The album I listened to in the parking lot on my walkman at age 13, on that weird shivery day when I told the Sunday school class I'd been teaching, and my mom, that I didn't believe in God and wouldn't ever be coming back to church.
The song 'Dear God', however, is sort of an anomaly (Andy Partridge complained that it was the only song he ever wrote that didn't have a sense of humor), and though it's sort of a perfect mission statement for a disaffected young i-wish-i-could-believe-but-i-can't angster such as I once was, it's not necessarily the best anthem for a more complicatedly spiritual person.
Whatever. The songs on this album are all pretentiously lyrical, soaringly melodic, and working very hard at changing the listener's life. Obviously at least one succeeded.
The sound of XTC here (basically reduced I think to Andy Partridge and a studio full of instruments) bears very little relationship to the earlier albums, which are manic condensed punk-prog-pop full of intricately rocking microgrooves, with clever guitar-bass-drums interplay. (I love love love Black Sea and Drums and Wires, for instance, both of which sound nothing at all like this album).
Skylarking is basically a solo-songwriter's-attempt-to-be-Beatlesy, and as such occasionally falls over the edge into pomposity. But, it's still gorgeous and wonderful.
Post's in two parts due to size, just unzip 'em to one folder and proceed.
