1984–1989: Lloyd Cole and the Commotions The Commotions' debut studio album,
Rattlesnakes (1984), contained literary and
pop culture references to such figures as
Arthur Lee,
Norman Mailer,
Grace Kelly,
Eva Marie Saint,
Simone de Beauvoir,
Truman Capote and
Joan Didion. The band produced two more studio albums,
Easy Pieces (1985) and
Mainstream (1987), before disbanding in 1989.
1990–1992: Lloyd Cole and ''Don't Get Weird on Me Babe'' This solo setting produced two studio albums:
Lloyd Cole in 1990 – preceded by the single "
No Blue Skies" – and ''
Don't Get Weird on Me Babe in 1991. – starring Rob Lowe and James Spader – while "Pay for It" (from Don't Get Weird on Me Babe
, 1991) was on the soundtrack of When the Party's Over'', starring
Sandra Bullock.
1993–1999: Bad Vibes, Love Story and The Collection Cole recorded
Bad Vibes in 1993, The group consisted of
Jill Sobule,
Dave Derby of
the Dambuilders, Mike Kotch and Rafa Maciejak, who recorded an eponymous CD, released mainly in Western Europe and North America. He has since released solo albums on smaller
independent labels.
Sanctuary Records released
Music in a Foreign Language (2003) in the UK. Recorded largely by Cole himself (including tracks recorded directly onto a
Mac), the songs had a stark,
folk-inspired singer-songwriter style. The album was released in the US by the
One Little Indian label, which also collected a number of
outtakes (recorded from 1996 to 2000) on 2002's
Etc. and released an instrumental
ambient electronica album,
Plastic Wood, the same year. It featured new versions of
Nick Cave's "People Ain't No Good" and his own "No More Love Songs". In 2004, to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of
Rattlesnakes, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions reformed to perform a one-off tour of the UK and Ireland. The reformation was never intended to be permanent, and Cole released another solo studio album in 2006,
Antidepressant, using his usual home recording outfit by playing all the instruments himself with friends like Sobule, Derby and the guitar work of former Commotion Neil Clark on some tracks. In 2009, Cole released
Cleaning Out the Ashtrays – a collection of outtakes, B-sides, rarities and alternative versions of his solo work. Notable cover versions include
Leonard Cohen's "
Chelsea Hotel #2",
T. Rex's "
The Children of the Revolution" and
Kris Kristofferson's "
For the Good Times", which he recorded with
Jill Sobule.
2010–2018: Broken Record, Standards and Selected Studies Vol. 1 Broken Record, released in September 2010 preceded by the single "Writer's Retreat", marked a departure from his solo recordings, as it was performed by a band of longstanding friends and working partners, including Fred Maher,
Joan As Police Woman, Rainy Orteca,
Dave Derby and
Blair Cowan – as well as two musicians, Matt Cullen (guitar; banjo) and Mark Schwaber (guitar; mandolin), with whom Cole tours, billed as 'Lloyd Cole Small Ensemble'. The recording of the album was entirely financed by advance purchases by his fans and contributions from Tapete Records, which later distributed the album and also oversaw and negotiated the rights to release a boxed set with his complete collection of
B-sides, alternative takes and previously unreleased material, under the title
Cleaning Out the Ashtrays. A further album co-funded by fans,
Standards, was released in June 2013, and includes contributions from Fred Maher and
Matthew Sweet, Blair Cowan (The Commotions) and Joan Wasser (a.k.a.
Joan As Police Woman). It was preceded by the single and music video "Period Piece". Other notable songs on the album were Cole's re-make of
John Hartford's "California Earthquake", "Women's Studies" and favourite "Myrtle and Rose". For the first time since 1999's
The Collection, Cole appeared on the
UK Albums Chart for one week at position 74. In February 2013 a new album of electronic music by Cole and
Hans-Joachim Roedelius was released, called
Selected Studies Vol. 1. In 2016, Cole went on tour with the Leopards to celebrate the release of the
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions Collected Recordings 1983–1988 box set. Live album
Lloyd Cole and the Leopards – Live at Brooklyn Bowl was released through his website along with several live recordings of shows he performed with his son William on guitar. In early 2017 the single "Man on the Verge" was released as a taster for the
Lloyd Cole in New York – Collected Recordings 1988–1996 box set.
Since 2019: Guesswork and On Pain Cole's eleventh studio album
Guesswork was released on 26 July 2019 by earMUSIC. Recorded (mostly) in his attic studio in Massachusetts,
Guesswork was produced by Cole and mixed by German producer Olaf Opal, with executive production from
Chris Hughes. The record was mastered by Kai Blankenberg at Skyline Tonfabrik in
Düsseldorf. The electronic sounding album also featured contributions from, among others,
Fred Maher and former Commotions
Blair Cowan and
Neil Clark. It was preceded by the singles "Violins" and "Night Sweats". In 2021,
Cleaning Out the Ashtrays – the 2009 collection of outtakes, alternative versions of his solo work, and cover versions – was released digitally. On 30 January 2023, Cole announced his twelfth studio album
On Pain to be released on 23 June 2023: an album featuring eight songs recorded in Cole's attic and produced by Chris Merrick Hughes. Four of the songs are co-written by founding Commotions members Blair Cowan and Neil Clark. It was preceded by the upbeat single and music video "Warm by the Fire". It received 4-star reviews by
Uncut,
Mojo and
AllMusic and it entered the UK Albums Chart at number 23. The second single "The Idiot" – released on 25 August 2023 – is a homage to
David Bowie's and
Iggy Pop's friendship during their Berlin era in the late 1970s. According to
Clashmusic.com, the video for "The Idiot" is a touching vision of love and friendship, shot not in Berlin but in
Toronto's legendary Horseshoe Bar. The first leg of the On Pain Tour started in Newcastle on October 6, 2023 and finished in Amsterdam on November 6. The show consisted of a semi-acoustic part and an electric part, both performed with Commotions co-founders Blair Cowan and Neil Clark, and Icelandic drummer Signy Jakobsdottir. On 8 December 2023, the
Wolves Disco and Boogaloo Remixes single was released, featuring 'Wolves' remixes by
Mogwai a.o. == Personal life ==