The Chameleons Retrospective

Aeternum Inferis

A retrospective on the forgotten post-punk band The Chameleons

Transcript

00:00In the 1970s, punk rock would be a force to be reckoned with, but it wouldn't take long

00:11for the genre to become stale. Many people felt that once was a non-conformist genre

00:16quickly became a parody of itself. The response to this was a genre called new music, better

00:24known as post-punk. When the genre comes into conversation, you always hear about Susie

00:30and the Banshees, The Cure, Joy Division, and Talking Heads. However, there is one that I

00:37thought really stood out amongst their peers and created some of my favorite work in the

00:42genre. Coming from Middleton and Greater Manchester, we have The Chameleons. They started off as

00:49a three-piece with the great Mark Burgess, Reg Smithies, and Dave Fielding. However, there

00:55was one small problem. They didn't have a drummer. So in came Brian Schofield, and then later

01:03we have John Lever. This formed the iconic lineup for their debut studio album called Script of

01:09the Bridge. Chills immediately climb up my spine as the first song, Don't Fall, starts

01:28to play. Mark Burgess's vocals burst through an infectious guitar riff followed by Lever's

01:34pounding drums. Everything comes together and forms this dreamy and dreary atmosphere that

01:41you can't find anywhere else. The album cover was also done by Smithies, and it adds to the

01:47bizarre feeling that this album invokes. The album strikes a good balance between moody and

01:53slower tracks like Monkey Land, and faster and more upbeat tracks like Up the Down Escalator.

01:59Almost every track here is a classic. Although many of these passages may be simple, they achieve

02:06so much with so little. For example, the ending track, View From a Hill, stands out with its slower

02:12tempo and introspective lyrics. It makes me feel like I'm leaving a childhood friend behind. This

02:19album is one of the most pleasant-sounding albums that I've ever stumbled upon. Its dreamy quality fills

02:25me with a sense of nostalgia and melancholy. Every time I listen to it, I get put in a tranquil and

02:32meditative state. It's a killer debut album, and it absolutely blows many of their contemporaries out of

02:40the water. It wouldn't be long for this hungry group of guys to sink their teeth into their second

02:45studio album.

02:57Oh my god, where do I start with this one? So many classics on this album. Masterpiece doesn't even

03:05begin to cover it. If I had to pick a favorite on this album, it would be a toss-up between Intrigue in

03:12the Tangiers, or Return of the Roughnecks. That latter track, in particular, features one of my

03:19favorite riffs in any Chameleon song. What you're getting here is everything from the first album

03:25only improved tenfold. Infectious melodies and catchy choruses that make you want to replay them

03:32hundreds of times. Mark Burgess really stands out on this album, as his delivery is just so passionate

03:39and emotional. Singing Rules Britannia is by far one of his most heartfelt performances he's ever given.

04:00He's really singing his ass off here. Of course, I would be remiss not to mention the underrated

04:06home is where the heart is. A far quieter track that focuses more on the bass and drums. It has more

04:14of a cinematic feel to it, but I feel it's one that goes overlooked. Followed by the heavenly

04:19P.S. Goodbye. This album is relentless in the best way possible. It's stuck with me for so many years,

04:27and it's helped me through pretty dark times. It's an album that I feel a deep emotional connection to,

04:33and I'm glad I've found it.

04:52The year 1985 would see the release of the album Strange Times. Going forward from this retrospective,

05:00I haven't listened to a whole lot of the rest of their discography. I'm familiar with some tracks

05:06on here, but this is largely a new experience for me. The two big ones that I was introduced to

05:12were Soul in Isolation and Swamp Thing. Two huge accomplishments for the band. Swamp Thing is an

05:19absolutely mesmerizing song in every aspect. The rest of the album is unfamiliar territory,

05:26and I had mixed feelings initially when I listened to it for the first time. This is a more lengthy

05:32album for the group, with each song lasting up to five to seven minutes. I don't know if some of

05:39these songs really deserve that runtime. Another thing that's changed is that it's a more dark

05:45and complex album compared to the first two. It even reflects in Mark Burgess's vocals,

05:51as he sounds more unhinged here.

05:53I do sympathize with the band because they had so much on their plate after basically anything. On top of

06:11that, they got signed to Geffen Records. If anything, this album does attempt to change up the sound a bit,

06:17but I only really like a handful of tracks here. To me, the latter half of the album is a bit of a slog

06:25to get through. None of them are unlistenable by far, but it's just more of the same. Unfortunately, this would be

06:32the last album that the band would release for some time because Mark and Fielding were having issues, and then

06:40the band went into the shadows for a long, long time until the cursed year of 2001.

06:47Why Call It Anything

07:06Why Call It Anything sees the band back together, and what you get is a pretty decent rock album.

07:12This album sees the chameleons move a step away from their post-punk roots and move into a more rock-laden

07:19one. It opens with the best track on the album called Shades. It's really nice to see that Mark can

07:26also still sing. If anything, he even sounds better on some tracks. Dangerous Lands easily proves to be on

07:34par with previous albums.

07:43They also throw in some of their acoustic offerings which they were experimenting around that time period with.

07:59I'm not really big on those tracks, and I don't feel like they do much for me. This definitely isn't their strongest work,

08:08but I'm glad it's at least better than some of the reunion albums of other bands.

08:13Unfortunately, the band had a troubled history after this album, with like 9 billion split-ups, followed by the death of John Lever.

08:22On the bright side, they've announced a new album on the horizon of 2025, and stay tuned because I'll be looking at that one too.

08:31The chameleons are one of the most underrated bands that I've ever stumbled upon, and it makes me mad that they aren't as well known.

08:40I've never seen a band with such unremarkable skill be left out of the conversation.

08:46When it comes to post-punk, these guys are always my go-to, and will forever remain kings of the genre.

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