The Only Ones 1978 Album

The Only Ones

One could probably draw a scraggly, developmental line between ramshackle rock bands like The Rolling Stones to the New York Dolls and Aerosmith, then on the way to 80's acts like The Replacements and Guns 'n' Roses you will stop at The Only Ones. Collected from the remnants of assorted U.K. rock acts and centered around the fatalistic life of Peter Perrett, they cut three albums in the late 70's which were critical successes, and then disappeared for a long time thanks to ongoing drug problems. The debut establishes a slashing, dangerous sound in a vacuum between faster punk rock and slower arena/hard rock, made distinctive by Perrett's downer personality, John Perry's searing guitar work, and a great rhythm section (Alan Mair and Mike Kellie) that is expert at mimicking a sloppy, amateurish rhythm section. One minor drawback is the sound tends to overwhelm Perrett at times and throws off the tenous balance between the two. All three albums were remastered in 2009 and the updated version includes three bonus tracks, one of them is "Lovers of Today" which really highlights the instrumental side of the group, and was an important early song.