Real Life | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 1978 | |||
Recorded | March–April 1978 | |||
Studio | Virgin Mobile and Abbey Road Studios, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 41:24 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Producer | John Leckie | |||
Magazine chronology | ||||
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Singles from Real Life | ||||
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Real Life is the debut studio album by English rock band Magazine. It was released in June 1978 by record label Virgin. The album includes the band's debut single "Shot by Both Sides", and was also preceded by the non-album single "Touch and Go", a song from the album's recording sessions.
Real Life has received critical acclaim and is considered a pioneering post-punk record. It has also been described as new wave [1] and art rock. [2]
The album was written over the preceding year by the band, with Howard Devoto providing all of the lyrics. The two earliest songs, "Shot by Both Sides" and "The Light Pours Out of Me", were co-written with Devoto's former Buzzcocks bandmate Pete Shelley. The majority of the material on the album was written by Devoto in collaboration with guitarist and founding member John McGeoch. "Motorcade" was co-written with the group's keyboardist, the classically trained composer Bob Dickinson, who played with the group in mid-1977 before being dismissed without warning at a meeting convened by Devoto in November of that year. Dickinson has cited the influence of Satie on elements of the keyboard part in this song. In early January 1978, Dickinson was invited by Devoto to play for a few gigs but he declined the offer due to his ongoing postgrad electronic music research at Keele University. The music for the album's final track, "Parade", was written by Dickinson's replacement, Dave Formula, with bassist Barry Adamson. "Definitive Gaze" was recorded for a Peel session as "Real Life" on 14 February 1978.
Having toured much of the album through 1977 and early 1978, the group's then lineup of Devoto (vocals), McGeoch (guitar and saxophone), Adamson (bass), Formula (keyboards) and Martin Jackson (drums) recorded the album in sessions using the Virgin Mobile and at Abbey Road Studios between March and April 1978. The album was produced and engineered by John Leckie.
The original artwork and monoprint for the album were designed by Linder, with photography by Adrian Boot.
Real Life was released on LP and cassette in June 1978. It peaked at no. 29 on the UK Albums Chart. [3] "Shot by Both Sides", the album's only single, peaked at no. 41 on the UK Singles Chart. [4]
The album was reissued in remastered form by Virgin/EMI in 2007, along with the other three of the band's first four studio albums, and included four bonus tracks and liner notes by Kieron Tyler.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
The Guardian | [6] |
The Irish Times | [7] |
Mojo | [8] |
Q | [9] |
Record Mirror | [10] |
Sounds | [11] |
Stylus Magazine | B+ [12] |
Uncut | [13] |
Real Life has received critical acclaim since its release.
On its release, Jon Savage said in Sounds : "A commercial, quality rock album then, with deceptive depths. All is not revealed." [11]
The album was ranked at no. 20 among the top "Albums of the Year" for 1978 by NME , with "Shot by Both Sides" ranked at no. 9 among the year's top tracks. [14]
Real Life is included on several "best of" lists.
All lyrics are written by Howard Devoto
No. | Title | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Definitive Gaze" | Devoto, John McGeoch | 4:25 |
2. | "My Tulpa" | Devoto, McGeoch | 4:47 |
3. | "Shot by Both Sides" | Devoto, Pete Shelley | 4:01 |
4. | "Recoil" | Devoto, McGeoch | 2:50 |
5. | "Burst" | Devoto | 5:00 |
No. | Title | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|
6. | "Motorcade" | Howard Devoto, Bob Dickinson | 5:41 |
7. | "The Great Beautician in the Sky" | Devoto, John McGeoch | 4:56 |
8. | "The Light Pours Out of Me" | Devoto, McGeoch, Pete Shelley | 4:36 |
9. | "Parade" | Barry Adamson, Dave Formula | 5:08 |
No. | Title | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|
10. | "Shot by Both Sides" (Original single version) | Howard Devoto, Pete Shelley | 4:01 |
11. | "My Mind Ain't So Open" | Devoto, John McGeoch | 2:18 |
12. | "Touch and Go" | Devoto, McGeoch | 2:58 |
13. | "Goldfinger" | John Barry, Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley | 3:50 |
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Chart (1978) | Peak position |
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UK Albums (OCC) [3] | 29 |
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Bolton in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fuse pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy; these singles were later collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album music journalist and critic Ned Raggett described as a "punk masterpiece".
Magazine were an English rock band formed in 1977 in Manchester in England by singer Howard Devoto and guitarist John McGeoch. After leaving the punk group Buzzcocks in early 1977, Devoto decided to create a more progressive and less "traditional" rock band. The original lineup of Magazine was composed of Devoto, McGeoch, Barry Adamson on bass, Bob Dickinson on keyboards and Martin Jackson on drums.
Howard Devoto is an English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, an early post-punk band. After Magazine, he went solo and later formed indie band Luxuria.
John Alexander McGeoch was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977–1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980-1982).
Barry Adamson is an English pop and rock musician, composer, writer, photographer and filmmaker. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as a member of the post-punk band Magazine and went on to work with Visage, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electro musicians Pan Sonic. In addition to prolific solo work, Adamson has also remixed Grinderman, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Recoil and Depeche Mode. He also worked on the soundtrack for David Lynch's surrealistic crime film Lost Highway.
All Mod Cons is the third studio album by the British band the Jam, released in 1978 by Polydor Records. The title, a British idiom one might find in housing advertisements, is short for "all modern conveniences" and is a pun on the band's association with the mod revival. The cover is a visual joke showing the band in a bare room. The album reached No. 6 in the UK Albums Chart.
Juju is the fourth studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was recorded at Surrey Sound studio with Nigel Gray as co-producer, and was released on 19 June 1981 by record label Polydor. Two singles were released from Juju: "Spellbound" and "Arabian Knights".
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse is the fifth studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released on 5 November 1982 by Polydor Records. The record marked a change of musical direction, as the group used strings for the first time and experimented in the studio. Guitarist John McGeoch played more instruments, including recorder and piano. For Julian Marszalek of The Quietus, the release proved the Banshees to be "one of the great British psychedelic bands."
"Motown Junk" is the second single by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 21 January 1991.
"The Youngest Was the Most Loved" is the second single from English singer-songwriter Morrissey's eighth studio album, Ringleader of the Tormentors (2006). The track was written by Morrissey and Jesse Tobias. It was released as a single on 5 June 2006 and reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was performed on the popular UK television chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 19 May 2006 and again on Later with Jools Holland on 2 June 2006.
Secondhand Daylight is the second studio album by English post-punk band Magazine. It was released on 30 March 1979 by record label Virgin. One single, "Rhythm of Cruelty", was released from the album.
Dave Formula, is an English keyboardist and film-soundtrack composer from Manchester, who played with the post-punk bands Magazine and Visage (band) (Ludus) during the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s and in the "world music" band The Angel Brothers. Dave Formula & The Finks.
The Correct Use of Soap is the third studio album by English post-punk band Magazine, released by Virgin Records in 1980. It contains some of Magazine's best-known and most popular songs, including the singles "A Song from Under the Floorboards" and "Sweetheart Contract" and their cover of Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You ". A different version of the album, entitled An Alternative Use of Soap, was released in Canada in 1980 by then-distributor Polygram Records.
Magic, Murder and the Weather is the fourth studio album by English post-punk band Magazine, and their final album until the band's reformation in 2009. It was released in June 1981 by record label Virgin. One single, "About the Weather", was released from the album.
Spiral Scratch is an EP and the first release by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released on 29 January 1977. It is one of the earliest releases by a British punk band. The EP is the only Buzzcocks studio release with original singer Howard Devoto, who left shortly after its release to form one of the first post-punk bands, Magazine.
"Shot by Both Sides" is a song written by Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley, and performed by the English post-punk band Magazine. It was released in January 1978 as the band's first single, reaching No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and appearing, a few months later, on their debut album Real Life. The song has been cited as a seminal work of the post-punk genre, as well as a pop punk and new wave.
Jerky Versions of the Dream is the only solo album recorded by Howard Devoto, the original singer of Buzzcocks and Magazine. It was his only studio album, which was released at the time with two singles, "Cold Imagination" and "Rainy Season", being a short-lived solo career for Devoto, who in 1986, went to form a band alongside guitarist Noko, which later was named Luxuria.
"Touch and Go" is the second single by post-punk band Magazine, released on 14 April 1978. A non-album single, it did not appear on their debut album, Real Life, released two months later.
Play is the first live album by English post-punk/new wave band Magazine. It was released in December 1980 by Virgin Records (International) and in April 1981 by I.R.S. Records (US). It peaked at No. 69 on the UK Album Chart. It was Magazine's sixth 1980 release.
[S]ynthesizers, saxophones and songs that dared to exceed the five-minute barrier.