Rocktrospectiva: The Essential "Strange Times" Turns 40

Released on 1 September 1986 "Strange Times" was the 3rd., studio album by the English rock band the Chameleons. The initial copies of the North American vinyl release included a bonus LP featuring six non-album tracks, which would later be included as bonus tracks on the CD release in 1993. Two singles were released from the album: "Tears" and "Swamp Thing".

Strange Times was met with largely positive reviews and called an essential dream pop release and stating, "the Manchester quartet's third record is arguably their dreamiest, trading in much of their early angst while swinging for the fences with a tremendous collection of songs."

Strange Times and the follow-up EP Tony Fletcher Walked on Water (recorded in 1987 and released in 1990) would be the band's final studio releases for nearly 15 years, as tensions within the group caused a breakup that saw the band members pursue other projects.

According to Chameleons frontman Mark Burgess: the album was recorded at Jacob's Studio in Surrey, south of London over a period of five weeks. Again the material was only loosely sketched and we didn't really have any idea how the album would turn out. We'd spent a month or so getting the ideas together living in a small house in the Lake District of England and rehearsing the ideas in a school hall, specially hired, just outside the village of Hawkshead." The first single from the album was "Tears", released on 16 June 1986. The album version (credited as the "original arrangement") differs from the single version (credited as "full arrangement"); the original arrangement is an acoustic version with a different ending, while the full arrangement is electric. The single included the B-sides "Paradiso" and "Inside Out".

Strange Times was released 1 September 1986 on the Geffen label. Initial American pressings of the record came with a bonus 12" with six additional tracks, two of which are covers. The American cassette also had the same bonus tracks, split up so that each side of the cassette contained half of the bonus tracks. The record did not have a "B" side; it was credited as 'Side A' and 'Side A+'.

The album was never released on CD in any territory until 1993. Although Geffen released it as a two-disc set with all of the bonus tracks in the UK and Germany, the decision was made to omit one of the bonus tracks ("Ever After") from the American version to facilitate its release on a single disc.

The album's second single, "Swamp Thing", was released on the same day as the album. The formats of the single included a cover of David Bowie's "John, I'm Only Dancing" as the B-side.

Strange Times was praised by the critics who reviewed it and called it as a marvellous departure from their previous work and "a wonderful record, it was regarded as the band's most inventive and winning album yet and as a fine a record as any pop-rock guitar band ever made, and is considered as one of the best lyrical works and had some of the best vocal performances by the Chameleons proving that the band really began to mature and move forward with this album.

 

Strange Times Track List:  

 

1. Mad Jack

2. Caution

3. Tears (Original Arrangement)

4. Soul In Isolation

5. Swamp Thing

6. Time/The End Of Time

7. Seriocity

8. In Answer

9. Childhood

10. I'll Rememberclass