Skylarking

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Skylarking is a 1986 Concept Album (sorta) by Swindon-based New Wavers turned neo-psychedelic band XTC, usually considered by fans and critics as their Magnum Opus.

The album was recorded in a bit of a Troubled Production in 1986 in Woodstock, New York, with Todd Rundgren serving as producer, while Prairie Prince's drums were recorded separately at a studio in San Francisco (XTC had not had a permanent drummer since 1982, but worked with different drummers in the studio). Its somewhat Baroque Pop-meets-Psychedelic Rock sound, heavily drawing from The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Kinks, gained praise from critics but barely crawled into the charts in both the USA and the band's native UK at first. However, this situation was reversed when the controversial "Dear God" was issued as a single, reviving the album's sales somewhat.

Tropes used in Skylarking include:
  • Break Up Song: "That's Really Super, Supergirl", "1000 Umbrellas"
  • Concept Album: Rundgren convinced the band that the songs they had demoed would work as a "life-in-a-day" type of concept album.
  • Executive Meddling: Andy Partridge's original idea for the cover was to depict a woman's pubic hair with flowers involved. Virgin said no, but somehow were convinced to use a cover that depicted a naked man and woman playing flutes. Partridge's original idea was used for the 2010 vinyl reissue.
  • Fading Into the Next Song: This is a gapless album.
  • Genre Roulette: This album includes:
    • Indian-influenced psychedelic pop ("Grass")
    • Synth-heavy pop rock ("That's Really Super, Supergirl")
    • Violin-driven Baroque Pop ("1000 Umbrellas")
    • Soulful Sunshine Pop that sounds like a Pet Sounds out-take ("Season Cycle")
    • Power Pop ("Earn Enough For Us")
    • Droney synth-driven something ("Another Satellite")
    • Jazz-rock ("Mermaid Smiled")
    • Jazz-rock with what the liner notes call "ersatz Bond guitar" ("The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul")
    • The Animals-influenced Folk Rock ("Dear God")
    • Depressing folk balladry ("Dying")
    • Something that almost sounds like an RPG soundtrack ("Sacrificial Bonfire")
  • Grief Song: "Dying".
  • Guest Star Party Member: The drummer for this album was Prairie Prince from The Tubes.
  • Literary Allusion Title: The name of the album comes from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Ode to a Skylark".
  • Money Song: Or in "Earn Enough For Us"'s case, lack of money song.
  • Religion Rant Song/God Is Evil: "Dear God".
  • Remaster: The 2010 vinyl release, notably averting the Loudness War.
  • Updated Rerelease: A non-video game example of this.
    • The album was first issued in 1986 with "Mermaid Smiled" on its tracklist, but the success of "Dear God" led Virgin to re-press the album for the USA, shunting "Mermaid" and replacing it with "Dear God"
    • A 2001 reissue included "Mermaid Smiled" and "Dear God", the latter as a "bonus track" after "Sacrificial Bonfire".
    • A 2010 remaster by John Dent was released to vinyl by Andy Partridge's APE House company. This attracted attention because Dent announced he had discovered that a mistake during the original's mastering had reversed the sound polarity and made it sound more thin and bass-less, but had managed to restore the original sound quality. This one includes both "Mermaid Smiled" and "Dear God", but changes the order slightly, placing "Dear God" right before "Dying".
  • Your Cheating Heart: "Another Satellite" is about Partridge's collapsing marriage to his wife Marianne and his relationship with Erica Wexler.
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