About Time is the twelfth studio album from the Stranglers and the second one from the Black, Burnel, Greenfield, Roberts and Ellis line-up. The album was released in 1995 through the When! label. It was co-produced, engineered and mixed by Alan Winstanley, who had worked with the Stranglers on their first four albums (as the engineer on Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes and Black and White and producer on The Raven). Nigel Kennedy plays electric violin on "Face", and a string-quartet is used on three of the eleven tracks ("Face", "Still Life" and "Sinister").[3]
"Lies and Deception" was the only single released from the album, reaching No. 94 on the UK Singles Chart,[4] and is one of the few Stranglers songs solely written by drummer Jet Black. Released as a two-CD set, CD1 of "Lies and Deception" was backed with non-album tracks "Swim" and "Cool Danny", CD2 was backed with non-album tracks "Kiss the World Goodbye" and "Bed of Nails".[5][6][7][8]
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that About Time is a "competent but unexceptional record" that contains "a couple of tough, catchy songs" in "Lies and Deception" and "Golden Boy", but is "largely bogged down by tepid songwriting and undistinguished performances."[10]
Track listing
All tracks are written by the Stranglers
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Golden Boy"
3:13
2.
"Money"
3:20
3.
"Face"
3:27
4.
"Sinister"
4:44
5.
"Little Blue Lies"
3:34
6.
"Still Life"
5:20
7.
"Paradise Row"
3:51
8.
"She Gave It All"
4:45
9.
"Lies and Deception"
3:50
10.
"Lucky Finger"
4:14
11.
"And the Boat Sails By"
4:33
Personnel
The Stranglers
Paul Roberts – lead vocals, percussion, production
