YMMV / XTC

• Anvilicious: Can occasionally happen when Partridge decides to tackle politics. "Complicated Game" is a great example of this, being one of their more famous album tracks. Even Moulding joins in on songs like "The Smartest Monkeys" and "War Dance". "Dear God" is perhaps the most infamous example, with most of the controversy surrounding it focusing on its incredibly blunt message of "God's a sham and here's why."
• Audience-Coloring Adaptation: The band's most famous song "Dear God" and biggest hit in the United States, is a dark, serious, harrowing song that's entirely devoid of any quirky elements. The song's daring lyrics and dismal tone has shaped the perception of the band amongst some non-fans as a group of humorless, emo-like, edgelords who make depressing music. When in reality, they're a colorful and very quirky pop band who make upbeat, lush, and energetic songs.
• Awesome Music: Skylarking. Nothing more needs to be said.
  • Black Sea is possibly the finest achievement of their 'guitar group' period.
  • Most of their albums?
  • The flanging on the intro to "Making Plans for Nigel".
  • "Living Through Another Cuba" could very well be the Trope Maker for Dance-Punk.
  • Anytime that the band dabbled in electronic music, in particular the Homo Safari series and "The Somnambulist", a very early attempt at Ambient Pop.
• Broken Base:
  • Go 2 is either a great album or the worst album made by XTC.
  • Likewise, Oranges and Lemons is either considered a solid follow-up to Skylarking, or an over-indulgent mess helmed by an inexperienced producer.
  • Nonsuch also gets this, with some saying it's one of their best albums, while others say that it's a bloated mess that's nearly twice the length it should have been, and has very cold, sterile, overly digital production.
  • Although both records are generally well-received by the fanbase, the quality of Mummer and The Big Express, the first two albums the band made as a solely studio-based act, sparks a huge debate between fans: the former is often considered too low-key and a step down from English Settlement, whilst the latter tends to receive flack for its flat, outdated production and overreliance on tinny, programmed drums.
  • Wasp Star: Is it an underwhelming follow-up to the New Sound Album Apple Venus, or is its back-to-basics approach charming and a perfectly fine set of songs in its own right?
• Covered Up: The Crash Test Dummies' version of "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" is probably better known than the original due to its inclusion in the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The band found success in America on College Radio and early commercial alternative stations as they were tanking in their native England.
• Growing the Beard: They did this when Gregory joined, and grew it even longer when they became exclusively a studio band. Gregory occasionally did it literally as well.
• Harsher in Hindsight
  • Andy Partridge's Breakup Songs, after the dissolution of his marriage.
  • "Making Plans for Nigel" contains the stanza "We're only making plans for Nigel / He has his future in a British Steel / We're only making plans for Nigel / Nigel's whole future is as good as sealed". As noted below in Unintentional Period Piece, British Steel, once considered a good reliable career path for those in the working class, cut a good chunk of its workforce after privatization, less than a decade after the song was released. Some might argue that this makes the song even more resonant.
  • The tour program for the ill-fated English Settlement tour listed what the band members thought were their worst gigs.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The early (1976) single "She's So Square" is about a young woman who's tastes are stuck in The '60s. Before too long it would become apparent that XTC themselves were doing their own twist on 60s music. And other aesthetics, if you see the psychedelic cover art for Oranges and Lemons.
• Nightmare Fuel: "Complicated Game" is a terrorizing 5-minute experience that's so intense it makes the entirety of Spiderland sound like a nursery rhyme.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: Discussions on the controversy surrounding the overtly pro-atheist content of "Dear God" tend to eclipse any talk regarding the song's artistry, composition, and its status as XTC's one hit in the United States. It's also overshadowed XTC in general for the mainstream US. Bring their name up to the casual American music fan and they'll think "Oh yeah, the guys who did that anti-God song". It doesn't help that a deranged XTC fan held a school faculty hostage while playing the song over its public-address system, indirectly tarnishing the band for many people. Not helping matters is how Andy Partridge only doubled down on the song's themes when asked about the controversy in interviews, refusing to humor any religious people.
• Signature Song: "Making Plans for Nigel", "Sgt. Rock Is Going to Help Me" or "Senses Working Overtime" in the UK. "Dear God" pretty much everywhere else... "The Mayor of Simpleton" could also qualify.
• Suspiciously Similar Song:
  • "King for a Day" is very close in musical style and lyrical subject matter to the Tears for Fears hit "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".
  • Andy Partridge admitted that he used "Rocky Raccoon" by The Beatles as the musical inspiration for "Dear God".
• Tear Jerker: Oh, they have a few. "Dying", "Snowman", "The Last Balloon" and "Sacrificial Bonfire", for starters.
  • "Dear God", "I Can't Own Her", "Your Dictionary" and "The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead" also count, as well as "I Unbecome" and "Young Marrieds" on Fuzzy Warbles.
• Unintentional Period Piece: "Making Plans for Nigel" makes a timely reference to British Steel, which back in 1970s Britain was a very common career route for most working class people until the end of the decade, when Margaret Thatcher's rise to power led to many steel industry jobs becoming privatised and eventually closing down for good.

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