1. Black And White 2. The Raven 3. No More Heroes 4. La Folie 5. Rattus Norvegicus 6.. (The Gospel According To The) Meninblack 7. Aural Sculpture 8. Feline 9. Dreamtime 10. 10
I must agree Richard,The Stranglers we’re for me was Hugh Cornwell as the main singer I can’t stand bands when the singer leaves and someone else takes over.My Mum and Dad took me as a nine year old to see the band in 1977 at The Rainbow in Finsbury Park I remember standing in the back seats rocking out with my parents,for me No more Heroes has to be my favourite followed by The Raven.
@@CookieMusic43 yeah I was quite lucky my parents were hippies and they took me to see Queen at Hyde Park in 75/76 and I even saw Muddy Waters for Capital Radio blues festival at Alexandra palace as a child.
Nice chat about one of my favourite bands , defo have Black & White up there at no 2 , 1st six albums are classic Stranglers for me , after that it was slowly down hill , all great at the time except 10 of course ,,, best of comp is a great one but not to forget The Collection 77-82 ,
Hi Richard.... Wow I have to say I'm surprised No More Heroes only made your number 8 but it's all about our personal taste & for me the Stranglers ceased to be a band when Hugh left... My worst to best is... 10 - Meninblack 9 - 10 8 - Dreamtime 7 - Feline 6 - Aural Sculpture 5 - La Folie 4 - The Raven 3 - Black & White 2 - No More Heroes 1 - Rattus Norvegicus.... Definitely in my top British bands of all-time 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Hi Stephen, it's really hard to argue with your list. With my top 8 they could have been switched about on any day apart from my no. 1 choice. Such a great band!
I enjoyed hearing your ranking as there are still several Stranglers albums that I need to get. I think that I like Dreamtime more than most as I absolutely love the song "Always The Sun." I agree that the latest Stranglers album Dark Matters is very good. Take care.
They (or what remains of the Stranglers) should release a vinyl boxset of the big ten. I would buy it quickly. I regret not having bought all the Stranglers albums back in those days when there were still record stores. The Stranglers are one of these artists that I appreciate much more now than when they were at their prime.
@@CookieMusic43 Yes and with Baz Warne, they have quite a decent frontman. But Greenfield will be very hard to replace because he was the musician who gave The Stranglers their uniqueness. And I don't think that Jean-Jacques Burnel is the kind of person who would accept a Greenfield impersonator as a new keyboardist. As Baz Warne is not a Cornwell imitator. The Stranglers must progress.
Hi Richard - The last 3 weeks , the boys at Taste Like Music ranked T. Rex , Stranglers & Prefab Sprout .. so I just did this. My Top 5 - No More Heroes , Dreamtime , Rattus , Raven & Black & White. My 🇺🇸 copy of B&W came with a 7" a brilliant cover of Walk On By sounds like The Doors ! Outstanding bass & synths by them. Love the tribute they did for Dave .. And If You Should See Dave. Great Band for a decade.
Hi David, the UK version also came with the 7" of Walk on By, well original copies did. It's a bit like McCartney II in the US where Coming Up was bot a single and included as an extra 45
I enjoyed watching this but am surprised No More Heroes wasn't higher. It's a great album. My tip 5 would be 1) Rattus 2) Black and White 3) No more Heroes 4) Raven 5) La Folie.
@@CookieMusic43 I thought you made a very good point about Feline when you compared it to Avalon. Hadn't heard that comparison before but it's a very astute observation. Always liked All roads lead to Rome.
Back in the day a friend turned me on to No More Heroes and I found it kind of scary/sinister but in a fascinating way. Kind of surprised that Dreamtime isn't ranked higher because Always The Sun is so good - tho I don't know the rest of the album. Your top two have always intrigued me and I really should check them out!
The first 5 albums are my favorite , Black and White definitely N°1, Rattus Norvigicus N°2, The raven N°3, No More Heroes N°4 and the Men in black N°5... l really love this Album but still at N°5 . After that they became too commercialised , l did buy La Folley and Midsummers night dream , not my favourites , but they're ok l guess, atfeter that l ost interest in the Stranglers . Though l still listen to my top 5 albims by them .
My favorite Stranglers release was a maxi-single featuring Something Better Change, Straighten Out, (Get A) Grip (On Yourself), and Hanging Around. But I also enjoyed Feline (w/Golden Brown) and the catchier songs of Aural Sculpture. Did you ever check out the book The Stranglers: Song By Song by Hugh Cornwell and Jim Drury?
@@CookieMusic43 I picked it up years ago in a local bookstore and have read it several times. It's a good read. The only downside is my limited knowledge of their song catalog-a problem you wouldn't have to contend with. Just the other day, I used it to help decode the lyric to Hanging Around (which I was learning on guitar)-a reference to the Coleherne in the third verse, the ‘big girl in the red dress’ with barley fever, etc.
Nice ranking, although I’d definitely rank Black & White very high, and No More Heroes certainly above the last 3 horribly horn-polluted albums. Special mention to the non album great songs such as 5 Minutes, Straighten out, Who Wants the World, Bear Cage. Not to mention the amazinly brilliantissime b-sides such as Maninwhite, Fools Rush Out, Rok it to the Moon, Shut Up, Savage Breast, Vietnamerica, Love30, Yellowcake UF6, Pawsher, Permission… and of course the irresistible Vladimir series !
Have to agree with you Richard,Rattus Norvegicus is without doubt their finest piece of work and is also my No1 album.Black&White would be 2nd and my 3rd favourite is Feline.from 1977 to 1982 the Stranglers could do no wrong.for me the early years the Stranglers were at the peak of their powers!😎
Hi Aiden, I can fully understand why Black and White is so high on your list. I just think it's a little top heavy with the very best songs on side 1 but the album as a whole is still excellent. Thanks for commenting!
So many people stuck in the past !! George Best doesn’t play for Man Utd anymore but it’s still Man Utd. The Stranglers are just as good now as they ever were just a bit older. Hugh was massive but he has gone , so move on !! John Ellis was a fantastic guitar player , Paul Roberts was “different” but still great live, also without him the Stranglers would have stopped in 1990. RIP Dave RIP Jet. The Current line up is just as good and Baz is a Strangler !!! “ Live X Cert” for me.
Hi Richard & first off i have to say i never liked any Stranglers albums after Hugh quit as even JJ sung songs were poor in my opinion & as for the Cornwall era to this day i cannot stand MenInBlack.... Just absolute tripe from start to finish & my top 3 are... 3 No More Heroes 2 Black And White 1 Rattus Norvegicus.... Rattus is basically one of the greatest punk/new wave debut albums ever up there with XTC, The Jam, The Damned, The Skids & obviously The Sex Pistols!! Another great video.
Hi Richard, that was great. Totally agree with your No1, that record has probably been played more that any other in the collection. It has had almost 40 yrs of regular use and still sounds great. I only have the first three albums and the best of but definitely going to add to that. La Folie and Feline top of the list, thanks for the heads up. 👍Andy
Only ever heard Rattus and Greatest Hits 77-90. Oddly enough i never really considered buying more until a few months ago i saw two of their albums. I didn't grab them fast enough and they were gone. Been on the hunt since. I was surprised to see that two of these albums were so unfamiliar to me that i needed a few moments to realize that i had indeed seen them before. Pasi
Great band Richard, I saw them a few years ago post Hugh and they were superb. JJ Bass was epic. Number 1 in no doubt, I would have a few adjustments mainly Heroes up higher and La Folie lower. So many great tracks, and I agree with comments on Feline production. Good job! Mike
Hi Richard I’m only really familiar with the first 4 stranglers albums so this was interesting I’m always on the look out for their later albums but I don’t see them that often at a attractive price .
Enjoyed the video, nice to see In This Place from '10' getting some praise. A highly underrated track with great Burnel lyrics. One thing I do disagree with you on though is Do You Wanna - I personally absolutely adore the song, the freestyle drumming, unbeatable bass tone and off the wall guitar with Dave's menacing vocals. Classic Stranglers.
Absolutely. It's taken many years of hifi upgrades for me to actually hear the mix of 10 due to the wall of sound production, unfortunately we will likely never hear the original Owen Morris produced album that Sony rejected in '89, some of the B sides and songs from those sessions are superior to a few of the album tracks, it could've been a great album but hey ho I still like most of it.
Yeah I totally agree with you Nick the first 4 stranglers albums were fantastic then they went down in the sewer after that and went to commercial for me like most bands.I love Black and White album to especially Threatened and in the shadows and death and night and blood most Stranglers fans like Golden Brown and then they went down hill unfortunately and started doing crap cover versions
Kinda makes you wonder what you would prefer as far as a "Lesser Of Two Evils" choice between Hugh with the horn section or Paul Roberts with the string section? Me? I would go with Paul with the strings as the strings fit The Meninblack's sound much better than the horns ever did!
I really must listen to those post Cornwell albums. I do like what I've heard from Giants and I think Dark Matters is great but I've only skimmed the Paul Roberts years
Bought the first album and went to see them at The Roundhouse on 5 November 1977 on the strength of hearing Straighten Out on ToTP which I thought was amazing! I thought No More Heroes was a massive drop off, then Black and White I thought was awful. I saw them at Battersea Park in 1978, but I was there to see Peter Gabriel and again at Reading in 1987 but then I was there to see Alice Cooper. So to me; Rattus is excellent No More Heroes good/fair Everything else I've heard (basically the UA years) very poor indeed.
You must of been having a bad day going to work, the day you reviewed Heroes , and black & white albums ? Rattus, Heroes, black & white, Raven, ..in any order for me
Interesting video Richard. I only know half the catalogue and to be honest a lot of the albums blur together for me. With regards to Gospel According to Men in Black, I sometimes really enjoy it and sometimes really can't stand it! 'Just Like Nothing on Earth' reminds me of The Fall.
Saw them on no more heroes tour then each tour up to and including feline. Loved up to but not including feline even tho went to the tour. Cdnt believe Hugh went Pc and sang nubiles with lyric change to, let me let me talk to you talk to you. That was the end for me... Thought Aural sculpture was dreadful.
Sorry Richard. My top 3 are Heroes, Raven and Black and White not necessary in that order. Rattus and Men in Black next and the others I can live without except for all their singles.
@@babylonsburning1 I think it is. Although I was aware of The Stranglers from the start I didn't really get ineterested untl around 1982 when The Singles Collection came out
1. Black And White
2. The Raven
3. No More Heroes
4. La Folie
5. Rattus Norvegicus
6.. (The Gospel According To The) Meninblack
7. Aural Sculpture
8. Feline
9. Dreamtime
10. 10
Love this. Great video of one of my favourite bands. Thanks.
Pleased you enjoyed it!
the compilation 77-82 is often overlooked. It had new songs and non album tracks. Not overlong and the sequencing was perfect
It was the first Stranglers album I bought
@@CookieMusic43 same! my dad bought it and gave it to me. Had a big impact on me
I must agree Richard,The Stranglers we’re for me was Hugh Cornwell as the main singer I can’t stand bands when the singer leaves and someone else takes over.My Mum and Dad took me as a nine year old to see the band in 1977 at The Rainbow in Finsbury Park I remember standing in the back seats rocking out with my parents,for me No more Heroes has to be my favourite followed by The Raven.
Hi Russell, wow, to see them at such a young age and coming off their best album is so cool!
@@CookieMusic43 yeah I was quite lucky my parents were hippies and they took me to see Queen at Hyde Park in 75/76 and I even saw Muddy Waters for Capital Radio blues festival at Alexandra palace as a child.
@@russellbrooks6485 Queen in 75/76 must have been absolutely brilliant!
Nice chat about one of my favourite bands , defo have Black & White up there at no 2 , 1st six albums are classic Stranglers for me , after that it was slowly down hill , all great at the time except 10 of course ,,, best of comp is a great one but not to forget The Collection 77-82 ,
The Collection 77-82 was the first Stranglers album I ever bought but I decided to show Peaches as it includes some of the Epic singles.
1 .Rattus 2.Black & White 3. No more Heroes 4. Raven. Those are my favourite 4 albums
All great albums!
Hi Richard.... Wow I have to say I'm surprised No More Heroes only made your number 8 but it's all about our personal taste & for me the Stranglers ceased to be a band when Hugh left... My worst to best is...
10 - Meninblack
9 - 10
8 - Dreamtime
7 - Feline
6 - Aural Sculpture
5 - La Folie
4 - The Raven
3 - Black & White
2 - No More Heroes
1 - Rattus Norvegicus....
Definitely in my top British bands of all-time 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Hi Stephen, it's really hard to argue with your list. With my top 8 they could have been switched about on any day apart from my no. 1 choice. Such a great band!
Agree No 1 but after Black and White I can't comment - enjoyed the show
Thanks John
My Personal Number 1 is of course the First One. I think the Most Stranglers Fans make this decision
Brilliant album!
I enjoyed hearing your ranking as there are still several Stranglers albums that I need to get. I think that I like Dreamtime more than most as I absolutely love the song "Always The Sun." I agree that the latest Stranglers album Dark Matters is very good. Take care.
Always The Sun is a great track. I don't think they needed to remix it in the early 90s
Stranglers..maybe my most favourite band 🙏
Cool!
Thanks Richard...i need to check out Feline as I don't have it....Black and White would be #1 for me...cheers!
Feline is a beautiful sounding record, hope you enjoy it
Great video, thanks.
You are welcome!
They (or what remains of the Stranglers) should release a vinyl boxset of the big ten. I would buy it quickly. I regret not having bought all the Stranglers albums back in those days when there were still record stores.
The Stranglers are one of these artists that I appreciate much more now than when they were at their prime.
Hi Marc, I do think their music ages very well
@@CookieMusic43 Yes and with Baz Warne, they have quite a decent frontman. But Greenfield will be very hard to replace because he was the musician who gave The Stranglers their uniqueness. And I don't think that Jean-Jacques Burnel is the kind of person who would accept a Greenfield impersonator as a new keyboardist. As Baz Warne is not a Cornwell imitator.
The Stranglers must progress.
Hi Richard - The last 3 weeks , the boys at Taste Like Music ranked T. Rex , Stranglers & Prefab Sprout .. so I just did this. My Top 5 - No More Heroes , Dreamtime , Rattus , Raven & Black & White. My 🇺🇸 copy of B&W came with a 7" a brilliant cover of Walk On By sounds like The Doors ! Outstanding bass & synths by them. Love the tribute they did for Dave .. And If You Should See Dave. Great Band for a decade.
Hi David, the UK version also came with the 7" of Walk on By, well original copies did. It's a bit like McCartney II in the US where Coming Up was bot a single and included as an extra 45
Underrated band. Peaches was 1977 and has not aged one little bit.
I agree with that, the bassline is incredible
@@CookieMusic43 Hard to categorise too. It just 'IS'.
I enjoyed watching this but am surprised No More Heroes wasn't higher. It's a great album. My tip 5 would be 1) Rattus 2) Black and White 3) No more Heroes 4) Raven 5) La Folie.
Thanks Adam, on any other week No More Heroes would have been higher.
@@CookieMusic43 I thought you made a very good point about Feline when you compared it to Avalon. Hadn't heard that comparison before but it's a very astute observation. Always liked All roads lead to Rome.
You know your stuff Richard, I'd agree with you on Rattus Norvegicus but I can't decide on Feline/Black and White as 2 and 3.
Thanks, nice to see Feline high on your list
@@CookieMusic43 It was at a very formative time of my life, I met a European female. 😉
Back in the day a friend turned me on to No More Heroes and I found it kind of scary/sinister but in a fascinating way. Kind of surprised that Dreamtime isn't ranked higher because Always The Sun is so good - tho I don't know the rest of the album. Your top two have always intrigued me and I really should check them out!
Rattus Norvegicus is generally regarded as their best Jeff
Souls is the best song on Dreamworld.
Switching of after seeing your choice for number 8.
The first 5 albums are my favorite , Black and White definitely N°1, Rattus Norvigicus N°2, The raven N°3, No More Heroes N°4 and the Men in black N°5... l really love this Album but still at N°5 . After that they became too commercialised , l did buy La Folley and Midsummers night dream , not my favourites , but they're ok l guess, atfeter that l ost interest in the Stranglers . Though l still listen to my top 5 albims by them .
It is hard to beat their earlier albums. Their last one Dark Matters is actually very good
My favorite Stranglers release was a maxi-single featuring Something Better Change, Straighten Out, (Get A) Grip (On Yourself), and Hanging Around. But I also enjoyed Feline (w/Golden Brown) and the catchier songs of Aural Sculpture. Did you ever check out the book The Stranglers: Song By Song by Hugh Cornwell and Jim Drury?
I wasn't aware of the book but you have me interested!
@@CookieMusic43 I picked it up years ago in a local bookstore and have read it several times. It's a good read. The only downside is my limited knowledge of their song catalog-a problem you wouldn't have to contend with.
Just the other day, I used it to help decode the lyric to Hanging Around (which I was learning on guitar)-a reference to the Coleherne in the third verse, the ‘big girl in the red dress’ with barley fever, etc.
Nice ranking, although I’d definitely rank Black & White very high, and No More Heroes certainly above the last 3 horribly horn-polluted albums.
Special mention to the non album great songs such as 5 Minutes, Straighten out, Who Wants the World, Bear Cage. Not to mention the amazinly brilliantissime b-sides such as Maninwhite, Fools Rush Out, Rok it to the Moon, Shut Up, Savage Breast, Vietnamerica, Love30, Yellowcake UF6, Pawsher, Permission… and of course the irresistible Vladimir series !
Thanks Paolo, I really must re-visit those B sides again!
Have to agree with you Richard,Rattus Norvegicus is without doubt their finest piece of work and is also my No1 album.Black&White would be 2nd and my 3rd favourite is Feline.from 1977 to 1982 the Stranglers could do no wrong.for me the early years the Stranglers were at the peak of their powers!😎
Hi Aiden, I can fully understand why Black and White is so high on your list. I just think it's a little top heavy with the very best songs on side 1 but the album as a whole is still excellent. Thanks for commenting!
So many people stuck in the past !!
George Best doesn’t play for Man Utd anymore but it’s still Man Utd.
The Stranglers are just as good now as they ever were just a bit older.
Hugh was massive but he has gone , so move on !!
John Ellis was a fantastic guitar player , Paul Roberts was “different” but still great live, also without him the Stranglers would have stopped in 1990.
RIP Dave
RIP Jet.
The Current line up is just as good and Baz is a Strangler !!!
“ Live X Cert” for me.
Thanks for posting Richard. I respect your reviews and could not agree more.
Thanks Tony, glad you enjoyed it
Hi Richard & first off i have to say i never liked any Stranglers albums after Hugh quit as even JJ sung songs were poor in my opinion & as for the Cornwall era to this day i cannot stand MenInBlack.... Just absolute tripe from start to finish & my top 3 are...
3 No More Heroes
2 Black And White
1 Rattus Norvegicus....
Rattus is basically one of the greatest punk/new wave debut albums ever up there with XTC, The Jam, The Damned, The Skids & obviously The Sex Pistols!! Another great video.
I think it is well accepted that Rattus is their best
This is a good effort and almost correct 🙂 For some reason, I would put Aural Sculpture much higher. #1 is undisputed!
Cheers Bryan, Rattus certainly is undisputed
Hi Richard, that was great. Totally agree with your No1, that record has probably been played more that any other in the collection. It has had almost 40 yrs of regular use and still sounds great. I only have the first three albums and the best of but definitely going to add to that. La Folie and Feline top of the list, thanks for the heads up. 👍Andy
Thanks Andy, hope you enjoy La Folie & Feline
Only ever heard Rattus and Greatest Hits 77-90. Oddly enough i never really considered buying more until a few months ago i saw two of their albums. I didn't grab them fast enough and they were gone. Been on the hunt since. I was surprised to see that two of these albums were so unfamiliar to me that i needed a few moments to realize that i had indeed seen them before.
Pasi
Hope you are able to pick up a few of their albums, Pasi
Great band Richard, I saw them a few years ago post Hugh and they were superb. JJ Bass was epic. Number 1 in no doubt, I would have a few adjustments mainly Heroes up higher and La Folie lower. So many great tracks, and I agree with comments on Feline production. Good job! Mike
Cheer Mike, I think the production on Feline is sublime
Hi Richard I’m only really familiar with the first 4 stranglers albums so this was interesting I’m always on the look out for their later albums but I don’t see them that often at a attractive price .
La Folie is probably the most accessible along with Aural Sculpture Rob. The Meninblack is a tough listen at the start but is a real grower
Enjoyed the video, nice to see In This Place from '10' getting some praise. A highly underrated track with great Burnel lyrics. One thing I do disagree with you on though is Do You Wanna - I personally absolutely adore the song, the freestyle drumming, unbeatable bass tone and off the wall guitar with Dave's menacing vocals. Classic Stranglers.
Thanks adamneil, In This Place is the undoubted highlight for me from the 10 album
Absolutely. It's taken many years of hifi upgrades for me to actually hear the mix of 10 due to the wall of sound production, unfortunately we will likely never hear the original Owen Morris produced album that Sony rejected in '89, some of the B sides and songs from those sessions are superior to a few of the album tracks, it could've been a great album but hey ho I still like most of it.
No more Heroes and Black and White below Feline. Wow.
I'm a Stranglers fan myself Richard....I thought Black & white and The Raven might have been a little higher.
Duchess is my fave Stranglers tune 👍👍👍
Duchess is a classic Stranglers single Nick
Yeah I totally agree with you Nick the first 4 stranglers albums were fantastic then they went down in the sewer after that and went to commercial for me like most bands.I love Black and White album to especially Threatened and in the shadows and death and night and blood most Stranglers fans like Golden Brown and then they went down hill unfortunately and started doing crap cover versions
Kinda makes you wonder what you would prefer as far as a "Lesser Of Two Evils" choice between Hugh with the horn section or Paul Roberts with the string section? Me? I would go with Paul with the strings as the strings fit The Meninblack's sound much better than the horns ever did!
I really must listen to those post Cornwell albums. I do like what I've heard from Giants and I think Dark Matters is great but I've only skimmed the Paul Roberts years
Bought the first album and went to see them at The Roundhouse on 5 November 1977 on the strength of hearing Straighten Out on ToTP which I thought was amazing! I thought No More Heroes was a massive drop off, then Black and White I thought was awful.
I saw them at Battersea Park in 1978, but I was there to see Peter Gabriel and again at Reading in 1987 but then I was there to see Alice Cooper.
So to me;
Rattus is excellent
No More Heroes good/fair
Everything else I've heard (basically the UA years) very poor indeed.
Rattus is an excellent album. I can understand why you are not keen on the next couple of albums
Agree 👍
Thanks V V
You must of been having a bad day going to work, the day you reviewed Heroes , and black & white albums ? Rattus, Heroes, black & white, Raven, ..in any order for me
No X-Rated Richard? I stopped buying the Stranglers after La Folie but I think that live album is a great one.
The live album is great, Mike, but I didn't want to include live albums
Interesting video Richard. I only know half the catalogue and to be honest a lot of the albums blur together for me. With regards to Gospel According to Men in Black, I sometimes really enjoy it and sometimes really can't stand it! 'Just Like Nothing on Earth' reminds me of The Fall.
Hi James, The Fall is a band I know absolutely nothing about. I don't think I have even heard a single song of theirs
@@CookieMusic43 You might like them if you like Gospel According to Men in Black!
Saw them on no more heroes tour
then each tour up to and including feline. Loved up to but not including feline even tho went to the tour. Cdnt believe Hugh went Pc and sang nubiles with lyric change to, let me let me talk to you talk to you.
That was the end for me... Thought Aural sculpture was dreadful.
I never knew that about Cornwell's change in lyrics. Thanks Tony.
Sorry Richard. My top 3 are Heroes, Raven and Black and White not necessary in that order.
Rattus and Men in Black next and the others I can live without except for all their singles.
Absolutely no need to apologise. We all rank these things differently.
@@CookieMusic43 I wonder if it is a an age thing. I was in a the beginning, so the early albums are my most favourite.
@@babylonsburning1 I think it is. Although I was aware of The Stranglers from the start I didn't really get ineterested untl around 1982 when The Singles Collection came out
I would have had Raven 1st, feline about 8th and la folie 4th.
Cool to see The Raven get your no. 1 spot