Apple Venus Volumes 1 & 2 are the final two studio albums by the consistently underrated UK band XTC. Apple Venus Volume 1 came out first, in 1999, followed by Wasp Star (Apple Venus Pt. 2) in 2000. During the recording of Volume 1, Dave Gregory left the band, and after the release of Wasp Star, Colin Moulding followed suit, officially pulling the curtain on the band, and leaving the Apple Venuses as their final epitaph.
And it's quite a remarkable accomplishment that they leave behind. The two albums stand as remarkable testaments to the two most enduring traits of XTC's work: their relentless creativity and their endlessly tuneful craftsmanship. These are represented by the two Apple Venuses, with Volume 1 illustrating the constant expansion of their (or at least Partridge's) musical and lyrical frontiers, and Wasp Star proving that even in 2000, 28 years after they began, XTC is still one of the best pop bands in the world.
In this sense, it's easy to see why Volume 1 received the most attention on its release. Nothing about it sounds tired, nothing in the music sounds like it's been done before. The lyrics themselves offer something new as well, as for the first time, it sounds like Partridge is actually singing from his heart, and not from his brain. Which isn't to say he isn't singing with his brain, the lyrics and arrangements still bristle with the ingenuity that is XTC's trademark, but with age, Partridge has almost taken on a childlike quality. Songs like "I'd Like That" are almost bursting with a vein of childish glee that's refreshing to see. It seems that in his age, Partridge discovered how to be a child, perhaps for the first time.
Moulding sounds aged, but he's taken it gracefully, his songs ("Frivolous Tonight" and "Fruit Nut"), while sometimes at odds with the overall feel of the album, are still overwhelmingly charming bits of pop. It feels like he's taken a page from Nick Lowe's book, and his songs are all the better for it.
Overall, Apple Venus Volume 1 is really Partridge's, and he makes the most of it, and in doing so, provides XTC with it's last definitive statement of artistic necessity, and affirms them as one of the most incessantly creative and innovative bands to come out of the 20th century.
And if Volume 1 affirms their legacy as innovators, Wasp Star ensures that they're remembered as one of the most effortlessly poppy bands in existence. From the opening guitar of "Playground", it becomes clear that this album is quite a different beast from Volume 1. By comparison, Wasp Star treads almost no new ground, it's just XTC turning in twelve tracks that shimmer with an incandescent sparkle. The album is loaded with irresistibly catchy hooks, and allows XTC to go out doing the thing they spent 28 years mastering. The arrangements on Wasp Star are far more conventional than on Volume 1, guitars glisten and glow over the steady drive of the drums. Partridge's songs about with vocals and backing vocals that seem to float and merge as one, but it's Moulding's voice that holds the revelations. His voice, rough edges and all, seems to rise from some earthen cauldron of pop, breezing through songs like "In Another Life" and "Boarded Up", and sounding remarkably comfortable as he does so.
While Wasp Star may feel slight, especially when compared to the innovation and exploration of Volume 1, it captures XTC as the pop stars they never got to be, but always should have been. Songs brim with confidence from a band who seem to have realized just how good they are at this whole pop business. "The Man Who Murdered Love" is almost criminally catchy, and the guitar work on some of the tracks (especially "Playground" and "Church of Women") is the closest the thing to a shock the album provides.
The closer, "The Wheel and the Maypole", is effectively XTC's finale, and it does a tremendous job. The band hurtles along with the excitement of a racer nearing the finish line, the slow moments burst into joyous symphonies, and, when the song fades out, and the curtain is drawn on XTC, it's only fitting that their final message is one of such contagious ecstasy.
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You can read more about XTC at their website.
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