Script of the Bridge

A sample of dialogue from the 1946 film Two Sisters from Boston{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039054/quotes |title=Two Sisters from Boston (1946) – Quotes – IMDb |publisher=IMDb |accessdate=15 July 2013}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MprCSzBIexw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/MprCSzBIexw |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=In His Autumn Before the Winter Comes Mans Last Surge of Youth – YouTube |date=7 September 2010 |via=YouTube |accessdate=15 July 2013}}{{cbignore}} was used as the introduction to the album's first track, "Don't Fall". According to the Chameleons' official website, "[the band] had a mic set up to a television and they recorded random bits, presumably for use in some songs".{{cite web |url=http://www.thechameleons.com/band/faq.php#II22 |title=The Chameleons – Band – Frequently Asked Questions |website=The Chameleons |accessdate=15 July 2013}}

Andrew Welsh of Daily Record commented that the album is "characterised by subtly psychedelic Cure-like guitars and militaristic drum patterns reminiscent of Joy Division".{{cite web |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/album-review-script-bridge-chameleons-2763955 |title=Album Review: Script of the Bridge, The Chameleons – Daily Record |last=Welsh |first=Andrew |date=1 July 2008 |website=Daily Record |accessdate=3 February 2015}}

The album has also been described as gothic rock.{{Cite web |last=Deserto |first=Frank |date=2017-10-31 |title=40 Years of Goth: Essential Albums from the Subculture's Beginnings |url=https://post-punk.com/40-years-of-goth-essential-albums-from-the-genres-beginnings/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Post-Punk.com}} However, frontman Mark Burgess said that "goth didn't even exist" when the album was released, describing the band as "definitely post-punk." He noted how guitarist Dave Fielding was a fan of Joni Mitchell and Mike Oldfield, while drummer John Lever favored Peter Gabriel and Genesis.{{Cite web |last=Gourlay |first=Dom |date=2014-04-11 |title=DiS meets Mark Burgess from The Chameleons |url=http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147553-dis-meets-mark-burgess-from-the-chameleons |access-date=2024-01-25 |publisher=Drowned in Sound}}

Three official singles and one promo single were released to promote the album. "Up the Down Escalator" was released as the album's first single in the UK, Germany and Spain on 1 January 1983 by the band's record label Statik.{{cite web |url=http://www.thechameleons.com/releases/index.php?recording=33 |title=The Chameleons – Releases |website=The Chameleons |accessdate=20 July 2013}} The band's US label, MCA Records, also issued it as a promotional single.

Statik issued "Don't Fall" as a promo-only single in France on 1 January 1983.{{cite web |url=http://www.thechameleons.com/releases/index.php?recording=32 |title=The Chameleons – Releases |website=The Chameleons |accessdate=20 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.thechameleons.com/releases/index.php?recording=35 |title=The Chameleons – Releases |website=The Chameleons |accessdate=20 July 2013}}

The album's second official UK single (also issued by Statik in Spain and Portugal) was "As High as You Can Go", released on 1 February.{{cite web |url=http://www.thechameleons.com/releases/index.php?recording=30 |title=The Chameleons – Releases |website=The Chameleons |accessdate=20 July 2013}} The third and final official single was "A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days", released by Statik on 1 June in the UK and Portugal.{{cite web |url=http://www.thechameleons.com/releases/index.php?recording=31 |title=The Chameleons – Releases |website=The Chameleons |accessdate=20 July 2013}}

Script of the Bridge was released 8 August 1983 by record label Statik.{{cite web |url=http://www.thechameleons.com/releases/index.php?recording=1 |title=The Chameleons – Releases |website=The Chameleons |accessdate=15 July 2013}} The truncated US release on MCA Records, issued under the band name Chameleons U.K, omitted "Here Today", "Less Than Human", "Paper Tigers" and "View from a Hill".

The album was later released as a limited edition picture disc by Statik Records in 1985.

It was re-engineered and re-released in 2012 by Blue Apple Music.

{{album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/script-of-the-bridge-mw0000710464 |title=Script of the Bridge – The Chameleons UK : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic |last=Raggett |first=Ned |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=3 August 2012}}

| rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev2score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|year=2011|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|chapter=The Chameleons|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-0857125958|edition=5th}}

| rev3 = MusicHound Rock

| rev3score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite book|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|editor=Gary Graff|editor-link=Gary Graff|edition=1st|year=1996|location=London|isbn=978-0-7876-1037-1|publisher=Visible Ink Press}}

| rev4 = OndaRock

| rev4score = 8/10{{Cite web|url=https://www.ondarock.it/rockedintorni/chameleons.htm|title=Chameleons – biografia, recensioni, streaming, discografia, foto|website=OndaRock}}

| rev5 = Record Collector

| rev5score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite journal |last=Finnigan |first=Mark |date=September 2008 |title=Script of the Bridge 25th Anniversary Edition |journal=Record Collector |issue=353 |url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/script-of-the-bridge25th-anniversary-edition |accessdate=3 February 2015}}

| rev6 = Sounds

| rev6score = {{rating|3.75|5}}{{cite journal |last=Linfield |first=Carole |date=1 August 1983 |title=Script of the Bridge***¾ |journal=Sounds}}

| rev7 = Record Mirror

| rev7Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=The Chameleons 'The Script of the Bridge'|author=McGuire, Jessica|page=20|volume=30|issue=36|date=3 September 1983|magazine=Record Mirror}}

}}

Upon its release, Sounds wrote in their review: it is a "powerful and rich album whose strength is an intense muscular beat".

In his retrospective review, Ned Raggett of AllMusic praised the album, writing, "Script remains a high-water mark of what can generally be called post-punk music; an hour's worth of one amazing song after another", calling it "practically a greatest-hits record on its own". Chris Jenkins, in the book The Rough Guide to Rock, called the album "such an impressive record that The Chameleons would struggle to emulate it".{{cite book |editor-last=Buckley |editor-first=Peter |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |date=1 November 2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |page=182 |isbn=1843531054 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&dq=%22the+chameleons%22+%22script+of+the+bridge%22&pg=PT189 |access-date=15 February 2013}}

Trouser Press was slightly less favourable, writing that it "isn't a great album", but "has very appealing moments".{{cite web |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=chameleons_uk |title=trouserpress.com :: Chameleons (UK) |last1=Robbins |first1=Ira |last2=Rabid |first2=Jack |website=Trouser Press |accessdate=20 July 2013}}

Andrew Welsh of Daily Record wrote that "echoes of the Chameleons' distinctive sound can still be heard today in bands as diverse as the Killers (but without the penchant for angst), Editors and even Pigeon Detectives." Neige, the leader of the French black metal band Alcest, said about the album, "the two guitars were very melodic and catchy, and most of the time playing different parts that work together harmoniously. You can hear the huge influence they had on bands like Interpol or Editors".{{Cite web |last=MetalSucks |date=2017-01-16 |title=Guest Playlist: Neige of Alcest's Favorite Post-Punk Songs |url=https://www.metalsucks.net/2017/01/16/guest-playlist-neige-of-alcests-favorite-post-punk-songs/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=MetalSucks}} Sweet Trip vocalist Valerie Cooper named the album as an inspiration for "[h]ow to appeal to your serene forlorn side you know you love to feel the loneliness."{{Cite web |title=Sonemic Interview: Sweet Trip – RYM/Sonemic |url=https://rateyourmusic.com/feature/sonemic-interview-sweet-trip |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Rate Your Music}}

"Up the Down Escalator" was featured in the 2024 film Lisa Frankenstein because it was a song that director Zelda Williams "always really liked".

{{Cite web |last=Wallace |first=Allison |date=2024-02-08 |title=Writer Diablo Cody and Filmmaker Zelda Williams Talk the Tunes That Help Score 'Lisa Frankenstein' |url=https://newsroom.spotify.com/2024-02-08/writer-diablo-cody-and-filmmaker-zelda-williams-talk-the-tunes-that-help-score-lisa-frankenstein/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Spotify}} German techno band Scooter recorded their own version of "Second Skin", featured in their 2009 record Under the Radar Over the Top.

{{track listing

| headline = Side one

| all_writing = The Chameleons (Mark Burgess, Dave Fielding, Reginald Smithies, John Lever).

| title1 = Don't Fall

| length1 = 4:06

| title2 = Here Today

| length2 = 3:50

| title3 = Monkeyland

| length3 = 5:24

| title4 = Second Skin

| length4 = 6:50

| title5 = Up the Down Escalator

| length5 = 3:57

| title6 = Less Than Human

| length6 = 4:12

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| total_length = 57:07

| title1 = Pleasure and Pain

| length1 = 5:11

| title2 = Thursday's Child

| length2 = 3:22

| title3 = As High as You Can Go

| length3 = 3:35

| title4 = A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days

| length4 = 5:43

| title5 = Paper Tigers

| length5 = 4:16

| title6 = View from a Hill

| length6 = 6:41

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = US MCA Records Version

| total_length = 37:57

| title1 = Up The Down Escalator (There Must Be Something Wrong Boys)

| length1 = 3:56

| title2 = As High As You Can Go

| length2 = 3:33

| title3 = Monkeyland

| length3 = 5:14

| title4 = A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days

| length4 = 5:40

| title5 = Don't Fall

| length5 = 4:03

| title6 = Thursday's Child

| length6 = 3:32

| title7 = Pleasure And Pain

| length7 = 5:08

| title8 = Second Skin

| length8 = 6:51

}}

; The Chameleons

• Mark Burgess – bass guitar, vocals, production
• Dave Fielding – guitar, keyboard, production
• Reg Smithies – guitar, production, album cover artwork
• John Lever – drums, production

; Technical

• Colin Richardson – production, engineering

{{Reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|10267|type=album}}

{{The Chameleons}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1983 debut albums

Category:The Chameleons albums

Category:Albums produced by Colin Richardson