Is This the Stranglers Unidentified Masterpiece?

Two Sunspots is a brilliant song, probably one of the most underrated Stranglers songs ever. I absolutely love The Stranglers I've seen them six times with my dad who is a big fan, five before Dave died of COVID. All at Birmingham O2 Institute. The song reminds me a bit of "Could Have Been Me" by The Struts. I really like The Stranglers because they are underrated, they are secretly influential on artists such as Franny Griffiths of Space, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, and many more.

My favourite Stranglers album, love it.

I've always loved The Gospel According To The Meninblack, then as now. It's an album that's unfairly misunderstood, perhaps because the Stranglers have partly changed their sound on this one, yet this 'technological' facade is just an illusion, as the overall sound isn't all that synthetic and altered, as you can hear the guitar very clearly and the sound on the drums isn't doctored on every track. If there is a change, it comes from the mix, which puts Burnel's bass much further back than usual (with the exception of "Just Like Nothing On Earth", in which the four-string is brought to the fore). For me, The Gospel According To The Meninblack is one of the Stranglers' must-haves, right up there with Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes, Black And White, The Raven and La folie. It's from Feline onwards that things start to go wrong, but that's another story!😉

really, really enjoyed your comments on this LP. I wish the band would go out on tour and perform this LP in its entirety, with special effects. Once again really enjoyed this post.

Defo invokes opinion but it was ahead of its time, it sounds incredibly contemporary even now. It was the Stranglers pushing the envelope. Massively underrated in my opinion.

When I bought the album in 1980 I didn't really know what to think, other than this was something that needed listening to over and over. The pre-digital production is unbelievable. I recall a critic at the time without a hint of irony bemoaning the fact that Dave's playing on Second Coming was out of tune! They had no idea how hard that was to do - yet alone replicate live. What a band. 8:24

Not as accessable as their earlier works and was so experimental it kind of got overlooked. Has held up well with age and was well ahead of its time. I like it fine especially when I'm in an altered state!

I remember it coming out - man, I was gutted at how bad it was compared to Raven.

Gospel

This was actually the only Stranglers album I ever bought (on cassette actually). I can't honestly say why I bought it. Perhaps it was the interesting cover art. Possibly it was the need to keep up with my mates who were discovering a lot of new-wave/post-punk groups. We were all university students at the time. Listening to it now, it still sounds weird and not at all easy to get into.

Oh damn, that gatefold is awesome! A shame we didn't get that with the US release.

When I bought the album in 1980 I didn't really know what to think, other than this was something that needed listening to over and over. The pre-digital production is unbelievable. I recall a critic at the time without a hint of irony bemoaning the fact that Dave's playing on Second Coming was out of tune! They had no idea how hard that was to do - yet alone replicate live. What a band.

I always regard The Raven as their masterpiece, but this isn't far behind.

It is not easy listening for sure but very experimental and unique cheers

Loved it when I first heard it love it still as cornwell says fantastic sounds with earphones wacky weird and wonderful

Hallow to our Men... One of the best opening riffs ive heard but totally destroyed by the rest of the track 😂 Rattus is still my favourite album Raven is a close second.

It’s a pity that they didn’t do it as a double album and shoved some more chart material on it. They could have had the best of both worlds

Its my fav, hands down

No. I listened to it a few times recently but it doesn't match up to the first 4 which are incredible.

I'm not keen on the lp ( & a non-believer in the Alien Visitations concept ) ...but genuinely surprised 'Thrown Away ' didn't do much better in the charts ....