IN ORDER TO AVOID MISUNDERSTANDING  WE ADVISE YOU TO ENQUIRE 

ABOUT POSTAGE COST BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY BID/PURCHASE THE ITEM

MAGAZINE

One of the earliest and best post-punk bands, they kept the nervous energy of punk and added elements of theatrical, atmospheric art rock. After leaving the Buzzcocks in 1977, vocalist Howard Devoto formed Magazine with guitarist John McGeoch, bassist Barry Adamson, keyboardist Bob Dickinson, and drummer Martin Jackson. One of the first post-punk bands, Magazine kept the edgy, nervous energy of punk and added elements of art rock, particularly with their theatrical live shows and shards of keyboards. Devoto's lyrics were combinations of social commentary and poetic fragments, while the band alternated between cold, jagged chords and gloomy, atmospheric sonic landscapes. Magazine performed their first concert in the fall of 1977 and were signed to Virgin Records by the end of the year; by that point, Dickinson had left the group. The band recorded its first single, "Shot by Both Sides," as a quartet; Devoto had written the song with his former Buzzcocks partner, Pete Shelley. Appearing in early 1978, the single gathered good reviews on both sides of the Atlantic and charted in the U.K., peaking at number 41. Before they recorded their debut album, keyboardist Dave Formula joined the lineup...(AllMusic)

"REAL LIFE"

tracklist

Side A: DEFINITIVE GAZE - MY TULPA - SHOT BY BOTH SIDES - RECOIL - BURST

Side B: MOTORCADE - THE GREAT BEAUTICIAN IN THE SKY

THE LIGHT POURS OUT OF ME - PARADE

1978      LP     VIRGIN RECORDS   26190 XOT

MADE IN HOLLAND     2ND PRESSING

SINGLE SLEEVE

NOTES: Made In Holland on labels and jacket.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Barcode: none

LABEL: VIRGIN  - RED/GREEN LABEL w/LOGO at BOTTOM RIGHT - BLACK/WHITE TEXT

Catalog on cover: 26190 XOT

Catalog on labels: 26190 XOT 26190-A / 26190 XOT  26190-B

Matrix / Runout (Side A, Etched): 26.190-A-36541-1-Y HV

Matrix / Runout (Side B, Etched): 26.190-B-36542-1-Y HV

On labels: rim text reads "All Rights.......Prohibited"

Produced by John Leckie

℗ 1978 Virgin Music Ltd.

STEMRA

Made in Holland

On Back Cover: Tracklist + Credits

ARIOLA BENELUX B.V.   made in holland

grading

RECORD VG+ but (please, read above description)

SLEEVE VG(+) but (please, see pictures and read above description)

Howard Devoto had the foresight to promote two infamous Sex Pistols concerts in Manchester, and his vision was no less acute when he left Buzzcocks after recording Spiral Scratch. Possibly sensing the festering of punk's clichés and limitations, and unquestionably not taken by the movement's beginnings, he bailed -- effectively skipping out on most of 1977 -- and resurfaced with Magazine. Initially, the departure from punk was not complete. "Shot by Both Sides," the band's first single, was based off an old riff given by Devoto's Buzzcocks partner Pete Shelley, and the guts of follow-up single "Touch and Go" were rather basic rev-and-vroom. And, like many punk bands, Magazine would likely cite David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Roxy Music. However -- this point is crucial -- instead of playing mindlessly sloppy variants of "Hang on to Yourself," "Search and Destroy," and "Virginia Plain," the band was inspired by the much more adventurous Low, The Idiot, and "For Your Pleasure." That is the driving force behind Real Life's status as one of the post-punk era's major jump-off points. Punk's untethered energy is rigidly controlled, run through arrangements that are tightly wound, herky-jerky, unpredictable, proficiently dynamic. The rapidly careening "Shot by Both Sides" (up there with PiL's "Public Image" as an indelible post-punk single) and the slowly unfolding "Parade" (the closest thing to a ballad, its hook is "Sometimes I forget that we're supposed to be in love") are equally ill-at-ease. The dynamism is all the more perceptible when Dave Formula's alternately flighty and assaultive keyboards are present: the opening "Definitive Gaze," for instance, switches between a sci-fi love theme and the score for a chase scene. As close as the band comes to upstaging Devoto, the singer is central, with his live wire tendencies typically enhanced, rather than truly outshined, by his mates. The interplay is at its best in "The Light Pours out of Me," a song that defines Magazine more than "Shot by Both Sides," while also functioning as the closest the band got to making an anthem. Various aspects of Devoto's personality and legacy, truly brought forth throughout this album, have been transferred and blown up throughout the careers of Momus (the restless, unapologetic intellectual), Thom Yorke (the pensive outsider), and maybe even Luke Haines (the nonchalantly acidic crank)...(AllMusic)