One of the most important and revered bands of the post-punk and alternative rock scenes, the Jesus and Mary Chain's artistic impact is incalculable. Heavily influenced not only by the dangerous sounds of bands like the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, but also by the sonic grandeur and pop savvy of the '60s-era girl group sound and the Beach Boys, the band was able to find the beauty in noise,
while both celebrating pop conventions and thoroughly subverting them. Brothers Jim and William Reid formed a band in the early 1980s in response to their distaste of the music at the time, saying, "It was the crap coming out of the radio that made us want to be in a band". This worked in their favour, as William said, "It was perfect timing because there weren't any guitar bands. Everybody was making this electronic pop music." Before forming the band, the brothers had spent five years on the dole, during which they wrote and recorded songs at home and worked out the sound and image of the band. Originally called The Poppy Seeds, and then Death of Joey.
Ιnspired by the sounds of the post-punk surrounding them in the late '70s, the Reids began talking about starting a band for years, but it wasn't until 1983 that they got serious. They made a series of Ramones-influenced demos on home recording gear, then recruited bassist Douglas Hart and drummer Murray
Dalglish. This early edition of the band started playing the occasional gig, often uninvited by the club's owners, and soon caught the ear of local lad Bobby Gillespie. Thanks to his passing a tape on to Alan McGee, the band scored a slot at the latter's club The Living Room. Impressed by the band's sound and presentation, McGee signed them to his Creation label and signed on as their manager. In late 1984 -- just as Gillespie joined in place of Dalglish -- the band issued its seminal debut single, "Upside Down," a gnarly blast of live-wire feedback anchored by a caveman-like drumbeat.
Dalglish left in November 1984 after a dispute over money and was replaced shortly afterwards by Gillespie who had also formed Primal Scream two years earlier in 1982. "Upside Down" topped the UK Indie Chart in February 1985 and then again in March and stayed on the chart for 76 weeks, selling around 35,000 copies in total, making it one of the biggest-selling indie singles of the 1980s. Playing in front of
small audiences, during early shows the Mary Chain performed very short gigs, typically fueled by amphetamines and lasting around 20 minutes, and played with their backs to the audience, refusing to speak to them. In late December 1984, the band performed as part of the ICA Rock Week. During their performance, bottles were thrown on stage, with press reports exaggerating events and claiming that there had been a riot, and national newspaper The Sun running a story on the band concentrating on violence and drugs, the band attracting the tag "The new Sex Pistols". That led several local councils to ban the band from performing in their area.
The follow-up, "You Trip Me Up," further perfected the formula, and led to their 1985 debut LP Psychocandy, which gift-wrapped sweet, simple pop songs in ribbons of droning guitar fuzz. After a two-year layoff (during which time Gillespie exited to form Primal Scream and was replaced by John Moore), the Jesus and Mary Chain returned with the icy and drum machine-driven Darklands, a dramatic shift in
approach that stripped away the feedback to expose the moody, melancholy guitar pop at the music's core. After another long absence, the Mary Chain (minus Hart) resurfaced in 1992 with Honey's Dead, and earned greater U.S. visibility thanks to a spot on that summer's Lollapalooza lineup; the first single, "Reverence," also won them renewed attention at home when Top of the Pops banned the song because of lyrics like "I wanna die just like Jesus Christ" and "I wanna die just like JFK." The group turned away from the dark, mainly uptempo sound of Honey's Dead on their next effort, 1994's gentle, largely acoustic Stoned & Dethroned, they even reached the U.S. pop charts thanks to the lovely single "Sometimes Always," a duet with Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval.
After the release of the 1995 compilation Hate Rock 'N' Roll, the Mary Chain parted ways with Blanco y Negro, their record label of over a decade, and re-signed to their original label Creation Records, and Sub Pop in America. The band now included former Lush bassist Phil King. They then recorded 1998's Munki album, which would turn out to be their last before splitting the following year. Munki was commercially the least successful album the band released, peaking at number forty-seven in the UK Album Chart.
Though it was not until October 1999 that the split was made official, on 12 September 1998, William had a falling out in the tour bus with Lurie, the guitarist, before they were to play a sold out performance at the famous Los Angeles House of Blues. Jim appeared onstage apparently drunk and barely able to stand or sing. William walked offstage about 15 minutes into their set, and the show ended. The audience was later refunded the price of their tickets. The band finished up their U.S. and Japanese dates without William, but from that point, it was clear that the band was at its end. Jim Reid said in 2006 of the tension between himself and William: "After each tour we wanted to kill each other, and after the final tour we tried". On the final night of the tour in Providence, Rhode Island, the band's promoter ran off with the money and the band reportedly got in a fight with the cast of the show Riverdance.
The Jesus and Mary Chain reunited to perform at Coachella on 27 April 2007. During "Just Like Honey", Scarlett Johansson, who starred in the film Lost in Translation featuring the song, performed with the band
on the main stage. In September 2015, Jim Reid announced that the band were recording their first studio album since 1998. The album titled Damage and Joy was produced by Youth and released on 24 March 2017. On 24 August 2017, Bobby Gillespie joined the band on drums for three Psychocandy songs during their performance at Vilar de Mouros Festival in Portugal. On 29 November 2023, the band released "Jamcod", the lead single from their eighth album, Glasgow Eyes, which was released on 22 March 2024.
ALBUMS ON THIS POST
01. Psychocandy (1985)
02. Darklands (1987)
03. Automatic (1989)
04. Honey's Dead (1992)
05. Stoned & Dethroned (1994)
01. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN - PSYCHOCANDY 1985
How did two dreamy, painfully shy brothers from suburban Scotland create one of the most remarkable
albums of the 80s? Wielding an instrument onstage has the potential to elevate an ordinary person to the level of a deity. Looks don’t necessarily matter all that much up there. Talent helps, but is not essential (ahem, Sid Vicious). It’s more about what one does when on that pedestal, which is like a Mount Olympus of sorts. “Onstage we’re one of the sexiest groups you can imagine,” Jim said of the band in 1985, goading yet another interviewer. “Three or four guys in leather, rolling around and showing their backsides to the audience.”
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Psychocandy
Label: Blanco Y Negro – 242 000-2, WEA – 242 000-2
Format: CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: 1986
Genre: Rock
Style: Indie Rock
TRACKS
01. Just Like Honey 3:00
02. The Living End 2:14
03. Taste The Floor 2:54
04. The Hardest Walk 2:36
05. Cut Dead 2:45
06. In A Hole 3:01
07. Taste Of Cindy 1:39
08. Some Candy Talking 3:15
09. Never Understand 2:58
10. Inside Me 3:08
11. Sowing Seeds 2:47
12. My Little Underground 2:30
13. You Trip Me Up 2:22
14. Something's Wrong 4:00
15. It's So Hard 2:35
LINE - UP
Jim Reid – vocals, guitar
William Reid – vocals, guitar
Douglas Hart – bass
Bobby Gillespie – drums
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS
Karen Parker – backing vocals
Laurence Verfaillie – backing vocals
Flac Size: 296 MB
02. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN - DARKLANDS 1987
Darklands is the second studio album by Scottish alternative rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain, released
on 31 August 1987 by Blanco y Negro Records. The album is the band's first to use drum machines, replacing live drummer Bobby Gillespie, who had left to pursue a career as the frontman of Scottish rock band Primal Scream. Lead vocals are performed by Jim Reid, with the exception of "Darklands", "Nine Million Rainy Days" and "On the Wall", which are sung by William Reid. Darklands reached number five on the UK Albums Chart, the band's highest-peaking album on the chart to date. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Darklands
Label: Edsel Records – EDSG 8007, Rhino Records
Format: CD, Compilation, Remastered
Country: UK
Released: Sep 19, 2011
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock
CD 1. DARKLANDS
01. Darklands 5:30
02. Deep One Perfect Morning 2:44
03. Happy When It Rains 3:37
04. Down On Me 2:37
05. Nine Million Rainy Days 4:31
06. April Skies 4:00
07. Fall 2:31
08. Cherry Came Too 3:06
09. On The Wall 5:05
10. About You 2:35
SOME CANDY TALKING EP
11. Some Candy Talking 3:18
12. Taste Of Cindy (Acoustic Version) 2:00
13. Psychocandy 2:54
14. Hit 3:29
RADIO SESSIONS
15. Darklands 4:40
16. Down On Me 2:29
17. Deep One Perfect Morning 2:37
18. Fall 3:11
19. In The Rain 2:28
20. Happy Place 2:24
Flac Size: 453 MB
CD 2. B-SIDES
01. Kill Surf City 3:12
02. Bo Diddley Is Jesus 3:17
03. Who Do You Love 4:05
04. Everything's Alright When You're Down 2:39
05. Shake 2:01
06. Happy When It Rains (Demo) 3:46
07. Happy Place 2:24
08. F.Hole 1:07
09. Rider 2:12
10. On The Wall (Portastudio Demo) 3:41
11. Surfin' USA 2:58
12. Here It Comes Again 2:32
OUTTAKES
13. Walk And Crawl 2:24
14. Some Candy Talking (NME Version) 3:10
15. Mushroom 3:19
16. The Hardest Walk (Soundtrack Version) 3:12
17. Don't Ever Change 3:32
18. Swing 2:25
19. Darklands (With Strings) 5:27
Flac Size: 411 MB
LINE - UP
Jim Reid – vocals (all tracks except 1, 5, 9)
William Reid – vocals (tracks 1, 5, 9); production (all tracks)
NOTES
This deluxe expanded edition features all the non-album b-sides, the pre-Darklands Some Candy Talking EP, outtakes, the complete BBC Radio Sessions the band recorded in this period, previously unreleased material includes a much sought-after Janice Long session from 1986, an alternate version of the "Some Candy Talking" single recorded for the NME, a recently unearthed version of the track "Darklands" with strings, and a BBC audio interview with Jim and William Reid from 1987.
03. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN - AUTOMATIC 1989
Automatic is an album that’s frequently given short shrift by any number of biographers, commentators and scholars who erroneously view the record solely as a streamlined and digital assault on the American
market that lacks the bite of its predecessors. Crucially, the mistake is made all too often of presenting The Jesus And Mary Chain as a hermetically sealed unit with one eye looking permanently in the rear view mirror at the debris and detritus strewn across the rock & roll highway. Yet this is to ignore the band’s role in the here and now of the closing chapters of the 1980s with their finely tuned pop antennae picking up what was going on around them. And what was going on around them was a heady and potent cocktail of squelches, beats and noise.
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Automatic
Label :Warner Bros. Records – 9 26015-2, Blanco Y Negro – 9 26015-2
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock
TRACKS
01. Here Comes Alice 3:52
02. Coast To Coast 4:13
03. Blues From A Gun 4:44
04. Between Planets 3:27
05. UV Ray 4:04
06. Her Way Of Praying 3:46
07. Head On 4:11
08. Take It 4:34
09. Halfway To Crazy 3:41
10. Gimme Hell
Drums – Richard Thomas 3:18
11. Drop 1:55
12. Sunray 1:35
LINE - UP
Jim Reid – vocals (tracks 2, 4–10), guitar, synthesiser, drum programming, production
William Reid – vocals (tracks 1, 3, 11), guitar, synthesizer, drum programming, production
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS
Richard Thomas – drums on "Gimme Hell"
Flac Size: 284 MB
04. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN - HONEY'S DEAD 1992
After sidestepping a bit with the all-too appropriately titled Automatic, brothers Jim and William Reid revisited the Darklands and returned to form on Honey’s Dead, their first album of the new decade and
best since the Jesus & Mary Chain’s classic debut, Psychocandy. On the surface, there wouldn’t appear to be that many differences between Honey’s and its predecessors—the mix of their first album’s noise and second album’s melody, production by Alan Moulder, whose stamp could be found on virtually any band with a distortion pedal at the time. Yet repeat listens reveal the subtle distinctions and improvements that make it a success.
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Honey's Dead
Label: Def American Recordings – 9 26830-2, Blanco Y Negro – 9 26830-2
Format: CD, Album, Specialty Records Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1992
Genre: Rock
Style: Indie Rock, Noise Rock
TRACKS
01. Reverence 3:40
02. Teenage Lust 3:05
03. Far Gone And Out 2:50
04. Almost Gold 3:17
05. Sugar Ray 4:38
06. Tumbledown 4:10
07. Catchfire 4:47
08. Good For My Soul 3:01
09. Rollercoaster 3:44
10. I Can't Get Enough 2:58
11. Sundown 4:59
12. Frequency 1:19
LINE - UP
Jim Reid – vocals (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8), guitar, producer
William Reid – vocals (tracks 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12), guitar, producer
Steve Monti – drums, percussion
NOTES
Jim sings seven songs.
William sings five songs.
Flac Size: 338 MB
05. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN - STONED & DETHRONED 1994
The album in general, the songs are much more than simply a toned-down Mary Chain -- it's almost as if the group were making its bid to finally demonstrate that it really was comprised of actual musicians, honest to goodness. What feedback there is appears as smoky atmosphere rather than skull-crushing
scream, and oddly enough the end results almost suggest early-'70s Rolling Stones more than anything else, tinged as always with pure pop hooks and melodies. William's singing actually comes more to the fore than before, his warmer, less sneering vocals suiting the burned-out feeling of the album very nicely. A few songs could easily be full-on monsters -- the brief "Come On" and the almost uplifting "Girlfriend" in particular -- but, by and large, the drama is implicit rather than explicit. The album has a sure-fire ringer in "Sometimes Always," with Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star dropping by for a boy-girl duet that updates "I've Got You Babe" for the post-goth set, with Sandoval clearly getting the upper hand.
The Jesus & Mary Chain – Stoned & Dethroned
Label: Warner Music UK – none
Format: Album, Reissue, Expanded Edition
Country:
Released: Oct 3, 2011
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock
TRACKS
01. Dirty Water 3:09
02. Bullet Lovers 3:40
03. Sometimes Always 2:32
04. Come On 2:14
05. Between Us 3:00
06. Hole 2:16
07. Never Saw It Coming 3:33
08. She 3:09
09. Wish I Could 2:43
10. Save Me 2:43
11. Till It Shines 3:18
12. God Help Me 2:48
13. Girlfriend 3:17
14. Everybody I Know 2:14
15. You've Been A Friend 3:37
16. These Days 2:32
17. Feeling Lucky 2:19
18. Snakedriver (Single Version) 3:41
19. Something I Can't Have (Single Version) 3:03
20. Write Record Release Blues (Single Version) 2:57
21. Little Red Rooster (Single Version) 3:28
22. Till I Found You 2:05
23. Dirty Water (Demo Version - William Reid Vocal) 3:14
24. God Help Me (Alternate Vocal Take) 2:48
25. The Perfect Crime (Single Version) 1:35
26. Little Stars (Single Version) 3:33
27. Drop (Re-Recorded) (Single Version) 1:54
28. I'm In With The Out Crowd (Single Version) 2:36
29. New York City (Single Version) 1:59
30. Taking It Away (Single Version) 2:12
31. Ghost Of A Smile (Single Version) 2:55
32. Alphabet Street (Single Version) 2:16
33. New Kind Of Kick 2:49
34. Come On 3:17
LINE - UP
Jim Reid – vocals (tracks 1–4, 6, 8, 10, 13–15), guitar, bass (tracks 6, 12, 13, 14), shaker (track 17), production
William Reid – vocals (tracks 5, 7, 9–11, 16, 17), guitar, bass (track 17), production
Ben Lurie – guitar, harmonica, organ, bass
Steve Monti – drums, percussion
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS
Hope Sandoval – vocals (track 3)
Shane MacGowan – vocals (track 12)
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