Room of Lights is the debut studio album by Crime & the City Solution, released on October 27, 1986 through Mute Records.

Room of Lights
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 27, 1986
RecordedMarch–September 1986
StudioHansa Tonstudios, Berlin and The Strongroom, London.
GenrePost-punk, punk blues
Length34:03
LabelMute
ProducerTony Cohen, Flood
Crime & the City Solution chronology
Just South of Heaven
(1985)
Room of Lights
(1986)
Shine
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Trouser Pressmixed[2]
Forced Exposurefavorable[3]

Reception

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The album received positive reviews upon release, much like the EPs that preceded it. Byron Coley wrote that the album "touches a dim, forgotten nerve-root lurking deep in the bowel of a mud-wad giant. The pace and instrumentation both seem poured from a jug of arsenic-laced dog-honey and Simon's voice and lyrics strip nude a whole new patch of soul-turf [...] I've heard that there're people who don't like this, but I don't believe it. I can believe people not liking the Doors, but [...]"[3] David Sheridan found the album to feature "a noticeably heavier and thicker sound. With the predominance of slow tempos, Bonney's somewhat unattractive voice and the overly serious lyrics, supplied mostly by violinist Bronwyn Adams, the disc is laboriously endurance-defying. The band seems to be somewhat stunted developmentally; these eight songs are merely variations on previously introduced themes."[2]

"Following on the heels of two successful EPs," writes Amy Hanson, "Crime & the City Solution turned around to record some of their best material for Room of Lights. With violinist Bronwyn Adams added to the camp, the band acted as dynamically jagged counterparts to their peers; the music they now embraced was a rough and ready rock that slotted itself nicely under a gothic canvas – they were and remain post-punk's forgotten kings."[1]

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The band was shown performing the song "Six Bells Chime" on Wim Wenders' 1987 film Wings of Desire.[4]

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Right Man, Wrong Man"Bronwyn Adams, Simon BonneyMick Harvey4:20
2."No Money, No Honey"Bronwyn AdamsMick Harvey3:50
3."Hey Sinkiller"Bronwyn AdamsMick Harvey4:08
4."Six Bells Chime"Bronwyn Adams, Simon BonneyRowland S. Howard5:40
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Adventure"Simon BonneyEpic Soundtracks, Harry Howard3:25
2."Untouchable"Bronwyn Adams, Simon BonneyEpic Soundtracks, Mick Harvey, Harry Howard, Rowland S. Howard5:15
3."The Brother Song"Bronwyn AdamsMick Harvey3:35
4."Her Room of Lights"Simon BonneyRowland S. Howard3:50

Personnel

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Crime & the City Solution
Production and additional personnel

Charts

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Chart (1986) Peak
position
UK Indie Chart[5] 14

References

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  1. ^ a b Hanson, Amy. "Room of Lights". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  2. ^ a b "TrouserPress.com :: Crime and the City Solution". www.trouserpress.com.
  3. ^ a b "Outta The Black & Into The Ether // Articles // Forced Exposure #12 – Summer 1987". rowland-s-howard.com.
  4. ^ "Crime & the City Solution releasing 1st new album in 22 years, touring this fall (2012 dates include Brooklyn)". BrooklynVegan.
  5. ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980–1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
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