After a undeniably wise name change, the band released their first album “Formaldehyde” in 1992. Although showing their obvious Heavy Metal influences, there was a sense of humour and pop leaning which could not be hidden, particularly in their breakthrough single “My House”. It was those pop quirks which informed their breakthrough second album “How To Make Friends And Influence People”. A collection of exuberant pop-metal classics, it featured the single “Oblivion”, which showed off TVs trademark mix of disenfranchised lyrics coupled with enormously catchy tunes, in this case with added “Doo-Wops”, giving the band a genuine crossover hit. The singles from HTMFAIP all charted well, propelling the decidedly unfashionable Terrorvision firmly into the mainstream.

By the time their third record, “Regular Urban Survivors” was released in 1996, Briptop was firmly established in the mainstream, but perhaps surprisingly Terrorvision thrived. Single “Perseverance” charted at number five (It’s awesome “Whales and Dolphins” hook proving irresistable to daytime radio and indie dancefloors alike) and the album was a commercial and critical hit. In many ways a bigger, widescreen sequel to HTMFAIP (with a couple of songs suspiciously close to re-makes – Bad Actress = Middleman, Celebrity Hitlist = Discotheque Wreck…) the cover featured the band larking around as spoof filmstars and was ostensibly a soundtrack to a fictional film – an idea reflected in songs such as “Didn’t Bleed Red” (sci-fi) and “Dog Chewed the Handle” (An implausible murder mystery) The band still got in a few digs in at the Briptop elite, with “Superchronic” taking a few swipes at Oasis.

The odd man out, though, of Terrorvision albums is without doubt 1998’s “Shaving Peaches”, a curiously restrained record which in hindsight sounds like an ill-founded attempt to gain a mainstream audience which in truth they probably already had. Basically, TV forgot how to rock. Despite the album selling poorly, it ironically spawned their biggest hit, “Tequila”. Admittedly it was a Mint Royale remix of the track which reached number 2, but in truth it didn’t differ that much from the original, adding only an irresistably immediate speed-mariachi tempo. The band took this in their stride – where other, cooler bands would have turned their nose up at such psuedo-success, Terrorvison cheekily just learned to play the remix live instead.

Dropped from major label EMI after “Shaving Peaches”, Terrorvision finally returned in 2001 with the independently released “Good To Go”. Probably knowing it would be their final record, it is very much a return to ‘classic’ Terrorvision and in many ways a return to form. Whilst the record lacks some of their prime period sparkle, the choruses are undeniably huge and the album brims with the band’s trademark good time party vibes. “Friends And Family”, in particular went down a storm at festivals, with its joyously profane “Party Over Here, Fuck You Over There!” refrain.