The Silencers ‘A Letter From St. Paul’
Today’s Cool Album of The Day (#783 in the Series) is The Silencers, A Letter From St. Paul
I’m curious as to how many of you are familiar with The Silencers. A show of hands please..one, two , three, four… oh, I see a few more in the back, not bad! Plus I know a few of our friends from Scotland know of them! That’s where they call home.
This one is a little more obscure here in the States. This album was released in 1987. “Painted Moon” actually did get some play. To me though, the title cut, “A Letter From St. Paul” was the song not to miss.
You can hear most of this one below. If you can’t give this entire album a listen at least check out that one. What’s my prediction? You’ll then go back and listen from the beginning because you’ll want to hear more.
What genre do they fit in? Without trying to pigeonhole I’d toss them loosely into the “New Romantics” genre, but barely. Who could they be compared to? The name I see the most is Simple Minds. I’ve also read Del Amitri as a comparative sound. Maybe a little bit of Big Country in there as well. More than a little Modern English and a little Talk Talk. U2, no not really. No, I take that back. I can hear a little bit of “Edge” in track three, “Bullet and Blue Eyes.”
Just to show how many people think this is good stuff? I just checked eBay. The cheapest you can find the CD right now is $70!
The band is still around and putting out some fine music. Make sure you listen to at least a little of this. I really think you’ll like it. Let us know below!
The Silencers, A Letter From St. Paul peaked at #147 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart.
— Larry Carta
Track Listing
- “Painted Moon”
- “I Can’t Cry”
- “Bullet And Blue Eyes”
- “God’s Gift”
- “I See Red”
- “I Ought To Know”
- “A Letter From St. Paul”
- “Blue Desire”
- “Possessed”
Personnel
- Charles Burns Guitar
- Joe Donnelly Bass
- Martin Hanlin Drums
- Jimme O’Neill Guitar, Vocals
Related Links
- Official Silencers Website
- See more albums that we’ve featured from 1987
- See more albums we’ve featured from the ‘ New Romantics’ genre.
- Back to ‘Cool Album’ HOMEPAGE
Nice review. I remember hearing this when it was first released and not knowing what to make of it, but being drawn in anyway. They went on to become one of my favorite bands, and still are. They have put out some great music since – any of their albums are worth getting if you can lay your hands on a copy.
If I was honest to myself when putting together a 10 desert island disk list (i.e. the albums I play anytime and like, not the albums that seem cool at the time!) this would be near the top. I bought it on cassette tin ’87 and played it over many years until the tape wore out. Getting another recording was hard, but the chase was worth it. A favourite driving album, it still sounds as fresh and exciting as it did back then.