Classic & Current Contemporary Non-Schlock-Rock Metropolitan Music

A Different Kind of Tension (Jul. 1979) - Buzzcocks

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This record came out the same year as Singles Going Steady - a fabulous collection of punk pop songs. A Different Kind of Tension tricks you at first into expecting a punk pop record with the opening pop track "Paradise," followed by a few compact songs. As the album progresses, however, the Buzzcocks stray into a more intense, psychedelic aural experience.

The key song from A Different Kind of Tension is found towards the end of Side 2. "I Believe" is not only the Buzzcocks's most epic song ever, it's a terrific (and unsung, so to speak) rock anthem.

Pete Shelley sets the tone with the opening verse:

In these times of contention
it's not my intention to make things plain
I'm looking through mirrors
to catch the reflection that can't be mine.
I'm losing control now
I'll just have to slow down a thought or two.
I can't see the future
and I'm not even certain that there is a past.

"I Believe" is a seven-minute driving rock piece where Shelley ticks off rhyming lists of catchy clever credos that roll of his tongue and get stuck in your brain:

• I believe in the shape of things to come.
  I believe I'm not the only one.
• I believe in the elixer of youth.
  I believe in the absolute truth.
• I believe in the things I never had.
  I believe in my mum and my dad.

This song takes you for a long ride that will have you screaming:

THERE IS. NO. LOVE. IN. THIS. WORLD. A-NY. MOOOORE....!

If you've never heard that "I Believe" by the Buzzocks, download it here. Trust me.

-- January 21, 2011 (DDT)

Buzzcocks - A Different Kind of Tension Original Album Tracks

1. Paradise
2. Sitting Round at Home
3. You Say You Don't Love Me
4. You Know You Can't Help It
5. Mad Mad Judy
6. Raison d'Etre
7. I Don't Know What to Do With My Life
8. Money
9. Hollow Inside
10. A Different Kind of Tension
11. I Believe (2008 Remastered)
12. Radio Nine

More Buzzcocks at Deaconlight.com

• Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady (1979)
  Album Commentary
• Buzzcocks - Flat-Pack Philosophy (2006)
  Album Tracks