Hugh Cornwell – All The Fun Of The Fair 15/10/2024

Hugh Cornwell’s All The Fun Of The Fair is another live album which of course coincides with a Stranglers Live album and the band he was once part of many many years ago.

So what do you get? Typically it’s a selection of his solo stuff throughout the years and also some old Stranglers songs being given an airing or rework.

To be honest it’s pretty much what you got from his previous live albums – a selection of Hugh solo (more from the last two which are IMHO are his best especially Monster) with a different selection of Stranglers tracks. Hugh’s innovative guitar, his ability to craft tunes and that distinctive voice that was a key part of The Stranglers.

At the same time it also reveals some of the flaws. A lot of the songs tend to sound sparse or like demos and crying out for either keyboards or another guitar especially in a live environment.

The last tour that Hugh did for Moments of Madness he did two sets. The first set was a solo career-spanning one and then the lead second set was a Stranglers one. For the latter, the 3 piece band pulled out all sorts of technological wizardry by the drummer and bassist to replicate synth/keyboards without having one.

On All The Fun Of The Fair the songs are mixed including El Duce, Evil, Mr Leather, When I Was a Young Man plus Skin Deep, Goodbye Toulouse, Grip and Nice & Sleazy. The latter is a nice rework with the bass player recreating the crazy synth passage.

It doesn’t break any new ground, but if you were just starting out listening to Hugh Cornwell not a bad place to start.

Purchase here and choose from the obligatory multiple formats and bundles

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