The Mekons Rock 'n Roll

The Mekons Rock 'n Roll is the eighth studio album by English rock band The Mekons, released in 1989.

The Mekons Rock 'n Roll
Studio album by
The Mekons
ReleasedSeptember 1989
RecordedTerminal Studios & Berry Street Studio London
GenreAlternative rock
Length45:24
LabelBlast First
ProducerMekons/Ian Caple
The Mekons chronology
So Good It Hurts
(1988)		 The Mekons Rock 'n Roll
(1989)		 The Curse of the Mekons
(1991)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[3]
Q[4]
Rolling Stone[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Spin Alternative Record Guide10/10[7]
The Village VoiceA[8]

Critical reception

The album was well-received by critics on its initial release. It was named eighth of the top 10 albums of 1989 in the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll.[9] In 1991, New York Times critic Jon Pareles called it "one of the best albums of the 1980s."[10]

Decades later, critics still remembered it fondly.[11][12] Pitchfork placed The Mekons Rock 'n Roll at number 97 on its 2002 list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.[13] In 2007, the record was ranked at number 97 on Blender's list of the "100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever".[14] It was included in Tom Moon's 2008 book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.[15]

Track listing

All songs composed by The Mekons (as per label). The BMI database lists all songs as composed by Tom Greenhalgh and Jon Langford.

  1. "Memphis, Egypt" – 3:37
  2. "Club Mekon" – 3:29
  3. "Only Darkness Has the Power" – 3:28
  4. "Ring O' Roses" – 4:07
  5. "Learning to Live on Your Own" – 4:37
  6. "Cocaine Lil" – 2:51
  7. "Empire of the Senseless" – 4:35
  8. "Someone" – 2:44
  9. "Amnesia" – 4:31
  10. "I Am Crazy" – 3:28
  11. "Heaven and Back" – 3:16
  12. "Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet" – 3:56
  13. "Echo" – 4:33
  14. "When Darkness Falls" – 3:53

The American issue of this album omits "Ring O' Roses" and "Heaven and Back".

References
  1. Dougan, John. "The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll – The Mekons". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  2. Kot, Greg (9 November 1989). "Mekons: The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll (Twin Tone/A & M)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  3. Moon, Tom (29 October 1989). "The Mekons: The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll (Twin-Tone A&M)". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  4. "The Mekons: The Mekons Rock 'n Roll". Q. No. 37. October 1989.
  5. Young, Jon (8 February 1990). "The Mekons: The Mekons Rock N' Roll". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  6. Considine, J. D.; Hoard, Christian (2004). "The Mekons". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 534–36. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. Weisbard, Eric (1995). "Mekons". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 248–49. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  8. Christgau, Robert (21 November 1989). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  9. "Pazz & Jop: Top 10 Albums By Year, 1971-2017". Village Voice. New York City. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  10. Pareles, Jon (5 July 1991). "Pop/Jazz; The Mekons Shed a Label For a Curse That Works". New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  11. Christgau, Robert (24 April 2001). "The Mekons: Rock 'n' Roll". Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  12. Nelson, Elizabeth (18 September 2019). "Handcuffed to History: 'The Mekons Rock 'N' Roll' Is 30 Years Old". The Ringer. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  13. "The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. 21 November 2002. p. 1. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  14. "Blender's 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever". Stereogum. 14 November 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  15. Moon, Tom. 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die: A Listener's Life List. pp. 494–495.


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