Keen observers of musical heritage will note that in rock-band speckled Dublin in the 80s, two significant polar opposites define the decade. The first, U2, represented success, good management and a childhood dream come true for anyone willing to be a yes man in the music industry.
Then there was Paranoid Visions who represented zero budget, frustration and the fine art of antagonism. While U2 and hangers-on left the country to conquer the world, Paranoid Visions and their generation represented the mass exodus of bodies from a country in the height of an economic depression - many of them simply left the country.
Paranoid Visions existed as all genuine punk bands do, as a tumultuous etity driven by a quest for something more. Their early slew of tapes and subsequent vinyl output were remarkably prolific considering that there was little precedent for DIY releases in Ireland apart from a scattering of bands who managed one 7 inch before vaporising or reinventing themselves to fit in with the order of the day.
* *
Outside In is the first order of business from the reconstituted Paranoid Visions, collecting 6 vinyl releases from 1986 to 1989, and presenting the band's range as both creative and indignant. The 4 tracks from 86's
The Robot Is Running Amok are the band's primal scream of tribal multi-vocal rhetoric.
Something More in particular holds up as a fine example of spirit and venom over ability as it crashes and stumbles loosely, determined by sheer bloody mindedness to reach it's conclusion. Also from "Robot" is an early take on
Strange Girl, subsequently retreaded several times, becoming one of the band's signature tracks.
From their near legendary
Schizophrenia album, tracks like
The Other Half Lives,
Rhythm of Injustice and
Outside In were a huge leap of faith. This wasn't just straight 80's punk played better, it was the band finding an aboriginal sound without looking to what was going on in England at the time, reverberating with weird gothic undertones and a controlled but no less noxious anger.
Visions, the closing track from "Schizophrenia" still sounds threatening and agitated and remains one of the bands finest moments.
The celebrated
I Will Wallow (10"), a piss take on Dublin's Jesus happy valedictorians, was in the days before U2 sued people for this sort of thing and has long since enjoyed it's place in history. The live version of
Look at Me, included here, is vintage Paranoid Visions venom at it's finest.
Ever the festive participants,
City of Screams was released in 1988 to coincide with the Dublin Millennium celebrations and expanded on the "Schizophrenia" sound with gems like
The Feast and
Time Bomb, although
Beauty Queen is absent, no doubt due to one of Paranoid Visions many real life soap operas!
Tribute has the one of the finest lyrics ever written by an irish punk band, but it wouldn't mean anything if you weren't from Dublin!!!!
The Final 2 EPS of the 80's,
Autonomy and
Blood Empires are as diverse in their content but also signaled a band at the end of an era when they probably should have been aiming towards a second album. This did eventually happen with a far more "professional" line-up, but Paranoid Visions never seemed to be about professionalism, and the spirit of what made them a significant entity is encapsulated here.
20 tracks in all and arranged in a non-chronological manner,
Outside In combines the vital giblets of the band. It would probably be a misrepresentation to describe it as their glory days though - this sort of music existed against all odds, made no concessions and ultimately paid the price for not being part of the right club. A cherished insight into a band who embraced the crown of disgrace amongst musicians!!!!!! - BOZ
ON THE NET
Paranoid VisionsRoad Records"
