10 Strange Music Albums By Mainstream Acts
4. Consequences - Godley And Creme
To fully appreciate Kevin Godley and Laurence Creme you have to journey back to 1972, England, and the formation of art-rock band 10cc. That outfit remains one the UK's best-loved groups, finding a perfect balance between sweet, accessible pop-rock and ambitious, artistic compositions. Equally, 10Cc were a band of two halves, with Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart skewed toward the pop side.
Perhaps it was no big surprise, then, that in 1976 Godley and Creme, the more experimental half, left to focus on their own unique musical vision. Fans of 10cc could hardly have conceived the results. Consequences, released in 1977, was a triple concept album of dazzling invention, which sacrificed nothing to easy commercialism.
Musically, the album veers from dark, rumbling soundscapes and orchestral rock to wild tape-manipulations and abrasive, industrial sections. It remains a startlingly, innovative document. While Consequences is, for the most part, a world away from the melodic confections of 10cc, nothing on the album sounds deliberately alienating. Even it its harshest moments, there's a strange beauty running through this set, which never ceases to surprise.