Search - The Skids :: The Absolute Game

A Great Album all-around

jguenter | Longmeadow, MA United States | 12/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm writing this just after having found out that Stuart Adamson is dead. So I'm going to go home and listen to this and other Skids records even more than I have recently, paying particular attention to the lead guitar. Funny, this album (the Skids' third) was almost universally lauded and commercially successful (in the UK, where it hit the top 10) when it came out. Yet it, and the Skids, were usually forgotten a few years afterwards, usually only mentioned as "Stuart Adamson's band before Big Country." The album deserves all the praise it got at the time. Make no mistake, this is not a punk album at all. By this time, the Skids had evolved out of their punk roots to become a highly musically competent group (particularly Adamson) with grandiose designs. In short, they became an art-rock group (a common progression. See also Wire's _154_, Magazine's _Secondhand Daylight_, etc. I've always felt that punk/post-punk rock was not just a "return" to rock-and-roll, but it many ways much more typical of '70s FM rock). However, in the post-punk era, songs were still more important than individual performances, so we don't have any of noodling typical of a prog-rock group. And all of the songs on this (semi-concept) album are great. The standouts are the opening cut "Circus Games" (you forgive the kiddie chorus, it's such a rousing song), "Out of Town" (re-recorded from a B-side, featuring Adamson's best-ever guitar solo) and the incredibly stirring anthem "A Woman in Winter", which closes side 1. And if that weren't enough, we have another anthem, "Arena" on the end of side 2, bringing the album to a close. The ten songs hold together completely as an album, alternating the anthems with dirges like "The Devil's Decade", quirky pop numbers like "One Decree" and "Goodbye Civilian" and one out-and-out rocker (The sarcastic "Happy to be with you"). Nevertheless, it would have been great if extra tracks (such as the _Strength through Joy_ mini-album that came free with original pressings of the LP, and a few B-sides) were included on the CD, such as on the CD's of the Skids's first two albums, _Scared to Dance_, and _Days in Europa_. Synthesisers are common on _The Absolute Game_ (though not as much as on _Days_In_Europa_), and the mix was always clear to begin with, so it sounds great on CD.R.I.P. Stu."

The Absolute Skids Album

Kaiser Wull | Ayr, Scotland | 02/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you only buy one Skids album in your lifetime, make it this one. I bought my first copy over a quarter of a century ago and it still thrills me when I treat myself to a listen today. In all that time since I played my first vinyl copy, I've never heard anything quite like it. This album is truly unique. It's also one of those rare albums which has no duff tracks and no fillers. If you're new to The Skids, you'll probably play the first 5 songs (side 1) most as they're all big super-catchy anthems. As you delve into the second 5 (side 2), however, the real beauty of this album comes out. All the hooks and super-flashy playing remain, but a rawer emotion develops in the songs along with an altogether darker feel. Adamson never played better than on these tracks. (Even die-hard Big Country fans must surely admit this.) He is equally matched throughout by Russell Webb on bass whilst Jobson and Baillie complete the chemistry beautifully. Credit should also be given to producer Mick Glossop for not over-producing this album. They still sound like a band. You know when you hear this record that they could (and did) reproduce it live. One slight criticism of this CD version is that it contains the single mix of 'Woman In Winter' rather than the full original album version thus missing out a verse and a guitar break. (Most of their greatest hits albums contain the proper version.)

The one thing that amazes me most about 'The Absolute Game' is this: How on earth could such a clever, unique, incredibly played work of musical genius be conceived and performed by Stuart Adamson at only 22 and Richard Jobson at a mere 20 years old? (I don't know what age Webb was, but I'm sure it was something similar.) You'd never guess they were so young when you listen to it.

In summary; buy this album and savour it. You'll be in the presence of greatness."

Great Guitars

Kaiser Wull | 11/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Skids were really defined by the partnership between Stuart Adamson's guitar playing and songwriting skills, and Richard Jobson's lyrics and vocals, and this is the third and last recording of the band in that incarnation. Jobson's lyrics, always determinedly poetic and fairly obscure, head further along that path, here, but the music is still strong, especially "Circus Games," "Hurry on Boys," and "A Woman in Winter." Not the best place to start listening to the Skids -- begin with "Scared to Dance" for that, or better yet, the Virgin "Best of" compilation -- but still a good album of powerful, prententious (but all the better for that) guitar pop, from a band whose reputation has been for the most part (underservedly) eclipsed by Adamson's subsequent work with Big Country."