[Expressive] -- Forty years ago this week, we were blessed with Express, the sophomore release from Love and Rockets. Love and Rockets, if you recall, was three former members of Bauhaus (essentially, Bauhaus minus vocalist Peter Murphy and moved two years forward in time, as this band had formed in 1985). This new album continued the work of their previous release, but also found Love and Rockets starting to distance themselves from the sound and style of Bauhaus. They still had atmospheric guitars and a certain goth elegance, but they were also leaning more into pop melodies and sensibilities.
Express peaked at #72 on the US Billboard 200. Of the three singles from this album – "Kundalini Express", "Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)", and "All in My Mind" – only the latter charted. "All in My Mind" reached #49 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart. "An American Dream", which appears on all versions of Express, was never released as a single. That's a mistake, in my opinion, as its dreamy + trippy arrangement, acoustic guitars, soaring vocals, and choir perfectly capture the mixed emotions of the mid-1980s.
Oh, and note that Love and Rocket's cover of "Ball of Confusion" is often associated with this album. However, it appears only on the 2001 reissue in an extended remix. See, it was originally released as a single before their debut album, Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven. But the new mix of the cover just didn't fit on the reissue of that record.
This week's embedded YouTube playlist features the track listing for the original LP release. So, there's only 8 tracks. The various releases in 1986 – LP, CD, and cassette – all had varying track listings with 8, 9, or 11 tracks. The 2001 remastered issue had 15 total tracks, basically incorporating everything that had been previously released with a few bonus tracks, like the USA mix of "Ball of Confusion".
Flashback: Express (September 15, 1986)
And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
See you in seven!
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