XTC - Skylarking

7.5 – England – 1985

I know this album is good and I want to like it. Top notch songwriting: well-constructed indie-pop songs with intelligent, literate lyrics. All very clever. But, damnit, I just don’t like how this album sounds. The melodies, for the most part, just don’t do it for me, and despite his fantastic lyrics, I don’t much care for Andy Partridge’s voice all that much. The 80s production by Todd Rundgren is very well done, but it still sounds like an 80s production with the tinny drum machines and gated reverb. But it’s still good (and “Dear God” rises to the level of greatness). It’s not it, it’s me.