''Bursting Bubbles'' is a studio album by the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

musician

Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne (27 January 1944 – 2 December 2004) was an English musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. He was critically acclaimed for his unorthodox style of blues-influenced guitar composition, the ...

, which was released on the

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

label in 1980.

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

in the 2011 edition of his ''

Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...

,'' gives the album three stars. This album features the first collaboration with guitarist Brian Godding, who had been playing live with Coyne. Much of the material was quickly recorded according to Godding: "I'd play a riff and he'd get out some pieces of paper and start singing along. I'd say, ‘So now let's develop it,' and he'd say ‘No it's great, it's finished."

Reception

The album was described by Penny Kiley of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' as follows: :''"These are personal songs from people you'd rather not be. Sympathise at your peril. You can try to avoid the messages. The music is interesting and quite accessible. Often it's only the voice that hurts, while the music can be attractively rhythmic (anguish you can dance to) or even gentle. The music seems oblivious to the pain, yet it fits."'' Coyne would later perform "Children's Crusade" as part of his concert, on 6 October 1982, at the original

Tempodrom The Tempodrom (also referred to as Neues Tempodrom) is a multi-purpose event venue in Berlin. Founded by Irene Moessinger, it opened in 1980 next to the Berlin Wall on the west side of Potsdamer Platz, housed in a large circus tent. After sever ...

, close to the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

. The performance was filmed and later released as ''At The Last Wall''. The album was re-released in 1991 and ''

Q Magazine ''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...

'' described it as "in the spirit of the

Peel sessions John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

", while Dave Thompson from Allmusic viewed it as 'a darkly tempered, and roughly produced collection'. Reviewing the album for makeyourowntaste.com in 2013, Allister Thompson wrote: "This is the "difficult" album, and every troubled but talented artist seems to have one... ''Bursting Bubbles'' is as naked as Coyne ever was, a collection of heart-wrenching vignettes from the dark side of the mind, sometimes accompanied by weirdly cold post-punk backing, such as the distorted guitar and drum machine of "Dark Dance Hall". Coyne’s voice is an anguished yell of pain on several pieces. Yet there is still much beauty to be found, particularly in what may be Coyne’s finest song, "Children's Crusade"..."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Kevin Coyne and Brian Godding, except where indicated. # "The Only One" (Coyne) # "Children's Crusade" (Coyne) # "No Melody" (Coyne) # "Learn to Swim – Learn to Drown" # "Mad Boy No. 2" # "Dark Dance Hall" # "Don't Know What to Do" # "A Little Piece of Heaven" # "Day to Day" # "Golden Days" (Bob Ward) # "Old Fashioned Love Song"

Personnel

Musicians

* Kevin Coyne – acoustic guitar, vocals * Brian Godding – guitar * Bob Ward – guitar * Chris Hunter – saxophone * Vic Sweeney – drums

Technical

* Producers: Kevin Coyne and Al James * Engineers: Al James and Vic Sweeney * Cover artwork: Kevin Coyne

References

1980 albums Kevin Coyne albums Virgin Records albums {{1980s-rock-album-stub