The Armoury Show - Waiting For The Floods

Richard Jobson, Russell Webb, John McGeogh and John Doyle formed the Armoury Show together in 1981, taking their name from a famous 1913 modern art exhibition in New York. Unfortunately, they only had a brief existence, but they left us with a gem of a record in the guise of 'Waiting for the Floods', their 1985 one and only album. ‘Waiting for the Floods’ has been reissued as a double CD, with the original album and bonus tracks on one CD and a second CD full of remixes, 12" versions and other bonus tracks. The Armoury Show remained largely unheard in their heyday in the mid-1980s, despite featuring several eminent new wave musicians. At the start of that decade, the Dunfermline-born punk band the Skids were coming to natural end, and, after guitarist Stuart Adamson left to form Big Country, singer Richard Jobson and bassist Russell Webb also eventually went in a new direction. Around this time the Manchester-based group Magazine, which had included drummer John Doyle and guitarist John McGeoch, were also dissolving. McGeoch had also had a stint playing with Siouxsie and the Banshees, until he was dismissed for excessive drinking. There was a real array of talent here and it has that distinctive 80's sound to it. It is packed with various other influences from around that era but has also a brave unique sound slightly ahead of that time. There are echoes ironically of Adamson's Big Country, but the Armoury Show, while mixing together various other 80’s influences, also had their own sound. The singles on here, "Castles...", plus "We Can Be Brave Again" and "Glory Of Love" could all easily have been arm-waving, lighter-in-hand anthems enough to turn Jim Kerr a sickly shade of green, but only a handful of people bought them. Life isn't fair, is it? I don't know, of course, but I would imagine Richard Jobson is immensely proud of this record. Four people came together and created something magical; it's just a shame that so few of us shared that magic.

Taken from the 2013 2CD deluxe edition to MP3

The Armoury Show; Waiting For The Floods

Disc 1

1.      Castles In Spain

2.      Kyrie

3.      A Feeling

4.      Jungle Of Cities

5.      We Can Be Brave Again

6.      Higher Than The World

7.      The Glory Of Love

8.      Waiting For The Floods

9.      A Sense Of Freedom

10.   Sleep City Sleep

11.   Avalanche

12.   Innocents Abroad

13.   Is It A Wonder

14.   Catherine

15.   A Gathering

16.   Ring Those Bells

17.   We Can Be Brave Again (Single Remix)

Disc2

1.      Castles In Spain (Single DJ Edit)

2.      Glory Of Love (Single DJ Edit)

3.      Castles In Spain (Wubb Dug Mix)

4.      We Can Be Brave Again (Extended Version)

5.      Glory Of Love (Universal Mix)

6.      High Than The Instrumental

7.      Tender Is The Night

8.      New York City (7” Single)

9.      Whirlwind

10.   New York City (N.Y. A. Go Go)

11.   New York City (John Robie Remix)

12.   New York City (John Robie Dance Mix)