“Labour Of Love” by Mass - album review

features in: Album Chart of 1981 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1980s

A thoroughly unsettling affair fronted by a tortured vocalist and an evil group who seem want to push him on his way with a soundtrack for the hellish ghost train ride. For their sole LP in May, 1981, they line-up: Mick Allen (vocals), Gary Asquith (guitar), Mark Cox (farfisa organ) and Danny Briottet (drums). “Labour Of Love” was co-produced by the group and Ian Little, who would soon be riding the gravy train with Duran Duran. Wow, talk about extremes. Mass were way darker than Joy Division, and existed on the anti-rock fringes with This Heat and the more experimental side of Public Image Ltd. Not that you'd suspect as much based on the evidence of this gothic doom, but Allen and Cox would progressively work towards an indie pop lightness with The Wolfgang Press from 1983 onwards, whilst Asquith and Briottet founded dance-rockers Renegade Soundwave in 1986.

The Jukebox Rebel
06–Nov–2008

Tracklist

A1	[09:43] Mass - Mass (Danny Briottet, Gary Asquith, Mark Cox, Michael Allen) Post-Punk
A2	[01:09] Mass - Why [i] (Danny Briottet, Gary Asquith, Mark Cox, Michael Allen) Post-Punk
A3	[05:27] Mass - Ill (Danny Briottet, Gary Asquith, Mark Cox, Michael Allen) Post-Punk
A4	[01:22] Mass - Why [ii] (Danny Briottet, Gary Asquith, Mark Cox, Michael Allen) Post-Punk
A5	[02:26] Mass - Isn’t Life Nice (Danny Briottet, Gary Asquith, Mark Cox, Michael Allen) Post-Punk
B1	[03:59] Mass - Elephant Talk (Danny Briottet, Gary Asquith, Mark Cox, Michael Allen) Post-Punk
B2	[07:21] Mass - F.A.H.T.C.F. (Danny Briottet, Gary Asquith, Mark Cox, Michael Allen) Post-Punk
B3	[04:31] Mass - Cross Purposes (Danny Briottet, Gary Asquith, Mark Cox, Michael Allen) Post-Punk
B4	[06:12] Mass - Innocence (Danny Briottet, Gary Asquith, Mark Cox, Michael Allen) Post-Punk

ratings by TJR