Autogeddon [25th Anniversary Box]

Personnel: Julian Cope, Moon-eye, Donald Ross Skinner, Rooster, Jill Frost, K-R Frost, Thighpaulsandra, Mavis Grind.
Engineers: Shaun Harvey, Thighpaulsandra.
Although long regarded as one of the most eccentric English singer/songwriters of the post-punk era, Cope shocked and mystified even his most devoted followers with the bewildering AUTOGEDDON. Basically a concept album, hailed by Cope as his manifesto against the horrors of modern motorized society, AUTOGEDDON is one of the strangest recordings Cope has ever made. The album veers from the stark acoustic blues of "Autogeddon Blues" and "Madmax" to the fractured garage rock of "I Gotta Walk" and the wah-wah-fueled, Zappa-esque romp of "Ain't No Getting Round." It's obvious that Cope had no intention of making AUTOGEDDON a commercial album.
Even when Cope manages to come up with a gorgeous, lilting melody like "Don't Call Me Mark Chapman," his crazed, profanity-laced lyrics and spoken-word interludes about Barry Manilow render AUTOGEDDON's songs unlike any of his previous work. Anyone looking for music akin to such Cope pop-hits as "World Shut Your Mouth" may want to pass on AUTOGEDDON. For those who have already been introduced to Cope's incomparable blend of madness and whimsy, however, AUTOGEDDON is a surreal, fascinating look into the fertile imagination of one of the true maverick talents of English rock.