Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti
	Produced by Laurie Latham
	Released on August 1985
	UK CHART POSITION #31 . . . US CHART POSITION #57
	Find it at GEMM
SP 5085 cover [high resolution photo]

T he further synthetic adventures of Difford & Tilbrook. Reuniting with Julian Holland and Gilson Lavis, the songwriting pair kept their new bassist (Keith Wilkinson) and their new wave affectations intact for another batch of treacly tunes. If it’s a better record than D&T (and it is), credit the occasional infusion of their old gruff charm into the proceedings: “Heartbreaking World,” “I Won’t Ever Go Drinking Again(?),” “King George Street.” Otherwise, this is far more stiff and sophisticated than pop music has a right to be. Tracks like “I Learnt How To Pray,” “Big Beng” and “No Place Like Home” come off like grand musical statements; you get the sense if Squeeze could have found an orchestra to accompany them, they would have jumped at the chance. But it’s too studied to be Squeeze. Where genius once oozed from the music, it’s now crammed into tiny overstuffed suitcases. It’s also worth noting that Difford is writing from a dark place on Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti. Relationships fail (“No Place Like Home,” “I Learnt How To Pray”) and alcohol is often at the root of it (“King George Street,” “Break My Heart”). What remains is a downbeat muse (Difford), a tireless tunesmith (Tilbrook) and a talented but underutilized piano player (Holland). The rhythm section of Lavis and Wilkinson is just fine, except that they’re filtered through electronic effects for a processed beat that sounds clever but never convincing. Only when the band strips away the production gloss for the closing “I Won’t Ever Go Drinking Again(?)” do you feel that sense of loss. Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti could have been a good album, as good as Babylon And On even, if producer Laurie Latham had tapped into their original pub rock roots. Instead, it’s gilded pop from the very ungolden age of mid ‘80s new wave. Again, Squeeze fans will stick around for the good ideas, but this is hardly the tastiest frutti on the tree.

SP 5085 back cover	SP 5085 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. BIG BENG    4:02
2. BY YOUR SIDE    4:24
3. KING GEORGE STREET    4:25
4. I LEARNT HOW TO PRAY    4:23
5. LAST TIME FOREVER    6:18
6. NO PLACE LIKE HOME    4:26
7. HEARTBREAKING WORLD    (Chris Difford/Julian Holland)    5:06
8. HITS OF THE YEAR    3:03
9. BREAK MY HEART    5:12
10. I WON'T EVER GO DRINKING AGAIN (?)    4:36
    
    All songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook unless noted

CREDITS

CHRIS DIFFORD -- guitar, all tambourines, vocals
JULIAN HOLLAND -- keyboards, vocals
GILSON LAVIS -- acoustic and electric drums, backing vocals
GLENN TILBROOK -- guitar, keyboards, vocals
KEITH WILKINSON -- bass guitars, backing vocals
Hearts of Soul -- backing vocals (4)
Christopher Holland -- organ (6)
Ian Kewley -- E.M.U. (6)
Erwin Autrique and Michael Diericks -- additional engineering
Rob O'Connor -- art direction, design
Michael Ross -- art direction
Simon Fell -- illustration
Nick Knight -- Squeeze photography
Trevor Rogers -- inner sleeve photography

return to SQUEEZE discography

For more discographies visit...

© 2005 Connolly & Company. All rights reserved.