Even the Mission UK proved they could mount a creative comeback with Aura. The Cult showed they still had muscle with Beyond Good and Evil. I encourage you to check them out if they have been overlooked.The Cure returned in full, depressing form with Bloodflowers. The Aston brothers’ vocals are the defining aspect of Gene Loves Jezebel’s sound, and if it’s not pleasing to you then this band will be a hard sell, but I’ve always liked the distinctiveness and character of their voices, harmonized or not, and have easily warmed up to their sound. Even the later albums have several great tracks if not a little too familiar to the ear. But anyone that enjoys a good melody, guitar-driven modern rock with edgy vocals and solid rhythms can’t go wrong diving into any of the band’s first five albums. They were not hugely influential and loved and loathed in equal measure. Gene Loves Jezebel was one of the better acts of the later ‘80s in the modern rock genre. Their label was also shutting down, leaving the band with an uncertain future. To some degree greater success seemed to be at hand when “Jealous” achieved a peak of #68 on the US chart and a #1 spot on the US Alt-Rock chart, but when their next album, Heavenly Bodies, came out in 1993 they were unable to achieve much success with it. It would be their last shot at gaining larger success given their sound was falling out of favour as the dominant music styles moved away from the stylized pop of the band. “Tangled Up in You” and “Kiss of Life” were among the best songs they’d recorded. Jay Aston continued with the band, releasing an album in 1990, Kiss of Life, which proved to be another solid album filled with many quality songs consistent with the band’s sound.
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“The Motion of Love” was just the first song to crack the US charts at #87. Unloved by core Goth and alternative audiences as being too pop sounding and too close in style to the hair-metal bands of the time, yet with a sound that was too different for mass audiences and not rock enough for the heavy metal crowd, they rode in a space that limited their overall fan base despite the quality of the music. The differences in opinion between the brothers encapsulated the challenge Gene Loves Jezebel was having with its career.
I recall “Desire” being a prominent song of the time, but its chart success – or lack thereof – suggests it was less the breakthrough for them than I thought. Moderate chart success came with their singles reaching the top 100 in the UK charts, and “Motion of Love” reaching #88 in the US. Discover and House of Dolls are filled with catchy, dark pop melodies with outsized choruses, all built on solid R&B structures. That period was a weak one for modern rock, and Gene Loves Jezebel was one of the bright lights, helping bridge modern rock from the lighter, synth-driven period of new wave into the guitar-laden era of grunge. They came to my attention when the great song, “Always A Flame,” was on a Vertigo Sampler album I had.Īfter a move to their label’s parent, Beggar’s Banquet, and a deal with Geffen in the US, the major label support helped them issue two of the best albums of the latter half of the 1980s. The second album was also strong and developed their sound, moving to a larger, more expansive structure. After some promising attention around their early indie singles, their first album, Promise, seemed to be setting them on their way after a #8 spot on the UK Indie chart. It was guitar-driven, with echoey vocals and heavy bass-infused rhythms. Their early sound was the darker pop similar to the likes of Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, The Cult, Cocteau Twins, and Theatre of Hate. The band came together around the twin brothers, Jay and Michael Aston.
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