Track Listing

1. That Sound
2. What Do I Have To Do
3. Man I Used To Be
4. Wanderlust
5. Tremolo
6. Ruby Red
7. Nothing New
8. I Want You
9. About To Fall
10. Peyton's Place
11. Better
12. Angel In Disguise
13. Reverse

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68097 in Music
• Released on: 2007-09-10
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Life in Reverse reunites Any Trouble with their original producer, John Wood (Nick Drake, Pink Floyd, Nico). The single, `That Sound' is the sound of the Summer that never was. The video has been shot by music video legend (and former Stiff employee) Nigel Dick, director of award-winning videos by Guns n' Roses, Cher, Britney Spears, REM, Tears For Fears and 250 more (plus 4 feature films). Dick's credits as a promo director include Wonderwall by Oasis, Paradise City by Guns N Roses and Baby One More Time by Britney Spears.

Clive wrote 30 songs for the project, of which 13 appear on the album 'Life In Reverse', produced by their original producer John Wood (Nick Drake, Squeeze, Fairport Convention). Album is released on 10th September. The album features modern pop with catchy choruses, in a classic style, played by real musicians. It follows hot on the heels of March 07's expanded reissue of the band's Stiff debut - Where Are All The Nice Girls? - "a real treat" according to Phill Jupitus on 6 Music and "fantastic" according to BBC Radio Merseyside's Juke Box Jury. It scored **** in Record Collector who loved the "ever-so-catchy singalongs with hook-laden choruses" and **** in the Nottingham Evening Post who pointed out that "you wouldn't be surprised to see" some tracks "on Maximo Park's next album." In the US, The Onion loved its "sharp songwriting and stirring performances."

About the Artist
Any Trouble was an underappreciated bright spot of Stiff Records, a label which had no shortage of talented artists. Bandleader Clive Gregson's appearance, hardened love songs, and vocal style may have led to comparisons to Elvis Costello, but they were no second-rate rip-off each to their four albums revealed a songwriter of unique talent a more than a capable band to execute the songs.

Manchester-native Gregson formed the original band in 1975 while attending teaching school in Crewe, taking the group's name from a misquote from Mel Brooks film Blazing Saddles. After a brief moment as a folky trio, by 1976 Any Trouble changed to a four-piece rock group, speeding up their repertoire in response to the punk movement - by this point the line-up was Gregson (vocals/guitar), Chris Parks (guitar), Phil Barnes (bass), and Mel Harley (drums). They built a strong following playing the pub circuit and released their own single, catching the attention of Radio One's John Peel, who quickly took the band and played the song on his show. This exposure started a small-scale bidding war from several labels. By 1980, the group signed to Stiff Records.

Stiff enlisted John Wood, a renowned producer (Nick Drake, John Martyn, Richard Thompson) who had recently produced Squeeze to produce Any Trouble's first album "Where Are All The Nice Girls?" which had all the makings of a new wave classic, was met with some rave reviews but failed to rack up the big sales that were expected of it.

Customer Reviews

ANY TROUBLE Life In Reverse (Stiff Records CDSEEZ69)
You may remember that in the early 1980s one of the lesser-known bands signed to the now legendary - and occasionally infamous - Stiff Records label was Any Trouble. Fronting the band was our very own Clive Gregson. Any Trouble never quite made the breakthrough the quality of their music deserved although they achieved significant airplay and made the front page of the Melody Maker in the midst of the hype. After moving to EMI they produced Wrong End of the Race, a double album that contained a few too many good tracks to fit on to a single LP. After the underwhelming commercial success of that venture, EMI ditched the band and Clive Gregson formed a short lived transitional band which paved the way for his highly successful partnership with the admirable Christine Collister.

Gregson, now Nashville based, has subsequently developed a solid solo career with a number of notable albums to his credit. He continues to be a prolific songwriter of note and has undertaken a number of projects with the likes of close friend Boo Hewerdine, Eddi Reader and, for a time, joined Plainsong.

Just when we thought Any Trouble would never see the light of day again, Gregson has teamed up with original band members Martin Hughes (drums& percussion) and Chris Parks (guitars), plus bass player Mark Griffiths(Plainsong), to produce an album of new material for the resurgent Stiff label. On the whole going back and meeting up with old mates can be something that seems like a good idea at the time and thats where the sentiment ends. However, in this case its worked splendidly. Gregson and the band have reinvigorated their early sound and come up with a gem of an album that makes the listener want to dance in the aisles perhaps virtually rather than physically these days.

Particularly notable is 'That Sound', the exuberant and uplifting opening track. However, the standard is maintained right through with 'Wanderlust', 'Tremolo' and 'About To Fall' particularly outstanding. As youd expect from Gregson, the production is clean and crisp and the lyrics and melodies are up to his usual high standard. Life in reverse is not normally all it's cracked up to be (if you've seen the series Life On Mars and Doctor Who you'll know what I mean). With this album Any Trouble have turned back the clock and shown they were well ahead of their time. They should be better appreciated this time round.

Welcome, but disappointing
This "comeback" album cannot help but suffer in comparison to the first '80s Any Trouble albums, such as "Where are all the nice girls?", "Any Trouble" and "Wrong end of the race". Pleasant enough, but if you want them at their best, check out the earlier albums.

Classic Pop Music
After so many years since their last release you would think that a band would lose some of their edge but it's not the case with Any Trouble. Always loved their knack for instantly catchy songs with a very unique vocal and guitar sound. The new lp continues this fine tradition and along with Nick Lowe's new lp has displayed to the newer generation that your songwriting craft only gets better with age. Welcome back Any Trouble!