http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.4795&variant=artist-playlists&rws=%2Fthe-chameleons-uk%2Fplaylists.rssListening to a Chameleons UK record is like walking through a haunted house in the bright light of day; even the sun's rays aren't enough to dispel a premonition of doom. <I>Script of the Bridge</I> (1983) kicks off spiffily enough with "Up the Down Escalator" -- a song that hides themes of alienation beneath an overcoat of beaming keyboards and chiming guitars. A tension between sparkling facades and decaying interiors pervades the entire album, from the pendulous mood swings of "Monkeyland" to the misty intimacy of "Second Skin." The follow-up, <I>What Does Anything Mean? Basically</I> (1985) plumbs more deeply the existential quagmires gouged out by their debut. <I>Strange Times</I> (1986) would be the last album the Chameleons recorded before Mark Burgess left the band to form the Sun & the Moon. Flat out, it's one of the finest records of the 1980s, and also one the decade's most disturbing. Those sparkling facades had disappeared almost entirely behind a spreading nimbus of gloom. In an unexpected turn of events, the band reconvened in late 2000 for a reunion tour. Hopefully, a live album waits in the wings, as well. - Chad DriscollPost-Punken720Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:31:51 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.4795&variant=artist-playlists&rws=%2Fthe-chameleons-uk%2Fplaylists.rss Listening to a Chameleons UK record is like walking through a haunted house in the bright light of day; even the sun's rays aren't enough to dispel a premonition of doom. <I>Script of the Bridge</I> (1983) kicks off spiffily enough with "Up the Down Escalator" -- a song that hides themes of alienation beneath an overcoat of beaming keyboards and chiming guitars. A tension between sparkling facades and decaying interiors pervades the entire album, from the pendulous mood swings of "Monkeyland" to the misty intimacy of "Second Skin." The follow-up, <I>What Does Anything Mean? Basically</I> (1985) plumbs more deeply the existential quagmires gouged out by their debut. <I>Strange Times</I> (1986) would be the last album the Chameleons recorded before Mark Burgess left the band to form the Sun & the Moon. Flat out, it's one of the finest records of the 1980s, and also one the decade's most disturbing. Those sparkling facades had disappeared almost entirely behind a spreading nimbus of gloom. In an unexpected turn of events, the band reconvened in late 2000 for a reunion tour. Hopefully, a live album waits in the wings, as well. - Chad Driscoll