20 Mothers

20 Mothers
Studio albumby Julian Cope
Released	28 August 1995
Genre	Indie rock,folk,electropop
Length	71:34
Label	Echo
Producer	Julian Cope Ed Stasium
Julian Copechronology
Autogeddon (1994) 20 Mothers (1995) Interpreter (1996)
Singlesfrom20 Mothers
"Try Try Try" Released: 31 July 1995

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
The Great Rock Discography

20 Mothersis the twelfth solo album byJulian Cope,released in August 1995 byEcho.The album's sub-title is "Better to Light a Candle Than to Curse the Darkness".

It was well received by the criticsand reached number 20 on theUK Albums Chart. The album revisits many of Cope's existing lyrical themes along with more personal and reflective material dealing with his own family. Cope described20 Mothersas an album of "love songs and devotional songs" ranging from "pagan rock 'n' roll through sci-fi pop to bubblegum trance music".The main Cope collaborators on the album include keyboard player and string arrangerThighpaulsandra,drummer Rooster Cosby and guitarist Michael "Moon-Eye" Watts in place of multi-instrumentalistDonald Ross Skinner,who only contributesomnichordon a few tracks. There are also contributions by old associates in the shape of bassist James Eller and producerEd Stasium. The album was preceded by the single "Try, Try, Try", which reached number 24 in theUK Singles Chart.

Themes and musical style

In total,20 Mothersis 71 minutes long, and moves through four "Phases," – "Phase 1" (tracks 1–6), "Phase 2" (tracks 7–11), "Phase 3" (tracks 12–16) and "Phase 4" (tracks 17–20), – not unlike the concept of "Phases" on Cope's albumsPeggy SuicideandJehovahkill.In 2003Aural Innovationsmagazine retrospectively called20 Mothers"the most eclectic and varied album" in Cope's discography and added that it was "a remarkably strong if somewhat unfocussed effort". The music was described as ranging from "spacey psychedelic balladry to gentle folk to flat out rock n’ roll to Euro-electropop."In his review forAllmusic,Ned Raggett wrote that the album has the same "rough but right feeling" as Cope's previous albumAutogeddon,with "plenty of detours into tribal psych, feedback madness, even quirky synth-pop."

Lyrically, the album covers a wide variety of topics as opposed to the general concept albums of Cope's previous releases.Cope continues to pursue many of the same themes as he had on his albums sincePeggy Suicide:Mother Earthon "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", described by Cope as "a pagan love song about screwing the Mother Earth in her divine maiden form"; religion on "1995", which challenges the “ignorance of the standard Judeo-Christian One God way of thinking”;megalithicmonuments on "Stone Circles ’n’ You"; and "the automobile defined landscape" in "Adam and Eve Hit the Road".On "Greedhead Detector", with its "'Fuck, fuck, fuck you" chorus, he sets his sights on "the fat cats of private industry", while "Queen/Mother" is forKurt CobainandCourtney Love.

The album also includes more personal material: album opener "Wheelbarrow Man", described as "an expression of pure, unmitigated joy", was written after Cope had spoken to his estranged brother for the first time in years. “We haven’t spoken since, mind you,” Cope said at the time in the album's liner notes. “It’s not worth the risk.” "Try Try Try" is about Cope’s mother, who, he laments, “has never seen me play live, never heard my records, didn’t read my book, wouldn’t even eat the jam I made with the plums from the tree in my garden. Where did she go?”On "Senile Get" he talks about his frustrations in dealing with his wife’sAlzheimer's– ridden grandmother."How 5 years of exhausting debilitating futile cleaning & endless cleaning shit & snot & enema-floo-ids (sic) and taking vile screamed abuse and pummelling & vicious threats, however illness-induced, eventually turns good people bitter", said Cope."I'm Your Daddy" is for Cope's two young daughters, "Cryingbabiessleeplessnights" for his wife, Dorianand the instrumental "Leli B." is dedicated to his mother-in-law, Helen "Leli" Beslity,"the greatest, wisest, sexiest Ma-in-Law that ever there was".The song is without words, said Cope, "because she'd freakout if I wrote how I really felt about her".

"When I Walk Through the Land of Fear" is a rerecording of "Land of Fear", originally released on theSunspotsEPin 1985.

Album cover

The album cover photograph was taken byJill Furmanovskyand features 20 actual mothers, all of whom are family and friends of Cope. Some of those pictured are Cope's wife, mother and mother-in-law; wives and girlfriends of Cope collaborators James Eller, Rooster Cosby,Tony "Doggen" Fosterand Richard Frost; formerZoo Recordscohort Pam Young; andJayne Casey.On the back, Cope is pictured with his daughters Albany and Avalon.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Julian Cope, except where noted

Phase one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Wheelbarrow Man"	3:02
2.	"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"	2:35
3.	"Try Try Try"	3:27
4.	"Stone Circles 'n' You"	1:48
5.	"Queen-Mother"	3:30
6.	"I'm Your Daddy"	2:13

Phase two

No.	Title	Length
7.	"Highway to the Sun"	6:14
8.	"1995"	3:47
9.	"By the Light of the Silbury Moon"	2:13
10.	"Adam and Eve Hit the Road"	2:05
11.	"Just like Pooh Bear"	3:41

Phase three

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Girl-Call"		4:23
13.	"Greedhead Detector"	Cope, Donald Ross Skinner	3:49
14.	"Don't Take Roots"		2:13
15.	"Senile Get"		3:37
16.	"The Lonely Guy"		4:42

Phase four

No.	Title	Length
17.	"Cryingbabiessleeplessnights"	3:35
18.	"Leli B"	3:14
19.	"Road of Dreams"	6:05
20.	"When I Walk through the Land of Fear"	5:26

Poetic notes

The album includes a booklet with descriptions of the music and a number of poems:

1. "Never mind the Bollocks, Here's the Clerics"
2. "Glow in the Dark Earth"
3. "Seer/Sucker"
4. "Strong as the Goddess risin'"
5. "The Earth Is the Pearl of the Universe"
6. "Cateclysms"
7. "The Pope is the Wholly Ass of God"
8. "One day the gods came calling"
9. "The Big Syringe"
10. "Post-Feminist Cocksucker"
11. "Show Me a Snorer & I'll Show You an Explorer"

Charts

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	178
UK Albums Chart	20

Personnel

• Julian Cope – vocals,guitar,bass,mellotron,production
• Mark "Rooster" Cosby –drums,percussion
• Michael "Moon Eye" Watts – guitar
• Thighpaulsandra–synthesizer,piano,stringarrangements,recording,mix
• Dorian Cope(credited as "Mavis Grind" )– second lead vocals on "Road of Dreams"
• Donald Ross Skinner–omnichordon "The Lonely Guy" & "Senile Get"
• Terry Edwards–saxophoneson "Wheelbarrow Man",trumpeton "Road of Dreams",hornarrangements
• Danny Thompson–double basson "1995"
• James Eller – bass,moogon "Try, Try, Try"
• Steve Ferrera – drums,bongoson "Try, Try, Try"
• Ed Stasium–12-string guitar,additional production, mix on "Try, Try, Try"
• Martin Schellard –conductoron "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

Technical

• Shaun Harvey – additional recording on "Cryingbabiessleeplessnights" & "Girl-Call"
• Jill Furmanovsky– sleevephotography
• Bruce and Mark @ Design by Green Ink –design

External links

• 20 Motherson Discogs.com