Search - Toyah :: Sheep Farming in Barnet//Blue Meaning

The (Real) Best of Toyah In One Place!!!

ILikeAmazon | Arlington, VA USA | 06/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Before Toyah wrote a bunch of top ten songs for the early 80s U.K. market (It's a Mystery, Good Morning Universe, I Want to be Free, etc.), she stuck with edgier, harder, warped sci-fi /impending doom / paranoid / fantasy themes. Call it alternative new-wave -- and it broke new ground without the total nihilism of punk. The two Toyah albums that most epitomize this trend are Sheep Farming in Barnet and Blue Meaning. I believe the albums represent Toyah at her most introspective, commenting on the failures of England and its social structures to create a bright future for its people. Neon Womb and Victims of the Riddle (on Barnet) sadly reflect on the desanctification of life. Spaced Walking, Ghosts, Mummies (on Blue Meaning) reflect different aspects of detachment. Ieya also calls out to gods/goddesses to save us from, well, most likely ourselves. Insects completes the death cycle, literally recycling us back while we're in the ground. Good Grief!So, what is the music like? Imagine the Talking Heads meets Trent Reznor of NIN meets Blondie at a Trekkers Con. One could say this is conventional rock with a goth bent -- You'll just have to get some music samples. Just note there's hardly any top-ten bubblegummy stuff here. This is not light music and bears repeated listenings. Closest matches in style: Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich.If you like this album, please search out my other favourite Toyah "The Changeling" which is brilliant in its own way."

The Essential Toyah Album

Pernicious | UK | 02/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Originally produced in 1979 this was Toyah's first album. Many tracks still remain some of the most vivacious and exciting studio recorded examples of Toyah's vocal talent available. Sometimes moody and austere, other times abrassive and anarchic. Toyah has the ability to drag you mind-first into her bizzare and often twisted world and throw you out the other side with a gutteral scream. To listen is to experience, and to experience is to play this album VERY LOUD with full treble and lots of bass! An intensely physical singer and amazing contautionist, Toyah can drag sounds from somewhere deep within -perhaps from her very soul... who knows? Sadly this re-issue lacks some of the depth of sound quality of the original LP. However is still well worth buying."

Toyah's debut & masterpiece

Pernicious | 11/05/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Toyah burst on the scene at the start of the 80's with this idealistic mish-mash of raw punk-pop. An excellent album, it opened the eyes of the music press to Toyah, even if her promise was only to reap dividends for the publishers on release of the 3rd album, Anthem. True fans still cherish Sheep Farming & The Blue Meaning as the Toyah that she intended us to hear, and we still enjoy these over & above the more commercial titles. Sheep Farming doesn't possess the artistic production of later albums, but Elusive Stranger has the eeriness, Victims... the angst, & Our Movie the oddity that made Toyah a supreme success & the best lyricist, I believe, that music has seen in modern times."