La Folie (album)
| La folie | ||||
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| Studio album by The Stranglers | ||||
| Released | 9 November 1981 | |||
| Recorded | July–September 1981 at The Manor Studio in Shipton-on-Cherwell | |||
| Genre | Post-punk, new wave | |||
| Length | 41:27 | |||
| Label | Liberty | |||
| Producer | The Stranglers, Tony Visconti, Steve Churchyard | |||
| The Stranglers chronology | ||||
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| Singles from La folie | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Rock 82 | (favorable) |
La folie is the sixth studio album by English new wave band The Stranglers. It was released on 9 November 1981, through record label Liberty; their first album on the label.
The Stranglers had initially been the most commercially successful band of the punk/new wave period in Britain, but by 1981, their success had waned noticeably. La folie was a conscious attempt to deliver a more commercial product. The band's record company, EMI, sent them into the studio with the record producer, Tony Visconti, giving him a brief to "produce each song as if it was a hit single".
The album's French language title literally translates to "madness". In various interviews, the band related that this referred to "The Madness of Love" and that conceptually, each of the songs on the album was intended to explore a different kind or aspect of "love". The title track is also said to be based upon the story of Issei Sagawa. Hugh Cornwell related in The Stranglers – Song by Song that the correct title of the album's opening track was "Non Stop Nun", and he apparently had been unaware that the record company had printed it as simply "Non Stop".
There has been much controversy surrounding the lyrics to "Golden Brown". In his 2001 book The Stranglers Song By Song, Hugh Cornwell states "'Golden Brown' works on two levels. It's about heroin and also about a girl". Essentially, the lyrics describe how "both provided me with pleasurable times".
All lyrics written by The Stranglers (Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield, Jet Black), except "Ain't Nothin' to It", by Milton Mezz Mezzrow; all music composed by The Stranglers.
La folie was preceded by the release of the album's first single, "Let Me Introduce You to the Family", released on 2 November 1981 and reaching No. 42 in the UK Singles Chart.La folie was released seven days later.
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