the first two (conveniently available in some countries on one CD, entitled "first two") were quite different from later material. both can be described as "concept albums" (a very bad thing, basically) that were recorded by what was basically a punk band interested in pop- and folk- music.

the first one ("pictures of starving children sell records - starvation, charity and rock & roll, lies & traditions" - yep, that's the full title) was an attack on the whole "live aid"-thing and came out in 1986. it's got loud guitars and beautiful melodies, shouting and folk songs, the lot, basically. it's also got one of the best CW-songs ever, the magnificent "More Whitewashing (flickering pictures hypnotise)" that moves along on a bouncy bass-drum. it's what CW were loved for in those days.

consequently, the second one ("never mind the ballots, here's the rest of your life") was more of the same. this time, the subject was the pointlessness of voting, even though the band clearly stated that they didn't say "don't vote" (which still is an important message to all american listeners...). it put to music the old anarchist saying that whoever votes will lose his/her voice (well, it *is* an old anarchist saying in germany). musically, as mentioned already, it wasn't exactly a departure, but it is still an inspirational album, even if it came out in 1987. and most of the ideas offered as important as ever.

then, it was time for some change. so, the band recorded an acapella-album of "english rebel songs" from previous centuries. a record as powerful as any punk-album, in some ways, even if they could probably do the vocals better nowadays. it's definetly heavier on the folky side.

but there's more change ahead. it is now 1990 and the band has discovered dance music. the subsequent release ("slap!") is hailed as the album of the year by german music journalists and has it all, trumpets, funky bass lines and THE groove. it sounds somewhat dated now, but it was a radical departure and still is an exciting record, if you listen beyond the sometimes rather dull recordings. what's important about this record is the direction it was pointing towards. and most of these songs sounded much more exciting when performed live. consequently, both "ulrike" and "i never gave up" were live favourites for years to come and "that's how grateful we are" (also known as "hungary") still is.

up next is the long story that's hidden beneath the album that is "shhh" (released in 1992). the band had recorded a complete album of songs, using samples and other people's songs to make the wonderful "jesus h christ" longplayer. but, there was no way they'd get all the stuff they stole cleared and since they did not want to risk the existence of their self-owned record company (agit prop), they decided to re-record some of the songs, scrap others and record some new ones (including one that stated "you can't write a song that's never been sung") - and released the collection as "shhh". it's "bastard offspring" as the band explained in the liner notes, and as an album weaker than "jesus h christ" which was later made available as a vinyl-only-bootleg - but it still makes for some good listening. it certainly bounces along on a livelier tune than "slap!".

years follow in which the band play the songs from "shhh" (almost) to death, to growing audiences. in the meantime, they sign to One Little Indian, because the task of being both a band and a record label proved to be too much. in 1994 "anarchy" is released, the band have their first minor hitsingles, "enough is enough" and "timebomb" (the latter still is a favourite on some german radio stations). the album is their poppiest yet and notable not only for the cover (which shows a baby being born and which got the album to be boycotted by some british record shops), but also for some classic CW-songs, the singles as well as songs like "give the anarchist a cigarette" (even if that one is basically nothing more than a slightly different version of "enough is enough") and "mouthful of shit".

the gap before the next album is then filled with a live album, "showbusiness", which - even though it has some cool ideas, like the audience interviews - cannot replace a good CW-live gig and therefore is probably most interesting for the booklet, which gives a good account of what has happened in CW-world until then.

the final album for One Little Indian then turned out to be the next one, "swingin« with raymond", made up of a "love"-side and a "hate"-side, the idea being to finally seperate the influences of CW and have some really ugly noisy songs on the one side and some nice, folky tunes on the other. a nice idea, that did not really work, at least not for me. it is the one CW record i never listen to, even if it features another live favourite, the rather outspoken (um) "ugh! your ugly houses".

after this and before EMI, there's also an EP of quiet songs (most of them better than the "love"-songs from SWR) that was released together with a photobook of "pictures of anarchists", but that one's probably hard to get these days. check the band's site for more infos.