Track Listing

1. Just Like Honey
2. Living End
3. Taste The Floor
4. Hardest Walk
5. Cut Dead
6. In A Hole
7. Taste Of Cindy
8. Never Understand
9. It's So Hard
10. Inside Me
11. Sowing Seeds
12. My Little Underground
13. You Trip Me Up
14. Something's Wrong

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15009 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued

Amazon.co.uk Review
About a decade after its release, William Reid of the Mary Chain described Psychocandy as "one of the greatest records ever made". The remark is indicative of a) William Reid's chronic immodesty where his band are concerned and b) the unarguable truth. Every indie guitar group since that has tried to either lend portent to a sweet melody by drenching it in feedback or render a messy guitar wipe-out palatable by stringing a semblance of a tune through it--and that's all of them--got the idea from Psychocandy. Given that it has been reinvented, borrowed from and downright burgled continuously since its release, it is further testament to Psychocandy that it still sounds so fresh in its own right. William and Jim Reid displayed from the off an innate understanding of how best to balance their acute melodic sense with the racket that emerged from their guitar amplifiers. "Some Candy Talking" and "Just Like Honey" are just two of the tracks which, it seems reasonable to believe, would have drawn applause from both Brian Wilson and John Cage. --Andrew Mueller

CD Description
A love of classic pop songs and sonic terrorism conspire onthis euphoric collection. Fuzz guitar, distortion and feedback drench almost every track, but beneath this assertive noise lies a gift for melody inspired by the Beach Boys and girl-group genre. The contrast is beguiling and if the constituent parts are not original, the audacity of such a combination is. Understated voices and nihilistic lyrics belie the intensity forged within. Created by passionate adherents of pop culture, PSYCHOCANDY is one of the 1980s' landmark releases, inspiring some to follow a similar course, while others took similar influences to forge a quite different perspective.

Customer Reviews

A place in the pantheon of rock.........
OK, you will of heard that this album is many things; grating, noisy, simple, beautiful whatever. One thing that you have to remember is that when it was released it took apart the music scene at the time. Emerging out of the dross that was electro-pop, thumbing a nose at the pretty boys of DD and Wham etc, this album (and subsequent live shows) defined a whole era of alternative music to follow ( MBV, Pixies et al) that is now going through a re-surgence. The basis of all the songs are simple 12 bar, but it is the imagination of the Reid Brothers to craft something unique at the time that is the genius of this recor. To the generation that heard Psychocandy for the first time, it had the same impact as Nirvana's Nevermind a decade later. Buy it, play it and remind yourself that British Indie music has everything to thank this album for.

what has happened to this album
bought this album on day of release in 1985 as a 14 year old just gettin over being into queen and wham.heard never understand and thought what the hell have i been missing .totally changed my listening habits forever.no record before(and none since)has affected me so dramatically.every song on this album is a classic pop song,some are hidden behind layers of feedback ,others such as just like honey,and taste of cindy are perfect pop tunes.it influenced so many bands since from the brilliant(my bloody valentine)to the awful(black rebel motorcycle club).i stopped listening to this album about 15 years ago cos i had played it almost every day for 5 years.listened to it again last week for 1st time since,still had that same adrenalin rush like when i was a (very)spotty teen.the main point of this review though is ,at the end of the 80s nme did a poll to find the best and most influential album of the decade and psychocandy won ,yet when there is a reader/viewer top 100 poll psychocandy doesnt make the list,how can an album as great as this be so totally overlooked.its as tuneful as the stone roses,and as influential as ok computer ,which seem to dominate the lists now.people should go and listen to this album and give the jesus and mary chain the credit they deserve

If sugar was black...
Let's put this in perspective. In 1985, the charts were encrusted with soulless, cynical commercialism (sound familiar?)and yet within the potent 'little underground' rock's consistent capacity for rebirth produced at least three of the greatest records of the decade - The Smiths 'Meat Is Murder', New Order's 'Lowlife' and this - certainly a candidate for the top 10 greatest debut albums. Like any perfect debut it draws the listener into a consistent, exhilirating new world that encapsulates a style, a sound and an attitude (black, black and er...black), in short, it blows you away.
The influences may now seem well worn - the quintessential cool of the Velvet Underground, the three chord simplicity and inventiveness of punk and the early 60's beat groups (The Strokes, anyone?), but the combination with elements of Spector's 'wall of sound' and the genius stroke of immersing elegantly constructed gems in shards of feedback was a revelation.
So, let's put this in perspective, back in 1985, I was 16 years old and this record (amongst those others mentioned above) dominated and drenched my life, so much so that I've been unable to return to it until now. I still marvel at the songwriting and amidst any of today's offerings, it more than hold's it's ground. In amongst The White Stripes, Eminem and Gareth Gates, I wonder how it sounds to 16 year old ears today? But this now, buy a guitar and be in black.