Attack of the Grey Lantern ranks among the 90’s most underappreciated alt-rock classics. Spilling over with cinematic flair, cheeky humor, passion for miles and chugging grit the record makes the most of each emotion that it sets it sights on.
While incredibly British to the core, the album is far from the artsy snooze fest that it could have been. The frenetic “Take It Easy, Chicken” is a punky yet fun charge that is impossible to ignore.
The singe “Wide Open Space” secured the LP some shine at the point of release, and it was the right choice to do so. It mines the perfect middle ground between the aforementioned energetic spark and the deeply rooted drama that drives the gorgeous “Naked Twister.”
Since the art of making complete albums seems to be falling out of favor, Attack of the Grey Lantern may strike younger visitors with a left hook as each song holds its own weight.
By the time the affair winds down with “Dark Mavis” the weight of a true goodbye is felt. The hook’s signature lyrics are pointed and feel like true closure. “In the path of righteous man/There is rubble where I stand/I’ll be the one.”
Mansun mastermind Paul Draper talked to NME at the time of the release of the LPs deluxe edition about the closer’s proper conclusion.
“I always thought the chords and melody movement were really complex on this song and I can only imagine they’ll make a West End musical out of it in the end, which would be a suitable ending to the life of this record, I think.
We added the ‘na, na, na’ outro at the last minute and had a huge choir of Liverpool’s finest scallies turn up to sing the closing refrain of the album. At the very end you can hear them singing ‘Duncan Ferguson’, Everton’s centre forward at the time.”
In the wake of this debut, Mansun continues to press on. However, it was this pure fucking classic that will go down as their opus.
There are several versions of this record that have been released through the years. Regardless of how little or much you start with from the sessions that created this work, there is no shortage of true genius to be found.
