''The Plateau Phase'' is the debut studio album by the English
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
band
Crispy Ambulance
Crispy Ambulance are an English post-punk band, formed in Manchester in late-1977 by Keith Darbyshire (bass), Robert Davenport (guitar), Alan Hempsall (vocals), and Gary Madeley (drums).Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', ...
, released in March 1982 by
Factory Benelux
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. The ...
. It was a departure to the sound of the earlier singles which was considered to be closer to the sound of post-punk contemporaries
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...
. It peaked at No. 21 on the
UK Indie Charts by the months of May and April 1982.
Critical reception
It received harsh criticism at the time, a typical example being this review by Mat Snow for
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
:
Crispy Ambulance Biography
(LTM)
Retrospective criticism was more positive, ''e.g.'' Ned Raggett, AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
:[
]
Original Track Listing
Side one
# "Are You Ready?" – 5:49
# "Travel Time" – 3:51
# "The Force and the Wisdom" – 4:02
# "The Wind Season" – 5:29
# "Death from Above" – 3:28
Side two
#"We Move Through the Plateau Phase" – 5:50
# "Bardo Plane" – 3:32
# "Chill" – 4:47
# "Federation" –3:44
# "Simon's Ghost" –3:42
CD reissue
The CD, first issued as ''Comprising : The Plateau Phase, Live On A Hot August Night, Sexus'', includes the ''Live on a Hot August Night'' single and the "Sexus" A-Side. It was issued on Factory Benelux in 1990 (FBN-12-CD) and LTM in 1999 (LTMCD-2315). The sleeve design is based on the sleeve of ''Live on a Hot August Night''.
It was reissued again on Factory Benelux in 2012 (FBN-12-CD) with the original sleeve and title.[
# "Are You Ready?" – 5:49
# "Travel Time" – 3:51
# "The Force and the Wisdom" – 4:02
# "The Wind Season" – 5:29
# "Death from Above" – 3:28
# "We Move Through the Plateau Phase" – 5:50
# "Bardo Plane" – 3:32
# "Chill" – 4:47
# "Federation" – 3:44
# "Simon's Ghost" – 3:42
# "The Presence" – 13:03
# "Concorde Square" – 9:08
# "Sexus" – 6:11
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plateau Phase
1982 debut albums
Crispy Ambulance albums
Factory Records albums