Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel
Good live registration, but nothing more than that. But with an excellent version of Biko.
Bought this because of that great single Sledgehammer. Has its memorable moments with In Your Eyes (with Youssou N'Dour), Big Time and Don't Give Up (with Kate Bush), but also its less impressive moments (That Voice Again, We Do What We're Told).
The Go-Betweens According to the All Music Guide, "The Go-Betweens were perhaps the quintessential cult-band of the 80's", and I couldn't agree more. I've listened to this album over and over and over and once more... perfect, dark, moody, sometimes funny, timeless popsongs. I prefer Grant McLennan's songs, hence favourites Bachelor Kisses, Slow Slow Music and the very dark River of Money, but I don't mind Forster's Part Company either.
After Spring Hill Fair I was impatiently waiting for a new Go-Betweens record, and I wasn't disappointed. Another album with the typical mix of Forster and McLennan songs, opening very energetically with Forster's Spring Rain. McLennan's songs are still my favourites, probably also because I like his voice better. The Wrong Road, In the Core of a Flame and especially Apology Accepted... what more can a girl want? (yes, I have a crush for men apologizing, see The Chills' Male Monster from the Id).
This album didn't appeal to me as much as the others, even though it holds, in my honest opinion, the best song Grant McLennan ever wrote: Streets of Your Town. It's a shame that this band never made it, they sure had the potential. Listen to Was There Anything I Could Do and you have to hear it.
All Go-Betweens albums have something in common: each album has a double l in the title. Funny detail. Missed out on the bonus disc that came with this compilation, crying shame (oh Deirdre...). This compilation starts out perfectly with Was There Anything I Could Do, and also has a few old songs (Cattle and Cane). There's a hidden track on this compilation, Lee Remick (if my memory serves me well), a very early song. Unfortunately there are more Forster songs on this album, which makes it a bit unbalanced. Some of the essential McLennan gems are missing.
The Godfathers Especially the A-side of this album is filled with gems and gems... I Want Everything raw topnotch guitar rock, the spooky Sun Arise, the Beatle-ish backing vocals on This Damn Nation. On the B-side, the freaky and paranoid cover of John Lennon's Cold Turkey is also worth mentioning.
A maxi-single I got for Jan. Apart from the title-track, nothing really worth remembering.
The title-track of this album should be a classic... but it's one of those ingored songs. This album is more diverse than Hit by Hit, but the Godfathers-sound is very recognisable. Saw the Godfathers live on Futurama... impressive.
The Golden Earring Bought this after the success of When the Lady Smiles. Some songs have the same qualities as this single (Clear Light Moonlight, Fist in Glove), others suck (the title track).
Gomez
Award-winning debut album filled with bluesy pop songs sung by Ian Ball's whisper-in-the-ear sugar voice and Ben Ottewell's wicked "sandpaper moan". A few highlights (and yes, I'll try to keep it short): opener Get Miles, the wobbly Whippin' Piccadilly, 78 Stone Wobble (with a beautiful guitar-riff), Here Comes the Breeze (wonderful, poignant harmonies), the funny Get Myself Arrested, Bubble Gum Years (those Beatle-esque backing vocals!), the very bluesy Rie's Wagon. Enough. There's not one single bad song on this album. send a little message to ya... gonna get out of here...
Bought this after reading lots about it on the Crowded House mailing list. At first the album did nothing for me, but it remained in the CD-player because the voices attracted me. And it grew on me, I was slowly but completely blown away. Man, what an album... We Haven't Turned Around is an absolute masterpiece. Devil Will Ride is another favourite, kind of a sexy song. Blue Moon Rising is soothing and slow, and has this little bend in the vocals that makes me feel weak in the knees. Las Vegas Dealer is upbeat and makes you want to sing and clap along. There's more and more and more... just listen for yourself.
Hadn't noticed that the title-track was a different take... first listen was a huge surprise. I thought We Haven't Turned Around couldn't get any better, well I was wrong. Strawberry Fields Forever. Emergency Surgery is a cool, spacey and funny song. Gomez in a Bucket (A Seaside Town Made of Ice Cream, Slowly Melting)... great title, great song.
In some countries this E.P. was sold together with ASTH, but my copy came without it. And very nice to have it after all indeed. The 13m33s epic The Dajon Song itself is worth getting this E.P. Do's and Don'ts is a trippy and very typical Gomez song, as opposed to the title track. Touchin' Up and Waster just scream BEATLES!! all over the place.
A shopping trolley with lots of goodies: B-sides, BBC sessions... god I love it. Don't understand why Rosemary was never released on a regular album, this is so good. And again that stunning version of We Haven't Turned Around. Flavors is a beautiful, soft and bluesy song. Buena Vista a 10 minutes long epos, slowly freakin' out, followed by a loud and bluesy Shitbag. The album ends perfectly with the uplifting Beatles cover Getting Better. Check out this link to the NME site for track-by-track explanations about this album from the Gomez guys themselves.
Single with B-sides of an exceptional quality (goes for both part 1 and 2 of this single). But first of all there's the great song Shot Shot itself, energetic, lots of breaks, a sax, good backing vocals, and just way too short! Silhouettes combines electronics with good old Gomez quality in a beautiful melody line and an outstanding guitar (wah wah!). Again they manage to evoke a special atmosphere. Coltrane is a dizzy and sweaty track with odd effects, the drums in the right speaker, the vocals in the left, and effects floating everywhere in the verse, whereupon the chorus goes traditional. But the clear stereo division remains throughout the song. Lovely.
Shot Shot (Folk Version) has a hilarious effect when you listen to it for the first time: it starts really quiet, and since it's called 'Folk Version', you expect a quiet song... but all of a sudden it bursts out in a freaky sort of hollering that makes you jump against the ceiling. Interesting version, droning and distorted and really really noisy. Air Hostess Song sounds very un-Gomez until Ben Ottewell starts singing. It's a spooky song, with a strange atmosphere, a superb structure and utterly gorgeous backing vocals. And the best is yet to come: Pop Juice. An endearingly simple and moving ballad by Ian Ball. Sometimes I can't help wondering why some of these songs didn't end up on In Our Gun.
In Our Gun was a tough album to get into, but the efforts have been rewarded, as it offers some of Gomez's best songs up to now. Opener and first single Shot Shot jumps right in it with some surprising twists and the introduction of horns and more synthesizers than we're used to with Gomez, plus the usual harmonies of Ian Ball and Ben Ottewell. Rex Kramer has nice contrasts between Ben Ottewell's warm growl and an electronic groove, but misses a bit of body despite beautiful melodic breaks. Whereas Shot Shot is (too?) short, this one drags on a bit too long. Although it's also heavily electronica driven, Detroit Swing 66 has that certain thing that Rex Kramer misses, and embroiders on one of the tracks of Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline. Title track In Our Gun is the first highlight of the album, a poignant slow acoustic song with those typical Gomez harmonies, surprisingly ending with a wild finale with a bass that's completely gone astray and lots of electronic stuff. Even Song is more sound Gomez quality, with Ottewell tearing away over a beautiful melody melding traditional instruments with electronics, and a staggeringly beautiful baritone saxophone. Ruff Stuff is the wacky Gomez, a frolicking song with fun lyrics (I'm hard and feeling funny, Ian Ball sighs). Reminds me a bit of Emergency Surgery. And then we go right into another slow tearjerker, the very very beautiful Sound of Sounds, sung by Gomez lead singer no. 3, Tom Gray. It's an acoustic pause between all the electronic force, a simple and slow lovesong with gorgeous harmonies. Army Dub takes us back to the modern Gomez age, with a cool electronic groove and lots of effects. It was great to see this played live, how Ian Ball rushed back and forth between his mike and effects keyboard. Back to the basics with Miles End, a song that could well have been on one of the earlier Gomez albums. Ping One Down is again a song with lots of electronics, but it also misses a bit of body. It took me until I saw it live before I could really appreciate it. Then we're in for a treat, one of the highlights of the album, 1000 Times. It's a classic Gomez song (just like Miles End it could well have been on one of the earlier albums), with a soft start with Ben Ottewell and an acoustic guitar, but it has such a beautiful break with haunting guitars that makes it a Gomez classic. I love the energy of Drench, the chorus rocks in a heavenly way, especially later on in the song with the heavenly backing vocals. Even though fish's eyes seem to have nothing to do with anything heavenly. Oh, it's not fish's eyes, it's fish us out. Unfortunately, the album ends on a bummer with the Ballad of Nice & Easy, some sort of unsuccessful attempt to party. If I remember well, Tom Gray said during their concert in Brussels that it was just a silly song, so they know it. But: 10/13, not bad at all.
Excellent single, Sound of Sounds is one of the most beautiful songs of the album In Our Gun so it deserves its place on this double A-side single. Furthermore there is a solid live version of Ping One Down, recorded for Steve Lamacq's Radio One Evening Session on BBC Radio. And last but not least there is the staggeringly beautiful Where Are Your Friends sung by sugar-voice Ian Ball, but as so often the instrumentation adds a bit of an edge to the song. Sound of Sounds is accompanied by one of the funniest videos I've seen in a while.
Gorky Bought this because I thought the singles Anja, Lieve kleine Piranha and Mia were amazing, and there's a lot more good songs on this album (Soms vraagt een mens zich af, Geef al je geld aan de arme kinderen, to mention a few). Luc Devos is slightly crazy, but in a nice way.
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