Chris Connelly – Artificial Madness – Album Review

Now, take a deep breath. Hold it. And breathe…

I thought we’d take a moment of calm because apparently this is Chris Connelly’s 15th solo album and I believe that to be quite an achievement! What strikes me even harder is that as he has fourteen other albums, how come I’ve never heard any of them? So with virgin ears at the ready, I cautiously reach for the play button.
Opener and title track ‘Artificial Madness’ greets me with a hefty chunk of dischordant post punk, laying somewhere between Therapy? and Joy Division, before easily sliding into ‘Wait For Amateur’ a track which feels as if it’s cut short just as it hits its stride, running in at only just over two minutes. While the lyrically comical ‘Classically Wounded’ introduces an early 90’s rhythm and steals the fuzz pedals of Ned’s Atomic Dustbin for its lead parts.

‘Cold Blood in Present Company’ carries on with all of the aforementioned influences still in place, but layers things even further by adding synthesizers and a slightly more industrial edge. This is swiftly followed by a cover of Visitors ‘Compatability’ which comes off sounding like The Jam, playing Roy Orbison’s ‘Pretty Woman’ with The Undertones guitars. When suddenly I’m jolted by the injection of pop that is ‘The Modern Swine’ a track littered with female backing vocals and a crooned chorus straight out of Bowie’s back catalogue.
Things get poppier still over the next few tracks, with a touch of Morrissey added to the crooning on ‘Imperfect Star’ and a slice of 50’s rock n’ roll that wouldn’t seem uncomfortable on a The Raveonettes album wrapped up in ‘Paraffin Heart’. A couple of short, bass driven punky tracks are crammed in next before being drawn to the final track ‘A Career in Falsehood’ with its bleak vision of people’s inability to tell the truth.

Truth be told, upon first listen I wasn’t completely sold, and even after a few plays it has grown on me but I still don’t feel that I’ve realised the true brilliance of ‘Artificial Madness’. It’s probably one of those albums that you hear and think ‘It’s alright…’ but then pick up several months later and realise ‘Where have you been all of my life?’

So what I’m left with in ‘Artificial Madness’ is a collection of tracks that either seem to burn brightly and then get stamped out too soon or outstay their welcome. ‘Artificial Madness’ is a mixed bag of influences from the last six decades, and with the possibility to hear so many other artists I find it quite hard for ‘Artificial Madness’ to find an identity all of its own.

Chris Connelly – “Artificial Madness” by RelapseRecords

Track Listing

01. Artificial Madness
02. Wait For Amateur
03. Classically Wounded
04. Cold Blood In Present Company
05. Compatibility
06. The Modern Swine
07. Imperfect Star
08. The Paraffin Hearts
09. The Subjects
10. The Goner
11. A Career In Falsehood