Listen to The Gospel According To The Meninblack on Spotify

Today marks the 35th anniversary of the release of the band’s fifth studio album The Gospel According To The Meninblack in February 1981. Please click on the album cover image to hear the full album on Spotify…

Recorded in studios in Munich, Paris & Rome, the album was mixed with Steve Churchyard and, with drum loops and synthesizers, it illustrated just how experimental the band’s music had become since their Rattus debut four years before. The album’s subject matter was inspired by the bible, UFOs and the phenomenon of the Meninblack themselves, shadowy characters that visit people who have witnessed alien activity. The concept of the album was developed during band members’ spells of incarceration during 1980. It is widely considered by fans to be the most challenging album by the band during their time with UA/Liberty although it remains a firm favourite of JJ himself. Two singles were released from the album, Thrown Away (which saw the band appear on Top Of The Pops here) and then Just Like Nothing On Earth. The album’s opener Waltzinblack has heralded the band’s arrival onstage at gigs for many years now…