SPARKS

[Judes]

I have fairly recently been sucked into the Sparks Universe, so I've had their entire back-catalogue to listen to all in one go. I've listened to all their standard studio albums at least once, and watched a lot of YouTube. And... it's a lot! I love reading the posts here and seeing the wide range of opinions: how one person's favourite track is another's skipper!

My 5 immediate takeaways:

Around half of Sparks' songs seem to be about delusional men.

They like a song to end: it seems that very few fade out, and if they do it's often a tacked-on coda after an 'end'. I see this as a sign of a disciplined mind.

The sheer RANGE of their music: loud aggressive discordant ones, fairly standard poppy ones which on closer listen have bizarre unsettling lyrics, ones you feel compelled to dance to, ones you really want to dance to but can't because the rhythm keeps changing, throwaway bops, utterly beautiful timeless ones... And so much of it is so ridiculously catchy!

They really are a FANTASTIC live band. Many of their songs (particularly the early ones) sound so much better live: At Home At Work At Play is a particular banger. Watching Russell sing is often like watching Olympic gymnastics: someone doing something seemingly impossible and doing it perfectly.

I will literally never get tired of hearing This Town, no matter how many hundreds of times I hear it.

[Crabby]

They are quite something aren't they Judes?

The question l fear most from my friends...."So...Sparks....what kind of music do they do?"
My heart plummets....there's no way you can describe it and do it justice.
Or they may say..."What would you recommend l listen to?"
ALL of it....ALL of it!!!!
I think l'm inadvertently putting prospective Sparks fans off by my despairing manner and aggressive tone......sorry boys...

[SteveBoyce]

The reason I stuck with Sparks is because, I never knew what to expect next. I think for many of us old timer Sparks fans, that's what kept of us going.
The other thing I noticed is that songs / albums I really like, other people don't, and vice versa!
The live video of "Don't Leave Me Alone With Her" on YT is quite something

[Judes]

I haven't seen that video before - you're not joking, it absolutely rocks! I keep rewatching their From The Basement set, particularly At Home... which is just so good, and Strange Animal, another of my favourites. Dithering at the moment between working my way through the back catalogue again in strict order, or just playing the stuff I like best for now!

[J. Prufrock]

If you haven't stumbled across the 21x21 live series, Judes, look for them. You're in for a whole lot of treats!

[dinky]