The Edge of the World is an album by the British band the Mekons, released in 1986.[1][2] The album is dedicated to Richard Manuel.[3] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[4]
Production
The album was produced by the Mekons.[5] Sally Timms and Rico Bell joined the band prior to the recording sessions.[6][7] It contains cover versions of Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" and Hank Williams's "Alone & Forsaken", which borrows music from the Velvet Underground's "The Black Angel's Death Song".[8][9] "King Arthur" was inspired by the 1984 UK miners' strike.[10] In "Big Zombie", the narrator turns to cat food, rather than alcohol, due to his alienation.[11]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [12] |
| Robert Christgau | A−[13] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [14] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |  [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [15] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10[16] |
Trouser Press wrote that Sally Timms's "crystalline tone [provides] just the right touch of unflinching world-weariness between [Tom] Greenhalgh's going-down-slow croon and [Jon] Langford's beery bawl."[17] Greil Marcus, in Artforum, noted that "every song pointedly dramatizes a listener; every song is an attempt to find someone to talk to."[18] The Gazette listed the album as the eighth best of 1986.[19]
AllMusic called the album "one of the Mekons' finest efforts," writing that "Hello Cruel World" "is a grinding post-punk downer that slowly accelerates into a desperate, hoarse cry with no noticeable country or folk elements."[12]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hello Cruel World" | |
| 2. | "Bastard" | |
| 3. | "Oblivion" | |
| 4. | "King Arthur" | |
| 5. | "Ugly Band" | |
| 6. | "Shanty" | |
| 7. | "Garage d'Or" | |
| 8. | "Big Zombie" | |
| 9. | "Sweet Dreams" | |
| 10. | "Dream Dream Dream" | |
| 11. | "Slightly South of the Border" | |
| 12. | "Alone & Forsaken" | |
| 13. | "The Letter" |
References
- ^ Tucker, Ken (24 Apr 1987). "The English band the Mekons...". Features Weekend. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 22.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (24 May 1987). "Country Music Is Roaming Far from Its Roots". The New York Times. p. A15.
- ^ Cromelin, Richard (3 May 1987). "Lost Souls of Leeds". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 69.
- ^ Sullivan, Jim (30 June 1986). "Mekons: Back to the country". The Boston Globe. p. 13.
- ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 744.
- ^ Kot, Greg (3 Nov 1991). "Curse of the Mekons". Arts. Chicago Tribune. p. 18.
- ^ "The Mekons Biography by Mark Deming". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ Morris, Chris (Aug 17, 1996). "Mekons: Versatile artisans of punkdom". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 33. p. 61.
- ^ Langford, Jon (2006). Nashville Radio: Art, Words, and Music. Verse Chorus Verse. pp. 9–10.
- ^ The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. 2003. p. 662.
- ^ Friskics-Warren, Bill (2006). I'll Take You There: Pop Music and the Urge for Transcendence. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 178.
- ^ a b "The Edge of the World Review by Stewart Mason". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ "Mekons". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 690.
- ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 466.
- ^ Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 248.
- ^ "Mekons". Trouser Press. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
- ^ Marcus, Greil (October 1986). "Speaker to Speaker: Can We Talk?". Artforum. p. 7.
- ^ Griffin, John (8 Jan 1987). "The year pop pooped out". The Gazette. p. E1.