Rattlesnakes is the debut studio album by the British rock and pop band Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, released on 12 October 1984 by Polydor Records.

[6] Cole recalled, " 'Perfect Skin' and 'Forest Fire' were written one weekend in the basement, underneath the golf club where we used to live and my parents used to work.

"[9] After the Commotions broke up, he later stated to being embarrassed by some of his lyrics on Rattlesnakes: "'She looks like Eve Marie Saint [sic]/In On the Waterfront'.

[14] The album was recorded during the British summer of 1984 at The Garden studios in Shoreditch in east London (built and owned by original Ultravox frontman John Foxx), with Paul Hardiman producing.

Sounds stated, "Rattlesnakes is a wonderful LP, the most refreshing, uncontrived gorgeous lump of gold to be mined from Scotland in ages, pursuing the alternately vibrant and tender pop courses discovered by 'Perfect Skin' and the classic 'Forest Fire'.

And it still finds time for excursions into Dylanesque string-embellished balladry, age-old blues licks or eloquent country melody, all led on by the infinitely capable guitar of Neil Clarke (sic).

"[23] Record Mirror felt that they could "forgive Lloyd Cole his pretentions towards poetry; his band and he have made one of the best debut albums for a long time".

"[27] Melody Maker was somewhat more critical, believing that "like Orange Juice's Texas Fever and ABC's The Lexicon of Love, Rattlesnakes is an album of cynicism masquerading as romance.

It's about how modes of expression haven't moved on one iota from early Bob Dylan, how a generation bereft of its own voice falls back on playing with the language of its peers."

Spin claimed that "Lloyd Cole and the Commotions are the most interesting new band since Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, and Rattlesnakes is a brilliant first album...

This is the first album I've heard of late that rejects the techno-pop banality we've been drowning in without being overly self-conscious in its minimalism or wearing a chip on its shoulder.

"[29] Rolling Stone felt "too much of Rattlesnakes [...] sounds like Lou Reed, Tom Verlaine and Bob Dylan doing the best of Lloyd Cole...

But if Rattlesnakes arrives critically short of the greatness claimed for it in the British rock press, its promise is not so easily dismissed... A few more songs like ["Perfect Skin"] and the man really could start a commotion.

[19] Calling the record "one of the finest debuts of the '80s", AllMusic stated that "Rattlesnakes is a college rock masterpiece of smart, ironic lyrics and sympathetic folk-rock-based melodies".

[5] At the same time, a 2-CD deluxe edition of the album was released on Universal International and Capitol Records in North America.

Disc two: Demos Live Radio Sessions B-sides/out takes Lloyd Cole and the Commotions Production Artwork ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.