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The Raven
The Stranglers
The Raven
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (15) - Disc #1

Exclusive Japanese Limited Edition reissue of this 1979 album packaged in a miniature LP sleeve featuring bonus tracks. Virgin. 2006.

     
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CD Details

All Artists: The Stranglers
Title: The Raven
Members Wishing: 3
Total Copies: 0
Label: Toshiba EMI Japan
Release Date: 8/7/2006
Album Type: Import, Original recording remastered
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Styles: Hardcore & Punk, New Wave & Post-Punk
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 4988006843622, 724353468927

Synopsis

Album Description
Exclusive Japanese Limited Edition reissue of this 1979 album packaged in a miniature LP sleeve featuring bonus tracks. Virgin. 2006.
 

CD Reviews

An absolute masterpiece
skak1 | 03/11/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Stranglers' fans usually view one of three albums as the group's best- Rattus, Black and White or the Raven. Each have their merits. Rattus was the group's aggressive debut, which sounds a bit dated today. Black and White was the most coherent Stranglers' offering- they had developed a very distinctive Doors-inspired punk sound by then. The Raven marked the beginning of a new musical direction. It is very diverse ranging from a soft ballad to powerful anthems. The Stranglers were always a cut above in terms of the subject matter of their songs- no time wasted on silly love songs. Cannibalism, extra-terrestrials, nuclear testing, Japanese forms of suicide, Vikings, Iranian politics and Genetic Engineering all feature here. Ironically so too does a song denouncing heroin (guitarist Hugh Cornwell was arrested for possession of the drug shortly afterwards). The group's musicianship never reached a higher level than here. With the bass, guitar and keyboards all vying to be lead instrument it is amazing how well they end up complementing each other. This is an absolute must for anyone interested in the group."
Interesting Times
skak1 | 09/22/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Stranglers always had something of a mixed reputation, both intellectual and menacing, with the latter perhaps being more appealing to their fan base, this album was the first to showcase their intellectual side. Of course in popular music intellectual refers to occasionally reading a newspaper, but in 1979 there were lots of interesting things in the papers and few other punk bands had an ex-scientist as lead singer. Musically they lowered the bass in the mix to less than speaker destroying volume and Hugh lets loose his guilty secret, he may be able to really sing. At the very least evocative of an era, there were more important things happening in 1979 than your (my) tawdry memories of teenage trysts, the album holds up well. Buy it for your children."
One of the best albums ever.
Elaine Ellerton | austin, tx | 07/26/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like the Stranglers, then you probably already own it (if not, shame on you) and it is even probably your favourite Stranglers album. It has the heaviness and kick of previous albums (gotta love their basslines), but is much more polished as they have gotten a lot more synthesizer savy on this one. This is by far my favourite Stranglers album, although everything pre-Aural Sculpture is fantastic as well."