All Fools Day
	Produced by Hugh Jones
	Released on 1986
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
TVT 2111 cover [high resolution photo]

A neat chameleon of a record, which was an unexpected delight. The Saints (in name anyway) were one of the original punk bands alongside The Damned, The Stranglers, etc. They ended up about the same too, drifting toward more sophisticated, gothic rock as the punk posture proved too taxing for brittle knees. But All Fools Days is phantasmacategorically better than the latter-day Damned or Stranglers. In fact, forget about those bands altogether. Instead, imagine if Mick Jagger had a younger brother who grew up in the shadows, malcontented and bitter but with a strong resolve all the same. Then you’d have Chris Bailey (in voice anyway) and, in All Fools Day, his evolution from angry also-ran to happy man. Produced by Hugh Jones with strings and horns and other pretty touches, it’s a far nicer setting than Bailey’s voice deserves, but not a better setting than the songs deserve. Not since Graham Parker have I heard twelve good songs in succession like this. “Big Hits (On The Underground),” “Love Or Imagination,” “Just Like Fire Would” (which unfortunately sounds a lot like John Mellencamp’s “Small Town”) and “How To Avoid Disaster” are all winners that stuck with me over the years. Bailey and the band seem interested in reinventing The Saints with every song, which prevents All Fools Day from settling into a rut. Fresh from beginning to end and full of surprises, it's a fine candidate for Best Album You’ve Never Heard Of, especially if you felt The Rolling Stones’ absence in the ‘80s.

TVT 2111 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. JUST LIKE FIRE WOULD    3:22
2. FIRST TIME    3:39
3. HYMN TO SAINT JUDE    3:32
4. SEE YOU IN PARADISE    4:16
5. LOVE OR IMAGINATION    3:48
6. CELTIC BALLAD    2:49
7. EMPTY PAGE    3:27
8. BIG HITS (ON THE UNDERGROUND)    3:06
9. HOW TO AVOID DISASTER    2:45
10. BLUES ON MY MIND    2:58
11. TEMPLE OF THE LORD    3:40
12. ALL FOOLS DAY    4:42
    
    All songs written by Chris Bailey

CREDITS

CHRIS BAILEY --
RICHARD BURGMANN --
IVOR HAY --
ARCHIE LARIZZA -- additional arrangements
Roger Cawkwell -- additional arrangements
Neil King -- mixing engineer

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