Blind!

Fresh from the break-up of the "classic" Sex Gang Children following their 1983 US tour, vocalist Andi Sexgang convened a new lineup before launching into the protracted genesis of what was intended to be their eighth album. Seven months of rehearsal preceded entering the studio with producer Simon Boswell, only for the band's label to then turn around and insist that the LP be released under Andi's name alone — a solo single, "Les Amants D'Un Jour" had picked up better reviews than the band ever had; the powers that be demanded the album follow suit. Andi agreed (although privately he remained adamant that Blind was a band album, a point he proved when the set was reissued in the U.S. in 1992, under the full Sex Gang Children billing). Still, the media again proved willing to grant the album a fairer hearing than the band might ever have received, and so this beautiful collection of characteristically dark and genuinely melodic songs remains one of the Sex Gang's most popular. Clashing a deep love for Bowie with the lyrical flair of Steve Harley but imbued throughout with the gothic sensibilities that hallmarked Andi's best work, the album is half decadent cabaret and half cultural swan song; "Ecstasy and Vendetta" remains one of his most potent lyrics, while "Last Chants for the Slow Dance" is almost Brel-ian in its scope and subject matter. Even more pleasingly, the 2007 reissue adds bonus track versions of "Les Amants d'Un Jour" and its B-side, the "piano version" of "Oh Henry," plus the three-song "The Naked and the Dead" EP.