines and Gareth Sager’s distinctive funky Rickenbacker riffs vie with Mark Stewarts howls of anguish and whispers of despair. If you haven’t heard Y before, you lucky thing because the pleasure that awaits you cannot be understated. If you’ve already heard Y before, you lucky thing because you know what an astonishing debut album it is...

Track listing
1. "She Is Beyond Good and Evil" – 3:23 (CD only: not on original '79 vinyl LP)
2. "Thief of Fire" – 4:35
3. "Snow Girl" – 3:21
4. "Blood Money" – 2:57
5. "We Are Time" – 6:29
6. "Savage Sea" – 3:02
7. "Words Disobey Me" – 3:26
8. "Don't Call Me Pain" – 5:35
9. "The Boys from Brazil" – 4:16
10. "Don't Sell Your Dreams" – 6:40
11. "3:38" - 3:42 (CD only: not on original '79 vinyl LP)

(© Spirit of a 1979 Fanzine Writer)