I originally bought a copy of this album in 1987 from a local supermarket (back when supermarkets had record departments) and it came bundled with a 12" of "Oh l'Amour". However, there was a large gouge in the vinyl and I had to returned it for a refund. A few years later I bought the album on CD and listened to that for the next twenty five years. In 2014 I bought another copy of the vinyl from eBay and this time around the record is in very good condition but no 12" single was included.
They say you should never judge a book by its cover; yet inevitably we do. The same can also be said for records and I know I definitely make judgements about the music based on the artwork presented. I'll cut to the chase and say I hate the artwork for this album and I wish I could divorce it from the music. There's something about the matt brown background and the unfinished images that I dislike intensely.As for the music, I've said before on this blog that I think this album is a little lacking. "Wonderland" found Vince seemingly devoid of confidence and both the song writing and production are fragile. Whilst the album generally lacks the polish of later efforts, there are some diamonds in the rough.
The two stand out tracks for me are "Push Me, Shove Me" and "Cry So Easy" with everything else falling into the 'OK but nothing special' category. Even the version of "Oh l'Amour" is a little disappointing. I'm feeling generous so I will say this was an adequate first effort but better was to come. 3/5
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