By Laserangel

One day someone should carry out a serious scientific investigation to find out why the Chameleons are not given the recognition they deserve; why they are not revered today by far more people; why the Smiths became household names and the Chameleons remained a cult band. The fact is, the Chameleons were just as adept as expressing the fears and anger of a disaffected society as Morrissey and his cohorts were (although not in such a witty way), and yet in my view their music was more innovative and far superior. They were characterised by a sound which was basically Phil Spector's Wall of Sound updated for the 80s by using only menacing gothic-sounding guitars. Reg Smithee was a great and underrated guitarist, and had a way of making his guitar sound loud and powerful and yet ethereal and ambient at the same time, almost like a more gothic sounding version of the Edge from U2. Along with the powerful percussion and haunting synths, there was Mark Burgess bellowing his bleak yet beautiful lyrics in his forceful, stentorian voice.

"Script of the Bridge" was their debut album, released in 1983 to very favourable reviews. They followed it with the more synth-oriented "What Does Anything Mean, Basically?", and although it was less well received I think it is their finest work. Their final album was the more polished "Strange Times" in 1987, after which they split for numerous reasons including the death of their manager. One listen to "Script of the Bridge" should be enough to convince you that the Chameleons are probably the most underrated guitar band of all time.

The record starts off with what is in my opinion one of the all-time great opening tracks, "Don't Fall". This is an energising blast of incisive guitar, a howl of primal frustration and anger. "Don't Fall, when your back's against the wall" is the message throughout, and the chorus runs "Freak out, nothings familiar, and nothing seems to fit into the scheme of things, seeing faces where there shouldn't be faces, noones really certain what tomorrow brings". This eloquently describes the sense of frustration, confusion and uncertainty facing the younger generation when this record was made, and it captures the zeitgeist of depressing, early 80s Thatcherite Britain. Mark Burgess, elsewhere in the track, puts it more bluntly when he asks the question that everyone asks from time to time, "How did I come to be drowning in this mess? aahhh, FUCKING MESS!" Yet. far from being depressing "Don't Fall" is uplifting; it is bleak and yet it offers an exhortation to never give up in spite of the odds being stacked against you. It offers comfort in the way that it conveys to you that you are not alone in feeling angry and pissed off with a world that seems to conspire to bring you down all the time. Musically it is equally as striking, with a repetitious guitar riff that is pregnant with a sense of brooding menace. A very powerful track.

"Monkeyland" offers a change of tempo and dynamics. It starts off with an insidious guitar line made up of just three notes repeated incessantly which gradually fades in and increases in volume and then continues throughout the verse portions of the track. Mark Burgess tells of his fear and mistrust of people - and pretty much everything - in the society that he has been forced to live in, "I shake my head and shiver, they smile and stab my back as they shake my hand". We can all empathise with his desire to escape this heinous world, which he mockingly refers to as Monkeyland - "send out an SOS please, come quickly, I'm marooned in Monkeyland". This fear and feeling of alienation and mistrust of a confusing and immoral world is brought to the fore in the chorus, where the loud guitars finally kick in and Mark shouts, "Its just a trick of the light!" and "Tell me how does it feel, beyond this illusion?" The thing that makes this song work is the dynamics, the way that the suspense created by the quieter, restrained and yet sinister sounding verses is released by the more raucous chorus.

"Second Skin" is one of the finest Chameleons songs. It begins with the kind of achingly beautiful primitive synth (a sound used a lot at the time and now sadly absent from music), the sort of sound that they were to utilise a lot on their second album. The guitar picks out a gorgeous riff and demonstrates Reg Smithee's distinctive ability to make his guitar sound almost ambient and otherworldly in some inscrutable way. The percussion is powerful and sounds almost electronically treated. Halfway through, the track changes its melody and becomes softer, "I realise a miracle is due, I dedicate this melody to you" intones Mark repeatedly. "If this is the stuff dreams are made of, no wonder it feels like I'm walking on air". This sounds suspiciously like the first love song on the album, although right at the end of the track the feeling of paranoia and fear is resurrected by backing vocals repeating chillingly "something's banging on my door".

The frantic, driving "Up the Down Escalator" revisits the themes of "Don't Fall", as it rails against the oppression and unfairness rampant in society and articulates the rage and frustration experienced by all people who are not privileged to exist within the upper echelons of society. "They sit at the table and throw us the scraps, for Christ's sake leave us something, if I could resign at the flick of a switch I wouldn't hesitate". The chorus expresses Mark Burgess' sheer bewilderment at the ridiculous society he lives in, as all he can say is the ironical understatement, "There must be something wrong, boys".

"Less than Human" is the next track, and it is one of my personal favourite Chameleons tracks. It features an unusual beat - almost funky in a weird way - and some beautiful ethereal guitar. The lyrics are comparatively simplistic, "I must have cried a thousand times, feeling less than human in Gods eyes" are the main lyrics. Mark also offers a depressing yet realistic reminder to us all, basically that we are all destined to die in the end: "time is one my side she said, he may be on your side I said, but it makes no difference in the end, he's coming after you my friend!"

In my opinion, from this point onwards the album is not quite so good. The songs are still very good after this point (although I'm not a huge fan of "High As You Can Go", and indeed there are a few that are excellent, but the second half of the album is just not as magical as the almost flawless first half. Having said that, "A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days" is very special indeed. Burgess angrily rails against the sadistic crime and mindless thuggery prevalent in society, "as they drag you from your bed, kicking you in the head". The atmosphere of fear and insecurity is heightened by a truly sinister and menacing riff. All expectations of help from an outside source are fruitless, we have to fend for ourselves in this free-for-all, as "Man of Steel..just stood laughing in the rain". What is very beautiful is the way that the tense, ominous mood gradually dissipates into the relaxed, ambient coda which lasts for the final minute or so. This really is a very stunning track.

"Paper Tigers" is another excellent song, with intense guitar and pounding percussion, and the effect which occurs frequently of the bass drum being hit in one speaker and then the other one adds to the intensity. The lyrics are seemingly referring to the way that we all have to face up to and confront our fears in life. Even though such problems may be not as bad as they seem - they are "paper tigers" -they appear insurmountable to us. The chorus loses the volume of the rest of the track, as Mark enigmatically informs us that "they always keep themselves clean" over a strummed electric-acoustic guitar.

The closing track, "A View From a Hill" is completely different from the rest of the album, and offers respite from the brooding intensity of the rest of the album with a mellow, ethereal sound that is quite beautiful. I cannot help but feel however, that it seems a little out of place.

Although this album is not perfect, it still remains a stunning debut album. It is bleak and yet uplifting. It rocks hard but still sounds strangely beautiful in many places. If two or three tracks were taken off and replaced with the best tracks from their second album "What Does Anything Mean, Basically?", then this would be a firm contender for the title of "Best guitar record of all time". Seriously. The first half of the album is perfect, so angry and yet still so sad and beautiful. Yes, there are a few weaker tracks on the second half, but also some stunning songs as well. So, it's a flawed masterpiece. Yet it is still up there with "Unknown Pleasures", "Live at the Witch Trials" and "Movement" as one of the greatest debut albums of a guitar band ever, and the Chameleons remain one of the most criminally underrated bands of all time.