You won't like it as much, but there are easily a half-dozen or more songs here that an XTC fan will cherish.

The production is just as lush and a bit more rococo than that previous masterwork; was there a calliope in the mix somewhere? No seriously...was there?

While each and every track is at the very least interesting, some of them aren't quite good "songs".

But many of them are.
Case in point: "The Mayor of Simpleton".
You can not ask for more from a great single than intelligent lyrics brimming with wit, soaring vocal harmonies, a killer bridge, an irresistible melody, and XTC's to-be-expected impeccable musicianship. Crisp guitars, a chipper beat...oh dear this is one of my favorite singalong songs of all time.

"King For A Day" is cool pop (it made me yearn for old Tears for Fears though...).

"The Loving" is a classic XTC song...with a quirky melodic twist.

"Hold Me My Daddy" is another pleasure-filled listen, with the uptempo galloping ending, is the type of thing that sets up shop in your skull for months. It'll literally drive you insane...

"Pink Thing" is a naughty little ditty about probably exactly what you think it's about.

"Merely A Man" is more sweet pop sounds from a tragically ignored band...they should have freakin' been huge.

Some of the slower songs (like the last one) and the less traditional songs (the "Skeletons" one) don't quite work as songs per se...but I have not forgotten them since my first listen decades ago. It's weird...I normally skip over them, but when I didn't (after buying this remastered version), I still remembered every note.

Even the songs I didn't like.

Hmmm...

This album has four great songs: "Mayor of Simpleton," "Chalkhills and children" (my favorite), "King for a Day," and "Garden of Earthly delights." I wouldn't call it a classic though, some of it sounds dated. I would not say this about most of "Skylarking," though, which is much better. "Nonesuch" to me is their most solid.

First, let me put the five star rating in context. Five stars are freely given in so many customer reviews that the five star rating has been devalued by overuse. In my opinion, XTC made some music I wouldn't bother to listen to all the way through even once. Less than one star for me. Some of their albums are worth three or four stars.

This album, however, stands at the pinnacle of anything any band has ever attempted or achieved. Not to say that it is better than Sgt. Pepper or other great records. But it holds its own. It must be considered one of the five or ten best albums of the 1980s.

I would call this music chamber pop. It quotes eloquently from sixties-style British pop, but adds elements of jazz, all produced and layered to perfection with XTC's inimitable style. All the elements here are precisely and deliberately placed, like a classical composition (with distorted guitars!). The thought and care with which these musical collages have been assembled created songs that are intensely interesting and musically involving. They stand up to repeated listening and analysis. As an experience, it is a marvel and a wonder to listen to these... I won't call them songs, I will call them compositions.

The recording is only fair, at best. One could only wish George Martin had been there to oversee the recording engineers. I have the remastered GOLD CD version, and really it is only slightly better than the original Geffen release. Since the old Geffen version can be purchased used for $1 or less, there is no excuse not to own a copy of this masterwork.

Andy Partridge was at the height of his lyrical powers, and his quirky harmonic ideas were harnessed and channeled into powerful, communicative, and anthemic songs. Colin Moulding's songs are melodic and beautiful, but his busy bass playing throughout rivals McCartney's work in the Beatles' best tunes. It is great entertainment to listen to this album all the way through, focusing only on the bass parts. Dave Gregory completed the tapestry with his always-appropriate guitars, and his presence was sorely missed on the last two XTC albums, as if both Partridge and Moulding had lost their right arms.

Other reviewers have praised the individual songs, so I won't belabor the point. And what is the point? Just this: if you love pop music, buy this CD.

This is the first album I bought by XTC, and it will always remain one of my favourites.

I think everything is just great about this album. Partridge's songs are intelligent, catchy, funny, observant, witty and disparaging. Moulding writes 3 of his best songs, and really this album is simply a bass player's delight. I don't know what he did on this album, but Colin Moulding plays song after song of great bass playing. 'One of the Millions' just has one of the best bass lines of any song I know of, in any genre. It makes the whole song.

Some may complain about the late 80's sound of this album, but I just marvel at how everything is used for effect and layers on every track. It's never false or reliant on the trickery, because the songs are too good for that to happen. They augment, and I find compliment the songs. It has a cousin in The Big Express, but Oranges & Lemons is extremely polished and shiny, and Dave Gregory plays some fantastic and distinctive guitar solos on this album like no other.

But first off I have to mention one song. Colin Moulding's 'Cynical Days'. I have heard a lot of XTC fans malign this song, or just not like it. I tend to ignore them. Because sometimes what they fail to notice is that Colin, by 1989 had perfected something few songwriters achieve, if at all. And that is marry music and lyric together as a complete teller of the tale within the song. Cynical Days is 3 songs in one, and each section in lyric and in sound mirror what is going on in message and tone. The lounge atmosphere verse is the cynicism, the stomping middle section is frustration with that cynicism, and the open swooping chorus is the hope of getting out of that feeling. It is one of Colin's greatest songs, truly a mini-masterpiece. (Also check out his songs 'The Good Things' = on Testimonial Dinner: A Tribute to XTC and 'Bungalow' on Nonsvch).

Oranges & Lemons convinced me of a number of things.

1) Mr.Mister had a great drummer in Pat Mastelotto (but I knew that, I just was thoroughly convinced of it by 1989 and this album)
2) That I had to buy another XTC album to see if it was as good as this.
3) That Lennon & McCartney weren't 'ALL THAT'. (Well, I wasn't thoroughly convinced of that anyway, I always preferred and enjoyed Harrison more.)

And point 3 I'd like to expand upon. If you read any of the lyrics provided by Partridge & Moulding on this album, or any of the XTC albums, there is depth and profound need to pass on a message or a feeling. And like Harrison (for me), I thoroughly believe these songwriters mean what they say, sing it like they mean it, and stay firm in that belief. XTC honestly write from their collective hearts and souls, and I just do not see that coming from the Lennon & McCartney catalogue. How can you honestly sing 'I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved' with any degree of emotion or meaning if you haven't 'lived' it. If you're Ike Turner, I'd believe it, but from McCartney its just not believeable. I just don't believe 70% of the Lennon & McCartney song catalogue (solo and Beatle) is emotive whatsoever.

And thats why artists like Peter Gabriel, George Harrison, Fishbone, Sly & The Family Stone and XTC really have taken a spot in my heart. They honestly meant what they said, and they said it so well, it just carries through the decades. And its not like you have to guess whats being said - its right there in front of you.

But thats the problem with 'The Artist' and 'Pop'. Pop makes everyone feel like they can do it, like they can be up there on the stage. Unfortunately this leads to a lot of mediocre, easily marketable, fly by night gone by day acts that last a lunchtime. When the artist steps up, it can't be helped that people feel excluded or set apart from what the person is trying to accomplish. They are not trying to make themselves out to be better than you or the regular folk. This is the only way they know how to communicate how they feel and think, and that this is so often misunderstood (throughout the centuries no less) is a shame. That they try and say something that means the world to them, and may not mean anything to you, is a total reversal from those who say nothing with any meaning, but you are allowed to put a meaning on it, because they made you feel like you could. We might as well put a stamp on a performer's head that says 'This Space For Rent'. With someone communicating so effectively what is on their mind, like Partridge's 'Scarecrow People' or 'Poor Skeleton Steps Out', or Mouldings 'One of the Millions' or 'King For A Day', there is no second guessing. The intent and message is there in black and white (or orange and lemon), andits up to you to decide if you agree or not. You have no part in this other than the way it makes you feel and think, and that is what Art is about. If we all could do it, then thats the way the world would be in the first place.

If I was an Egyptian pharoah, I'd try and take this album with me into the next life.

XTC's Andy Partridge is the star of this show and it's filled with some of the greatest pop songs of the 1980's such
as the Tears For Fears-sounding "King For A Day",the busy and
frantic "Garden Of Earthly Delights",the joyful burst of energy
on 'Minture Sun",the plain awe-inspiring "Chalkhills and Children" and the catchy Beatlesqe pop of "Mayor Of Simpleton".
And THAT's just some highlites!With great album cuts such as
"The Loving","Poor Skeleton Steps Out" and "Pink Thing" there
is nothing but a virtual fruit SALAD of oranges and others on
this album-BO lemon's,making the tital loaded with irony.You
MUST hear this!