Wasp Star Apple Venus Volume 2

XTC ended their recording career on a high note with 2000's Wasp Star: Apple Venus Volume 2. It had been a tumultuous 23 years of recording, with ongoing problems with their record company. Also, Andy Partridge had his "breakdown" in 1982, which ended their touring. Through it all, they released great albums-each one very distinct from the next. All bands must adapt and change as time passes, and XTC was almost unrecognizable with this album. This album has that late 90's upbeat and fresh guitar-driven sound that defined many bands of that time period. The album starts off with the perfect kicker, PLAYGROUND, which is GOO GOO Dollish. Next, we have STUPIDLY HAPPY. Colin Moulding cranks out another catchy melodic hit of sorts. I also love his song, STANDING IN FOR JOE. WE"RE ALL LIGHT may be the most popular song on the album, as Andy shows even more versatility than ever before. CHURCH OF WOMEN is extremely catchy, and again, Andy delivers another fine piece. Every song is good on this album, which isn't a surprise, because these guys are known for their consistency. The absence of Dave Gregory is noticeable here, but Andy makes up for it with bold guitars throughout. I will admit that this album is a tad difficult to get used to, because it is so different from their other material. XTC has evolved over the years, but one could still recognize their music, nonetheless. If I didn't know that I was listening to XTC beforehand, I would think that this album was from another band. This album is no masterpiece, but it has my praise. 8/10

I dashed off an initial review and, having spun this CD hundreds of times, I thought a second opinion was in order. (By the way, my son is now hooked. I catch him singing "Church of Women" all the time, although I'm not sure that's such a good thing for a 10 year old.) So where do things stand, you might ask? We'll, my rating has dropped from a 5 to a 4. Let me explain. The more I listen to this album, the more derivative it sounds. Almost every song has fairly strong hints of prior XTC songs, including familiar riffs, accompanyments, and even basic melodies. Now, all of them are great, in my opinion, but this borrowing from past songs creates an uneasy feeling. If you haven't listened to much XTC in the past, it may not bother you. Then again, if you search out their other albums, it may be just as disquieting. In my opinion, the stand out song on the album is "Standing In For Joe," by Colin Moulding. This is a well-crafted a pop song as I've ever heard. It is as if a formula existed for cadence, production, and lyrics of an archetypal pop song and Moulding found it. XTC would be fools not to make this their single. Instead, they've chosen "The Man Who Murdered Love," which has some real high points (such as the chant, "I'm guilty, I'm guilty, I'm guilty" that springs the song to life midway through), but is, in the end, a rather unfinished sounding piece that doesn't hang together well. Indeed, if the bad points of this album could be summarized, it would be criticism of Andy Partridge's failure to take the creative beast by the tail and give us some amazing songs. (I can remember the feelings when I listened to English Settlement the first time, or Nonsuch, or Drums and Wires. Wow. Wasp Star is not a "wow" album. Now that the negative stuff is out of the way, let me say that I still really like this album. Compared to what many other groups are putting out today, this stuff is pure genius. But I know that XTC can do better. We'll just have to wait.

bought it cause from what people were saying on this page, i had to get it. i can't really expand a whole lot cause this album is gonna take years to digest. every time i listen and think, try and process it's more better than last time. i'm more impressed more in awe more glad this is here for me to hear. i am speaking of the nine songs that are andy's. his voice. wow in the right frame of mind that voice could paralyze me. drop like a rock. lot's of goodies on this record. moments of intense groovage and beauty. tons of wit makes me smile. there's even a message i think. maybe that'll come later. in conclusion one of the best records ever made, gotta be at least top 100 in the history of humans.

What a surprise to hear such a good album. Never expected this as a final release. Overlooked by all except for a few. Excellant purchase

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  It’s a real shame: very bad quality control. The b side has some stains and little bubbles that affect reproduction. The cartridge can’t track it correctly and so it skips.

I hunted this down after hearing Andy playing the riff to Playground on YouTube & I’m very glad I did. XTC used to be one of my favouriteBands & somehow dropped off my radar, which could have something to do with them getting banned from TOTP’s. Now I’m catching upOn their back catalogue & Wasp star is the latest in my collection. Some of the songs are instantly catchy & the others creep up on you.IMO this is stronger album than Apple Venus that proceeded this, so I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone who likes well craftedSongs.

I have to say that I am a massive XTC fan going back to 1979, and have been waiting with bated breath for this album to experience a vinyl repressing. I have purchased all of the recent vinyls, including the 200grm deluxe repressings, with the amazing ‘Skarking’ being my favourite vinyl re-release to date. From a quality perspective, my Wasp Star copy ticks all the boxes and played flat and true and no unnecessary background noise or pops etc, and sounded superb on my Rega 6 deck! Buy with confidence what is a great vinyl version of a great band, that is so missed by many.

I'm guilty of being one of those people that have known XTC's music through the singles but have never ventured further into their expertise. When I first heard Making Plans For Nigel, I was about 22 and working on a farm for a lazy sod of a farmer who rarely showed up so I spent hours alone in a tractor with nothing but music for company. I've always loved music and was very fortunate in having parents that allowed me access to the radiogram (remember them?) from a very young age and my formative years were spent listening to George Shearing, Duane Eddy, Bill Haley etc on vinyl, hours spent tuning through Radio Caroline, Radio London and, of course, Luxembourg. How I miss 208! Anyway, back to MPFN, when I first heard this, it was about two in the morning and I was in the middle of a field ploughing. I just had to stop to listen to this completely different piece of music, the likes of which, I'd never heard before. I was hooked and couldn't wait to hear it again and again. Remember- I was a farm worker in north Devon so I was so low paid that buying records was just a pipe dream. I was paid barely enough to get me to work and back! So years pass and I've bought hundreds of cd's after better wages and the kids fleeing the nest (Thank God!) and I finally get around to exploring the genius of Andy and Colin. This was the first album I bought along with Big Express. It's hard to believe that there's nearly twenty years between them. Two cd's with nearly thirty tracks and there isn't one track I dislike. They are the reason that I'm in the process of buying the entire back catalog. With apologies to The Who and Tom waits as they're not in the 'grab first' stack at the moment. The Dukes are in the next 'collect' category after the rest of of XTC. Andy Partridge is a gifted genius and it's a great shame that he and Colin Moulding aren't better recognised for their monumental contribution to English music.

despite having everything XTC and the dukes have released for some reason i never got round to buying this.don't know why as its a cracking finale!probably the most easily accessible XTC album, back to basics from apple Venus volume 1, but whilst not as inventive a joyous sing along piece of well crafted tunes.as always sadly missed.