Adrian Borland
Encyclopedia
Adrian Borland was an English
singer, songwriter
, guitarist
and record producer
, best
known as the lead singer of post-punk
band The Sound
(1979–87). Following a substantial solo career spanning five albums he succumbed to the symptoms
of schizoid-affective disorder
and committed suicide
in April 1999.
in 1957, the son of Bob and Win Borland,
an English teacher.
At primary school the young Adrian Borland was already friends with future Sound bassist (and Second Layer collaborator)
Graham "Green" Bailey, and would meet Steve Budd, closely involved with his band "The Sound" in their early years, in his early teens. Budd would later recall, "We met when we were both 14. He was the only other kid I knew with an electric guitar.
Even at 14 you could see he was a genius.". His first band,
the Wimbledon
-based punk rock
trio The Outsiders
, was formed with Borland at its nucleus, manning vocals and guitar. Bob Lawrence was on bass
,
and Adrian 'Jan' Janes manned the drums. Their debut LP, Calling On Youth, was self-released on their Raw Edge label, and became the first UK self-released punk
album
and won them their first unfavourable reviews: "apple-cheeked Ade has a complexion that would turn a Devon milkmaid green with envy", reported the NME
.
An EP that November, One To Infinity, was labelled as "Tuneless, gormless, gutless" (again by the NME)
but was praised elsewhere.
It was followed by a second album Close Up in 1979. This received better (but cautious) reviews from the press.
It was after this album that important changes took place that would decide the band's future: Lawrence left to be replaced by Borland's old friend Graham
'Greene' Bailey, and Adrian Janes' departure to go to college
allowed Geoffrey Cummant-Wood (the band's manager), to suggest 28 year-old Mike Dudley in his stead.
The Outsiders trio became The Sound, a quartet, with the arrival of Bi Marshall (real name Benita Biltoo),
an acquaintance of Bailey's and the band from around 1977.
The new sound was augmented by her use of the clarinet
(later saxophone
) and synthesizer
.
Jeopardy recordings (the latter to become The Sound's debut release).
From this point on he would become critically acclaimed, if never a household name.
The Sound's second album, From The Lion's Mouth
was even more enthusiatically received,
selling over 100,000 units worldwide.
Borland's personal productivity was enhanced even more with two collaborations that year, one with Jello Biafra
in "The Witch Trials"
and another with Sound bassist Grahem Bailey in "Second Layer", which spawned the electronic album World of Rubber.
The Sound were caught on a downcurve, however, the following year with the release of All Fall Down (1982), an experimental and bitter album that represented
the band's refusal to make more commercial music in order to satisfy their label (Korova
, a Warner Bros. subsidiary). Korova responded by dropping them,
while the music press rapidly disowned them; a Sounds review called the album "virtually worthless".
The Sound never recovered from this setback, although they did release a mini album (Shock of Daylight
), a live album (In The Hothouse) and
two further albums (Heads and Hearts
and Thunder Up
) over the next five years. These were all released on small independent labels, and
never reversed the band's vanishing profile.
Although it is unclear as to when Borland was diagnosed with his condition, from 1985 onwards the symptoms of his depression became more and more apparent.
His problems would manifest themselves in many of the songs on The Sound's final album, Thunder Up, as well as in the schizophrenic layout of the piece;
while the initial tracks deal with confronting issues (for example "Acceleration Group", "Barria Alta") the second half proceeds at an entirely
different tangent, becoming either tortuous ("Shot Up And Shut Down"), frenetic ("I Give You Pain") or mournful ("You've Got A way").
The touring for Thunder Up culminated in disaster for the band when Borland left halfway through a set at Zoetermeer
, Netherlands
. It would be the
last Sound gig. Dudley described the breakup in 2004:
The band continued without Mike Dudley into 1988, but soon collapsed. The Big Takeover lamented that it was "Like an old friend losing a long fight with a disease". Borland would later blame himself for the breakup of The Sound.
in 1988 in order to found yet another band, after
initially going there on holiday and to meet his manager (Rob Acda)
. Adrian Borland and The Citizens was formed there, taking advantage of the popularity of The Sound on the continent
, and the relative inexpense of venues in the Low Countries
.
Musically, this was a period of unprecedented collaboration for Borland; for instance, he worked (albeit under the pseudonym "Joachim Pimento") with the
Honolulu Mountain Daffodils right up until their final release Psychic Hit List Victim in 1991
.
In 1989 Adrian Borland and The Citizens released Alexandria, a huge departure musically from Thunder Up
and featuring
four backing vocalists, bass, cello
, clarinet
, drums and kettle drums, piano
, saxophone
, harmonica
, tambourine
, viola
,
violin
and guitar
. Some continuity was provided by former Sound bandmate Colvin 'Max' Mayers collaborating by reprising his role of keyboardist, while
Nick Robbins again engineered and co-produced the album with Borland.
The album featured much calmer, lighter tracks than those on Thunder Up, such as "Light The Sky" and "Rogue Beauty". As always, some tracks deal
with Borland's own precarious emotional state, such as "No Ethereal" and "Deep Deep Blue". In an interview with Melody Maker
the same year, Borland said of the title:
The album, however, suffered from poor sales, selling an estimated 10,000 copies on the continent and a mere 1000 in England. Borland attributed this to poor
distribution.
Although Borland expressed an interest in re-forming his old band, The Sound never re-formed: bassist Graham Bailey moved to the United States in the early
90s; keyboardist Max died on Boxing Day 1993 from an AIDs-related illness; and an undisclosed antagonism had caused an irreparable rift between Borland and
drummer Mike Dudley. Speaking of a possible reformation in 1992, Borland said:
1992 saw the release of Brittle Heaven, which would later lend its name to the (now official) Adrian Borland website. With a menagerie of 14 songs with
little difference in style to those of his previous release, the real difference now lay in the composition of the Citizens, which was by now almost exclusively
Dutch. Don Victor now co-produced with Borland.
The album benefits from lavish investment in production, although this puts it in a similar position to The Sound's Heads & Hearts album in that it is much more polished than Borland's other solo material. Critical reception ranged from the noncomittal to welcoming; Allmusic described it as 'one hour of finely woven tapestry, of gorgeous music', albeit 'Not quite as good as 1989's Alexandria, handing it three stars out of five, while David Cavanagh gave it four, praising the atmosphere of 'a strange, dizzy optimism' pervading the album. As one critic argued: '[Borland's] reflective writing remains as good as ever', and The Big Takeover went further, proclaiming it 'inspired'.
With some critical endorsement Borland continued to work on new material throughout the year. At some point in 1992 he traveled to Amsterdam to record a session with Victor Heeremans, re-recorded and released many years later as the posthumous The Amsterdam Tapes album. Recorded in a crossover point in his career, it represents a shift in both musical and mental directions: while tracks like "Ordinary Angel" show some continuity with the tone of Brittle Heaven, the forcefulness of tracks such as "Fast Blue World", "Darkest Heart" and "Via Satellite" clearly preclude Borland's later, harder style as seen on 5:00AM and Harmony and Destruction. On the other hand, the acoustic-based fragility of tracks such as "Happen" and "White Room" represents a more immediate turn to lighter, less ambitious music -the latter would be re-recorded to feature on the 1994 album Beautiful Ammunition.
Around this time also Borland began working on music production; he produced albums by Felt
, Into Paradise
and Waiting Sound.
Survival Studios on Resolve Records. Whether because of meagre investment or because of his desire to explore a more acoustic sound, the new album displayed a simpler format, largely devoid of any discernible concept: "Beautiful Ammunition" is very simply put together, only acoustic guitar, synthesiser and a few drum machines. Everything is very basic, which I like", Borland said later. One notable change from Brittle Heaven is presence of dark, introspective songs, particularly "Lone Late Nighter" and "White Room", emphasised somewhat by the empty, lonely musical framework. This is not to say, however, that more confident tracks are banished from the album: "Reunited States of Love" and "Someone Will Love You Today" are perfect examples of this, and yet still exemplify in their tentativeness a decisive split from Brittle Heaven-era songs. Critical reception was as muted as always, and mixed where evident; Big Takeover complained that it was 'too light and airy', but vaguely appraised the work as 'finely honed and pleasant'.
The following year, 1995, was to be an important year for Borland; not only was the album Cinematic written and released, but his work with Carlo van Putten, Claudia Uman, Florian Brattman and David Maria Gramse in The White Rose Transmission came to fruition, with the side-project's self-titled debut appearing that year. They would continue to perform intermittently throughout the 1990s, Borland being a major contributor.
Cinematic was a stablemate of Beautiful Ammunition in that it was also created in the Survival Studios and under the Resolve label, yet demonstrated a further evolution in Borland's musical career. Despite being in a similar situation as regards funding, Cinematic benefited from much better, integrated production as well as punchy tracks such as "Bright White Light". With the psychological opener "Dreamfuel" a dream-like atmosphere pervaded the album, establishing itself in indolent, moody tracks like "Cinematic" and "When Can I Be Me?". It was, overall, a more coherent attempt than its predecessor, but -predictably- did not win over the public. Critical reception, however, was even more welcoming. With an Allmusic.com ranking of 4 stars the album was lauded:
Simon Heavisides stated: 'Isn't it great when your old favourites don't let you down?...[it] leaves you with the feeling at the end that you want to hear the whole damn thing over again." Mitch Myers wrote in 1997: 'Everybody is a star, but Borland's cinematic life is well worth watching.' Glenn McDonald, however, offered up a less enthusiastic summation: 'The music had an impressive sweep to it, but the production seemed to me to emphasize
the mechanical repetitiveness of the arrangements'. The album also lent its name to Cinematic Overview the following year, a compilation album of Borland's work stretching all the way back to the mid seventies.
Also in 1996 the newly-formed Renascent Records label reissued Sound records Heads & Hearts (with Shock of Daylight)
and In The Hothouse, complete with new packaging, and liner notes by Borland himself.
of Cardiacs
now co-produced with Borland
- were the only ostensible differences between the new work and Cinematic. However, the money invested in the album allowed for much better production,
a direct result of which was the recording and inclusion of "Baby Moon", a song which Borland had held onto since 1993 but did not want to waste 'on a lo-fi production'
.
The songs are generally punchier and more radio-friendly, such as opener "Stray Bullets", "City Speed" and "Redemption's Knees", but containing
powerful, dark, indolent tracks which, at this point, Borland had made his solo trademark: "Vampiric" is arguably the best example of this in all of his discography. The
album is also representative of earlier work in that it does not fail to neglect his mental state, dealing with it in an optimistic, confrontational fashion
in "Over The Under": 'Under this roof, under the sky/I want to live, at least I'm going to try/But I'm over the under now'.
That song would prove to be Borland's last single release.
The critical reception was, perhaps, the best of any in his lifetime. Glenn McDonald produced the following glowing review:
Allmusic.com list the album at 3 stars, but give no explanation.
Borland himself was excited by 5:00AM, and was keen to draw lines between it and his most successful period: '"5:00 A.M" takes up, where "Thunder Up" -
which was the last Sound album - left off...It's still the same person, who writes the songs, only a little bit less in love with himself and more worldview
orientated.".
Before attending to what would become his last solo recordings, Borland wrote twelve of the fourteen tracks on The White Rose Transmission's second release,
500 Miles of Desert, recording them with the band between November 1998 and January 1999 and producing the album himself.
Borland was
proud of the work, and said so in his last public writing, dated March 18, 1999:
He had still been denied commercial success or widespread popularity outside of continental Europe, and he had tried to commit suicide at least three times,
the third (according to his mother Win Borland) when he jumped in front of a car. He had also developed a drinking problem.
His plans for that year were staggering. Not content with merely anticipating the release of 500 Miles of Desert he expressed the
intention to record a sixth solo album with Heads & Hearts producer Wally Brill, a tour of Europe that June to promote the WRT album, a further tour later
in the year to promote the new solo release, and 'a 12 song acoustic record with Wally Brill using percussion, trumpet, violin, viola and atmospheric electric
guitar' for 2000. Meanwhile the remastering of several The Sound recordings, created at the very start of their career in 1976/77, was underway by Wally Brill. The finished
product, Propaganda, was released by Renascent and featured linernotes by Borland, like all previous releases
. It would be
officially released on the 26th of April - the very day Borland would commit suicide.
Of the plans drawn up by Borland over the winter, only his solo album was undertaken. It was recorded at The Premises, London over a number of months,
although Borland himself recorded guide vocals and guitar in the space of about a fortnight. After this point his
disposition changed. In a letter he wrote to his parents shortly before his death he expressed fear at being sectioned in Springfield mental hospital
.
'He was returning home distraught and anxious...he had ignored the medical advice to pace himself', his mother, Win Borland, wrote.
At evidence given at Westminster Coroner's Court it was revealed that he had visited an ex-girlfriend in the days before his death and that his condition
had worsened thereafter. The Wimbledon Guardian reported:
The night of the 25th Borland slipped away to Wimbledon Station. In the early hours of the 26th horrified commuters watched as Borland committed suicide by
throwing himself under a train. He was 41 years of age,
and was interred at the Merton & Sutton Joint Cemetery, London.
In an account given by drummer Mike Dudley his funeral was attended by his parents, Bob Lawrence and Adrian Janes of The Outsiders, original Sound keyboardist Bi Marshall, early Sound manager Steve
Budd and Wally Brill, co-producer of Heads & Hearts and Harmony and Destruction, among a multitude of others.
)
Borland's work has enjoyed an appreciative critical reception and a lasting fanbase, with sites such as brittleheaven.com and renascent.co.uk providing an online outlet for information and sales. In the Millennium a book of anecdotes written by his friend and colleagues was compiled and published, entitled
"Book of Happy Memories,
after the Brittle Heaven song "Box of Happy Memories". 2001 saw in a tribute album, titled In Passing - A Tribute To Adrian Borland and The Sound
, as well as Renascent reissues
of Sound albums Jeopardy, From The Lion's Mouth and All Fall Down . 2002 saw the release of Harmony & Destruction, the remnants of his sixth
solo album patched up by Wally Brill and the session musicians. The BBC recordings of Sound sessions from the 1980s were released with linernotes by Mike Dudley
in 2004. 2006 saw
The Amsterdam Tapes,
a demo album from 1992 that was rejected by his label also remastered and rerecorded by his friends; a band of them grouped together later that year under
the moniker 'The Sound of Adrian Borland' in order to promote it. That same year five live albums, collectively known as The Dutch Radio Recordings, were
released by Renascent. These garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews
. His collaborative project with Graham Bailey in Second Layer was also resurrected in 2009 by Red Sun Records; their 1981 album
World of Rubber was remastered and expanded
and received fan support.
. However, it is clear
that he had a broader appreciation for other forms of rock parallel to this; his admiration for The Stooges
and Iggy Pop
was reaffirmed on several
occasions
. Other
influences included The Velvet Underground
,
Lou Reed
,
Jim Morrison and Joy Division and
David Bowie.
In terms of admiration for contemporaries, mid-show interview in 1984, he cited New Order
, Soft Cell
and Eurythmics
. His favourite
bands from the eighties were The Waterboys
and Talk Talk
.
He also lauded Ride
in the early 90s.
.
The song "Words Fail Me", was the earliest clear example of this. Many songs simply portray general themes of urban squalor, and political lyrics such as
"Cost of Living", "Music Business" and the track "Missiles", which would reach infamy when included on their debut release, Jeopardy.
The songs on Jeopardy would largely reflect inward tensions rather than political ones: a curious compromise is reached on "Unwritten Law", an attack
on religious dogma
surrounding suicide: 'A hand is a hand/A knife is a knife/Blood is blood/And life is life'. From The Lion's Mouth would also
contain another reference to religion with "Judgement". Political songs would be largely absent from most further releases; only "Golden Soldiers"
("And I will drink to those who sacrifice and die for me/So I could be so golden") and "Shot Up And Shot Down" ("Most of England is sleeping in the sun/But not me")
suggest political topics. In his solo work there are more stark examples, such as "Beneath The Big Wheel" and "The Other Side of The World" on
Alexandria and the quasi-religious song "Station of The Cross" on Beautiful Ammunition. As Borland's condition got worse in the latter half on the 90s
political themes were dropped as introspective ones once more took precedent.
While Borland denied that music helped him (he claimed it "doesn't make any difference" in an interview in 1992
), after his
death his mother wrote that they were at least a cathartic form of therapy and "helped him to come to terms with his problems"
. Thus it is
that we can frequently infer from the body of work he left what his state of mind may have been at various stages of his life. The
Jeopardy opener "I Can't Escape Myself" would project Borland's dissatisfaction with himself, and serves as an early example of his more depressive
lyrics. "Fatal Flaw", from the generally more confident album From The Lion's Mouth explores mental weakness, a theme repeated more frequently on
All Fall Down in the schizophrenic "Party of The Mind" and "As Feeling Dies"; on Heads & Hearts the crazed "Whirlpool" and
"Burning Part of Me"; on "Thunder Up" the whole second half of the album. In his solo career songs such as "Deep Deep Blue", "Lonely Late Nighter"
and "Stranger In The Soul" parallel Borland's suffering with his condition - by "Harmony & Destruction" it is merely easier to pick out upbeat songs
from the multitude of depressed ones.
"Night Versus Day", a Jeopardy song that had also been part of the Propaganda sessions, is an example of Borland's fascination with dichotomy
and
the themes of light and dark, which were usually used as a metaphor for the polarizing effects of his condition. "New Dark Age" and "Winter"
both link the night with fear or slowness. The most obvious Sound song with this idea is "You've Got A Way", the closing track on Thunder Up:
"You've got a way/To shoot my night right through with the light of day". It is noteworthy that Borland's first solo single was "Light The Sky", the lyrics
of which ae echoed in "Shadow of Your Grace": "You lit up my life and work/It was falling into place". The dichotomy is reversed on the 5:00am track
Vampiric: "Before the dawn draws its first breath/Before the Sun destroys what's left/Of us". The album title should also be noted for being the time that
dawn usually rises around the equinox
. The theme of night and day is brought in as a central concept on the album Harmony & Destruction: the bright
opener is "Solar", for instance, while "Startime" and "Heart Goes Down Like The Sun" are dark-named songs about depression. It may be significant
that in "Last Train Out of Shatterville", which may be an act of suicide ideation, describes a train pulling out "in the cold morning light", and
describes a previous suicide attempt as happening "last dawn as you slipped from curb to bonnet". The final track "Living On The Edge of God"
contains the lyric "Strip me down, expose the man/Not a pretty sight in the morning light".
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, best
known as the lead singer of post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band The Sound
The Sound
The Sound were an English post-punk band, formed in 1979 and dissolved in 1988. The band was fronted by Adrian Borland and evolved from his previous band, The Outsiders...
(1979–87). Following a substantial solo career spanning five albums he succumbed to the symptoms
of schizoid-affective disorder
and committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in April 1999.
Early career
Adrian Kelvin Borland was born in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1957, the son of Bob and Win Borland,
an English teacher.
At primary school the young Adrian Borland was already friends with future Sound bassist (and Second Layer collaborator)
Graham "Green" Bailey, and would meet Steve Budd, closely involved with his band "The Sound" in their early years, in his early teens. Budd would later recall, "We met when we were both 14. He was the only other kid I knew with an electric guitar.
Even at 14 you could see he was a genius.". His first band,
the Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
-based punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
trio The Outsiders
The Outsiders (British band)
The Outsiders were an early British punk rock group from Wimbledon, England. Their debut LP, Calling On Youth, was the first self-released punk album in the UK.Adrian Borland was central to the group, manning vocals and guitar. Bob Lawrence was on bass,...
, was formed with Borland at its nucleus, manning vocals and guitar. Bob Lawrence was on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
,
and Adrian 'Jan' Janes manned the drums. Their debut LP, Calling On Youth, was self-released on their Raw Edge label, and became the first UK self-released punk
album
and won them their first unfavourable reviews: "apple-cheeked Ade has a complexion that would turn a Devon milkmaid green with envy", reported the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
.
An EP that November, One To Infinity, was labelled as "Tuneless, gormless, gutless" (again by the NME)
but was praised elsewhere.
It was followed by a second album Close Up in 1979. This received better (but cautious) reviews from the press.
It was after this album that important changes took place that would decide the band's future: Lawrence left to be replaced by Borland's old friend Graham
'Greene' Bailey, and Adrian Janes' departure to go to college
allowed Geoffrey Cummant-Wood (the band's manager), to suggest 28 year-old Mike Dudley in his stead.
The Outsiders trio became The Sound, a quartet, with the arrival of Bi Marshall (real name Benita Biltoo),
an acquaintance of Bailey's and the band from around 1977.
The new sound was augmented by her use of the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
(later saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
) and synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
.
The Sound: 1979–1987
Borland became the kernel of The Sound, being the songwriter, main vocalist and guitarist, penning tracks for the early Propaganda sessions and theJeopardy recordings (the latter to become The Sound's debut release).
From this point on he would become critically acclaimed, if never a household name.
The Sound's second album, From The Lion's Mouth
From the Lion's Mouth
From the Lions Mouth, released in 1981 , is the second album released by The Sound.-Track listing:# "Winning" – 4:18# "Sense of Purpose" – 3:52# "Contact the Fact" – 4:21# "Skeletons" – 3:27# "Judgement" – 5:03...
was even more enthusiatically received,
selling over 100,000 units worldwide.
Borland's personal productivity was enhanced even more with two collaborations that year, one with Jello Biafra
Jello Biafra
Jello Biafra is an American musician, spoken word artist and leading figure of the Green Party of the United States. Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys...
in "The Witch Trials"
and another with Sound bassist Grahem Bailey in "Second Layer", which spawned the electronic album World of Rubber.
The Sound were caught on a downcurve, however, the following year with the release of All Fall Down (1982), an experimental and bitter album that represented
the band's refusal to make more commercial music in order to satisfy their label (Korova
Korova (record label)
Korova is a record label, distributed by the Warner Elektra Asylum group of record companies.The imprint was founded in 1979 as an outlet for Echo & the Bunnymen, with its first album release being their debut Crocodiles...
, a Warner Bros. subsidiary). Korova responded by dropping them,
while the music press rapidly disowned them; a Sounds review called the album "virtually worthless".
The Sound never recovered from this setback, although they did release a mini album (Shock of Daylight
Shock of Daylight
Shock of Daylight, released in 1984 , is an EP released by The Sound.-Track listing:#"Golden Soldiers"#"Longest Days"#"Counting the Days"#"Winter"#"A New Way of Life"#"Dreams Then Plans"-Musicians:...
), a live album (In The Hothouse) and
two further albums (Heads and Hearts
Heads and Hearts
Heads and Hearts, released in 1985 is the fourth album by The Sound - Track listing :# "Whirlpool"# "Total Recall"# "Under You"# "Burning Part Of Me"# "Love Is Not A Ghost"# "Wildest Dreams"# "One Thousand Reasons"...
and Thunder Up
Thunder Up
* You've Got a Way is sometimes separated into two pieces, part I and II, in order to distinguish the initial piano piece. This brings the total amount of tracks on some editions to 11....
) over the next five years. These were all released on small independent labels, and
never reversed the band's vanishing profile.
Although it is unclear as to when Borland was diagnosed with his condition, from 1985 onwards the symptoms of his depression became more and more apparent.
His problems would manifest themselves in many of the songs on The Sound's final album, Thunder Up, as well as in the schizophrenic layout of the piece;
while the initial tracks deal with confronting issues (for example "Acceleration Group", "Barria Alta") the second half proceeds at an entirely
different tangent, becoming either tortuous ("Shot Up And Shut Down"), frenetic ("I Give You Pain") or mournful ("You've Got A way").
The touring for Thunder Up culminated in disaster for the band when Borland left halfway through a set at Zoetermeer
Zoetermeer
Zoetermeer is a city in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 37.06 km² . A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It would be the
last Sound gig. Dudley described the breakup in 2004:
The band continued without Mike Dudley into 1988, but soon collapsed. The Big Takeover lamented that it was "Like an old friend losing a long fight with a disease". Borland would later blame himself for the breakup of The Sound.
Early solo career
While his former bandmates discontinued their musical careers, Borland moved to the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 1988 in order to found yet another band, after
initially going there on holiday and to meet his manager (Rob Acda)
. Adrian Borland and The Citizens was formed there, taking advantage of the popularity of The Sound on the continent
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and the relative inexpense of venues in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
.
Musically, this was a period of unprecedented collaboration for Borland; for instance, he worked (albeit under the pseudonym "Joachim Pimento") with the
Honolulu Mountain Daffodils right up until their final release Psychic Hit List Victim in 1991
.
In 1989 Adrian Borland and The Citizens released Alexandria, a huge departure musically from Thunder Up
Thunder Up
* You've Got a Way is sometimes separated into two pieces, part I and II, in order to distinguish the initial piano piece. This brings the total amount of tracks on some editions to 11....
and featuring
four backing vocalists, bass, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, drums and kettle drums, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
,
violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. Some continuity was provided by former Sound bandmate Colvin 'Max' Mayers collaborating by reprising his role of keyboardist, while
Nick Robbins again engineered and co-produced the album with Borland.
The album featured much calmer, lighter tracks than those on Thunder Up, such as "Light The Sky" and "Rogue Beauty". As always, some tracks deal
with Borland's own precarious emotional state, such as "No Ethereal" and "Deep Deep Blue". In an interview with Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
the same year, Borland said of the title:
The album, however, suffered from poor sales, selling an estimated 10,000 copies on the continent and a mere 1000 in England. Borland attributed this to poor
distribution.
Although Borland expressed an interest in re-forming his old band, The Sound never re-formed: bassist Graham Bailey moved to the United States in the early
90s; keyboardist Max died on Boxing Day 1993 from an AIDs-related illness; and an undisclosed antagonism had caused an irreparable rift between Borland and
drummer Mike Dudley. Speaking of a possible reformation in 1992, Borland said:
1992 saw the release of Brittle Heaven, which would later lend its name to the (now official) Adrian Borland website. With a menagerie of 14 songs with
little difference in style to those of his previous release, the real difference now lay in the composition of the Citizens, which was by now almost exclusively
Dutch. Don Victor now co-produced with Borland.
The album benefits from lavish investment in production, although this puts it in a similar position to The Sound's Heads & Hearts album in that it is much more polished than Borland's other solo material. Critical reception ranged from the noncomittal to welcoming; Allmusic described it as 'one hour of finely woven tapestry, of gorgeous music', albeit 'Not quite as good as 1989's Alexandria, handing it three stars out of five, while David Cavanagh gave it four, praising the atmosphere of 'a strange, dizzy optimism' pervading the album. As one critic argued: '[Borland's] reflective writing remains as good as ever', and The Big Takeover went further, proclaiming it 'inspired'.
With some critical endorsement Borland continued to work on new material throughout the year. At some point in 1992 he traveled to Amsterdam to record a session with Victor Heeremans, re-recorded and released many years later as the posthumous The Amsterdam Tapes album. Recorded in a crossover point in his career, it represents a shift in both musical and mental directions: while tracks like "Ordinary Angel" show some continuity with the tone of Brittle Heaven, the forcefulness of tracks such as "Fast Blue World", "Darkest Heart" and "Via Satellite" clearly preclude Borland's later, harder style as seen on 5:00AM and Harmony and Destruction. On the other hand, the acoustic-based fragility of tracks such as "Happen" and "White Room" represents a more immediate turn to lighter, less ambitious music -the latter would be re-recorded to feature on the 1994 album Beautiful Ammunition.
Around this time also Borland began working on music production; he produced albums by Felt
Felt (band)
Felt were a 1980s British alternative rock band led by Lawrence, whose surname was never listed in any credits or press; the band's name was inspired by Tom Verlaine's emphasis of the word "felt" in the Television song "Venus"...
, Into Paradise
Into Paradise
Into Paradise were a indie rock group from Dublin, Ireland, whose influences included Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen. They formed in 1986 as Backwards into Paradise, and released their debut EP, Blue Light, in 1989 on the independent record label, Setanta...
and Waiting Sound.
Mid-nineties
In 1994 Borland returned to the UK to record his third album, Beautiful Ammunition, at the ActonActon, London
Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...
Survival Studios on Resolve Records. Whether because of meagre investment or because of his desire to explore a more acoustic sound, the new album displayed a simpler format, largely devoid of any discernible concept: "Beautiful Ammunition" is very simply put together, only acoustic guitar, synthesiser and a few drum machines. Everything is very basic, which I like", Borland said later. One notable change from Brittle Heaven is presence of dark, introspective songs, particularly "Lone Late Nighter" and "White Room", emphasised somewhat by the empty, lonely musical framework. This is not to say, however, that more confident tracks are banished from the album: "Reunited States of Love" and "Someone Will Love You Today" are perfect examples of this, and yet still exemplify in their tentativeness a decisive split from Brittle Heaven-era songs. Critical reception was as muted as always, and mixed where evident; Big Takeover complained that it was 'too light and airy', but vaguely appraised the work as 'finely honed and pleasant'.
The following year, 1995, was to be an important year for Borland; not only was the album Cinematic written and released, but his work with Carlo van Putten, Claudia Uman, Florian Brattman and David Maria Gramse in The White Rose Transmission came to fruition, with the side-project's self-titled debut appearing that year. They would continue to perform intermittently throughout the 1990s, Borland being a major contributor.
Cinematic was a stablemate of Beautiful Ammunition in that it was also created in the Survival Studios and under the Resolve label, yet demonstrated a further evolution in Borland's musical career. Despite being in a similar situation as regards funding, Cinematic benefited from much better, integrated production as well as punchy tracks such as "Bright White Light". With the psychological opener "Dreamfuel" a dream-like atmosphere pervaded the album, establishing itself in indolent, moody tracks like "Cinematic" and "When Can I Be Me?". It was, overall, a more coherent attempt than its predecessor, but -predictably- did not win over the public. Critical reception, however, was even more welcoming. With an Allmusic.com ranking of 4 stars the album was lauded:
Simon Heavisides stated: 'Isn't it great when your old favourites don't let you down?...[it] leaves you with the feeling at the end that you want to hear the whole damn thing over again." Mitch Myers wrote in 1997: 'Everybody is a star, but Borland's cinematic life is well worth watching.' Glenn McDonald, however, offered up a less enthusiastic summation: 'The music had an impressive sweep to it, but the production seemed to me to emphasize
the mechanical repetitiveness of the arrangements'. The album also lent its name to Cinematic Overview the following year, a compilation album of Borland's work stretching all the way back to the mid seventies.
Also in 1996 the newly-formed Renascent Records label reissued Sound records Heads & Hearts (with Shock of Daylight)
and In The Hothouse, complete with new packaging, and liner notes by Borland himself.
Later years
Borland's last release during his lifetime was the album 5:00AM. A switch to Earth Records and a slight change of crew -Tim Smithof Cardiacs
Cardiacs
Cardiacs are an English alternative rock/psychedelic pop band formed in 1977 and led by Tim Smith. Noted for their complex, varied and intense compositional style and for their eccentric, theatrical stage shows, they have been hailed as an influence by bands as diverse as Blur, Faith No More and...
now co-produced with Borland
- were the only ostensible differences between the new work and Cinematic. However, the money invested in the album allowed for much better production,
a direct result of which was the recording and inclusion of "Baby Moon", a song which Borland had held onto since 1993 but did not want to waste 'on a lo-fi production'
.
The songs are generally punchier and more radio-friendly, such as opener "Stray Bullets", "City Speed" and "Redemption's Knees", but containing
powerful, dark, indolent tracks which, at this point, Borland had made his solo trademark: "Vampiric" is arguably the best example of this in all of his discography. The
album is also representative of earlier work in that it does not fail to neglect his mental state, dealing with it in an optimistic, confrontational fashion
in "Over The Under": 'Under this roof, under the sky/I want to live, at least I'm going to try/But I'm over the under now'.
That song would prove to be Borland's last single release.
The critical reception was, perhaps, the best of any in his lifetime. Glenn McDonald produced the following glowing review:
Allmusic.com list the album at 3 stars, but give no explanation.
Borland himself was excited by 5:00AM, and was keen to draw lines between it and his most successful period: '"5:00 A.M" takes up, where "Thunder Up" -
which was the last Sound album - left off...It's still the same person, who writes the songs, only a little bit less in love with himself and more worldview
orientated.".
Before attending to what would become his last solo recordings, Borland wrote twelve of the fourteen tracks on The White Rose Transmission's second release,
500 Miles of Desert, recording them with the band between November 1998 and January 1999 and producing the album himself.
Borland was
proud of the work, and said so in his last public writing, dated March 18, 1999:
Death
By 1999 Borland had lived with severe depression for about 14 years.He had still been denied commercial success or widespread popularity outside of continental Europe, and he had tried to commit suicide at least three times,
the third (according to his mother Win Borland) when he jumped in front of a car. He had also developed a drinking problem.
His plans for that year were staggering. Not content with merely anticipating the release of 500 Miles of Desert he expressed the
intention to record a sixth solo album with Heads & Hearts producer Wally Brill, a tour of Europe that June to promote the WRT album, a further tour later
in the year to promote the new solo release, and 'a 12 song acoustic record with Wally Brill using percussion, trumpet, violin, viola and atmospheric electric
guitar' for 2000. Meanwhile the remastering of several The Sound recordings, created at the very start of their career in 1976/77, was underway by Wally Brill. The finished
product, Propaganda, was released by Renascent and featured linernotes by Borland, like all previous releases
. It would be
officially released on the 26th of April - the very day Borland would commit suicide.
Of the plans drawn up by Borland over the winter, only his solo album was undertaken. It was recorded at The Premises, London over a number of months,
although Borland himself recorded guide vocals and guitar in the space of about a fortnight. After this point his
disposition changed. In a letter he wrote to his parents shortly before his death he expressed fear at being sectioned in Springfield mental hospital
.
'He was returning home distraught and anxious...he had ignored the medical advice to pace himself', his mother, Win Borland, wrote.
At evidence given at Westminster Coroner's Court it was revealed that he had visited an ex-girlfriend in the days before his death and that his condition
had worsened thereafter. The Wimbledon Guardian reported:
The night of the 25th Borland slipped away to Wimbledon Station. In the early hours of the 26th horrified commuters watched as Borland committed suicide by
throwing himself under a train. He was 41 years of age,
and was interred at the Merton & Sutton Joint Cemetery, London.
In an account given by drummer Mike Dudley his funeral was attended by his parents, Bob Lawrence and Adrian Janes of The Outsiders, original Sound keyboardist Bi Marshall, early Sound manager Steve
Budd and Wally Brill, co-producer of Heads & Hearts and Harmony and Destruction, among a multitude of others.
Legacy
Although 500 Miles of Desert was released to minimal critical acclaim (but with three stars on Allmusic.com and four stars on eMusic.com)
Borland's work has enjoyed an appreciative critical reception and a lasting fanbase, with sites such as brittleheaven.com and renascent.co.uk providing an online outlet for information and sales. In the Millennium a book of anecdotes written by his friend and colleagues was compiled and published, entitled
"Book of Happy Memories,
after the Brittle Heaven song "Box of Happy Memories". 2001 saw in a tribute album, titled In Passing - A Tribute To Adrian Borland and The Sound
, as well as Renascent reissues
of Sound albums Jeopardy, From The Lion's Mouth and All Fall Down . 2002 saw the release of Harmony & Destruction, the remnants of his sixth
solo album patched up by Wally Brill and the session musicians. The BBC recordings of Sound sessions from the 1980s were released with linernotes by Mike Dudley
in 2004. 2006 saw
The Amsterdam Tapes,
a demo album from 1992 that was rejected by his label also remastered and rerecorded by his friends; a band of them grouped together later that year under
the moniker 'The Sound of Adrian Borland' in order to promote it. That same year five live albums, collectively known as The Dutch Radio Recordings, were
released by Renascent. These garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews
. His collaborative project with Graham Bailey in Second Layer was also resurrected in 2009 by Red Sun Records; their 1981 album
World of Rubber was remastered and expanded
and received fan support.
Influences
Borland's initial influences can be traced through his work with The Outsiders into punk bands of the 70s, such as the Sex PistolsSex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
. However, it is clear
that he had a broader appreciation for other forms of rock parallel to this; his admiration for The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
and Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
was reaffirmed on several
occasions
. Other
influences included The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
,
Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
,
Jim Morrison and Joy Division and
David Bowie.
In terms of admiration for contemporaries, mid-show interview in 1984, he cited New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
, Soft Cell
Soft Cell
Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret...
and Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
. His favourite
bands from the eighties were The Waterboys
The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England. Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York, and Findhorn have all served as homes for the group. The band has played in a...
and Talk Talk
Talk Talk
Talk Talk were an English musical group, active from 1981 to 1991. The group had a string of international hit singles including "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", "Dum Dum Girl", "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World"....
.
He also lauded Ride
Ride (band)
Ride were a British alternative rock band that formed in 1988 in Oxford, England, consisting of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence "Loz" Colbert, and Steve Queralt. The band were initially part of the "shoegazing" scene. Following the break-up of the band in 1996, members moved on to various other...
in the early 90s.
Popular themes
Borland's earliest lyrics with The Sound showed a tendency toward introspection, even before their music was really influenced by Joy DivisionJoy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
.
The song "Words Fail Me", was the earliest clear example of this. Many songs simply portray general themes of urban squalor, and political lyrics such as
"Cost of Living", "Music Business" and the track "Missiles", which would reach infamy when included on their debut release, Jeopardy.
The songs on Jeopardy would largely reflect inward tensions rather than political ones: a curious compromise is reached on "Unwritten Law", an attack
on religious dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
surrounding suicide: 'A hand is a hand/A knife is a knife/Blood is blood/And life is life'. From The Lion's Mouth would also
contain another reference to religion with "Judgement". Political songs would be largely absent from most further releases; only "Golden Soldiers"
("And I will drink to those who sacrifice and die for me/So I could be so golden") and "Shot Up And Shot Down" ("Most of England is sleeping in the sun/But not me")
suggest political topics. In his solo work there are more stark examples, such as "Beneath The Big Wheel" and "The Other Side of The World" on
Alexandria and the quasi-religious song "Station of The Cross" on Beautiful Ammunition. As Borland's condition got worse in the latter half on the 90s
political themes were dropped as introspective ones once more took precedent.
While Borland denied that music helped him (he claimed it "doesn't make any difference" in an interview in 1992
), after his
death his mother wrote that they were at least a cathartic form of therapy and "helped him to come to terms with his problems"
. Thus it is
that we can frequently infer from the body of work he left what his state of mind may have been at various stages of his life. The
Jeopardy opener "I Can't Escape Myself" would project Borland's dissatisfaction with himself, and serves as an early example of his more depressive
lyrics. "Fatal Flaw", from the generally more confident album From The Lion's Mouth explores mental weakness, a theme repeated more frequently on
All Fall Down in the schizophrenic "Party of The Mind" and "As Feeling Dies"; on Heads & Hearts the crazed "Whirlpool" and
"Burning Part of Me"; on "Thunder Up" the whole second half of the album. In his solo career songs such as "Deep Deep Blue", "Lonely Late Nighter"
and "Stranger In The Soul" parallel Borland's suffering with his condition - by "Harmony & Destruction" it is merely easier to pick out upbeat songs
from the multitude of depressed ones.
"Night Versus Day", a Jeopardy song that had also been part of the Propaganda sessions, is an example of Borland's fascination with dichotomy
Dichotomy
A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into two parts...
and
the themes of light and dark, which were usually used as a metaphor for the polarizing effects of his condition. "New Dark Age" and "Winter"
both link the night with fear or slowness. The most obvious Sound song with this idea is "You've Got A Way", the closing track on Thunder Up:
"You've got a way/To shoot my night right through with the light of day". It is noteworthy that Borland's first solo single was "Light The Sky", the lyrics
of which ae echoed in "Shadow of Your Grace": "You lit up my life and work/It was falling into place". The dichotomy is reversed on the 5:00am track
Vampiric: "Before the dawn draws its first breath/Before the Sun destroys what's left/Of us". The album title should also be noted for being the time that
dawn usually rises around the equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
. The theme of night and day is brought in as a central concept on the album Harmony & Destruction: the bright
opener is "Solar", for instance, while "Startime" and "Heart Goes Down Like The Sun" are dark-named songs about depression. It may be significant
that in "Last Train Out of Shatterville", which may be an act of suicide ideation, describes a train pulling out "in the cold morning light", and
describes a previous suicide attempt as happening "last dawn as you slipped from curb to bonnet". The final track "Living On The Edge of God"
contains the lyric "Strip me down, expose the man/Not a pretty sight in the morning light".
Trivia
- Once claimed his favorite song of all time was The WaterboysThe WaterboysThe Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England. Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York, and Findhorn have all served as homes for the group. The band has played in a...
' "The Whole Of The Moon". - The B-movieB-movieA B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
PsychomaniaPsychomaniaPsychomania is a British horror film and cult film starring Nicky Henson as a devil worshipping gang leader and Robert Hardy as the detective in charge of bringing them in.It is also known as Death Wheelers Are.....
from 1971 is said to have been a favorite of his. - Once stated that The SmithsThe SmithsThe Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
'are shit'. - During his time with The Outsiders he played on stage with Iggy Pop.
- Mark Burgess' song "Adrian Be" is dedicated to him.
- To commemorate his death ten years on, the FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
group for Adrian Borland organised an 'event', and wrote condolences. In addition, members created an unofficial tribute album. - Played guitar left-handed.
The Sound albums
- JeopardyJeopardy (album)Jeopardy, released in 1980, is the first album released by The Sound. Unlike the band's later work, this album would present an array of fast, punchy songs in strong punk style, as opposed to the later, more tempered releases such as Heads and Hearts and Thunder Up...
(1980) Korova (reissued 2001, Renascent) - From The Lion's MouthFrom the Lion's MouthFrom the Lions Mouth, released in 1981 , is the second album released by The Sound.-Track listing:# "Winning" – 4:18# "Sense of Purpose" – 3:52# "Contact the Fact" – 4:21# "Skeletons" – 3:27# "Judgement" – 5:03...
(1981) Korova (reissued 2001, Renascent) - All Fall Down (1982) WEA Records (reissued 2002, Renascent)
- Heads & Hearts (1985) Statik (reissued 1996 with Shock of Daylight, Renascent)
- In The Hothouse (1985) Statik (reissued 1996, Renascent)
- Thunder UpThunder Up* You've Got a Way is sometimes separated into two pieces, part I and II, in order to distinguish the initial piano piece. This brings the total amount of tracks on some editions to 11....
(1987) PIAS
Solo albums
- Alexandria (1989) PIAS
- Brittle Heaven (1992) PIAS
- Beautiful Ammunition (1994) Resolve
- Cinematic (1995) Resolve
- 5:00 AM (1997) Earth
- The Last Days Of The Rain Machine (2000) Red Sun (Posthumous)
- Harmony & Destruction (2002) Red Sun (Posthumous)
- The Amsterdam Tapes (2006) Pop One (Posthumous)
Compilations
- Counting The Days (1986) Statik
- Second Layer (1987) LD Records
- Vital Years (1993) Gift of Life
- Cinematic Overview (1995) Setanta
- PropagandaPropaganda (Sound album)Propaganda is an album by The Sound. Taken from a 1979 recording session, the album was released in 1999.-Track listing:#"No Salvation" – 3:13#"Deep Breath" – 2:42#"Cost of Living" – 3:54#"Quarter Past Two" – 3:35#"Night Versus Day" – 3:08...
(1999) Renascent - BBC Recordings (2004) Renascent
- The Dutch Radio Recordings, vol 1-5 (2006) Renascent
Singles and EPs
- One to Infinity 7" EP (1977) Raw Edge
- Physical World 7" EP (1979) Tortch
- Flesh as Property EP (1979) Tortch
- State of Emergency EP (1980) Tortch
- "Heyday" Single (1980) Korova
- Live Instinct Maxi (1981) WEA Records BV
- "Sense of Purpose" Single (1981) Korova
- "Hot House" Single (1982) Korova
- "Party of the Mind" Single (1982) WEA Records BV
- "Mining dor Heart" Flexi (1983) Vinyl Magazine
- "Counting The Days" Single (1984) Statik
- "Golden Soldiers" Single (1984) Victoria
- Shock of Daylight Mini-album (1984) Statik
- "Temperature Drop" Single (1985) Statik
- "Under You" Single (1985) Statik
- "Hand of Love" Single (1987) PIAS
- "Iron Years" Single (1987) PIAS
- Light the Sky (1989) PIAS
- Beneath the Big Wheel (1989) PIAS
- All the Words (1992) PIAS
- Over the Under (1997) Earth