Black Sea is the fourth studio album by the English rock band XTC, released 12 September 1980 on Virgin Records. It is the follow-up to the previous year's Drums and Wires, building upon its focus on guitars and expansive-sounding drums, but with more economical arrangements written with the band's subsequent concert performances in mind, avoiding overdubs unless they could be performed live.
Like Drums and Wires, Black Sea was recorded at Virgin's Town House studio in London with producer Steve Lillywhite and engineer Hugh Padgham. It was originally titled Work Under Pressure in reference to XTC's grueling touring and recording regimen. After their manager complained, frontman Andy Partridge devised Black Sea as a reference to his emotional state while composing the album. From 1980 to 1981, the band supported the album on tour as the opening act for the Police. His fatigue worsened and XTC ceased touring indefinitely by 1982.
Black Sea was critically acclaimed and remains XTC's second-highest charting British album, placing at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart, as well as their most successful US album, peaking at number 41 on the Billboard 200. It spawned three UK top 40 singles: "Generals and Majors" (number 32), "Towers of London" (number 31), and "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" (number 16). Another single, "Respectable Street", was banned from BBC radio due to its references to abortion and a "Sony Entertainment Centre".
Background
In August 1979, XTC released their third LP Drums and Wires, a more pop-oriented venture than the previous Go 2 (1978). It was met with positive reviews and a number 34 chart peak. In his recollection, "Up until that point, we were viewed as a poor man’s Talking Heads or something ... when we came out with Drums and Wires it was like a different band, really." They still felt that they were not "fashionable" in England. During one of their performances, he suffered a brief memory lapse, forgetting XTC's songs as well as his own identity. The original intention was for XTC to produce themselves, but Virgin did not allow them to.
Black Sea was recorded in six weeks, longer than Drums and Wires, during which time the band resided on an upper floor of the studio. Moulding said it was a "Real luxury—bare box rooms with a bed and carpet." Gregory did not enjoy the recording experience due to his disappointment in himself as a non-contributing songwriter, his diabetes, and his uncomfortable working relationship with Partridge. As Gregory explained, "He's not a very giving musician when it's his song you're recording. ... I was incredibly frustrated during the sessions and then it was just tour, tour, tour." Commenting on how their playing styles intersected, Partridge said: "Dave and I worked to not tread on each other's toes musically, so we played in the holes left by the other."
"Living Through Another Cuba", a live favourite, is about Partridge's fears of the Cold War and Britain’s downplayed role in it. “It was total nuclear-war paranoia. That, and the uselessness of England – this completely and utterly useless little country whose significance in the world ended at the First World War.”
"Towers of London" is a tribute to the workers who constructed Victorian era London. It is one of the few XTC songs that modulates key, which was unintentional, and one of the few XTC recordings that necessitated an edit on Chambers' drum performance. The music stemmed from Partridge "subconsciously" trying to rewrite the Beatles' "Rain", desiring "clangorous guitars crashing together, and sort of droning."
Title and packaging
thumb|Outer cover of the US edition
The band wanted the album's cover design to be a marked contrast from Drums and Wires. A flying sea bird, ship's mast, and waning moon spell out the letters "XTC".
Release
Sales and promotion
Released on 12 September 1980, Black Sea sold moderately, with 7 weeks spent on the UK album charts and a number 16 peak. Virgin's marketing department found Black Sea difficult to promote, and so publicity campaigns were split between "serious" national media, the independent music press, and schoolgirl-oriented magazines. Partridge remembered that the label "wanted us to be the power-pop teen dream thing."
Several singles were issued, including the UK top 40 hits "Generals and Majors" (number 32), "Towers of London" (number 31) and "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" (number 16). "Love at First Sight" was issued exclusively in Canada.
Music videos were filmed for "Towers of London", "Generals and Majors" and "Respectable Street". "Towers of London" was initially the lead single, but after filming the video, Virgin changed plans and decided to issue "Generals and Majors" first. On 10 October 1980, BBC-2 premiered the documentary XTC at the Manor.
Touring
From 1980 to 1981, XTC toured Australia, New Zealand and the US as the opening act for the Police.
At this point, XTC were playing in arena stadiums while Partridge, encumbered by XTC's touring regimen, began declining further in his mental state. He requested to cease touring, but was opposed by Virgin, his bandmates and the band's management. In 1982, "Respectable Street" was the only song they performed at a televised gig simulcast in Paris, which became one of the last live performances of their career. Partridge experienced a panic attack mid-performance and walked off the stage.
Critical reception
Contemporary
Black Sea received critical acclaim. An unnamed Billboard reviewer deemed the album "consistently appealing and more accessible than [Drums and Wires]. The vocals of Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding have an attractive breeziness and the instrumentation is tight." In Musician, Roy Trakin wrote of XTC as among "the new English art rock" and praised Black Seas successful fusion of "Partridge's love of rhythm and Moulding's affinity for melody ... Songs like 'Towers of London' and 'Burning With Optimism's Flames' show the two approaches finally achieving a seamless synthesis."
Writing for Rolling Stone, Don Shewey of Rolling Stone found Black Sea to be overall consistent—with the exception of "Travels in Nihilon", which he wrote "strays from the intersection of punk and pop where XTC are most at home".
According to biographer Chris Twomey, detractors of the record thought that its "complex musical nuts and bolts [were] too arty or too clever for their own good." Michael Kremen of The Michigan Daily reviewed that the songs "no longer sound fresh. I hear too many bits and pieces from their previous records as well as a lots of White Album and Abbey Road-era Beatles stuff. Perhaps, having influenced lots of bands over the last three years, that which once seemed unique in XTC is now fairly common."