Suicide‘s debut album has inspired many others, such as Bruce Springsteen, but they are virtually unknown, at least to most people. I was too young to have discovered them on my own. When I was kid I had to rely on the radio for my music, which was mostly pop. Eventually, I would discover college radio. A whole new world of music was opened before me to explore. It was a joyous day when I made that discovery.
The worst song is “Frankie Teardrop“. It is too long and too bizarre. They got the idea of it all from a newspaper article about a man who killed his family, then himself. The rest of the album is great from a historical perspective, but looking back it has been done better in the later 70s and 80s by many bands. I think “Cheree” is the best song.
There are two problems with this band. Firstly, they were ahead of their time. If they had arrived two or three years later, they may have had more success. Second problem, they are a bit repetitive with their lyrics and music. I think it would be better with stronger lyrics. The lead singer, Alan Vega, sounds like Elvis Presley doing synthpop. That is not a bad thing. 8/10.
an ocean roars 