I was aware of The Icicle Works as I liked their singles Love is a Wonderful Colour and Understanding Jane. I had bought Ian McNabb’s solo album Head Like a Rock and enjoyed that and was in a second-hand record shop in Glasgow and bought If You Want to Defeat Your Enemy Sing His Song for about three quid.
I listened to it a few times but preferred Head Like a Rock so probably haven’t listened to this in twenty odd years.
Hope Springs Eternal is built on the excellent Chris Sharrock’s drumming and is a pleasant enough solid opener and Travelling Chest logs in your head and has a surprise banjo interlude.
Sweet Thursday highlights how strong McNabb’s voice is and Up Here in the North of England is a powerful song on the state of the country, sadly not much has changed in thirty odd years.
For a brief second the start of Who Do You Want For Your Love? reminds me of Prince 1999 but is a decent catchy near hit single with a good chorus. When You Were Mine starts with dated keyboards, but the quality of the singing brings us back and the same could be said for Evangeline but as per usual a guitar riff has me back on board and is a decent mid-tempo song.
Truck Driver’s Lament is powerful playing from all the band but still the highlight for me is Understanding Jane a majestic riff, a quick beat from Sharrock and McNab launching in with a sing-along chorus, it’s a song that does not let up.
This is a good album but loses marks I feel due to Ian Broudie’s production as it’s a bit to clean cut and dates the record for me but well worth a listen.
7/10
GIVE IT A STREAM: Understanding Jane