Darklands (1987)

Darklands is the second studio album by Scottish alternative rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain, released on 31 August 1987 by Blanco y Negro Records. The album is the band's first to use drum machines, replacing live drummer Bobby Gillespie, who had left to pursue a career as the frontman of Scottish rock band Primal Scream. Lead vocals are performed by Jim Reid, with the exception of "Darklands", "Nine Million Rainy Days" and "On the Wall", which are sung by William Reid.

Darklands reached number five on the UK Albums Chart, the band's highest-peaking album on the chart to date. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Primal Scream later recorded a cover version of the album's title track as a B-side to their 1998 single "If They Move, Kill 'Em".

Reception

Ned Raggett of Allmusic observed. "Feeling no doubt burdened by the various claims of being the new Sex Pistols, and likely fed up with accusations that the walls of feedback were their own trick, the Reid brothers underwent a bit of a rethink with Darklands. The end result must have fallen squarely between two camps -- hardly eligible for sunny commercial airplay, not quite as flailing as the earliest efforts -- but, from a distance, this is an appealing, enjoyable record." noting a "often stripped away" "calmer classic rock twang and groove,". Though he felt "the changes on Darklands can be overstated -- the basic formula at the heart of the band (inspired plagiarism of melodies and lyrics alike, plenty of reverb, etc.) stayed pretty much the same" comparing its foundation to its predecessor Psychocandy (1985) despite its different sound and mood, and concluded. "Darklands is no Psychocandy in the end -- nothing the band released later ever was -- but it's still a good listen."

Nitsuh Abebe of Pitchfork praised the album in a 7.8 review saying "With Gillespie gone and replaced by an unobtrusive drum machine, the band turns down the noise attitude and works on developing the back-to-basics pop songs that were always underneath. The singles (“Happy When it Rains”) are a joy, big hooks laced with just the right amount of vintage leather-and-shades cool."

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a B+ and observed, "they know damn well their putatively erotic-existential despair speaks to thrill-seeking normals by making chaos rhyme." and felt it was "inevitable for them to take their folk-simple hook-ditties in an acoustic direction," but concluded "Yet as a normal I miss the feedback--without all that chaos, the trick just doesn't come off death-defying enough."

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Darklands.

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Jim Reid – vocals (all tracks except 1, 5, 9)

William Reid – vocals (tracks 1, 5, 9); production (all tracks)

Additional personnel

Bill Price – production (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9)

John Loder – production (tracks 5, 7, 10)

Tony Harris – engineering (track 2)

• Tim Broad – video photography
• John Maybury – video photography
• Helen Backhouse – design
• Andrew Catlin – photography