This is the 25th anniversary re-issue of Last Great dreamers debut album and the first time It's been out on Vinyl as back in 1994 when it came out vinyl was considered over and passe, scroll forwards to today and Vinyl is all the rage and cd's are passe.
Now having totally missed out on them first time around even though they were very much part of a Camden music scene I was involved in at the time it's good to find out what I missed out on first time round. As they are a band I only really got into after they re-formed in 2014 and I was sent to review them in 2016.
So for this album to really work as being Retrosexual you probably need to source some mandrax and get in some Babycham and Campari for your cocktails put on your Lava Lamp and patchouli oil burner before you put the album on the radiogram while hopefully being dressed like you're in a 90's Slade covers band as Last Great Dreamers are on the rear sleeve of the album.
The album opens with Chrome Tonic that has a good junk shop glam feel to it as Slyder Smith get the guitars to make some good orgasmic sounds in a very Mick Ronson style.
It's great to finally get to hear the original recorded version of Last Great Dreamer a real live classic that sounds good and punchy as they try to wash there sins away as they keep on dreaming.
Save you is a great cry for liberation and Marc Valentine's hopes to be able to set us all free as long as we can all put our faith in him and the Last Great Dreamers and with this glam stomper we should all be readily converted.
Paper Crown is more wistful than normal as they look back to the early 50's and its influence on the 90's and the king without a crown or a kingdom this song is about whoever he may be.
Far From Home sounds like an instant classic that I've probably heard live, it's full of regret for a lost love and comes with a very cool almost chant along chorus to make sure it sticks in your mind.
Lady (Don't Need You) that now closes the a-side is a prime time kiss off to a woman they've had enough of that has some great crunchy guitars and swaggering sneered vocals to ram the message home.
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The B-side opens with Kings And Keepsakes that slows things down and sounds like something off of Mott that you can gently sway long too.
Charlie is it a song about a bloke called Charlie, the 70's perfume or cocaine? Well it's more about a bloke they knew and his redemption or otherwise that manages to end like they are chanting for Charlie George.
Only Crime manages to sound faster and more frantic than it does live with some searing guitars to punctuate the super speedy vocals as they wonder how much Camden has changed since World War 2 while sounding a good bit like Thin Lizzy.
Streets Of Gold comes on a good bit Hanoi Rocks as they sing about another body floating down the river Thames and all sorts of other stuff that happens to the dispossessed as they chase their dreams in London.
T.V. Child is a series of short vignettes from someone glued to the 5 channels we had in the 90's, it would be vastly increased in length if written today, of course the reality T.V. they sing about is also totally different to how we perceive that term now. I really like the tribal drumming breakdown that then has guitar stabs leading into a great solo from Slyder Smith imploring you to turn on the T.V. Child.
The album closes with the sparse love song Lovely that is a very sparse elegy to a lover. This is an album well worth discovering if you missed it first time round like I did, and you've discovered Last Great Dreamers in more recent times.
Find out more at www.lastgreatdreamers.com www.facebook.com/lastgreatdreamers
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