The Chameleons - Why Call It Anything?

It is quite likely that many Chameleons fans will claim that the band's new album Why Call It Anything is the album that should have been released in 1987.

In a perfect world, the Chameleons would have released an album in 1987 which would have propelled the group to greatness, much like U2's The Joshua Tree turned a popular college rock band into superstars. Unfortunately, after the death of the group's manager, Tony Fletcher, the Chameleons broke up.

The quality of the group's work prior to its demise puts it in the running with the Replacements, Big Star and the Minutemen for the title of "band that deserved to make it big." That may never happen, but luckily for Chameleons fans and music lovers everywhere, the band got back together last year, 14 years after breaking up. The group has since played live, released an acoustic set of old songs, and recorded its first new album since 1986's Strange Times.

Cheekily titled Why Call It Anything, the album shows the Chameleons back in full force. The leadoff track, "Shades," rumbles like a Ned's Atomic Dustbin barnstormer, but with more menace. Most of the rest of the album is quite mellow in comparison, mixing the psychedelic sound of 1985's What Does Anything Mean, Basically? with the gothic overtones of the band's 1983 debut Script of the Bridge. Those early albums have often been criticized for overproduction, but Why Call it Anything sounds just right. Highlights include the dark "Lufthansa" and the more sedate and dreamy "Music In the Womb." "Truth Isn't Truth Anymore" is about as creepy as the album cover, which depicts a twisted clown face obscured by a giant blue barcode. "Miracles And Wonders" is a smooth merger of rock and Jamaican toasting that should put lesser bands like Sugar Ray to shame.

Fans may still be disappointed, however, because this is most certainly not the album the Chameleons would have released in 1987. The band members' side projects during the hiatus seem to have brought a maturity in the songwriting and performance. Despite the strength of its songs, Why Call It Anything is missing much of the unbridled energy of the '80s work. Not all of the songs are winners, either — particularly "All Around," a soupy, unimpressive, feelgood track that doesn't fit very well in the Chameleons canon. Mark Burgess' vocals — normally one of the most stirring, distinctive elements in the group — are much more conservative.

The liner notes quote fellow Mancunians Mark E. Smith of the Fall and Pete Shelley of The Buzzcocks: "Regardless of what critics might tell you a band doesn't survive for ten years in this business if what they record is crap," says Smith. This certainly rings true of the Fall, which has been around for 22 years with no signs of stopping. Perhaps the more appropriate comment comes from Shelley: "No matter how hard the struggle to establish oneself might become, if an artist makes a truly great record it will be heard." Why Call It Anything is a very good but not great album. All three of the band's '80s albums (Script of the Bridge, in particular) are leaps and bounds above what the group's contemporaries were recording. As Why Call it Anything has yet to be released stateside, the curious listener is encouraged to check out those albums. Prepare to be blown away.

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