La Folie

OH YEAH. I have this one on vinyl too. Haven't listened in years. But just ordered it and put the headphones on.WOW!What a treat! I remember their other records as great. But this one seemed kind of too pop, you know, with "Golden Brown." Boy was I wrong.On second listen now I know why they called the next one Aural Sculpture. The sound here really IS sculpture. This is SOUND on the RAZOR's EDGE. All these guys have intelligence to spare, and one wonders if it was Hugh or all of them but whatever it was... it sure clicked. Especially the original cuts. The extras are OK and historically instructing, but the first 7 are amazing examples of how simple rock forms can become works of the best kind of intelligent art sound.The choices of timbre, harmony, mix and structure are unexpected, impeccable and swing like mad. There are no fillers and no clichés. All instruments are used sparely to create one coherent sound. All are excellent. I can think of no better bass player and I own thousands of records. The sound he gets is incredible, vicious even. Usually the bass is a supporting instrument, but here its part of the whole contributing to the shape of the sound. The others are just as good. I was never impressed by Hugh's guitar, but now I'm smarter and I hear just how carefully considered Hugh's timbres are. He and Dave simultaneously contrast and complement each other as each player weaves the net.The lyrics are a little difficult to make out but they are interesting too. No clichés here either. No clear cut meanings but definitely wry comments on philosophy and modern life.Strong 5 stars from a band inexplicably less famous than most of the standardized punk bands. Unfair of course but that seems to be the way. Challenging listening, not for the background. My only lament is there are not more of these to buy.

Golden Brown is one of my favorite songs of all time and the entire reason I bought this album.

Came exactly as it was described THAAANKS

love it

"La Folie" was the end of one phase of the Stranglers' career: the last of their six albums for United Artists/EMI, and also the last one that really kept the original Stranglers sound mix. It's the one with "Golden Brown" on it, although none of the other songs sound like that. Overall, the album is probably the poppiest of all Stranglers albums, notably "Non Stop", "Tramp", and "Pin Up". Not to say that the Stranglers had lost their edge: "Everybody Loves You..." and "The Man They Love To Hate" are as wonderfully misanthropic as anything else they've done.What's perhaps most noteworthy about "La Folie" is the number of noteworthy, different-sounding tracks there are. With most Stranglers albums, you can point to certain songs and say they're definitely better than others, but the distinction is usually one of degree. Here, you can point to several examples of something the Stranglers hadn't done before or since. Exhibit A: "Let Me Introduce You..." is probably the only Stranglers track that would go down well in a club, with its pounding rhythm and repetitive, chanting vocals. "Golden Brown" - do I need to tell you it's a classic? "Two To Tango" sees the singers aiming for some high notes and hitting them; there's something slightly Beach Boys about this one.And as for the song "La Folie" itself... how to follow up "Golden Brown" as a single? The Stranglers, perverse to the last, chose a six-minute semi-acoustic ballad about the cannibal Issei Sagawa; oh, and it's spoken/sung in French. It was, as you might expect, a flop. It's also the most beautiful song the Stranglers have recorded.

This album enjoyed some commercial success due to the presence of Golden Brown (ironically a pro-Drugs after the anti-drugs message of 'Don't bring Harry'- Hugh Cornwell had recently served time for possession of heroin). Musically the song Golden Brown was actually based on a tune rejected from their previous album 'The Meninblack'. 'La Folie' was another concept album based around the cynical notion that the only love possible is the love of oneself. 'Let me introduce you to the family' was about the mafia, 'Everyone loves you when you're dead' made a tasteless dig at John Lennon who had recently been assassinated. The Stranglers were always keen to shock and probably caused massive distress at their record company by insisting that the follow-up single to Golden Brown should be the slow paced but beautiful La Folie, sung entirely in French and dealing with the subject of a Japanese student in Paris who ate his girlfriend but was not imprisoned because his father was a diplomat (the theme was later stolen by the Rolling Stones for 'Too much blood'). Needless to say the single flopped. My own favorite on here is 'The man they love to hate'. But alongside the excellent songs there are also some fillers ('it only takes 2', 'how to find', 'ain't nothing to it'). A mixed bag.

Just got this one again. Wow is all I can say. I am thankful that of all the Stranglers releases to get re-released, the fact that this one was chosen is great as it is thier pinnacle. I was somewhat dismayed by The Meninblack (soundtrack) although it was different and intersting. This release saw the Stranglers in thier peak, right inbetween what they once were (testosterone punk driven Doors on acid semi metal heads) and what they would become (Stranglers lite). A perfect blend of infectious pop with dark undertones, the music is brilliant. "Non-Stop" sounds so sweet and innocent on the surface but the sarcastic lyrics have quite a sting. Sarcasm is again visited in "Let me Introduce You to The Family", a pulsating orgasm of keyboards and guitars. Then of course there is what I consider to be the best song the Stranglers ever recorded "The Man They Love To Hate". When listening to this haunting rock song again for the first time in over a decade chills went up my spine. Now that is something when music can do that. Fair Warning. If you purchase this, anything else by the Stranglers is going to pale in comparasion.

Following on from three increasingly more experimental albums in "Black And White", "The Raven" and the slightly bizarre "(The Gospel According To) The Meninblack", The Stranglers' star had been waning. The punk coat-tails that they had grabbed on to and become incredibly successful had waned itself, as had new wave. New romantic, post punk and electric synth-pop was on the rise. The band had, in their last album, pre-empted some of that stuff, but not that anyone noticed. Here, they decided to go back to a commercially-appealing new wave style of sound. More punchy and tight and certainly far more accessible than the previous offering. It also yielded their biggest chart hit.It was also probably the last album they released while their music was "relevant", so to speak. By the time of their next album, in 1983, The Clash and The Jam were no more, The Sex Pistols were long gone. The Ramones carried on but as an affectionately-viewed nostalgia act. To be fair, The Stranglers had started to change their style back in 1978. This was a last attempt to look back at a genre that was only three years or so old.TRACK LISTING1. Non Stop2. Everybody Loves You When You're Dead3. Tramp4. Let Me Introduce You To The Family5. Ain't Nothin' To It6. The Man They Love To Hate7. Pin Up8. It Only Takes Two To Tango9. Golden Brown10. How To Find True Love And Happiness In The Present Day11. La Folie"Non Stop" was apparently titled "Non Stop Nun", but appeared as just "Non Stop"on the cover. It has a catchy organ and guitar riff back and sounds like a bit of a throwback to the band's first two "punk" albums, apart from Hugh Cornwell's less aggressive vocal. The same can be said of the pumping organ and drum beat of "Everybody Loves You When You're Dead". "Tramp" is a lively number with hints of early Joe Jackson and The Police. "Let Me Introduce You To The Family" also has a big Police influence, for me. It sounds like one of those frantic Andy Summers songs."Ain't Nothin' To It" is a very 1977-78 style upbeat number, like The Stranglers as they hadn't really been heard since 1978. "The Man They Love To Hate" is also a fast-paced rocky number with a pounding drumbeat, funky organ breaks and a mysterious vocal. Again, I have to reiterate that these songs bring to mind some of The Police's album tracks so much. Something about the drum sound and the pace of them. "Pin Up" sees the old cynical view of femalekind return, slightly. It is all a bit polite, though, and is a bit like Kraftwerk's "The Model", lyrically."It Only Takes Two To Tango" is possibly the album's worst track. Its vocal harmonies are clumsy, to say the least. It is not a great track, let's be honest."Golden Brown" was a strange one. It became a Radio Two staple. Very punk. Not. It was melodic, gentle and classically-influenced, nothing like anything they had done before. It brought them a new audience. It was also about drugs. Supposedly. I've never got that myself. Same goes for "Mr. Tambourine Man". Either way, it definitely had something about it, along with an absolute killer grandiose-sounding keyboard riff. I remember at the time, even girls I knew who didn't like punk music at all liked this. That sort of annoyed me. They didn't buy "Something Better Change" or "Peaches", did they?"How To Find True Love And Happiness In The Present Day" is a Talking Heads-esque oddball, staccato groove. It is tracks like this that mean that this album is not just a return to the sound of fours years earlier (actually none of it is, really, just some hints of it are). The title track, "La Folie" is a true Stranglers unique song - bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel grumbling away, sometimes a bit tunelessly, in French over a deep, sombre backing.Overall, this is a very enjoyable, energetic album. It is not just tub-thumping, though The songs are quite clever and the vocal delivery much more understated than four years earlier. Good album.

I think it's fair to assume there are many people of a certain age who remember the first time they heard GOLDEN BROWN. Even non-fans of THE STRANGLERS can spiel off at least a few bars of that harpsichord-style waltz classic - which unfortunately sums up a major problem with it for me: it's too popular, too nice and not wholly representative of My Favourite Band. Tch. My problem, and I'm (still) dealing with it after all these years. Sorry.The Madness (of Love) or LA FOLIE, unlike its predecessor, is not overburdened with high concept but with a texture like sun (no, stoppit!) and consequently feels lighter in both touch and execution. The first track NON STOP, for example, is a poppy, cod-religious affair with a typically irreverent HUGH CORNWELL vocal. Off to a good start then, but even better is just around the corner. TRAMP, The Great Single That Never Was, is pure Stranglers gold, with a blistering chorus of guitar, bass, keyboard and drums firing on all cylinders. Superb.PIN UP and LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE FAMILY keep things moving briskly (the latter complete with some hilarious retro-funky guitar work) but the gonk for oddest song must go to IT ONLY TAKES TWO TO TANGO; a confused effort that mixes multitracked vocals to an appropriate beat, yet ends up a victim of its own two left feet. Awkward, to say the least.With the exception of LA FOLIE, the remaining tracks are typical medium-weight Strangler offerings with subjects ranging from, amongst others, John Lennon (EVERYBODY LOVES YOU WHEN YOU'RE DEAD) to Adolf Hitler (THE MAN THEY LOVE TO HATE). So, how does the title song hold up to the rest of the album? Well, as a follow-up to GOLDEN BROWN in 1982 it was a spectacularly poor choice for a single, especially when you consider the overwhelming merits of TRAMP. That said, it's undeniably melodic with sweeping keyboards and a sound that can best be described as echo-chamber big. Part spoken, part sung in French by JEAN-JAQUES BURNEL, it's difficult not to wonder sometimes what a substitute vocal in the native tongue might have done for its chart placing at the time. (LA FOLLY, peut-etre? Franglais notwithstanding, I certainly thought so.)Bonus tracks are a seriously mixed bag (the excellent VIETNAMERICA, the ghastly COCKTAIL NUBILES) yet still required listening - as is LA FOLIE as a whole: for all it's minor drawbacks it remains an essential purchase.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

'La Folie' marks a fundamental change in The Stranglers' approach to albums. Their first five studio albums are uncompromising, sometimes brutal. There are elements of that era here too: 'Everybody Loves You When You're Dead,' for instance, so true in the wake of the passing of Elvis (taken for granted for years until he died) and John Lennon (portrayed as a bitter eccentric in the media for most of the 1970s). The experimentation of 'Ain't Nothin' Too It' and 'Let Me Introduce You To The Family' also belong to the past. Their confrontational stance continues here, but they cease their attacks on whole nations and women as a whole. This is all relative, though, and individuals still come under attack. Most impressive, however, is their ability to come up with so many different musical and lyrical ideas. The affected sleaze that characterised Hugh Cornwell's delivery on earlier recordings is replaced by straight vocals and deadpan monologues. JJ Burnel's French monologue on the title track outdoes all of this, however, against a breathtaking, yet reserved soundscape. 'Golden Brown,' their biggest hit, got them on Radio 2, though it's apparently about heroin. Another soft, melodic hit, 'Strange Little Girl' is included as a bonus, along with the ususal mix of musical jokes and inspired b-sides. 'Cocktail Nubiles' is an hilarious take on the gratuitously offensive 'Bring On The Nubiles' from the band's 'No More Heroes' album, while 'Cruel Garden' is a pretty cool, jazz-inflected song. 'La Folie' is no mistake.

Arrived on time , Stranglers La Folie ,saw them live when this album came out at the Rainbow Theater in London , good to have on CD 😀👍

When i first bought this album on vinyl in the early 80s i never gave it time and it ended up at the back of my album case.however having bought the cd i have now realised how good this album is...for me the song la folie is one of the best songs the stranglers have ever done with cornwalls simple but beautifull guitar playing over greenfields amazing synthesizers