There has been much made regarding the lack of quality music coming out of the late 80’s and early 90’s. I would tend to disagree, and point to the lack of radio airplay new artists were able to achieve, due to the formatted radio policies that were, and still are in place. These policies relegated fledgling artists to college radio, and I don’t think that was a bad thing ... anyone who wanted to hear new material happily went out of their way, tolerated the weak signals, just to hear some new sounds that were worth while. One of those worth while sounds I discovered from those days were The Silencers.Being a Scottish rock band, there have been many justifiable comparisons to Big Country, and other groups heavily influenced by traditional Celtic sounds, such as Del Amitri, Simple Minds and U2 ... yet The Silencers seemed to have something these other groups did not, and that was an underground feel, as if their sound was something to be sought out, something special ... and for me it certainly was. Not being the huge commercial success can have its value, namely that quality groups who fall into this category tend to forever remain close to our hearts for all time.The first single by The Silencers, which brought them much attention was “Painted Moon,” released in 1987, was followed by “I See Red” and both songs can be found on their first album “A Letter From St. Paul.” “A Letter From St. Paul” is an amazing light and airy album, full of visions, splendid guitar chord changes, mature pop sensibilities, tantalizing background musical images, and full of lyrics that can more then hold your attention. The album draws its title from a song by the same name, and is without a doubt is one of the most clever haunting songs I have ever been privileged to hear. The song “A Letter From St. Paul” will strike you as an instrumental at first, but with an attuned ear, you will hear a dialog going on in the background regarding the sending of a letter ... a pure joy each time I hear it.The Silencers don’t have the heaviness, or weighted music used by U2 or Simple Minds, though Simple Minds could certainly have been a not so distant cousin. What killed The Silencers and groups from this era was grunge, and though they have continued to release material, they have never been able to regain the ground lost to grunge and its short lived hiatus. The music found here is nothing short of first rate, playable time and time again without any loss of quality.Long after people stop talking about Nirvana, and the effects of grunge, someone is going to pull out a Silencers’ record and wow friends with the sheer beauty of rock of this genre at it’s very best.Review by Jenell Kesler