Great to hear this, thank you. I bought Skylarking on release here in England (no Dear God, it was originally a single B side here) Their best LP, without doubt for me, but Black Sea and English Settlement were also great, but others too. Thanks for popping this on here, fascinating stuff.
My all time fave XTC album. Plenty more all coming in at joint 2nd but this will always have the biggest place in my heart of hearts.[i've clearly got many, haven't U????]
The version I heard in the UK didn't have Dear God and though I love it, I still don't think fits. Shame they ditched Mermaid Smiledin the US, because I love it.
I was lucky enough to get the version with "Mermaid Smiled" before they decided to replace it with "Dear God". Worked great for me because I never got really excited about DG -- not saying I hate it, just enjoy MS much more.
You are spot-on in your thinking. Came across Sky.. about two years ago and for me, it's a masterpiece of an album but I heard D G about 20 years ago for the 1st time and do like the track but I don't feel it fits in the album and should end with S B. To get rid of M S was a travesty as it's one of the beautiful songs on the album...They could have easily got rid of Big Day as I find it the weakest of all the tracks.
This album is on my top 10 of all time list. It is so far and away better than any other XTC album that I don't really even consider they have any others. I did not know, consciously anyway, that Todd Rundgren was the producer. When I found out accidentally, through the magic of google mind control apparatus I said to myself, "yeah, no wonder, wow good for everybody". Now I find out about all this controversy. Such a disappointment. The album is a masterpiece (only the weak song, "Dying") and anybody associated with it should be resting on their laurels. I don't want to take sides or pronounce judgments on anyone, but I will say that if Todd Rundgren thought he could write relevant songs and perform them he would probably be doing so. He is a brilliant producer but where is his music? BTW I never thought of the album as a song cycle. I thought it was a great collection of unrelated songs and that "Another Satellite" fit right in.
No offense taken but you misunderstood my meaning. I have listened to everything XTC has done. I think they got close to this album with Oranges and Lemons which most fans don't rate very highly. I was very disappointed with Nonsuch except for, of course, Peter Pumpkinhead and Books Are Burning. I think some of their older songs are tremendous, for example, Generals And Majors and Respectable Street, but never loved the overall sound of their work until Skylarking. Believe my I tried. Maybe I will try again.
Not everyone can be a true XTC fan I guess, nothing wrong with that everyone has their own taste. If you like Skylarking then you should like Mummer? that record is done in the same style. Apple Venus 1 is very close also. Besides my three favorites English Settlement, Black Sea and Drums And Wires those 3 (Skylarking, Mummer and AV 1) are my favorite. Listen to Mummer a few more times at least. Oranges and Lemons and the slower tracks on Big Express also remind me of Skylarking at times. I can see why you love that record so much it has a silky production reminiscent of Todd Rundgrens own music. Skylarking is a great record I understand why you like it best...
Would you do the courtesy of explaining this thought out a bit more? "...that if Todd Rundgren thought he could write relevant songs and perform them he would probably be doing so."
They probably do not realize Todd Rundgren is a performing and recording artist in his own right with a career of top 10 hits and a huge catalog. He is an artist first a producer second.
