The Garden (John Foxx album)
1981 album by John Foxx
The Garden is the second studio album by English musician John Foxx, released on 25 September 1981 by Virgin Records. The follow-up to his debut solo album Metamatic (1980), by comparison, it features more diverse instrumentation, the use of non electronic instrumentation, and romantic stylings.
The album spent six weeks in the UK Albums charts in 1981, peaking at number 24. It was supported by two singles "Europe After the Rain", released on 21 August 1981, and "Dancing Like a Gun", released on 30 October 1981.
Production and style
The sound and subject matter of The Garden were informed by a number of factors: with Foxx's Catholic upbringing and early exposure to Latin mass and Gregorian chant and his exploration of England's countryside, architecture and history following the release of Metamatic. The song "Systems of Romance", which had been written during sessions for the Ultravox album of the same name but was not included on the record, even though its title was used.
Another connection between The Garden and Systems of Romance the album was the presence of guitarist Robin Simon, whose textured style had been a significant influence on the sound of the earlier release. Whereas on Metamatic the only conventional instrument had been bass guitar, Foxx used a full band of musicians on The Garden to play electric and acoustic guitar, electric bass, piano, and acoustic percussion, in addition to synthesizers and drum machines.
Regarding the album's title and the influence of his travels through England, in a 1981 interview with Bruce Elder on Australian radio Triple J, Foxx said, "'The Garden' seemed to be a pretty good metaphor because I found a lot of gardens that were overgrown and ruined and a lot of very grand buildings that were almost decaying - but I found them a lot more beautiful than they were in their original state, being overgrown".
The opening track, "Europe After the Rain", encapsulated the style of the album as a whole, featuring discreet synthesizer work in concert with piano, acoustic guitar and a digital drum machine; its title came from a Max Ernst painting.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 23, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3987177. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981 and 1980.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Garden (John Foxx album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.