Fire Re-issue, this has not been available for many years on CD. 1989: It's nine years since John Lennon died, and five years since The Television Personalities have had an album released. The world is battered by Phil Collins, out-styled by Duran Duran and terrified of New Kids On The Block. Did we really fight the punk rock wars for this? Meanwhile, Fire Records sign the latest incarnation of the TVPs and let them loose in a proper studio. In the intervening years The Smiths and Orange Juice have carried the indie torch and, by the process of osmosis their cheery pomp has filtered into Privilege. Superficially the band seems vaguely upbeat it's just a front. Dan Treacy still isn't happy. He's doesn't understand clubland, he's too young to regret but not too old to forget. He's a man with a Bic biro in a new age of the Game Boy and he's all the better for it. If his muse is overcome by the versatility of Swatch watches and Back To The Future II, he doesn't allow the songs on Privilege to bend to temptation. The world is still wrong; it's still unreal; as evidenced by the guest list at Salvador Dali's Garden Party. Elsewhere there's a hint of 60s soap operas, from Cathy Come Home to The Wicker Man. Whatever is happening outside as the decade spirals to a close, Dan Treacy still has one eye on the screen the other on his notepad he's fighting to remain in the then, whenever it may be. Technology meets pop, and the sounds that leak out of the machines sound public and private, historical and ahistorical, lush and prickly. Robert Sheffield, Spin. The poignancy is perfectly stated. The guitars are lovingly, handsomely harangued. Colours, girls and tears fly in all directions, splashing down with exquisite psychedelic accuracy. Simon Williams, NME1. Paradise Is For The Blessed 2. A Good And Faithful Servant 3. Conscience Tells Me No 4. My Hedonistic Tendencies 5. All My Dreams Are Dead 6. Salvador Dali's Garden Party 7. The Man Who Paints The Rainbows 8. What If It's Raining? 9. Sad Mona Lisa 10. The Engine Driver Song 11. Sometimes I Think You Know Me Better Than I Know Myself 12. Privilege
