The Only Ones : Baby's Got a Gun : 1980 (Remaster )

The quality of the songwriting on " Baby's Got a Gun" , while still strong, is near to the level of the first two albums,(Or not?) and significantly, the Only Ones recorded their only cover for this LP ("Fools," a hit for country singer Johnny Duncan, with Perrett dueting quite wonderfully with Pauline Murray of Penetration).

And while Perrett was still singing and writing well, the drug addiction that would haunt him for years was catching up with him during these sessions, and Baby's Got a Gun lacks some of the focus and energy of their earlier work. Baby's Got a Gun is clearly the weakest of the Only Ones' three original albums, but for all its faults there's plenty here that testifies to the band's strengths .

"Why Don't You Kill Yourself," "Strange Mouth," and "The Big Sleep" are splendid songs that show the band still had the goods, and "Trouble in the World" and "The Happy Pilgrim" confirm they could reach for a poppier sound without losing their personality in the process.

The Only Ones broke up a year after Baby's Got a Gun came out, but if it captured the sound of a band in decline, you can barely tell unless you're looking for the seams.

Ironically, it was the posthumous release of the sessions for John Peel's BBC show that, more than any of the proper studio releases, accurately displayed the muscle and smarts of this fine band.

There have been many rumors surrounding Perrett's life after the Only Ones, many of them involving an alleged heroin addiction. Perrett did continue to record and release solo projects during the '80s, including a project known as the One in the mid-'90s.

TRACKS


1. The Happy Pilgrim 2:34
2. Why Don't You Kill Yourself 2:44
3. Me and My Shadow 5:42
4. Deadly Nightshade 3:10
5. Strange Mouth 2:32
6. The Big Sleep 4:58
7. Oh Lucinda (Love Becomes a Habit) 3:10
8. Re-union 2:59
9. Trouble in the World 3:05
10. Castle Built on Sand 1:50
11. Fools 2:25
12. My Way Out of Here

Bonus Tracks

13. Baby's Got A Gun
14. The Big Sleep
15. Your Chosen Life

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Flac Size : 332 MB

The Only Ones : EVEN SERPENTS SHINE 1979

Led by the raffish and slightly scuzzy romance-obsessed Peter Perrett, the Only Ones were one of the punk era's most underrated bands. Not as confrontational as the Sex Pistols, as politically indulgent as the Clash, or as stripped-down as the Ramones, the Only Ones played not-so-fast guitar rock that sounded deeply indebted to the New York Dolls and other mid-'70s proto-punks.

Singing his intelligently crafted pop songs in a semi-tuneful whine of a voice and backed by a band that effectively combined youthful exuberance with gracefully aging veterans (non-punk drummer Mike Kellie had done time with early-'70s clod-rockers Spooky Tooth, bassist Alan Mair was nearly 40), Perrett was an astute chronicler of the vagaries of modern, dysfunctional love.

Despite a career that lasted from 1978-1981 and one certifiable "hit" song to their credit (the brilliant "Another Girl, Another Planet"), the Only Ones became the archetypal contenders that never broke big, despite assurances from fans and critics that they couldn't miss.

Plenty of bands from the first wave of British punk sounded like they had learned a few things from the New York Dolls, but while most latched onto the sloppy crash and bash of Johnny Thunders' guitar, the Only Ones instead seemed more closely drawn to the witty cynicism and trashy romanticism of David Johansen's lyrics, and the Only Ones' tenuous link to the faster-and-louder gang was fading fast by the time they cut their second album, Even Serpents Shine.

While there's plenty of rock & roll on Even Serpents Shine, "Programme" is the only track that seems to approach four-square punk, and with its double-tracked guitar solos, sax overdubs, and backwards tape treatments it didn't have much in common with, say, the Damned or the Adverts.

Elsewhere, Even Serpents Shine more often recalls the heart-on-the-sleeve spirit of Mott the Hoople's glory days, merged with a leaner attack that still made room for John Perry's guitar heroics and Peter Perrett's wobbly but potently effective vocals.

TRACKS

1. From Here to Eternity 3:07
2. Flaming Torch 2:21
3. You've Got to Pay 2:49
4. No Solution 2:27
5. In Betweens 3:57
6. Out There in the Night 3:02
7. Curtains for You 4:18
8. Programme 2:11
9. Someone Who Cares 3:11
10. Miles from Nowhere 3:45
11. Instrumental

Bonus Tracks

12. Special View
13. Oh No
14. This ain't all (It's Made to be)

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Flac Size : 302 MB