Aural Sculpture by The Stranglers

Aural Sculpture, the Stranglers' eighth album, arrived on Epic in November 1984, and it nearly sounded very different. Epic knocked back the first demos, so producer Laurie Latham was brought in, and his big idea was a three-piece horn section of trumpet, trombone and sax. Add acoustic guitars, and a band once known for growling vocals suddenly sounded almost debonair.

The classic lineup was still intact, with Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield and Jet Black, but the menace had been traded for sleek, grown-up pop. "Skin Deep" glides on a cool, faintly sinister shuffle and became one of their hits, with "No Mercy" and "Let Me Down Easy" following it out as singles. The name was an old calling card: an "Aural Sculpture Manifesto" had played before they took the stage on the Feline tour.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.