(RockAndMetal.com) (09/23/04)

Edited By Michael Bennett

LONDON, UK - The Grey Area of Mute Recordings will reissue five albums by influential Dublin, Ireland band VIRGIN PRUNES on October 4th - "A New Form Of Beauty," "...If I Die, I Die," "Heresie," "The Moon Looked Down And Laughed" and "Over The Rainbow."

The albums, all originally released in the 1980s, have been remastered and repackaged with the involvement of frontman/founder Gavin Friday, and include mixes of material available here for the first time.

The reissues represent an overdue opportunity to rediscover the creative power of Virgin Prunes.

The band formed in Dublin in the late 70s, coming out of the infamous Lypton Village scene that also spawned U2.

The band included Friday and fellow Villagers Guggi, Dave-id Busaras Scott (vocals), Strongman (bass), Dik Evans (brother of U2's The Edge; guitar), Mary D'Nellon (drums) and Pod (drums).

"A New Form Of Beauty" sees parts 1 to 4 of a their highly ambitious "A New Form of Beauty" project collated together on CD for the first time.

The series saw Virgin Prunes tackle the tricky concept of the beauty that can be found in being different (in this case both physically and musically), an idea that had informed the initial formation of The Lypton Village.

Available here as a two-disc package, the first CD features the 7-inch, 10-inch and 12-inch releases (parts 1-3), while the second is Part 4 (originally available on cassette), an edited soundtrack to the exhibition which would be Part 5. The final two parts are an unpublished book and an unreleased film.

"...If I Die, I Die," originally released in 1982, features one of the band's best known tracks, 'Baby Turns Blue,' and was produced by Colin Newman of Wire.

While less experimental and perverse than the records that preceded it, the album continued to examine the group's key themes of purity and beauty.

The "...If I Die, I Die" release was not without humor either.

A closer examination of the delicate pop of 'Ballad Of The Man' reveals it to be an enjoyable parody of Bruce Springsteen, while the distinctly post-punk sound of concert favorite 'Walls Of Jericho' contrasted nicely with the longer forms of 'Bau-dachong' and 'Caucasian Walk.'

"Heresie," first released in 1982 on French label L'Invitation Au Suicide, was originally packaged as two 10" singles, with the release being collated onto one CD here.

Part studio recording and part live recording at the Rex Club in Paris, France in June of 1982, the methods employed to create "Heresie" account for much of its unusual atmosphere.

All of the songs were written during the day and recorded in a Dublin studio at night, a process that saw the band go without sleep for 3 days.

On "Heresie," Virgin Prunes offer a counter-point to their dark experimental music by also including 'Down The Memory Lane,' a parody of a traditional Irish sing-a-long that provides a stark contrast to the heavier tones of tracks like 'Rhetoric.'

The band's next album, "The Moon Looked Down And Laughed" (recorded in 1984 and released in 1986), was produced by Soft Cell's Dave Ball and demonstrated that the group had deliberately taken a new musical direction away from the emergent Gothic scene.

Despite a guest appearance by the anarchic Jim Thirwell of Foetus fame, the confrontational aspect of their music had been replaced by a selection of more twisted melodic songs and ballads.

Through their lengthy travels of Europe, Virgin Prunes had been exposed to a whole new range of influences, including the lush romanticism of the classic chanson singers - a style that Gavin Friday in particular was beginning to embrace as part of a wider exploration of "torch songs."

The group's Baby label released "Over the Rainbow" in vinyl LP format in 1985 and in CD format in 1986, a compilation of previously unreleased and rare tracks from the period up to 1983 that demonstrated just how stunningly varied Virgin Prunes material had been.

A track culled from an NME compilation entitled 'Red Nettle' remains an unusual standout, its repetitive sampled chord structures evolving into a seductive and hypnotic piece.

The influence of musical genres as diverse as Industrial, Krautrock, Glam, Experimental, and all points in between can be heard within this double-CD's many moods.

Just as Virgin Prunes had incorporated their myriad musical influences into their individual sound, successive generations of musicians and artists have claimed Virgin Prunes as a huge influence on their own work.

It's an influence that is readily apparent in the attitude, sound, and image of artists including Michael Stipe, Bjork and her earlier work with The Sugarcubes, Billy Corgan, Nine Inch Nails, dancer Michael Clark and Ash's Tim Wheeler, just to name a few.

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