This ninth solo studio album from the iconic erstwhile Stranglers frontman is his first in five years, following 2013's Steve Albini-recorded
Totem and Taboo, and his debut for Sony. On this raw, stripped-back effort with shades of blues and rock & roll, he has written songs about some of the 20th century's "most remarkable and infamous" people, including animator Ray Harryhausen, stunt biker Evel Knievel, actress Hedy Lamarr, and dictators Benito Mussolini and Robert Mugabe. A bonus disc of acoustic versions of Stranglers classics is included. ~ John D. Buchanan