Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx In Mysterious Ways 2008 re-master

Forgive me if I'm confused.
We haven't got a thread yet to discuss this album specifically?

For me the most interesting of the three forthcoming re-issues, not least because it contains THREE 'new' tracks recorded in that difficult period. I look forward to these immensely, and especially Spin Away which is deemed worthy of a place on the album itself.

Other curios are the early version of To be With You - reassembled for Metamatic 2007 - and Hiding in Plain Sight. Is this going to be the edited version that appeared on the 7" single, or the longer version from the 12" (as per the CD version of IMW from 2001?
Interested because I don't (think I) have a copy of that shorter version...
(and because I love the track, of course!)

I suspect that, however many extra tracks this album has, it will still be bland mid-80s rubbish
It's function will be simply as a reminder to us all what NOT to do, with "Morning Glory" remaining the sole decent song on it.

(Come on John, you STILL haven't played Morning Glory live yet!!)

I'm on your side. I don't want another copy of this all-but-unlistenable detour in my house. I will have to convince myself that the bonus tracks aren't much better than the original material and that I'm not missing much by not purchasing the 2-CD set just to get them. At least John Foxx sounded happy and in love on the record. Pity the record doesn't make me feel happy and in love with it!

Perhaps the liner notes on the new set will explain why Van Morrison isn't credited for cowriting "Morning Glory," since it has always struck me as being a thinly disguised tribute to "Astral Weeks." I like John Foxx's material best when he is trying to be John Foxx and not someone else. I think that's why this album (and to a lesser extent the heavily Beatles-influenced "Golden Section") has always stuck in my craw.

"Hanging in the Air" has one of his most gorgeous vocals imo. any mention of this song on the release?

Its not listed in the announcement.

No, the track Hanging in the Air was not identified to be a part of the forthcoming release of In Mysterious Ways.

Rob

Never been in love, I take it?
Have to disagree with your dismissal of IMW; yes many of the synth and drum sounds are a tad dated, but the quality of the songs is as good as anything John's done since - indeed it would be interesting to hear John and Louis doing some IMW in their more modern style at the forthcoming live show.

The only duff track on the album for me was "This Side Of Paradise", which sounded like John's attempt at the type of glossy soft-rock the likes of Simple Minds and Then Jerico were churning out round about that time. Happily it appears John agrees as it's been relegated from the main album to the bonus tracks disc. Let's hope "Spin Away" is a far better replacement.

Unless of course it's been retitled as "Spin Away" or "Magic"??????

Never fear, Spin Away is a more than worthy addition to In Mysterious Ways...

Spin Away and Magic are definitely not retitled versions of Hanging in the Air...

Rob

Ahhhh, you can tell summer's almost over - the leaves turning brown, the nights drawing in, the arguements over whether IMW is crap or not, the chill in the morning air etc . Sorry to sound controversial, but I still think it's quite light a 9pm.
Cheers

Personally I think "In Mysterious Ways" is a stunning album and in my all time top ten. Some excellent crafted songs and beautiful production.

It is a piece of work John should be immensely proud of.

Gary

I'm sad to admit, I'd more or less 'dismissed' this album. Not because it's bad - on the contrary; a beautiful set of songs, gracefully performed - but it just doesn't do anything for me. I might as well be listening to Cliff Richard! Just not my taste. The elements that excited me on Metamatic and The Garden are missing.

But I'm not prepared to write it off, and in fact I'm looking forward to hearing all the extra tracks, in the hope that these unreleased songs will give me a renewed interest in the parent album.

Well there's a first. I never thought I'd read the names John Foxx and Cliff Richard in the same posting in whatever context. It must be time to go home...

But I understand exactly what Alex means! I admit that I have written off IMW, despite several attempts to listen to it objectively -- in other words, I have told myself to put it within the context of the times and see if I can excuse certain things about it, but nope, I can't. Okay, then, pretend it's NOT John Foxx and see if I can still enjoy it. Sorry, I just don't! I never have a need or desire to go back and play it, whereas in the right mood even some of the thinner, weaker material he's done with Louis Gordon can call to me and have its appeal. I don't think I need to have IMW in my collection except in the interests of being a completist (and I'm trying to move away from that compulsion -- I've got too many CDs I don't listen to!).

Having said that, I suppose that after everyone gets their paws on their preordered copies of the double IMW I will weigh the comments everyone here makes about the bonus tracks. Maybe later I will change my mind and order a copy of the double set just for them. But it will take a lot to convince me . . . :rolleyes:

Sorry to pull you up on a word Martin but perhaps "early" is misleading, no doubt it is earlier than Metamatic 2007 but maybe just maybe To Be With You "2008" is itself reassembled?? And To Be With You was presumably recorded at least in some form or other for the original Metamatic.

I am also looking forward very much to this special edition of "In Mysterious Ways" - the only track I could never get into was/is "This Side of Paradise", each of the other tracks has its merits, and (for me) "Stars On Fire" and "Morning Glory" are as much the essence of John Foxx as "The Garden" or "Metamatic", an essence I would describe as "romantic". I think romantic is a good way to describe Foxx's career, particularly post-Metamatic. I don't just mean one-to-one "lurve", but the romance of cities, of memories, of gardens, and so on.

I used to consider myself a completist, but not really any more. I don't see the point in getting something I'm not so bothered about just for the sake of having it... and with a love of so many artists and other interests, I'd need to buy a separate house just for CDs and DVDs!!

I'm afraid IMW is the one Foxx album I have never had the the urge to buy I have two tracks via Modern Art and two via Assembly and that is enough.

Me too.

I love the song What Kind of Girl. It's my favourite song on the album & also one of my favourite John Foxx songs. When I originally bought the single Stars on Fire, I thought that What Kind of Girl would have been a great single too.

I agree with you.

While we are picking up on phrasing M. Puddel I think you mean neo -romantic?

I have understood why it should be necessary to become irrational to prove that one cared,
nor indeed why it should be necessary to prove it all etc etc

John Foxx refers to a new song he has written called And Of The Sky during an interview for IN THE CITY fanzine around February 1984.
I believe it may also be mentioned in Issue 2 of the Service which was published around the same time.

This is (presumably) the song that is to appear on the new IMW release.

I would have to put this album back on my shelf, and possibly along with Shifting City, and admittedly both have one or two tracks I really like on them, but “I never have a need or desire” to go back and play any tracks on IMW.


For me, one became unexpectedly the end of a period of listening to John’s music, and the other is even more unexpectedly the beginning of a period of eventually returning to his music. There was a gap of space and time in-between, and both of these albums are at the edge of that crushing wormhole through time that connects the two places.


As for IMW, I haven’t played it since 85, ignored the previous CD release, and felt no need to have access to a copy to listen to, (still have the original vinyl).


That said, there are two tracks I really do like on the album, ‘Stars On Fire’ and ‘What Kind Of A Girl’ these hint at an intriguing avenue of arty pop that John should possibly have explored more, with their fairytale quality, and Wurlitzer organ sounding synths. ‘Enter The Angel’ and ‘In Mysterious Ways’ would also have been more unique if they’d had that quality in the production about them as well.


‘Morning Glory’ just bores me, ‘Enter The Angel II’ feels like it’s leading to a huge climax… then nothing! and the chorus of ‘This Side Of Paradise’ spoils an otherwise good song


Tracks I never want to hear again: ‘Stepping Softly’ the worst track on the album, (country and western, or retired people sitting in a pub around a blazing fire?), this followed by ‘Lose All Sense Of Time’, groan, and ‘Shine On’, nope, it pains me to hear 30 seconds of these now on itunes as I type this!

Seriously though, I have a huge respect for John’s art and the exciting directions he can often take, but the production of these IMW tracks was never going to work for me as a fan at the time. These tracks don’t make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I hear the opening notes, not like the power of so much, much else of his work, with that idiosyncratic John Foxx effect.


That said, I’m looking forward to checking out ‘And The Sky’ and ‘Magic’ on CD2, and the alternate versions of other tracks. I will not be playing CD1, with the exception of ‘Spin Away’

For me and, by the sound of it,many others this was John's most disappointing of his four Virgin albums and maybe of his whole career. There are a number of good songs let down by very lacklustre arrangements.The album lacks an overall feel and direction.We have electropop,mid 80s Simple Minds style rock and Van Morrison esque songs.Nevertheless I will buy this again for the rarities.

I have to say I think you are missing the point of 'Spin Away' especially if you play it on its own out of context. The whole reason for including it in place of This Side of Paradise is because it fits in better with the surrounding material.

I read in a post from Steve somewhere that the idea behind these extra discs is to make whole albums that flow as one piece of material, and the tracklisting has been carefully arranged to achieve this...

He's done more than one less interesting/safer albums since

Yes, that is certainly true. However, the less interesting/safer recordings he's made with Louis Gordon seem to me like uncompleted, rough demos instead of glossy, over-embellished final product, so maybe I'm a wee bit more forgiving of them because of their lack of fussiness. Even if I don't like them particularly well they still work on an acceptable background-noise, buzzing-in-the-ears kind of way for me and I can sort of tune them out, whereas "IMW" actively annoys the daylights out of me and makes me want to jump from my chair and throw it across the room!

Just so you know, the remastered album is now available for pre-order on Amazon...

John Foxx - In Mysterious Ways 2008 Edition

I really liked IMW at the time it was released and still think that there are some really good tracks on it. The only ones I didn't care for were Shine on and Stepping softly. It is a shame that Hanging in the air wasn't on the second disc as I really enjoy this track. And on that subject, it would be great for all the radio1 and 2 sessions to be given a proper release.

I'm amazed that quite a lot of people dislike IMW for me it is one of John's best albums, superb songs and production. A well crafted album. For me it is difficult to split "Metamatic" and "IMW" as my favourite John Foxx album.

Gary
Gary hunter Myspace Page

I definitely recall a review at the time which was either in the NME, or Sounds, I really can’t remember which one, but I know I read it, as did a friend of mine who lived in Leicester, and from memory, the review said that:
"John Foxx’s career had been on ‘pause’ since Systems Of Romance, until now finally with his new album, In Mysterious Ways",

As you can imagine for me this was either impossible to really believe, or the most fantastic news ever.
Was the reviewer living on an island from ’78 to ’85, or what?
No mention of Metamatic, The Garden, or GS? had John really come up with the greatest album of his career at that point.

At the time of that review I already had the ‘Stars On Fire’ single, which I really liked, giddy, dizzy, and uplifting with its own kind of melodic elegance, it really fitted where I was living at the time, in Blackpool, with the piers and amusements, arcade noises and lights, (although I soon moved to Sheffield just after IMW’s release), and I’ve always associated John’s music with the environment I’m living in.

After that review, my friend and I each bought a copy on the day it was available, (he had the Garden in his album collection).
He wrote me a letter, as he was so flaming mad about wasting his money on IMW, this terrible album, and blamed me for persuading him to do so. Well, he must have been very disappointed, as we’ve never spoken since for over 20 years!

Okay, I exaggerate, we’ve never spoken for other reasons, I’d never say IMW was that bad! but If all the other tracks I really disliked on IMW had instead followed the beautiful waltzing path of Stars On Fire, and What Kind Of A Girl, then I’d probably still be raving now about this album.


It only goes to show the Jekyll and Hyde directions that Johns music ultimately took between ’80 and ’85, but its definitely credit at least to his willingness to push and pull his art inside and out, and it makes me wonder just how long he will continue to stay with Louis in his present electro mode.


…no, no, No!, I cant do it, don’t make me… not all of CD1, please, maybe a few tracks, the ones I do like… its never normally this difficult being a JF fan

I was planning to listen to the three re-masters in succession but curiosity got the better of me…

So, Spin Away then. I can hear the reason Foxx never included this on the original and subsequent edition of In Mysterious Ways. On the previous editions of In Mysterious Ways you could hear the subtle influence of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks and you could sit and wonder if he’d heard Nick Drake as well. Spin Away dispels these myths in an instant – it’s just Van Morrison. Spin Away is In Mysterious Ways coming out of the closet, sitting both parents down and telling them that it is a Van Man, it has known for some time that it is a Van Man and now it feels liberated and after all, honesty is the best policy. So honest in its liberated pride for Van Morrison it shouts it in glorious splendour in letters so tall, so neon saying; ‘I LOVE VAN MORRISON! HE’S GREAT!’ it makes the Hollywood letters gouged into a hillside look like subtle camouflage.

But this works for In Mysterious Ways which always wanted to be a gloriously loud / pondering acoustic thing anyway, and now that the ‘Miami Vice’ track has rolled up its jacket sleeves, adjusted its mirror shades, got in its speedboat and darted off across the horizon to the bonus disc, In Mysterious Ways feels all the better for it. The album has a centre now, which it didn’t before - Spin Away is that centre it’s glorious splendour is now echoed later on with Morning Glory which you realise has taken some of the motifs of Spin Away for its more subtle, reflective closer. All the clunky DX7 madness is still present but In Mysterious Ways feels better adjusted now that Crockett and Tubbs aren’t there to break its Astral projection.

There’s a whole train of thought somewhere on the bonus disc, which luckily Foxx never saw through. There was a slew of bands in the 80s that wore chunky knitwear, stared hard into the rain from mountaintops and thought, really deep thoughts to epic guitars; Ultravox were guilty as charged of this as were Big Country, Simple Minds and, god help us, Then Jericho. Foxx could almost of been accused of this crime too if Enter The Angel (Alternate), And The Sky, City of Light, Hiding in Plain Sight and Shine On (Alternate is anything to go by.

Magic however, is a whole other world – where the expression ‘WTF!?’ was never more appropriate. Magic is that lite-funk thing that Level 42 peddled so well and Numan did so badly – it sounds like an out-take from Berserker. What possessed these men to do this? Why god why!? The version of To Be With You is totally at odds with everything on the bonus disc – it sounds like a mid 80s synth-pop song, just a lot darker.

After the ‘chunky knitwear, stared hard into the rain from mountaintops and thought, really deep thoughts to epic guitars’ mini-album you get the 60s pop of City of Light and the ambience of Lumen De Lumine.

Back to the main event though – I gave the out and proud In Mysterious Ways another spin and forgave the DX7s and just smiled - In Mysterious Ways feels stupidly, happily glorious now. It’s still In Mysterious Ways but it’s very happy being In Mysterious Ways and why shouldn’t it.

Wow - nicely written Garry!! Thanks for sharing.
I am so not familiar with Van Morrison and I've never really had an inclination to 'go there'...

If a record makes you smile, it can only be a good thing.
I'm looking forward to this experience more than ever now.

And maybe I might put something together meself in advance of Cargo. Haven't written a decent review for aaaages.

Just got four new albums to play a handful of times each this week - but this one will have the highest priority as its my favourite

But, Martin, as Garry's WONDERFUL review makes clear, if you love "IMW" (which you've said you do) you have already kind of "gone Van" -- with John Foxx as your tour guide!

I've previously said that a handful of tracks on "IMW" proper sound too much like John Foxx was attempting (not that subtly) to rewrite Van Morrison. It occurs to me now that maybe I dislike "IMW" more than John Foxx's rewrites of the psychedelic-era Beatles ("TGS") because, well, I really love some of Van Morrison's early solo works ("Astral Weeks," "Moondance"). Since I don't really care for the Beatles maybe I'm less annoyed by John Foxx's repeated attempts to tailor-make a new "Tomorrow Never Knows," which I don't particularly care for so don't feel protective of. Just a thought.

Still, Garry, your review was so delightful that I'm almost sorry I passed on the reissued "IMW." Now I want to listen to disc 2 with your words in mind -- and maybe track down those photos of John Foxx in chunky knitwear glowering in the studio (he must have been too busy to take a holiday at the cliffs)!

Arrgh, the agony!

no, it's not me commenting on listening to IMW


I am so desperate to read your thoughts on it, which look very interesting, and those of anyone else who post's their opinion, but I can't read it yet until I've listened to it myself, and that's gonna have to wait till the weekend probably.

And I realise that's a bit rich as I've already posted my own thoughts about TGS for anyone to read, who might also still be waiting to have their own listen about that one first.

I'm really curious about hearing IMW 'cold' and seeing what effect it has on me now after all these years

You almost make me wanna buy it!

That really does help to explain why so many Foxx fans don't "get" IMW; with this album John discarded his previous influences and went "acoustic", and in doing so alienated so many of the fans who'd been with him since Metamatic.

I didn't discover the likes of Van Morrison and Nick Drake until the late 1980s, and only heard the actual track "Astral Weeks" earlier this year. I remember back in 1985 being terribly disappointed with "Morning Glory" closing the album, as previously the best track on John's albums was always the closer. But here it was....what - just two chords repeated over and over with lyrics that sounded like John was making it up as he went along??????

In many ways, IMW is the sort of "mature" album you don't appreciate till you're in your thirties yourself and realise there's a whole load of genres of music that exist outside the charts and the radio stations. Obviously the DX7 digital synth sounds and electronic drums make much of it sound dated, but the quality of the songs is as good as anything John has done before or since.

thanks garry, amazing review!

Thats a bit of an epic review there Garry!!

Last one i remember was oddly enough, 'IMW' too.

Was it?

Now there's A Funny Thing.
I'm sure I've written others since but now I wonder if perhaps they weren't all for... *coughs apologetically*... albums and gigs by other artists

Mind you, following Garry's super effort might be quite a challenge

Aw shucks!

Cheers guys and girls!

I just thought it was worth saying/rambling/ranting because Spin Away really does make a fundamental difference to the album. It adds to the 'Splendour and wonder of Love' arc (or whatever you want to call it) that the album is built on, which This Side of Paradise interrupted.

Its the last one M and i remembered, and i think it even featured at copyright Birdsong sign.

Yesterday afternoon I was walking around town and it threatened to rain again so I sat inside St Giles Cathedral, (how very apt), and for almost an hour I listened to CD1, which is of course the original album set of IMW, all of it, yes all 10 tracks, including Spin Away, and some of those tracks I have not heard in their entirety since I last listened fully in ’86.


In Mysterious Ways, why John, why?


Why John in ’85 did you sneak this relationship wrecking ‘confessional’ up on me? Did I ever abandon you, even in ’83 when you altered course yet again, I still stayed for the ride, and I trusted you at the wheel …

In 1980 you changed my life with your blunt but strangely soothing words of ‘cenotaph’ ‘sunlit concrete’ ‘echo paths’ and ‘reservoir’, and I wanted to ‘drive by 1958’ and experience whatever mystery it pertained to.

Then In ’81 you unexpectedly brought me even more beauty in the drama of endless skies and sweeping landscapes, and you made me want to ‘burn away in light and silver’ and live forever in your modernist, metaphorical vision of perfection.


But in ’85, I think you forgot that I was out there, your admiring fan, as I waited expectantly each year for your return. You had grown rapidly as an artistic adventurer, fighting your way over a fantastic landscape of musical discovery, and by then you were probably a King, living safely in a Palace of creative possibilities, no doubt with life’s rich rewards, and you no longer had any need of my love


With a little help from itunes, and In the word’s of Van ‘the Man’ Morrison, (the Obi Wan Kenobi to your Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader on IMW), and taken from Van’s 1991 ‘Hymns to the Silence’ CD, where all the song titles there seem so fitting to what I need to say, after 23 years, John, still today with IMW, “I’m not feeling it anymore”.

I wanted electro, but you gave me Celtic soul, maybe you felt in your life “Some peace of mind” inside, but you just left me feeling cold, and outside.
Why with this album did your perfect pattern’s of keyboard’s, drum machines, and cut and paste lyrics have to become “So complicated” in attitude for me, and you probably thought that you were being so simple, so pure in your self expression. Surely you knew that "I can't stop loving you" , I bought all your previous albums, so you must have known, but you left me feeling like the “Village idiot” amongst the friends with whom I would always champion you, from Metamatic onwards, and yes, also through the Golden Section.


I twisted someone’s arm to drive me to another town to see you in ’83, wildly exclaiming that it would be all ‘neon lights and moody sounds’, but half-way through the Golden Section gig she turned to me and said “it’s all a bit ‘boy next door’ isn’t it?” I hid my embarrassment, for you were my hero. I looked away as “my voice just tumbled on a long delay”, and as you probably continued to sing “Endlessly, endlessly…” I probably blocked out my friends comment’s with visions of “skyscraper shadows on a carcrash overpass” chasing through my head.
“Why must I always explain?” your genius to those who have never felt your music make their heart race, or their mind spin in awe, like I have


Will listening to CD2 of the IMW 2008 remaster make me want to let you “Take me back” to that place where we parted in ’85? (for such a long time, and seemingly forever), or will I still find more “Hymns to the silence” that was left after you faded away out of my life, when you chose not to sing anymore for me the beautiful and strange song’s I’d loved you for.

When you rescued me from my teenage misery in 1980, you spoke to my soul, from out of nowhere I heard you singing on a radio for the first time, “Click-click drone, Click-click drone, Click-click…”

Oooh - thanks for the reminder. I quite forgot! :p
*heads off to apply same to Glimmer review *

You missed the one I wrote in May for Laurie Anderson ... :p

Core-memory. Brilliant!!
I haven't revisited this yet - I'm still wandering around in The Garden

Ohhh!!, that was brave Martin. Ready to face the extended tigers yet?

Finally got around to listening to this.

I waited all these years for this only to find that I cant say its my cup of tea at first ever listening.

What I have found though is that CD2 appeals to me more than the Album itself.

I will have to give it all a few more listens though.

There are a few tracks on CD1 I like but not many.

Brian

For me the best thing about this remaster, is in fact the re-order of the album tracklist. Its not that ive never liked the album, but it is even better this time round. Need to listen to cd2 a few more times though. This was the remaster least looked forward too of the three, but so far its all great. Roll on 'Shifting City etc.

I think, for me, the thing with "In Mysterious Ways" is, that back when it was released and for some years after (I didn't hear it until about 1988, I don't think),
it was just a prime example of post-punk new-wave analogue-synth-based music totally losing the plot.
Admittedly, John did so more tastefully and gracefully than many of his contemporaries. But much of this record still completely sucks.
I don't know what was to blame - digital synths recording and "advances" in technology? Cocaine? Thatcher? Utter cluelessness? But it was hell!

However, I can listen back now with a certain equanimity, because we know now that John survived and got it together again and has returned making Good Stuff again.
I just enjoy the bits that work (for me: Morning Glory, and the goofy lovesickness of Stars on Fire), and just chortle/wince at the naff bits. But I don't feel threatened or depressed by them any more - they're in the past and we beat them!

Did you mean this image? which I completely chanced upon in the ‘Still can’t get over this’ thread whilst randomly perusing the Metamatic site late last night:




Fantastic review RadioBeach, I read it only after I’d listened ‘cold’ to CD1, (and before I’d played CD2), and I really agree with your extremely funny reading of IMW, spot on, I hope more members are also inspired to post their thought’s on the ‘majesty’, or otherwise of IMW
You sure said it well when it comes to Spin Away, and there’s more that I want to post regarding CD1, but over the last couple of days I’ve been giving CD2 a workout, admittedly I’ve heard a couple of these tracks before, albeit a long time ago, though nothing could have prepared me for this:


On the subject of 'Magic' and that interestingly patterned jumper above, maybe John was auditioning for a part in the 'still yet to be written' Harry Potter series of films...


CD2, IMW:

This really does feel like an uneven bag, certainly not a cohesive album in any sense I think, but still an interesting experience, with one or two things here I really liked. First off, I need to ask a stupid question, as it may have been posted onsite already, but is ‘Hiding in plain sight’, actually ‘Stairway’, from the ‘Enter the angel’ single?

I love ‘HIPS’ it’s my favourite track on side two (and that’s not difficult to choose from ). Okay, I know that both it, and ‘And the sky’ are clearly sub Simple Minds, and most likely inspired by the fantastic New Gold Dream album, also I can clearly see Jim singing “waterfront” repeatedly in my mind when I hear John singing “someone, someone, shine’s on”, and also Jim's: “someone, somewhere, in summertime” on the alternative version 'Shine On'.
I think really that I’d rather settle for this Celtic guitar thrash, to John’s appropriation of Celtic jazz soul and the synthesized gloss on some of the CD1 tracks.



‘City of light’ is Bowie meets the B52’s, all very silly and in the words of Bill Nelson, “disposable”.
‘Lumen de lumine’ was always a bit turgid, but John has far reversed that atmosphere since with many of his beautiful and uplifting CO tracks.

Although I’m glad that the female vocal is missing from ‘Enter the Angel’ alternative version, (I never liked that woman’s shouting), even I have to hold my hands up in horror and say that the heart has been ripped out of the angel on this one.

‘To be with you’ is a bit plodding, there’s a sweet organ and drumming on it, reminiscent of ‘Star’s’ or ‘What kind of girl’ just a shame its wasted here.

And as for ‘Magic’? …no, I Really don’t think so

Are you aware that this is in fact the voice of the very wonderful Eddi Reader?

No. I'd completely forgotten the singers name, and just doing a bit of looking I see that she won a Brit award in '94, Best Female Singer. Fairground' was never 'my pint of lager', well, being a Glaswegian myself by birth I hope she'll forgive me for my choice of adjective , but I still don't like her vocal on the Angel

Cheers for the kind comments Core Memory,

I’ve been listening to it more than the other re-masters! Strange how things turn out eh?

Some time around the JuJu album in ’81, Siouxsie and the Banshees were asked to fill out a questionnaire. When asked the question What happens when you fall in love ?, Sioux simply replied “I go blind and walk into walls”.

In Mysterious Ways is The Love Album – and you should only listen to it if you’re prepared to open its door and accept it unconditionally for what it is.

In Mysterious Ways is the soundtrack of someone going blind and walking into walls. There’s little or no point now tuning in and saying “That Simmons pad sounds well iffy”. You might as well of asked Picasso “Go on Pabs – a little splash of colour here or there will bring it out nicely “whilst he was working on Guernica.

In Mysterious Ways is a place you have to go and stay in for awhile and let all its wonders and woes just wash over you.

When Stars on Fire goes supernova, make sure you have a big, widescreen grin on your face – after that, 100% blissful satisfaction is guaranteed.

C'mon everyone, on 3;

1-2-3 ALL THE STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARS!

were on fire

Yes! This is a strange one for me also, IMW has now become of great interest to me, it was the ‘one’ I tried hard to get into for some time back in the day. In 'some mysterious way' it’s now John’s most intriguing album for me, like discovering that your best friend had a secret affair all those years ago, and you never even noticed

I wouldn’t lie and say that I’ve been revisiting All of the CD1 remaster post my ‘cathedral’ experience, since meeting with it after 23 years last week, but one thing in particular has very much hooked me.
I’m inspired to say more about original IMW, but time, and that thing called work, are conspiring to snatch me away from my favourite pastime right now of languishing in Foxx world

And here revealed is the heart of IMW

SUPERBLY put.

Incredibly enough, I still haven't played this yet!

It remains for me definitely that - John's most interesting and least understood album. Furthest from the mainstream of his output, the worst-selling and oft-dismissed of them all - which I personally find irresistible.
Core, your review is exceptional, because you asked Why? That's the key to it - why indeed? What is it all about - and how comes its all so, well, so - different?

It offers more to me every time I hear it and draws me in despite myself. I love it, and feel really encouraged that (at least some) others are now giving it another) chance.

I agree very much with the arguments that IMW demonstrates John losing himself in love. But I also think it is singular in revealing his creative heart being torn in two. On the one side there's the pull of what he instinctively wants to do (and despite Cupid's arrow the lyrics are still uniquely Foxxian) and on the other there are the nagging concerns of men in red braces luring him from this side of paradise. The result is an awkward compromise which the substitution of 'Spin Away' attempts to redress a little.

IMW nonplussed me when it first came out, but it gradually grew on me. It's a strange and flawed creature, but I'm also glad it's receiving a reappraisal in a new kind of light.

Perhaps IMW should now, and forever more, be refered to as John's 'Marmite' album
Cheers

Impression 1 (extra tracks only):

WOW! "Magic" will need a couple more plays but is certainly interesting. The alternate "Shine On" is far superior to the LP version, as is "To Be With You" compared to the Metamatic version. "Spin Away" is just gorgeous.

Well its a strange kind of marmite album for me. Ive never disliked it, but ive always thought of it as John's least classic of the early four. This time round i like it even more. It has a lot to do with the new tracklist and flow, but maybe its also knowing its the definitive version with all the extra (commercially) available tracks included. Could that help in liking an album.....i think it has for me.

Aaaaaagggggghhhhhh!!! I don't like to feel left out!

I'm delighted finally to have received the remastered The Garden and The Golden Section in today's post, but I've enjoyed reading the reviews/reassessments of In Mysterious Ways so much that even though I wasn't going to cave in, I have just broken down and ordered IMW after all!

Well, after my first 'complete' hearing of IMW the original suite, since '86, I was soooooo glad to get out of the Cathedral where I had sat listening to it for an hour, and out into the fresh air, and ironically, I left because the organist appeared and started playing

But...
I've been thinking a lot more since about what IMW means for me now in the overall scheme of things, a lot more...

make sure you don't hit anybody with it if you throw it again this time...

Cheers for your reviews Gary.

Actually I'm playing it today & its started to melt my cold dark heart

Give it a few more plays & I'll be there.

I dont think you will be disappointed by it. For me the album is better now than at any time previously. I will be in the same position in a few months time, to buy or not to buy.....Ultravox - 'U-Vox'.

I promise to try very hard to exercise restraint if the old urge threatens to get the best of me!

While I'm still not keen on the album itself, I am quite enjoying "Magic" (all a bit Duran Duran) and the different version of "To Be With You" - this is almost a different song to the one we heard on Metamatic last year. "And the Sky" reminded me of something Bowie would have churned out around the same time.

"Spin Away" is too cheesy 80s for me I'm afraid!

Have to agree with your thought on the D.D. similarity Alex S, (which for me is probably why it’s a no, no).

Sometimes when I used to hear the word ‘Magic’ I would instantly think of magician Paul Daniels going: "You'll like this. Not a lot, but you'll like it…”

Now after my encounter with remastered IMW, when I hear that word I keep getting an image of John going: "Magieek, Magieek, Wah Haaaaa..." “HURGH!”

..."It's a kind of magic"...


*snickers*


:p

If only…

and after Alex S posting this morning, I just can’t get it out of my head now, it’s torturously catchy! Damn you God’s of Synth-Funk, "Wah Haaaaa..."

Actually I just realised that John's vocal on "Magic" is quite Peter Gabriel-esque!

These three tracks certainly didn't fit in with the rest of the album - maybe this was the kind of direction John's music almost headed off into...

Interesting. Its about the same for me, but then ive been listening to Peter since '78 so i tend to hear him in lots of artist works.

I've been listening to Peter since 1993, but rarely hear his influence. John's vocal can be quite similar at times, but I think that's purely coincidence.

I've often wondered if John is a fan of Gabriel. Both pioneers in their own ways.

I don't know which among us are the most serious 'collectors' but there is a copy of the 1985 original cassette release of this on eBay at the moment

And off topic but relevant, the same seller has similar for Metamatic and The Garden

I'm not entirely sold on some of the new IMW bonus tracks; they sound a bit too much like they were meant to be used as background music on Miami Vice or something (the same could be said for City of Light). There's less John Foxxness to them than there is to IMW itself, which sounds more glorious every time I listen to it. I don't think I'll have a hard time getting used to having Spin Away instead of This Side of Paradise.

But damn, I still love Enter the Angel (Eddi Reader's backing vocals teeter on the brink of OTT but don't make it over, thankfully, instead just making the song that much more ecstatic), and Enter the Angel II, and In Mysterious Ways, and Morning Glory. This is the upside to not caring much for IMW when it first came out: I didn't listen to it nearly as often as I did the other albums, so there's a kind of freshness to IMW.

Reading some of the comments here, I was keen to hear the album again so I dug out my vinyl version (my only version) and sat and listened through. I dismissed the album when it came out as it wasn't challenging enough. After the mould breaking "Metamatic" and the incredibly fresh "The Garden", IMW sounded too "pop" to be the artist that I really admired.

And then I grew up!

So now, 20 odd years onwards, I could hear the songs in a very fresh light. It isn't ground breaking, but it is good solid music. Moreover, I was spellbound by the lyrics, and my mind started trying to understand his state of mind when he wrote them. I am convinced that he was in love at the time (entered or just entering a new relationship) or perhaps he had just become a father? I can't guess which, and I know nothing of his personal life to back that up. Anyway, the point being, that I have NOW had these experiences in my own past and can relate to the messages in the songs now. When the album first came out I was still in my first relationship (lovely girl - left me for a spikey haired goth though!) and still learning about life. As such, I had trouble relating to the maturity of the music.

So, now I know why I didn't like it then and why I will order the CD now!

I wonder if Gabriel is a fan of John!! :p

And you will 'get it' even more now that the almost train-of-thought romantic joy of 'Spin Away' has replaced the slightly lumpen 'This Side Of Paradise'.

I find theres three reasons why i like 'IMW' more than i did in '85. Firstly its the new tracklist, then theres the bonus of it being remastered and the extra tracks. But i think age also has something to do with it now. I dont feel like every album from John, Numan, or Ultravox (please ), has to have synths dominating always.

Still not sure I am going to get this one. Must admit it is my least favorite of Foxx's.

You will.

As with most people posting here this is my least favourite JF solo album.

Listening to the remaster though, I feel it has an overlooked charm that I couldn't hear before. It's dated and soppy, but it's still better than a lot of what was around at that time.

A huge quality drop after the truly magnificent The Golden Section, but I'm glad I bought it again.

On Saturday a friend dragged me to the cinema to see "W." There were some good performances and a handful of well-drawn scenes, and the film was never less than competently made, but I wasn’t impressed by it. Although he clearly had made an effort to rein in his tendency toward hysterical conspiracy theories, Oliver Stone seemed to want to present the material as if it were a family drama of Shakespearean dimensions. As a result, the film frequently teetered on the brink of caricature, and yet it left me actually a bit bored overall. My friend is even more left-wing than I am, but he felt that the film’s attempts to explain what drives President Bush served to make him more sympathetic and to humanize him. That’s all very well and good, but does humanizing him excuse the fundamental wrongness of his administration? I don’t think so.

What does this have to do with John Foxx, you may be asking. Well, the other thing I did this weekend was listen – a lot – to the remastered In Mysterious Ways. My perspective on many things has changed with time and maturity, and I'm not afraid to admit when I've made mistakes or demonstrated poor judgment. I have tried to be very objective in my assessment of IMW, and I would like to think I gave it more than a fair shot. I understand where it fits in the greater scheme of John Foxx's career. I think I understand what motivated him to record it and perhaps why he made some of the choices he made in the recording of it. I acknowledge the human aspect of it. But, well, even taking all that into consideration, I still think the end result is just wrong.

To suggest that a listener can’t fully appreciate IMW because he or she has never felt the emotions that drove John Foxx to write the songs on it is unfair. I have been in love and I have been happy – it’s not all whiskey and Tindersticks round my house, you know! The starry-eyed lovesick sentiments aren't what bother me. The limited vocabulary of the lyrics doesn't bother me. The arrangements, however, do! I love Van Morrison and I’m thrilled John Foxx does too, but karaoke versions are best left to teenagers down at the local. Eddi Reader has done some wonderful work in her career, but I do not count her contributions to IMW as being among it. The backing vocals in particular date this album badly.

When you put it in the context of the times IMW was easily John Foxx’s most consumer-friendly record (whether intentionally or by accident) and it’s still kind of amazing to me that it didn’t catch on bigger, because it wasn’t any worse than a lot of stuff that was popular. However, as I didn’t enjoy "Miami Vice" and John Hughes's teen films back then, I don’t look back on them with affectionate nostalgia now. Similarly, I didn’t like the sound of this particular brand of mainstream alterna-pop when it was huge (Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, Big Country, late-period Simple Minds), and I still don’t look on it fondly it now. It’s just never been my cup of tea and I don’t think it ever will be, and John Foxx’s approximation of it was not likely to change that opinion no matter how much good will I extend toward his efforts. Having relistened multiple times to IMW I find I am continually frustrated by the kernels I hear of promising material in several of the songs that then, for the most part, go all gloppy and bombastic and cringe-worthy.

However, on a positive note, I acknowledge that the sound on the remastered Disc 1 is vastly improved and the balance is much better than on the previous CD. The change in tracking does help tremendously, because the songs that sound so much alike have been separated. And it’s always nice to hear John Foxx throwing himself wholeheartedly into his vocals, because he really can sing (even though he seemingly prefers not to do so).

As for Disc 2, well . . . um . . . I don’t think I can add anything to what’s already been written about it! I expect I could go to my grave quite happily without having to listen to the likes of some of those bonus tracks again. Yikes!

I'm not sorry I caved in and bought it, but I suspect IMW will continue to be my least favourite among John Foxx's many recordings. I really liked the following comments originally posted by feline1:
And perhaps that may be the best explanation for why, although I am still not won over by this album, I am pleased to report that no discs have gone flying across my room . . .

Ah, but not unfair if the context is about oneself.

In writing that sentence (if that is your reference point), I was leading up to the fact that I was just too immature to hear the emotions in the song, and thus were wasted on me. If they hit the right chords (lyrically) with others (whatever age) then I accept that! I am also fascinated by what drives people to write specific lyrics, hence my focus on that point.

Thanks K.

I guess one can consider me a purist in the sense that I do not believe any John Foxx (or Gary Numan for that matter) cd should have any female backing vocals at all.

I kind of liked some of Numan's mid-80s albums with female backing vocals, because it was a pleasant change to hear someone who could actually sing on one of his records. And I say that as someone who owns a dozen or so of his albums.

For that matter, I remember being absolutely horrified when I finally heard "Brother and Sister" by Midge Ure and Kate Bush. I thought Midge was just fine as a singer, and I've loved Kate Bush for thirty years or so now, but I'll be damned if that isn't utterly unlistenable.

And yet I'm okay with Eddi's vocals. Maybe because I thought John's own backing vocals on parts of TGS were a bit much....

To be With You

This song (which I perhaps dubbed an 'early' version in the IMW re-master thread. I stand by that. ) is a revelation. Who dared to suggest it 'plods'? I found it uplifting, emotional, challenging, refreshing, awakening, different - all kinds of things.

I'd could go on, but I need to gather my thoughts first and try to make some coherent sense.

At the moment I am struggling to find ANY similarities between this and the version on Metamatic. The lyrics are as different as the music, the structure, the mood - its a different song altogether!!

It has always fascinated me to watch John's material evolve (even individual tracks - He's A Liquid, for example) but I'm curious as to how something like this can be re-written so drastically and yet keep its title?? Did he just 'forget'...?

Eno once said "The trouble with people, especially people who write, is that they always assume the meaning of a song is contained in its lyric" (or something similar). I'm guilty of this. There seems to be a fundamental change of meaning here tho regardless of the lyric. So why the same title?

The same could be said, for instance, of 'X-Ray Vision'. Are there many other examples of artists that do this??

Be warned - I am an even bigger fan of IMW now than I was before.

Disc 2 is just amazing. Bursting with ideas and power and, and... It just works SO well. I will concede that 'Magic' is - unusual - (I'll come back to that...) but the alternative versions of 'Enter The Angel' and 'Shine On' in particular are a triumph.

I said recently that while TGS was John's best shot at a commercial sound and Virgin's last stand with funding, by the time it came to IMW both artist and label threw their arms in the and said "F*ck it then - do what you like!".
The result was In Mysterious Ways.

So we can expect some long reviews for a change then.

Never 'expect' anything. Therein lies the path to disappointment :p

Your short reviews were not that bad.

How did i know you would notice that M.

I wouldn’t say that I’m horrified when I hear Eddi on Enter the Angel, but after several play’s I do get a bit bored hearing her at the end and find it just a tad unlistenable and I really want her to finish a bit sooner, so please John, if you’ve considered it at all, no future encore’s with this song, particularly if you are going to make poor Louis approximate Eddi’s part, no man should suffer that indignity

I’m very firmly in that camp, as I feel it goes against the grain of the landscape they’ve mapped out on so much of their work. If the female voice is there as a texture that’s one thing, but if any other voice is there just as a backing singer then I start to question what I’m hearing as that voice sometimes starts to feel out of place running alongside the real voice of the artist, and all respect to Louis, but I’ve often felt the same with his vocal presence if it starts to register too much with me.

When you compare the earlier version of Angel on CD2 to the released version on CD1 then I can completely accept that the song really needed something to lift it up ‘into the heavens’, but why did John not attempt to expand his Human Host choral effects with his own voice or her's rather than just get Sadenia to belt out those vocals. I don’t think there’s anything esoteric about her voice at all on the song, she’s strong and enthusiastic but it’s all too ordinary for me within the context of a Foxx work, I guess maybe Liz Fraser didn’t answer John ‘s phone call at the time, too busy working on Treasure I suppose!


Edit:

I think I said that

It’s head over heel’s better that the Metamatic Remaster version, no argument there. I still stand by what I feel about it, and those adjectives don’t spring to mind for me at all It’s interesting enougth and listenable, just feels stretched out a bit thinly for my ears.

Love the organ and the drumming, okay lyrics too, and it’s one of the track’s I like to hear on CD2.
It would have been a plus point for me if it had been on the original album release instead of Stepping Softly, which I still wish had jumped on it’s pony and ridden out of town…

With this track it isnt their voices, which are both fine, but the actual song itself. Maybe it is the silly lyrics. Definitely not my favorite track though.

I wouldn't say I'm completely opposed to backing vocals if they provide sufficient counterpoint. As Steve Roby accurately pointed out in this thread, John Foxx's own background vocals on some of TGS were at least as problematic as Eddi Reader's on IMW. Unless it’s a shoop-shoop call-and-response type of Motown pop chorus or well-blended harmonies, throwing another voice in – whether female or male – just to fill space rarely adds anything but an annoying distraction. Sorry, but I'm afraid that often applies to Louis's voice, too!
Frankly, I don’t think Liz Fraser’s high sweep and airy gloss would have provided an interesting enough counterpoint to John Foxx’s vocals either. If he must have someone sing with him I think he would benefit from someone with a more languid, less urgent voice than his own, and maybe a deeper, huskier range than his, too – there needs to be a good contrast to make it work. Otherwise, why not just stick with the synthesizer?

On giving this more thought, I could be persuaded to do a 360 on this subject.
I think the sole reason I’m opposed to backing vocal’s male or female is down to the fact that the additional voices John has used just do not feel inspiring enough for me, and have stuck out rather than fuse with or enhance the work, but I think you are right in suggesting that John would benefit more from having a counterpoint to him.
Enter the Angel is a track I do like on original IMW, but it’s Eddi's presence on it that prevents me from loving it as much as I’d like to. There is too much of her actually singing along with lines like: “What’s your name…” I don’t mind her going “Ah ah ah…” or “Wah, Haaaaa…” it just adds a texture, however her repeated “Enter, enter the Angel” is more than I need to hear.

John tends to do this sort of thing in gig’s with certain songs: “I remember your face”, “I remember your face” times 10 at the end of Plaza, and of course the "Shifting City Endless-vocally climatic-technicolour festival-extravaganza bonanza bonanza"

The use of a female vocal on Enter the Angel still leaves me feeling undecided if Eddi is there as the actual presence of the Angel itself, or if the dual male and female voices of John and her are representing the androgyny and completeness of an Angelic messenger.

Hmm… ‘Young Man’ has great music, I love the choral part with John towards the end, but maybe he was again just ‘too happy’ here, as one tiny part makes me cringe slightly…


Quote: “Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought”

Aw, don’t you think that ‘Lose all sense of time’ would have fitted very well in Hughes 'Breakfast Club' in the long scenes of the growing bond between the princess, jock, criminal, brain, and basket case

Great review, it’s very fair, and represents very well one side of the divide in the differing perspectives of opinion in the IMW debate.

I’m still pondering it all…

Out of all the extra tracks across the three bonus discs, I have to say I'm enjoying "To Be With You" and "Magic" the most!

Originally Posted by Alex S
You're not suggesting that I should actually go out and buy the album are you?