If there's any acid test for being a
Marc Almond fanatic, it would have to be
Torment & Toreros, originally a double album and still the longest thing he's yet released. It isn't so much length as it is subject matter, though informed by his consistent bitterness with the industry as experienced via the soon to implode
Soft Cell, the sheer self-loathing and unrestrained anger have never been paralleled by any of his other releases. Matched by an expanded
Mambas lineup, including a string quartet featuring rock journeyman
Martin McCarrick in one of his earliest appearances,
Almond swings from slow weepers over lost innocence, sexual and otherwise, to frantic explosions of lyrical bile. Though often great, once you hit "Catch a Fallen Star" and its snarling, obscenity-laden take on fame, clearly the unexpected pop star of "Tainted Love" has absented himself. Some of his most effective moments appear throughout the collection (benefiting from co-production by
Flood, one of the English producer's first major efforts), including another
Brel cover, "The Bulls," the frenetic and aptly titled "A Million Manias," and a lovely take on
Peter Hammill's "Vision." This is not a starting point for new fans, but a singular kind of album: One for the true
Almond obsessive. ~ Ned Raggett