Aural Sculptors - The Stranglers Live 1976 to the Present


Welcome to Aural Sculptors, a blog aimed at bringing the music of The Stranglers to as wide an audience as possible. Whilst all of the various members of the band that have passed through the ranks since 1974 are accomplished studio musicians, it is on stage where the band have for me had their biggest impact.

As a collector of their live recordings for many years I want to share some of the better quality material with other fans. By selecting the higher quality recordings I hope to present The Stranglers in the best possible light for the benefit of those less familiar with their material than the hardcore fan.

Needless to say, this site will steer well clear of any officially released material. As well as live gigs, I will post demos, radio interviews and anything else that I feel may be of interest.

In addition, occasionally I will post material by other bands, related or otherwise, that mean a lot to me.

Your comments and/or contributions are most welcome. Please email me at adrianandrews@myyahoo.com.


Sunday, 21 December 2025

The Undertones 'Sin Of Pride' - The Critics View (March 1983)


'Sin of Pride' was the fourth studio album from The Undertones and their last in their first incarnation. Produced at a time when tensions were rising in the band, its poor sales no doubt contributed to the demise of the band. According to the albums Wikipedia entry, relations between Feargal Sharky and John O'Neill were especially strained around the time of the recording. Interestingly, in the bands interview with Kirsty McNeill in the New Musical Express of 2nd April 1983 (see previous post), it is Damian O'Neill who makes the following comment, "It's good for the development of songs. But there's no way it's good to take a year break for any group - it's ridiculous. I think some of us aren't pulling our weight”. The comment is not elaborated upon but it could be that Feargal was off the Christmas card list of both of the O'Neill boys.

New Musical Express (12th March 1983)


Record Mirror (12th March 1983)


It would appear that despite the issues with the band, in the studio they had been able to pull off a critical success in the eyes of the press at least... sadly though this enthusiasm did not trickle down to the record buying public.


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