After the critical hoo-ha of Bandwagonesque, the music press seemed to treat Teenage Fanclub as a sort of invisible institution, never frothing with excitement over their subsequent releases. However, their next album, Grand Prix, was an absolute polished gem of a record.
As far as strong starts go, you cannot fault the impeccable programming of the first five tracks of this album. The hits, literally, keep on coming. Having three songwriters, with distinct yet harmonious voices is what has made The Fannies (sorry) a continuous joy to behold.
There are some great singles on here 'Sparky's Dream', 'Mellow Doubt' and a whole host of tracks that would make Travis et al sell their worthless souls for a mere hint of this ... Read More:
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The Lightening Seeds were part of the Brit Pop phonomemom during the 90s and one of many such bands to seemingly fall by the way side when the Brit Pop phase died down. Brit Pop did create some great bands, some of which are still going strong today (Oasis of course) as well as many very forgetable ones! The Lightening Seeds however may not be around at the moment, but their songs are and will still be played on radio stations for years to come. You only have to listen to this album to find out why. I'm not a huge fan of the band in the sense of knowing their background, why they split, if they're likely to get back together and so on. However I do know most of the songs on this album and as long as you like this type of music, you will love ... Read More:
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This is a great album and gets better with each listen, much like their first LP "hold on now youngster". The packaging is lovely and the DVD okay. It would have been nice to have included some videos of old or new tracks or include more live performance, however it's a good inclusion.
If you are into LC then this ain't no B side album /EP, whatever. What are you waiting for? It will bring a smile to your face.
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This is a great album and gets better with each listen, much like their first LP "hold on now youngster". The packaging is lovely and the DVD okay. It would have been nice to have included some videos of old or new tracks or include more live performance, however it's a good inclusion.
If you are into LC then this ain't no B side album /EP, whatever. What are you waiting for? It will bring a smile to your face.
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I got this album as a gift for someone as they loved Hymn To Grace and I must say having heard the song myself now, I love it too. Such a beautiful song and the album on the whole is really good. Not having really heard much of Roddy before, I will definitely be buying and listening to more of his stuff but I just dont think it will get better than Hymn. When you listen to this song, you'll be gutted you hadnt heard it before. I cant recommend it highly enough. Buy this album, you will not be disappointed.
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I quite like this album but can't handle listening to it all the way through in one go. The tunes whilst catchy tend to be a bit overenthusiastic which is good for one or two but then it starts to grate a bit.
The style of production adds to the grating as it's very lo-fi. I can't work out if this is on purpose or if it's just badly produced. If it's on purpose then I think they should consider polishing it up a bit as some of the music on these songs is top notch but it's lost a bit in the noise which is a big shame. There's no space in any of the mixes and they just tend to be a bit over loud and noisy which to me comes across as a bit naïve and amateurish. If the lo-fi sound is down to bad production then it's a shame as some of the arrangements and ... Read More:
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They wear all black, sing lyrics like "Daylight is the enemy" and have called their album "Witching Hour." But wait! Before you start running for the hills screaming "Get thee behind me Goths!" sit down and listen to Ladytron's alluring electro-pop feast.
It seems the band have been sneaking a listen to MBV, JAMC, The Radio Dept and 'Exterminator'-era Primal Scream on this, their third album. In fact, opening track 'High Rise' would fit snugly onto the Scream's dystopian, millennial masterpiece, as would 'Fighting In Built Up Areas'.
Lead-off single 'Sugar' has saucy minx Helen Marnie cooing seductively "If I give you sugar, will you give me/Something elusive and temporary?" It's a great jailbait lyric.
I didn't really know this band before purchasing this album, so I was taking a bit of a risk, but I'm so glad I did, as it's simply fantastic.
Unlike most bands these days, The Go! Team have their own unique sound, and it's certainly a sound I like. It's hard to describe what they sound like, as they seem to manage to fuse so many genres so seamlessly, taking influences from pop, rock, indie, punk, hip-hop, big beat and more. I just wish there were more bands that sounded like them - even if that does contradict my praise of their uniqueness a little.
It's a really fun album, packed full of enjoyable catchy tracks. After buying it I just listened to the tracks over and over again. I've just noticed they have a new album out, and will be purchasing ... Read More:
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I only recently bought this album after reading a lot of the press about this band. Heck, any band with their dad in it has to be worth a listen (I'm a 50 year old dad myself that still plays at being in bands....). All the talk of being "prog" is really weird, because the MJs sound very unlike much prog I have heard. The only track that has vague hints of King Crimson is Zootime, apart from that the closest references I can come up with are XTC meets Syd Barrett-era Floyd. Eclectic, eccentric, whimsical and very English in just the way that XTC were. They also share much of the layered and angular guitar work that typifies XTC's later work (I'm listening to "Love On A Farmboy's Wages" as I type this and it's quite reminiscent of much of the feel of this album).
If you like Perry Blake and David Sylvian (of course) or even late Talk Talk (or Mark Hollis solo), you will love this album. Slow, melancholic, at times even sad, but most of all beautiful. Not lovely, not sweet - pure, raw beauty like raw diamond - you need to make an effort to get inside it to discover all the hidden treasure. But it's worth trying. Samadhisound seems to evolve into must-have label.
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