"IN BLOOM" IAN MCCULLOCH (1989)

For October, the Mental Jukebox is dialing it way back to the eighties and going deep. Deep cuts have always been an important element of music listening to me because they’re often the songs that resonate with me most. Deep cuts are usually the ones that the true fans appreciate most. I like my singles and hits, but I love my deep cuts.

Candleland is a standout album from a standout year in music. 1989 brought on many great debut albums, banner releases and solo efforts. Candleland was a much more interesting listen to me in its entirety as opposed to the individual singles that found their way on modern rock radio such as “Faith and Healing” and “Proud to Fall”. In my opinion, “In Bloom” is a better song than the aforementioned.

“In Bloom” draws striking similarities to the iconic Echo & The Bunnymen track, “The Killing Moon”. With its epic structure and other worldly accents, it’s an ambitious rock song built to make an impression. The supplementary guitar riffs in the background are fantastic, standing in stark contrast to the muscular guitar hook in the foreground. And the lyrics, they speak for themselves. Poetic and simple. McCulloch always had a way with words.

“Rice fields, Feet soaking. Minefields, Here's hoping.”

"CANDLELAND" IAN MCCULLOCH (1989)

A great title track is par for the course when it comes to great albums. If the title track doesn’t cut it, what does that say about the album itself? This month, the Mental Jukebox will be playing some of my favorite title tracks – inspired by @NicolaB_73’s music Twitter challenge, #TopTitleTracks.

From 1989 to 1990 I had Candleland on heavy rotation on my boombox. My radio station WDRE introduced me to the singles (“Proud To Fall”, “Faith and Healing”), and the rest is history. I like Echo & the Bunnymen, but they’re a band whose albums I rarely listen to from beginning to end. But that was never the case with McCulloch’s debut solo album. I listened to it in its entirety over and over again – and the title track was one of my favorite songs of the bunch.

“Candleland” has that dreamlike dimension to it with McCulloch’s gentle cascading guitar riffs. It’s been decades since I last heard this song, but McCulloch’s guitar brings me right back to the summer of 1990. I didn’t know it at the time, but that’s Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins) on backing vocals. If you wanted to give your song an angelic quality, you can’t find a better accompanying vocalist than Fraser. “Candeland” is a euphoric three-minute escape from all that weighs us down.

“Wear your guilt like skin And keep your sins disguised.”