January 15, 1999

What makes a songwriter go bad? The obvious answer is that song-writing ability is inextricably linked with age – look at your record collection and see how many of the …

October 9, 1998

This is an odd greatest hits package – the songs actually get worse as you go through the album. Cole and his Commotions produced some glittering pop hymns in the …

November 24, 1995

“THERE’S A RIOT going on,” croons Lloyd Cole to the accompaniment of swooning strings on “I Didn’t Know That You Cared.” It’s just one of the songs on the New …

November 13, 1995

There is no Ryan O’Neal or Ali MacGraw here. No dewy-eyed sentiment, either. This latest CD from British singer-songwriter Cole offers 12 smartly written, mid-tempo ruminations on relationships, played out …

September 28, 1995

SINCE he parted ways with the Commotions, Lloyd Cole has been on a bit of an extended lost weekend; his three solo albums, Lloyd Cole, Don’t Get Weird Or Me …

February 5, 1994

Rock’s been literary since it got introduced to folk music in the mid-’60s, but words keep going in and out of pop-music fashion. Currently, grunge buries them, gangsta rap devalues …

December 23, 1993

After his unsuccessful half-orchestral, half rock’n’roll Don’t Get Weird on Me, Babe album, Lloyd Cole has scaled down his ambitions on Bad Vibes with much better results. The title notwithstanding, …

November 29, 1991

To read his most recent reviews, you’d think Lloyd Cole had turned into Mozart. Or at least Nelson Riddle. Strings, orchestras . . .

“Don’t Get Weird On Me Babe” is …

November 27, 1991

Stripped of his one-time backup band, The Commotions, Lloyd Cole enjoyed a new sense of freedom on his self-titled solo LP 2 years ago. From an artistic point of view, …