Amazon.com

Long before No Doubt brought back ska and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy resurrected swing, Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry were making music that recalled an earlier time. How early? Try the Renaissance. Everything old--really old--is new again on Aion, the band's fifth and arguably finest album. Like DCD's other discs, Aion revolves around the interplay between Gerrard's soaring glossolalia and Perry's baritone crooning. A range of styles are explored, from the polyphonic choral heights of "The Arrival and the Reunion" to the smooth balladry of "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book" to the Middle Eastern sensuality of "Radharc." Other standout tracks include the playful "Saltarello," a traditional 14th-century instrumental dance piece, and "As the Bell Rings the Maypole Spins," a strikingly melodic song carried by bagpipes and Gerrard's angelic voice. --Steve Landau ... Read more

Reviews (32)

Inspired by Renaissance music, Dead Can Dance excel
Released in 1990, AION shows Dead Can Dance, the duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, exploring styles of Medieval times and the Renaissance. The production is excellent, and it ranks among DCD's best albums.

AION opens with "The Arrival and the Reunion," a short piece that shows off Lisa's amazing voice as overdubs allow her to provide her own polyphony, with David Navarro Sust (a collaborator on 1989's THE SERPENT'S EGG) providing backing vocals.

There are a number of quiet, instrumental pieces on this album which sound highly authentic, such as "Saltarello" (which really is a piece from the 14th century), "Wilderness," and "The Garden of Zephirus."

As with any Dead Can Dance album, there are songs that feature either Brendan or Lisa more heavily. Lisa provides among others "Radharc," "The Promised Womb," and "The Song of the Sibyl," although for that last one I prefer the live version on TOWARD THE WITHIN.

Brendan gives us the tragicomic "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book" and the odd "Black Sun."

It's remarkable how this album, the first after Lisa and Brendan split up (she went to Spain, he went to Ireland), features such excellent collaboration. Definitely one of Dead Can Dance's best albums, although I think the best is WITHIN THE REALM OF A DYING SUN.

the crossroads of DCD's career
This is the best DCD album I have heard, which makes it one of the most beautiful bits of music ever. By now a lot of people know about Lisa Gerrard's beautiful voice and Middle Eastern-influenced dance beats, and those are displayed very nicely here. Radharc is one of the best examples of the latter. But Aion is dominated slightly more by the neo-classical and Renaissance vibe - Saltarello, the second track on the album, is far and away the best "pure" (no drum machines or samples) Medieval dance track you will ever hear. I play this track often to techno and trance junkies, and usually they are simply stunned. Aion also features some of Brendan Perry's trademark dark, droning vocals that will have Nick Cave and Peter Murphy fans weeping with delight - Black Sun is the standout. A great album to start your DCD collection with, especially if you've just heard about the band and don't quite know the material yet. (Note - their first albums are mostly slow and dark, like Black Sun. Their later work is more dancy and "exotic", typically more like Radharc. Lisa Gerrard's solo work is pretty much all like that.)

Excellently moody and then hear what I am saying!
This is the greatest CD I have heard from Dead Can Dance and I have heard them all and yes Enter the Labyrinth was not far behind.

My main drawback from the general 5 star Amazon rating that 31 people reportedly maintain is that the music is only cold. The Renaissance songs that the band covers are much more interesting to me in their original versions, the covers they do are hectic and while technically proficient do not burn me as much as I would appreciate in a cold manner.

Mr. Perry does initiate some strong vocals in the Black Sun which do not bore me, however the lyrics are mildly tiresome, if you actually research their intent; i.e. if I wanted to be preached to, I'd think church wasn't on every street corner and subscribe to Mr. Perry's heavy world view. Lisa Gerrard is interestingly kitsch as usual in her lack of interest in singing something sensical and really brings the hammer in several of the songs. Bravo, and that song on her solo CD, the Mirror Pool, Sanvean, #4 if memory serves, well before "Gladiator," that was the billy goat's gruff.

I think the tone wears thin on Dead Can Dance as a band when the coldness is just for being cold. I would've appreciated less impasses and more awareness and understanding, beauty aside, 4 stars. Buy the thing because it's excellently moody and then hear what I am saying! (The lyrics won't be listed in the CD and due to the fact that Brendan slurs musical phrasing, you will need to look online for the real lyrics)

Matthew Hahn, www.movingtracks.com

It's true! The dead CAN dance!
'Aion' was my introduction to Dead Can Dance (DCD) and it has truly made a fan of me! The choral explosion on "Arrival and the Reunion" [pulled] me in fast as it reminded me a lot of neo-goth group, Mors Syphilitica. Then comes a 14th-century instrumental piece called "Saltarello", which has a great Renaissance dance beat that's really quite irresistible when it comes to swaying in your stilled position! The music slows down a bit once "Song of the Sibyl" comes on though as it features very little background noise. Instead it focuses solely on the chilling vocals of Lisa Gerrard's shaky yet affective vibrato. One of the best Dead Can Dance songs with Lisa singing on vocals however would have to be "As The Bell Rings the Maypole Spins", which features some incredible bagpipe playing!

I love both of the duo's voices so I really appreciate the fact that they trade-off after "Song Of The Sibyl" from Lisa to Brendan Perry, whom sings on the subtle Medieval tune, "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book". It's on the haunting "Black Sun", which brings to mind the dark brilliance of 'Within The Realm of a Dying Sun', that his somber baritone truly succeeds in tantilizing the listener with his seductive vocals though! And while the eastern influenced "Radharc" may arguably be the best song on 'Aion', the entire album is a delightful treat for the senses and I couldn't recommend it any higher!

.enchanting.haunting.beautiful.dark.mystifying.
.Amazing.This CD brings you into an alternative reality, a trance-like state. It brings ye back into the times of the Renaissance. Beautiful vocals, and extremely talented musicians.
.highly.reccommended. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Their goth-sounding name and dour visual image aside, the prolific duo of Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard produce wildly eclectic but utterly unique music. Their painstakingly crafted albums encompass numerous arcane genres, from European classical music to ancient Celtic and Middle Eastern folk styles, often employing authentic antique instruments to achieve their ambitious, emotive soundscapes. The 1993 effort Into the Labyrinth found Dead Can Dance mixing their medieval leanings with more exotic Eastern influences on "Saldek" and "Yulunga," while exploring Celtic balladry on the traditional "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" and theatrical songcraft in their interpretation of Bertolt Brecht's "How Fortunate Is the Man with None." --Scott Schinder ... Read more

Reviews (44)

DCD's most popular album, but perhaps the least interesting
INTO THE LABYRINTH, released in 1993, was Dead Can Dance's biggest success, selling over 800,000 copies at last count. For many people, including myself, it was the first exposure to Dead Can Dance and seemed indeed a fascinating album. However, after having collected every release by DCD, it is apparent that INTO THE LABYRINTH is the least of their albums.

From 1986's SPLEEN AND IDEAL to 1991's AION, Dead Can Dance explored a world of baroque, classical, and Renaissance song structures gifted with the unique touch of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. INTO THE LABYRINTH, however, shows a massive change in style. Gone are the orchestral elements, and here Lisa and Brendan display their interest in Eastern music. It's a strategy that doesn't impress, because their talent was really evident most in the style that they had formerly performed.

Another problem is the inconsistency of the record, caused by Lisa and Brendan's increasing tendency to work apart. If it wasn't for a magazine article I read from this era, I would seriously doubt that Lisa and Brendan even came together to record this album. The album is split into Perry's (no longer philosophically brilliant) songs and Gerrard's (increasingly absurd) glossolalia.

On 1996's SPIRITCHASER, Perry and Gerrard had become more comfortable with their new style, but they never again reached the peak that their earlier style afforded them.

Not the Best Introduction to the Uninitiated Perhaps?
After many spins in my CD player, this CD has become one of my favorite DCD albums. Of course, when I first got the CD, I would never have said that. It just seemed really strange to me then. Luck for me, this CD was not my introduction to DCD, which was The Serpent's Egg (their finest, in my opinion, due to the marvelous song "The Host of Seraphim"). So, while I recommend this album to all true music lovers, you should be aware that it was a turning point in DCD's musical career, and it is very different from their earlier more European, Classical works, which I heartily recommend you sample first. The best songs on the album for me are: "Ariadne," "Yulunga," and "Towards the Within." A lot of people I know also like "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove" and "The Carnival is Over." Finally, I would like to point out that this is DCD's best selling album but not necessarily their absolute best overall, although I really love it.

if this is supposedly their best...
This is one of two DCD albums that I've heard. If it is any indication of the rest of their corpus then I'm staying far, far away.

Each to their own- I find the instrumentation over-bearing and fake-sounding- slick and studio-ish. This evokes about as much earthy mood as the soundtrack to your average super-nintendo RPG. The lyrics are usually trite, often idiotic and at times just plain maudlin, "And the past is now your future/It bears witness to your soul/ Make sure the love you offer up/ Does not fall on barren soil..." Never mind how badly the lame-montone singer guy warps his syntax (rhyming soul with soil?) in order to force the rhyme- wasn't that a jack handy musing on SNL a couple years back?

Their attempts at evoking the sensual/erotic textures of some Would-be mid-eastern twilight olive grove fall flat, mostly due to the cumbersome electronica tweaks and beats. A few tracks are kinda palatable (when the girl is singing in some other language, thereby masking the lyrical idiocies) but not worth buying or subjecting yourself to repeatedly.

I guess this just ain't for me. If it makes your average ageing goth-mom dim the lights and dance about, nostalgic for the early nineties colllege spoken word scene where she lived so brazenly... all the more reason to let these cds find new homes in landfills and sale bins across america the great.

Dead Can Dance
I was turned on to "Dead Can Dance" by a Npr radio (Krcc 91.5fm) out here in Colorado. The show was, overnite FreeForm the station had at the time. I am the owner of "Into the Labyrinth". Two Thumbs up !!

DCD are an Audiophile Dream
I was first introduced to Dead Can Dance with this album in a high-end audio store. The dark, etherial, eclectic, and unique style of music on this album is wonderful and well recorded. Being an audiophile truly unique and exciting music to playback on good audio equipment can be hard to find. This album (as well as many other of DCD's albums) delivers in large quantities. Musically I really appreciate Brendan Perry's song lyrics, especially in "The Ubiqutous Mr. Lovegrove", and the haunting way he executes them. Thus this album is probably my favorite by DCD along with "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun". I heartily recommend this as a good album to start with if you've never heard DCD before. The sonic magic will transport and amaze you...a fantasy for the ears. If you're an audiophile this should be on your "Records to Die for" list, great stuff! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Songs to Learn and Sing is a staple in the collection of post-new-wave rock. It was an era when the term progressive had just replaced the word alternative to describe music that was just too cool for American radio. This album is a compilation of Echo and the Bunnymen's British chart toppers from 1980 to 1985. The only song on this album that received attention beyond the band's cult following was "Bring on the Dancing Horses," made famous by its inclusion in the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. Echo and the Bunnymen are a tinny, twangy, ever-so-slightly-out-of-tune guitar band. What lead singer Ian McCulloch lacked in vocal range he made up for by embracing his comfort zone with full-force cracking, emotional yelps. A distinctive, recognizable sound, even to the barely initiated, this album marks an era yet is so enjoyable, it remains proudly timeless. --Beth Bessmer ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Just the beginning...
This is going to be just the beginning for you. The Bunnymen piqued my interest with Evergreen, so I thought I'd start off my Bunnymen collection with a sampler. Although this became my most played CD, it was my least satisfying! I just had to buy more and have not been disappointed ever since. It is obvious just listening to the disc the whole way through how different the Bunnymen's albums are. Furthermore, the rest of the songs on each album are just as good as the ones included here. In fact, I don't think the Crocodiles songs give you a good impression on how great an album that one is. It is awesome!

This is a smart investment. Not only do you get a sample of each of the Bunnymen's four classic albums, but you get two great non-album tracks in Never Stop and Bring on the Dancing Horses. If you could just get a Greatest Hits that included these two and The Game and Lips Like Sugar, the only two good tracks off the otherwise (...) Gray Album, then you would be all set.

Sounds like most of the other stuff of its time...
...until you get to track 8, "The Killing Moon." This CD is worth it if only for this song. Sure, you could buy "Ocean Rain," but why not live a little and try out some of their earliest stuff with this album? It's not the rest of the songs are all that bad; they're just really, really dated. Good CD, and worth its price.

through the thick and thin
after listening to "killing moon" in the movie donie darko i decided to go out and buy the cd. i fell in love with it and never stopped listening to it. it is very catchy. i suggest you guys go out and buy this album along with
the church-under the milky way
and joy division-substance. they are truly great albums to own and listen to for the rest of your lives...so go out now and buy them! make yourself happy

Echo & The Bunnymen Are Timeless
I first heard this band when they appeared on the soundtrack to "Urgh! A Music War" when they did "The Puppet". Ever since then I was hooked on them and this album totally epitomizes everything about them. Great lyrics, catchy guitar riffs and Ian McCulloch's vocals are extremely mesmerizing! Definitely worth the pickup especially on tracks "The Puppet", "A Promise", "The Cutter" and "Killing Moon"...definitely a great CD to have in your rotation!

a world above and beyond a drum machine called ECHO
Back in the 80's, this album got heavy rotation on my record player and I still listen to it. Even Bunnyheads that prefer proper albums to singles' collections find this one irresistable, especially since it includes some tasty non-album cuts ("The Puppet" and "Bring on the Dancing Horses").

E&B were relegated to alternative underground status, but that didn't stop them from being melodic pop geniuses. The first 4 or 5 songs are guitar-driven, but then songs become more expansive, employing synthesisers and string sections.

"Do It Clean" sounds like a rockin' update of "Stepping Stone" while "The Cutter" represents a sophisticated step forward for the boys. "Silver" is a positively joyous celebration of life. "Seven Seas" also feels like a celebration of sorts, but with a touch of melancholy.

I love putting a disc like this on where I can kick back and enjoy every single track. They're all good, all featuring Ian McCulloch's rich, deep voice and inscrutable yet intriguing lyrics. ... Read more

Amazon.com

One of the finest albums to arise out of the shoegazing trend coating the early 1990s, Ferment is rich, lush, and wrenching. For what it's worth, Catherine Wheel get a mention in the liner notes of the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream. Perhaps it's indicative of the fact that this album rocks a little harder than the genre-defining releases from the likes of the Stone Roses, the Charlatans, and the Inspiral Carpets. Ferment includes guitar solos, albeit tasteful guitar solos, that most of Catherine Wheel's contemporaries would have balked at. Later releases abandon the ethereal noise wash, leaning a little more toward the sound of their admirers the Pumpkins. A beautiful, spiraling release, Ferment is pliable but impenetrable. --Beth Bessmer ... Read more

Reviews (31)

It's Sad When True Musical Talent Is Ignored...
I am completely and hopelessly addicted to Catherine Wheel's "Ferment". It is difficult to imagine that a hard rock album can be beautiful, but this album truly is. The brilliant vocals, guitar work, and drumming all fuse to form an almost hypnotic masterpiece. The album starts off with the fantastic trio of "Texture", "I Want to Touch You", and "Black Metallic" and from then on you will be hooked. Just go along for the ride! Every single track is better than most singles that are played on the radio! In particular, the songs "Indigo is Blue", "Ferment", and "Tumbledown" are so incredible that I simply can't get the music out of my head!! This may sound like a bad thing, but believe me it isn't. Catherine Wheel is one of those bands that simply did everything right and yet failed to be commercially successful. For the life of me I can't understand why! As a band they are so incredibly talented and sophisticated that it makes the stuff on MTV and MuchMusic look like it it was written by third-graders on a PC music program! Unfortunately, the damage to this band is already done. They are nowhere to be found nowadays, and every true fan of rock music should feel a great sadness because of it. If you are a rock music fan, I beg you to give Catherine Wheel a listen! "Ferment" is one of the best albums of the 1990's bar none, and I simply can't recommend this album enough!

they were never shoegazers proper...
although i hesitate to refer to catherine wheel as ever qualifying as "shoegazers" ('loveless' and 'souvlaki' are the best examples of that genre) due to CW's more up-front songwriting tendencies, i do think that this excellent LP evokes similar feelings in the (lucky) listener...rob dickinson's extraordinary voice (one of the loveliest male voices in all of rock music) is prominently featured over the depth charges of guitar, rather than the reverse (Shoegazing 101)...

anyway, this is a truly wonderful album, with nary a single track being forgettable...CW has since faltered album after album, trying to be more "rock" and/or "pop" really has never suited them, and all of their albums after 'chrome' are not very good, in spite of what hardcore fans may attest...

'ferment' features a few standout tracks and a wealth of lovely "supporting cast members"...the title track and 'black metallic' are both stunning, as if the band had tapped into the emotional heart of what the real shoegazers were missing...regardless of the lyrics, dickinson's vox and the shimmering, hissing, soaring guitar torrents make for beautiful stuff...'indigo is blue' has a perfectly timed pause before its guitar solo (don't let the phrase "guitar solo" scare you off), and also makes gorgeous use of dickinson's uniquely "hollow" vocal style...the words to "salt" are mostly unintelligible (perhaps CW were gazing shoeward on occasion), yet the song gallops along gracefully, with peals of feedback buried behind the wall of guitars in its fadeout...like slowdive's 'machine gun', the song manages to be moving without any sort of decipherable lyrical hook...

anyone interested in the kind of lush rock music that doesn't seem to get made anymore as frequently as it did during the early 90's (nowadays we get tweeness, soulless post-rock, over-earnest emo schmaltz, and so forth) should absolutely seek out 'ferment'...

the follow-up, 'chrome', is structured in a very similar way ('texture' is to 'kill rhythm' as 'black metallic' is to 'pain') and is also worthwhile...

the shivers that raced up my spine years ago during 'black metallic's quiet bridge are easily brought back on every listen...this record should be cherished...

"Imagine a light that never escapes you"
As soon as I saw the music video for "Black Metallic" on MTV's 120 Minutes back in my high school days, I knew I had to have this album. Ferment is unbelievable and Catherine Wheel instantly became one of my favorite bands of the 1990s. Ferment was their debut album and has a more raw, stuffy sound than their next recordings. It has very loud guitars and drums but the songs are also very melodic and catchy. "Texture" really rocks and is an excellent opening track, hooking the listener right away. "I Want To Touch You" is very catchy and is perhaps, next to "Balloon," the most accessible track on Ferment. It was also released as a single. "Black Metallic" is heavy but is also one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard and the album version clocks in at over 7 minutes. It is amazing, especially when the guitars kick in again after the quiet interlude towards the end. Other favorites of mine include the rocking "Shallow," "Tumbledown" which has a beautiful melodic guitar that turns into a blazing riff, "Bill and Ben," the catchy "Salt" with the kickin' drums, and the fun Ba-B-Ba-Ba-"Balloon." The title track is interesting. It is very quiet and soothing and just explodes with headbangin' guitar. Catherine Wheel's later albums may be better produced with crisper sound, but Ferment is, perhaps, their most solid release. No weak tracks here at all. One final note: the lead singer is Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson's cousin! How cool is that?!

The best
Owning this album is more than a gesture in supurb musical taste. Adding Ferment to your collection elevates you to rock guru status. Keep it right next to your copy of The Queen Is Dead and anyone eyeing your cd library will know you're for real.

Their best- best of the gazers
If you are looking for a gazer band with some kick this is it! I Want TO TOuch You chugs along and Black Metallic has a feeling that Ride never got. Nuff siad if you are a gazer fan. ... Read more

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Three years before 1991's Loveless, My Bloody Valentine's masterwork of impossibly dense soundscapes, the Dublin quartet offered some fairly affecting dream pop on its first full-length album, Isn't Anything. Both worthy of Creation's "shoe-gazing" heritage and skewed enough to stand up next to pre-grunge guitar bands like Sonic Youth and the Pixies, the record makes the most of a group that hadn't yet found its bearings. And at its best, Isn't Anything hints at how great it will be when their sonic discoveries are finally honed. --Roni Sarig ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Stepping stone in Indie history.
My Bloody Valentine are undoubtably one of the most important bands in the history of indie music and, although 'Isn't Anything' doesn't quite measure up to the immense standards of 'Loveless', it still serves as a unique sign-post to where music was (or is) going.

Basically this is a stepping stone between 'Loveless' and the early work of The Jesus and Mary Chain. Echoes of The Velvet Underground pervade, yet the sheer sonic ingenuity of Kevin Shields takes this already avant garde template to an entirely original plain. However, this is not to suggest that the songs are somehow lacking. The last four songs, particularly 'You Never Should', are a arguably the pick of the bunch- all mangled guitars and pretty, lo-fi melodies- yet there is much to enjoy elsewhere. Brutal riffing comes to the fore on the single, 'Feed me with your kiss', while the brilliantly off-kilter double-tracked vocals of 'Sueisfine' lead to the sonic equivalent of inertia- which is really rather good.

With its mixture of great tunes and twisted experimentation, it is clear why 'Isn't Anything' is held in such high esteem by many musicians. The sound of garage-rock on E and LSD instead of Speed, the really strange thing about 'Isn't Anything' is that My Bloody Valentine could go any further.

paved the way for post-rock bands o' plenty.
This album is 12 years old, and still holds up as one of the best in my collection. This album, like very few others that i own, offers more than just a listening experience. It's a milestone in music history. This was 1988? and here's a guy who plays guitar chords with tremolo bar in hand. No one had even attempted this at the time. Kevin Shields guitar tone is almost 15 years old, and no one can replicate it even with todays equipement. Guitar tones aside, this album goes far and beyond that. The songs are nothing short of masterpeices. "You Never Should" is my absolute favorite song of all time. And the heartbeat drumbeat in "All I Need" is just spine tinglingly beautiful. one thing i am absolutely sick of is people saying the vocals are too quiet. Those people obviously aren't listening hard enough, and you should not take their reviews seriously. Just because the vocals can sometimes be hard to make out, doesn't mean this band isn't saying anything. They're saying lots, and it goes beyond just the lyrics. Listen again.

nowhere near Loveless, in many ways...
"Isn't Anything" is no where near My Bloody Valentine landmark 1991 rock album, "Loveless". one of the greatest albums of the '90s, maybe THE best. but three years before Loveless was their 1988 album, "Isn't Anything". 12 tracks, 38 minutes of the Bloody Valentine you know. they made their debut in 1984 with their incredibly rare album, "This is Your Bloody Valentine". we all know My Bloody Valentine because of their album "Loveless", but before they had this. yeah, they still have the rockin', streaming, amazing guitars -- just not as good. nor is the record.

i think, personally, "Loveless" has one of the greatest productions ever in the music industry. though, "Isn't Anything" differs from Loveless. songs could've sounded so much better with rocky songs like "Feed me with your kiss". theres not much more i can say in this review, "Isn't Anything" is a good album... but like i've said, Loveless just completely slaughters Isn't Anything in tracks, time, production, instrumental, and musically.

if you loved "Loveless", its likely you might enjoy Isn't Anything. worthy to have in anyones collection, but don't expect the beauty or amazement of Loveless.

Better than Loveless
I like "Isn't Anything" better than "Loveless". if you think otherwise, then you should consider fu**ing off.

First off, the lyrics to many of these songs rock. the lyrics for "soft as snow" are cool.
Secondly many of these songs rock. Look no further than "Feed Me with Your Kiss" and "You Never Should".
Thirdly buy this record or suffer the consequences of Kevin Shield's wrath.

best songs:
"Cupid Come", "feed me with your Kiss", "sueisfine", "when you wake, your still in a dream"

Songs that suck:
"No MOre sorry"

Simply Amazing
Let me start by saying my bloody Valentine is my favorite band ever, and this is my favorite album of thiers. I am tired of people comparing "Isn't Anything" to "Loveless." I think the band was in two totally different eras of the bands existence and they each have two very different things to say.
One cannot argue the brilliance of "Loveless," which after one listen made me throw out all of my REM tapes. Loveless might have been the album that along with Pavement's "Slanted and Enchanted" and Nirvana's "Nevermind" changed the musical landscape forever. It is still being imitated and appaulled by everyone from Billy Corrigan to the guy from Phish as well as many others.
The reason why I would choose "Isn't Anything" over "Loveless" is that it sounds more like a band album rather than a Kevin Shields album. Debbie's bass playing has never been stronger or more creative -- just listen to the openning bass riff! Colm is simply amazing, picking up where Keith Moon left off. Bilinda and Kevin are amazing, both on guitar and the interplay between their vocal harmonies. It is tight and focused and so innovative that it started a musical movement --(shoegazer or dream pop, depending on which side of the Atlantic yr on).
Along with Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation," 'Isn't Anything" brought attention to the fact that a new breed of guitarist was emerging, that something wonderful was about the happen and about to turn the music industry on its ear. Buy it today. ... Read more

Amazon.com

If there's one thing film producers and record executives like more than Success, it's Success: Part 2. Thus when Ridley Scott's high-tech sword 'n' sandal epic scored both Golden Globe wins and Academy Award nods for Best Film and Best Score, it was a sure bet that another volume of Hans Zimmer's and Lisa Gerrard's music for the film couldn't be far behind. Though not exactly leftovers, the tracks here sometimes point to the fact that there wasn't enough fresh material to fill this volume out, hence we get some remixed cues, a handful of familiar music with dramatic dialog excerpts edited and superimposed (or misplaced, with decidedly mixed results), and even a beat-heavy, dance-club mix of "Now We Are Free." With a little over half an hour of entirely fresh material and some souvenir dialog snippets over the rest, there's enough here to please Gladiator die-hards. Also of note: guitarist Heitor Pereira's flamenco-flavored flourishes are better showcased throughout; and "The Gladiator Waltz" serves up one of Zimmer's original synth demos (with a dash of Russell Crowe dialog up front)--a dramatic amp-up of Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War" that's a prime example of the composer's state-of-the-art digital orchestral conjuring. --Jerry McCulley ... Read more

Reviews (56)

Gladiator-New Cult Motion Picture
Not only is the Gladiator DVD the largest selling DVD in the history of the media, the motion picture itself is also one of the leading cult films of all times. I know a half dozen people who have watched the entire movie ten or twelve times. Amazon offers what can only be considered a must have trilogy; the Gladiator DVD, the CD Music from the Gladiator, and now a second CD More Music from the Gladiator. More Music from the Gladiator acts to intensify the entire Gladiator experience. The additional material is so very good that one can only wonder why it wasn't originally included in the film. The technique of using actual voice overs with the score bring all the original emotion of watching the film back again and again. A professionally done Gladiator Screensaver for your computor is an added bonus. If you liked the movie buy not only the DVD, but the entire trilogy. Remember "What we do in life echos in eternity".

Thoroughly satisfying
I am a painter, (of pictures) who listens to music while working. I was addicted to "The Gladiator" score. Finally I broke down and ordered "More Music from The Gladiator". Every once in a while I do something really smart; and this was one time. This record is even better than the the first one; yes, it's possible. The combination of Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard just can't be improved upon. I don't care that the sentence ends with a preposition. This music is tops. MOOD up to 'here'.

Neutral
I was hoping for great & extended things with the two Now We Are Free mixes, but, while both are good, they're not anything special. As for the rest of this "More Music..." record, I believe more score material without so many inserted movie actor lines would have made more sense for this release. Afterall, the entire script can be found on the film's DVD, and it's probably safe to say that most "More Music..." owners have the DVD. A big neutral for me ... waiting for "Even More Music from the Motion Picture Gladiator".

Better than the 1st sountrack CD, I think
This CD is magical, sensual, earthy, lush, gorgeous, absorbing, healing, exciting, relaxing, empowering and life affirming. All in one CD! I guess I'm about the only one who thinks this CD is more beautiful than the original soundtrack. I prefer it because it's got more sensual and meditative passages on it, less battle scoring. I like hearing the actor's voices, also. Such good acting, it combines with the music to take you far away, to another and much more exotic world.

Strong Follow-Up
While Hans Zimmer's Second Gladiator CD is not as good as the first, it offers refreshing remakes of tracks on the first CD. Now We Are Free, Juba's Mix balances the score by adding a more relaxing mood to the already powerful and anxious tone of the other tracks on the CD. It would have been nice to see more material from the movie and less music which didn't make Gladiator's Final Cut. However, it demonstrates Zimmer's incredible talents and is ejoyably entertaining to listen to. ... Read more

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1989's Sensual World remains Kate Bush's most mature, entrancing album. Expectations ran high for the long-awaited follow-up to her 1986 breakthrough The Hounds of Love, and she met them with this sometimes breathtaking, often introspective work. On songs like the erotic title track and the dramatic "Love and Anger," Bush charts the many rhythms of relationships with a keen eye for detail and less frilly bluster than usual. Elsewhere, with the tense "Between a Man and a Woman" and the lush "This Woman's Work" she virtually lays the foundation for Tori Amos's future success. Musically, Bush broadens her palette with the smart additions of Irish piper Davey Spillane, Balkan singers The Trio Bulgarka, and jazz bassist Eberhard Weber. --Michael Ruby ... Read more

Reviews (60)

Shows Bush can do it without the mysticism
After "Hounds of Love", on which Bush elevates spirituality to a concept level, but manages to do it with quite incredible skill, it was difficult to see where she could go.
"The Sensual World" largely jettisons the mystical themes of her previous two albums, and is in fact more accessible than "The Dreaming" or "Hounds of Love". Bush prefers here to focus on romantic themes and the pain evident in them. Only in "Heads We're Dancing", (about her beloved turning into Hitler) do we get the themes that dominated her previous two albums. Rather, we see lyrics focused on the difficulties of keeping together ("Between A Man And A Woman", "Love And Anger", "Reaching Out"), or on the earthly life of women (the title tune and "This Woman's Work").
Bush softened her tone compared with her previous album and the emphasis is on melody rather than dense rhythms.
This melodic character works stunningly throughout the title tune and "Never Be Mine", in which the airy pipes that made "Night of the Swallow" so brilliant are seen once more. "Never Be Mine" is undoubtedly her most beautiful song ever, with the Trio Bulgarka giving an impressive performance in backing her vocals and the dreamlike lyrics being memorable. "Heads We're Dancing", with its references to Hitler, is impressive art-rock, and "Walk Straight Down The Middle" also stands out. The title tune, though wordy, shows her brilliant orchestrations working wonderfully, and "The Fog" shows she never lost the childlike sense seen on "Hounds of Love" and "The Red Shoes." {"Just put your feet down child"}
"This Woman's Work" returns her to the sound of her early singles, but her production gives a better sound than on her underproduced early albums. {That song came from the movie "She's Having a Baby"}
However, she never manages to rock as effectively as on "The Big Sky" and Alan Murphy's guitar playing on "Love and Anger" and "Between A Man and A Woman" never reaches the standard of "Get Out Of My House" and "Running Up That Hill". Indeed, this album's less mystical nature appears to suit the softer tunes better than the rockers - she is most effective on the romantic ballads, though "Rocket's Tail" is impressive and could have been better with a more even arrangement.
In summary, a good introduction for the uninitited, even if not so wonderful as "Hounds Of Love".

The Sensual World of Kate Bush.
The Sensual World begins with the breathtaking titletrack, what's in my opinion one of Kate's best songs. Love and Anger is a nice upbeat song whith Kate doing a funny laugh at the end of the song. When I here The Fog, I see an old harbour surrounded with fog, and gulls flying above me. The dialogue is really beautifull, with the violin, harp, whistles, and the orchestra. "See how the flower leans instinctively toward the light" sings Kate in Reaching Out. Heads We're Dancing has good percussion and Rythm Guitar, but I don't get the message in this song. On Deeper Understanding Kate is singing about a computer, I think that she was one of the first who did this, (It was 1989!) On this song you can here the Trio Bulgarka for the first time on this album. With there exotic sounding voices they give the song a beautifull touch. The next song, Between A Man And A Woman, is about not interfering in a relationship, because it's not your problem. Never Be Mine has a Good chorus; "This is where I want to be, this is what I need, but I know That this will never be mine". The Trio Bulgarka is also featured on this song, and also on the next song; Rocket's Tail, that sounds very explosive. This Woman's Work is a song from Kate witch is on of her greatest work ever. With the beautifull piano and orchestra. Lyricly it's in my opinion the best song of Kate. And finally, the last song Walk Straight Down The Middle, is a good ending to this record. The Sensual World is a lovely trip in the world of Kate Bush. And maybe my favourite Kate album, together with Hounds Of Love.

Fine Line Between Sensuous and Incipid
Kate Bush called this her most 'feminine' album, the point being to create sensuality through sound. In essence, 'The Sensual World' is intended to be symbolic of the romantic and sexual state experienced by women. However, as Bush could never be considered a 'normal' woman by any standard her views on the subject are not surprisingly rather jilted. Still, some very emotional and touching music is on offer here, although the soft celtic tones of this album (which is succeeding two very dynamic albums before it) makes it sound at times a little incipid.
Best Tracks: Love and Anger, Reaching Out, This Woman's Work.

New sound is good, innovative, but past stuff is better
It was a full four years after Hounds Of Love that Kate Bush reemerged with a new album, a new sound, and a new label, Sony.

The title track is one of her erotic songs a la "In The Warm Room" or "Symphony In Blue" from Lionheart, with Kate's girlish whispers almost tickling one's ears. and the lyrics are There is a distinct Irish sound with the Uileann pipes and a bouzouki.

The semi-calypso sound and prominent bass sets the tone of the mid-tempo "Love And Anger." Part of it has to do with saying the things one means, that "something so deep you don't think you can speak about it." Once that happens there'll be "two strings in sympathy", that someone who will help one change the past and the future.

After a burst of mad laughter, comes "The Fog". Kate's voice is at her most vulnerable here. Being overwhelmed enough by love has reduced Kate's persona to the frightened state of a child who's learning how to swim and has a kind father telling her the water's only waist high. She asks "Is this love big enough to watch over me, big enough to let go of me? Without hurting me" The emotional highlight has to be Nigel Kennedy's melancholy violin solo, and the orchestra arranged by Michael Kamen works well too.

"Reaching Out" shows how we all desire something and blindly reach out for it, whether it's a child reaching for fire, or a man for something he cannot have, but what they both have in common is "reaching out for Mama" which could mean certainty, but also an answer, harkening back to the universal navel.

The next two songs are the most imaginative from this album. The upbeat "Heads We're Dancing" is set in 1939, before "the music started" and has her dancing with someone, until she recognizes his face from a picture: "It couldn't be you/It's a picture of Hitler."

Before the proliferation of Internet recluses, the character of "Deeper Understanding," alienated and feeling lonely and lost by a colder world, turned to her computer and a new programme, a voice console, which talks to her. "Hello, I know that you've been feeling tired/I bring you love and deeper understanding." The Trio Bulgarka, consisting of the exotic voices of soloist Yanka Rupkhina, Eva Georgeva, and Stoyanka Boneva, all Bulgarians, chant while she sings the chorus. One of the songs I relate to.

The Celtic-flavoured ballad, "Never Be Mine" is a merging of Celtic Uileann pipes and the Trio Bulgarka. There's a conflict between wanting someone and a life as an ideal but missing the concrete reality of both. The two-sided coin of that concept is encapsulated with "The thrill and the hurting will never be mine."

"Rocket's Tail", also featuring the ethereal Trio Bulgarka, is about a woman who trying to emulate a rocket on November (I presume on Guy Fawkes night), goes as far as putting on a pointed hat, a gunpowder pack and stick (fuse), and standing on Waterloo Bridge, is ready to blast off. The songs starts a capella with Kate and Trio, till the line "and now shooting into the night", when Dave Gilmour's guitar signifies that the woman has taken off into the night. Creative!

The haunting and beautiful ballad "This Woman's Work" about a young unexpected mother-to-be who doesn't seem prepared, and is sung from the POV of a worried mother who anguishes over things she should've spoken to/or done with her daughter. Her vocals rise to a crescendo when she sings "Oh darling, make it go away" as in the feelings of angst. This was not only featured in the movie She's Having A Baby, but also was the name of the box set she released.

The Sensual World does not carry the romantic wonder of early albums such as Kick Inside and Lionheart, nor does its innovations top those of Never For Ever and The Dreaming. As for the sound, the constant drum backbeat is a bit distracting, as many of Kate's ethereal sounds did not require a steady drums. The songwriting though remains top-notch, even though some of the music doesn't reflect the lyrical quality. But both Celtic-flavoured songs, arranged by Bill Whelan, and the Trio Bulgarka songs add another dimension to Kate's sound.

"You've talked me into the game of chance"
Oh, Kate where are you? The music world needs you more than ever. "The Sensual World" is Kate Bush at her best. This record is tied with "The Dreaming" as my favorite Kate Bush records. But this album is more accessable for the general public. If you have never heard Kate before, listen to this record first. My five favorites off of "The Sensual World" are as follows:
1)"Walk Straight Down The Middle" This is my personal favorite Kate song. It also has Drums, Drums and More Drums. Yeah!!!2)"Between A Man And A Woman" A song about the unfortunate hypocrisy that society has about how to handle spousal abuse. 3)"The Sensual World". The album opener and title track is a little homage to Irish celtic music with a modern beat loop thrown in. 4)"Heads We're Dancing". A rocker. Also shows Kates unique vocal control. 5)"Better Understanding". When the world becomes a little overwhelming, listen to this song for a "Better Understanding". Kate was and is a woman ahead of her time. For one thing she didn't need a band name to hide behind, and she more importantly never compromised her art. Good for her, and for her fans. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The title Man-Made runs the risk of messing with diehards' notion of what Teenage Fanclub is all about--melodic, classic-era indie pop a la Badfinger and Big Star--but concerns that the Scottish four-piece has swerved from its organic sensibility in favor of something souped-up and synthetic are unfounded. Back in the studio for the band's seventh disc (and its first recorded in the U.S., with Tortoise's John McEntire producing) are the trio of gifted songwriters and instrumentalists that have supplied this outfit with a surplus of talent since it formed in 1990. Norman Blake, Gerard Love, and Raymond McGinley each contribute four songs; parsing who wrote what, as usual, makes for the perfect rock-geek parlor game: is the straightforward, jaunty "It's All in My Mind" (Blake) stronger than the harder-rocking, riffy "Time Stops" (Love) or the earnest "Feel" (McGinley)? In the end the correct answer is who cares: Teenage Fanclub is back. Their vibe continues to be timeless, accessible, and as satisfyingly cool as it's ever been. -Tammy La Gorce ... Read more

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Duality is at once sacred and playful. It is both dark and light, organic and refined, masculine and feminine. Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard partners with Pieter Bourke, formerly of Aussie band Eden, to create this compositional dance of partnership that is classical, ancient, and thoroughly modern. Gerrard's voice is multitracked at times, conjuring a cathedral choir and the droning chants of monks. Drums and synth snake from desert to brilliant stormy sky to shaking earth and the bodies that inhabit those spaces. There are lush multiple layers of strings, bagpipe drone, and, quite literally, the laughter of children. The vocals sans "real" words and multicultural instrumentation will be familiar to Dead Can Dance listeners. Yet there is something more exclusive, more womblike about the music of Bourke and Gerrard; rather than two distinct bodies making music, like mother and in utero child sharing blood and breath, they are mutually dependent. --Paige La Grone ... Read more

Reviews (41)

A beautiful album. Lisa and Pieter are wonderful together
I've been an obsessed fan of Dead Can Dance since about 1984. Lisa Gerrard's voice is so beautiful that she has brought me to tears on several occasions. This album is wonderful. My favorite is Sacrifice, which is full of so much emotion, and is so moving, it puts little goose bumps on my arms. The Unfolding and The Comforter are also amazing. So is the whole album. It's a must have for anyone who enjoys beautiful music. I look forward to another colaboration by Lisa and Pieter. Duality fits them perfectly.

Beautiful and enchanting music
This is simply one of the best records of 1998. Form the very first song and until the end, Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke are making some of the finest music, to be heard in a long long time. The Mirror Pool was a great album, buth this one goes even further. Imagine the next time Lisa Ger- rard & Brendan Perry sits down to make a new DCD album, how will they make anything like this (or even better). Buy it now.

a dissenting opinion
Well, unlike most people writing reviews here, I never really cared for Dead Can Dance. I guess I just didn't get it. But I really do like this album. The music is great for relaxing, cooling down after a stressful day in the modern world, taking a break, thinking deeply, reading, or winding down at the end of the day. But it's not shallow or sentimental; it's deep, haunting, and spiritual in the old-fashioned, strong sense of that word. If you enjoy new age music, this is a good CD for you.

Even if you're not a Dead Can Dance fan!

I listen to this and weep...
I weep for the loss of the grandeur and majesty that were Dead Can Dance. I weep for the mighty have fallen. That, in essence, is the emotion caused by this cd.

In an effort to fend off what I am certain will be backlashes of the devout Lisa Gerrard followers, let me say this: I absolutely adore Lisa Gerrard and the material she has produced since parting ways with Brendan Perry. However, it is with a degree of adoration that is far below that which I felt (and CONTINUE to feel) for DCD. I know, to an extent, DCD have forever gone and I should just get over it. Even Brendan is sounding more like Tim Buckley than Brendan Perry. And, even Brendan's stuff with Elijah's Mantle is far inferior to even DCD material.

But, I cannot forget what once was and anytime I play either of the three best recordings ever made (DCD's, "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun," "Serpent's Egg" and "Aeon," respectively), I am transported back to what DCD were(and, truthfully, is) all about.

This recording is more similar to anything you'd find being played on NPR or some "Pure Moods" variant. It has a few moments of clarity and resolve, but beyond those, it falls flat on its face. This is a terribly crushing thing for me to have to admit too. So, I say it with every ounce of respect and sense of defeat. Lisa...you are so much better than this and capable of such far greater work.

But, and the big "but," Brendan always was the Yin to Lisa's Yang. They need(ed) each other and balance each other and apart....apart they will never amount to the totality they achieved.

This is wordy, verbose and probably quite obtuse in terms of a "review" of this cd. Please forgive me though. I have just listened to "Within the Realm..." in its entirety and have a tremendous sense of longing and bereft-ness (ok, I made up a word). You may notice that most of the ecstatic reviewers are new-comers to the whole DCD family (and its descendant variants). That comes as a result of having no point of reference by which to judge the present work. If it is the first you have heard of this, I can see how one would do cartwheels over this. If however, you spent the better part of the 80's and 90's shelling out top-dollar for 4-AD import prices (long before Ivo sold out to Warner Brothers), you know what I mean.

I give this three stars solely because it is Lisa Gerrard and, hey, that counts for something.

Enchanted !!
Lisa has done it once again !Her vocal chords are a gift to humanity . She once again proves that she can keep the spirit of DCD alive .

I have a true passion for Middle-Eastern music . This album manages to give the listener a feeling of "travelling" on magic carpets with Lisa's voice as a guide .

Alongside Lisa and Azam Ali , this is some of the best middle eastern vocal work the past 2 years . This CD will play on my CD for a LONG time .

I only wish record companies would start to release music like this on SACD or DVD-A ! ... Read more

Album Description

2003 remastered version of their 1984 album. 4AD. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Strange yet familiar
The Cocteau Twins are the sort of band that has a very distinctive sound, unlike anything that has come before or since, and "Treasure" is an outstanding example of their sound.

Tracks like Otterly and Donimo, the last songs on the album, sound at once otherworldly and intensely familiar. Other reviewers have compared this music to the singing of angels, and that comparison isn't far off - it sounds like it's always been there, playing just beyond the range of your hearing as the sun rises (in the case of Donimo) or you drift off to sleep (for Otterly) or grin inwardly as you prepare a suprise for someone you love (Pandora, though oddly titled for it).

If you're new to the Cocteau Twins and looking for a place to start, "Treasure" is an ideal place to start as an early example of that distinctive otherworldly-familiar sound. If you're already a fan and looking for more, "Treasure" will be a welcome addition, as it combines the dreamlike vocals of Victorialand with the stronger instrumentations of "Milk and Kisses" and similar.

A timepiece never changes pace
Music that becomes you.
Words that surface like lost phrases of Dickinson.
From the celestial to the carnal, these songs soar,
dive, rise, and cut through the air.

Frazer is the great unknown poet.
Guthrie is the metaphysical architect.
Do yourself a favor.
Buy every single recording they ever made.

I Found the Sound with Cocteau Twins
Since 1988 I have collected everything by the Cocteau Twins I can get my hands on and still, after listening to all these albums for all these years 1984's "Treasure" still remains my absolute favorite. The first song on the CD "Ivo" gets your skin buzzing with the beautiful highs and lows of Elizabeth Frasier's voice, then song #2 Lorelei comes in and completely blows you away, and by the time #4 Persephone (my personal all-time favorite song) blasts through your speakers you're in a completely different world. It's a timeless and classic piece of art that will always sound as good as it did the first 100 times you listened to it. Other recommended Cocteau stuff. "4 Calender Cafe" is a must have album for songs like "Bluebeard" and "Know Who You Are at Every Age", any compilation with the song "Spangle Maker" on it such as "Pink Opaque" is a must have, and of course "Heaven or Las Vegas" is a well known Cocteau Twins classic for 10 absolutly perfect songs such as "Iceblink Luck", "Cherry Coloured Funk", "Pitch The Baby", and "Road River and Rails".

Floating Over Head
This CD by the Cocteau Twins makes me think angels do tread on the ground and have a habit of singing whatever they please. The music is lush but not lost, soaring yet not new age. The work is simply something you put on and listen to and enjoy the experience every time over time. I do not know of another band as successful with completely non-worded lyrics and atmospheric sound walls. The floating over head voices of the Cocteau Twins, enter the Treasure...

Matthew Hahn, www.movingtracks.com

This album is truly a "treasure"
I have always been meaning to check out the Cocteau Twins music over the years. I only have been exposed to a couple of songs of theirs over the years. I loved what I heard from my very limited exposure...the swirling yet lush guitars of Robin Guthrie and the angelic vocals of Elizabeth Frasier. While perusing one of my local favorite indie record stores after work today, I decided to see if they had any of the Cocteau Twins reissues and thankfully they did. I had a difficult time choosing which cd I wanted to get. It was between "Garlands" and "Treasure". I eventually decided upon "Treasure". I am so glad that I chose "Treasure". The music is simply breathtaking and moving to my ears. To say that Elizabeth Frasier has a lovely voice would be a gross understatement. Her vocals on "Treasure" took my breath away. I loved the album the moment I heard "Ivo" but the real winner on this album has to be "Donimo". That song is nothing short of amazing. All the songs on "Treasure" is a real gem and an early precursor to goth bands like Diva Destruction, Faith & the Muse, Lycia, and of course Black Tape for a Blue Girl with its gorgeous ethereal melodies. After listening to "Treasure" twice, I am a converted fan. Although the band is no longer around, I will continue to seek out the other cds that were recently reissued. ... Read more

Amazon.com

At their career zenith, Oasis were lauded as the best band in the world. They were actually never the greatest rock & roll band at any time, but for a few years they were the biggest. While they offered the '90s two of its most defining albums, and a resurgence of '60s-influenced Manchester rock, Oasis tumbled off the top of the mountain in the last half of the decade. Heathen Chemistry is their first step back up the ascent, albeit a small step. The album opens with "The Hindu Times," which will certainly be listed among Oasis's best anthems, and it closes with "Better Man," a distorted-guitar-driven thrill that revs up to 60 mph in second gear. But between the strongest songs on the disc, Noel "Walrus" and Liam "Eggman" Gallagher exploit the Beatles references almost to the breaking point. It's no secret that the Gallaghers worship the Beatles (who doesn't?), but here they've gone beyond obvious influences and stepped right into infringement territory. On "Born on a Different Cloud," Noel's guitar weeps a little too gently, and Liam's signature rasp now sounds like a deliberate imitation of Lennon with a cold. Further, Liam shares the mic with Noel, who sings lead on several tracks, the best being "Force of Nature." Unlike on Beatles albums, however, the switch back and forth is jarring (Liam might be the biggest troublemaker, but he is also the better singer). Nonetheless, if a band is going to unapologetically rip off what was unquestionably the best band in the world, no one does it better than Oasis. --Beth Massa ... Read more

Reviews (220)

Incredible Band, Superb Album
Wow!! Not what expected! As a big Oasis fan (obviously as I'm the first reviewer) I had high expections for this album. The singles prior to the release of Heathen Chemistry...'Hindu Times' (great rocker) and 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out' (excellent power ballad) wet my appetite for some classic Oasis music. But I must say my expections were met in ways I would've never dreamed. Let me tell you this....LAIM SONGWRITING CARRIES THIS ALBUM. You still there?! Yes, snarls and all...this guy has talent and beyond that unique voice. To date the Oasis magic has stemed from Noel's earnest songwriting which has been recently evolving into superstardom (reference: 'Carry Us All', 'Gas Panic', 'One Way Road', and 'Sunday Morning Call').
But Liam's three contributions on this album have you listening intently like never before. For example, take 'Songbird' a folk rock ditty that'll never end up on an Oasis Best Of but where did it come from. Liam's only song credit to date has been 'Little James' a simplistic jam rememberable only for its addictive NA-NAs. I guess I chose a round-a-bout way of saying Oasis is creating something creative unlike anywhere they've treaded before. P.S.-Liam's other two tracks are atmospheric guitar driven rockers in case you're not into folk rock. I guess that leads us to Noel's contributions. Traditional Oasis to be sure, but he's not taking that eventual next level in his music. His songs like 'Force of Nature' show a slight variation, but he seems preoccupied in throwing venom and distaste and his ex-wife Meg in the lyrical content. Has the divorce ordeal swayed Noel from elevating his music? Does he need a B-Side to do it? A guest musician? We are waiting because he is too good to keep pace with his earlier accomplishments. Nonetheless, he doesn't disappoint on 'Little By Little' and the two singles to date. To sum up, if you've followed Oasis for years this is not the time to walk away. This album is Oasis through and through, apart from Liam's sweet curveballs which will definitely keep this CD in your heavy rotation.

So what if they are arrogant?
This is a great album, a really really great album. An album they probably should have made straight after Morning Glory when they WERE the biggest band in the world.
Starting with the very Oasis-esque The Hindu Times you can tell this album is Oasis at its best.
Noels vocals have not always been the bands strong point but Force of Nature follows on quite well as does the Liam Gallagher driven Hung In a Bad Place.
Stop Crying your heart out is meant to be the don't look back in anger equivalent whilst the two acoustic performances on this album - Songbird and She is Love come out with two thumbs.
Born on a Different Cloud is definitley Beatles inspired as are Liams vocals on the track which sound almost identical to that of Lennons. Despite the messy engineering on that song it remains probably the stand out.
HC finishes off with Better Man - a 4 minute rock diddy which leaves you wanting more after its quick guitar rise and dump right at the end. Heathen Chemistry goes for about 74 minutes - your typical length for an Oasis album, but it is actually filled with about half an hour of silence after Better Man in which case you are then hearing a 5 minute instrumental. Thats probably the only downside of the album for me, to wait that long or even skip to it but yes, it's worth it.

A definite buy for anyone who enjoyed Oasis' early work and those who despised Be Here Now - don't worry Heathen Chemistry is nothing like it!

"Talking to myself again, this time i think i'm getting through"
- Born on a Different Cloud

Great Album
Heathen Chemistry may just be Oasis's most consistent album. Every song is enjoyable to listen to, and the the album flows extremely well. For those of you who think this album doesn't rock enough, you obviously don't know what your talking about. "Hindu Times" is one of their best songs, and it contains some great guitar playing by Noel. In fact, the first three songs on this album all rock. "Force of Nature" and "Hung in a Bad Place" are some of there more underrated rockers. Another great rocker is the closing number "Better Man", which obviously has some influence from John Lennon. Also, after listening to "Born on a Different Cloud", I was amazed at how much Liam sounds like John Lennon, and I now feel that that song is a tribute to him. This album is highly critized because of sounding too much like the beatles, but I do not think that is a bad thing. In fact, Oasis through out their career have been bashed by many critics for ripping off the beatles. Here's a news flash for everybody, almost every band today has ripped off the beatles in one way or another, and I still fail to see how Oasis is any different than any other band. Noel and Liam are great song writers and they can play great music, even if they sometimes sound a little like the beatles. Now back to the album, the rest of the songs on this album are just as stong as the ones already mentioned. "Stop Cryin Your Heart Out" is a beautiful ballad. "Songbird" and "She is Love" show Oasis on a more accoustic note, and even show flashes of country. Overall, this album is a must buy for any Oasis fan, and I do feel that this album may help the band find their old magic again. I can't wait for their next album.

good cd
There's no reason to hate oasis, it's just that people got so sick of hearing wonderwall, that they forced themselves to hate them. Now anything new that comes out is overshadowed in the one hit wonder crap that gets their 2 months of airplay and then fades. At least that's the case in the states. In England, hell, the country can't get enough of this band. Maybe I should move there b/c I love the band.

Heathen Chemistry, although not yet a classic as What's the Story and not (in my opinion) as structured as Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, it still fits in nicely as the latest effort pulled out by the guys. What's to notice about this album is that only Noel and Liam are the only remaining members of the original band. Then again, they are the backbone of the band. It is obvious to any fan that the sound is much different than the first 3 albums though. It can be a good thing in some songs such as the "Hindu Times" which rolls through w/ much energy, and "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" which was somewhat of a recent hit and also in the movie "The Butterfly Effect" at the end. Another UK single, "Songbird" which rather short, was written by Liam. It should have been longer b/c it's a great song and very catchy.

Noel sings lead on "Force of Nature", "Little By Little", and "She is Love." Usually the songs he sings end up as B-sides, but can't forget his most famous "Don't Look Back in Anger" plus he did a nice job w/ "Where Did it All Go Wrong." Personally, "She is Love" should definately been scratched on this album. It doesn't really fit in w/ the sound of any other songs. Would have been a nice B-side that Oasis masters more than any other band of all time. "Force of Nature" is cool which shows some sarcasm in it. The last UK single, "Little By Little," is a great song w/ a nice chorus and good guitar solo. The video for LBL is sweet as well.

"Hung in a Bad Place" is somewhat of a filler, but still a great oasis song that ranks w/ any non-single they have. "A Quick Peep" is like the new version of the "Swamp Song" but just only over a minute. I'm sure they extended it somewhere down the line. "(Probably) All in the Mind" is a Beatlesque type song w/ a nice ring to it. Liam writes and sings "Born On a Different Cloud" This is his best song to date. "Better Man" also provides the album w/ a crisp new sounding oasis. The only thing that sucks is that they put a 30 minute gap until the hidden song. There's no lyrics and mostly just jumbled guitar play, w/ a nice drum beat and later on some kind of woodwind, maybe a flute. Anyway if you forgot to push stop, you'll eventually get to it.

You can bash oasis as much as you want for not putting out any u.s. singles since "Don't Look Back in Anger" but you shouldn't hate the music if you are an oasis fan. They are pretty much a whole new band, and actually for the better. Heathen Chemistry may not be the best oasis album, but it still is a great oasis album.

(Almost 4 stars) An Honest Review
Oasis's 5th album is an impressive return to form.

Overall the album falls short a fairway compared to their first two, but its good to see that Oasis have made a return to form on this one, and important that they have made a return to form also.

Many songs on this album are good, very good as the Hindu Times shows, which without a doubt is as good as many of their other songsof Whats the Story...... and Definitley Maybe.
Anyway heres a rundown of how good the songs are, and note that alot of these tracks are compared to the songs off their first two albums and The Masterplan(as they should be), which are the best and only good Oasis CDs so far.

1. The Hindu Times - This is Oasis at its best.

2. Force Of Nature - 10/10

3. Hung In A Bad Place - 10/10

4. Stop Crying Your Hear Out - This is a very very good song, and is two steps away from being as good as Wonderwall, but there are'nt enough electric guitars in it, which their should of been and even if their were the song would not of been the same but better, its good but not great compared to "Live Forever" and 'Wonderwall"

5. Songbird - Its listenable, but the lyrics are stupid and it should not of been on the album, its songs like Songbird and She Is Love that let this album down alot.

6. Little By Little - This is really close to being as good as Don't Look Back in Anger, and even though it is'nt, its really brilliant, one of the best songs of the album and one of their best songs too.

7.A Quick Peep - All instrumental, really good.10/10

8. Probably All In The Mind - Its almost there, the guitars could of been alot louder than they are, it could of been a much better song.

9. She Is Love - Listenable but also a stupid song, I don't like it, and I don't see why anyone else should either.

10. Born On A Different Cloud - Really Great song, but theres to many effects noticable, some great guitar bits, should of been louder which would of had more effect.

11. Betterman - Not like other Oasis Songs, good song though and is more of a groove. Would of fitted better on the album if the majority of the other tracks were real good.

So their you have it, an honest review of Oasis's 5th album by a person with good taste.
Its a shame it was'nt as good as it could or should of been, but they will return to form without a doubt. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

DCD continues to evolve, and the results are surprising
Coming two years after their perfect WITHIN THE REALM OF A DYING SUN, Dead Can Dance's 1989 album THE SERPENT'S EGG shows the band continuing to evolve. Here, Dead Can Dance reached an interesting turning point. Lisa Gerrard's vocals begin to show the ethnic influence that would come to the front in 1993's INTO THE LABYRINTH, while the interest in older musical instruments foreshadows the renaissance-themed AION.

This album is especially remarkable because it departs from the use of orchestral musicians and lush atmospherics to give a more personal glimpse of Lisa and Brendan's partnership.

THE SERPENT'S EGG opens with "The Host of Seraphim," which may be their finest song ever. Featuring Lisa's pious wailing over the backing vocals of David Navarro Sust and Brendan Perry's drums, this song is literally heavenly.

As with much of Dead Can Dance's output, individual songs can be noticed as either Brendan's or Lisa's, such as the half-and-half split of WITHIN THE REALM OF A DYING SUN. Here, it's obvious that Brendan has provided "Severance," "In the Kingdom of the Blind...", and "Ulysses." Lisa clearly is the creator of "The Writing on My Father's Hand," "Song of Sophia," and "Mother Tongue."

Nonetheless, for the first time here are several tracks where Lisa and Brendan are equal, such as the aforementioned "The Host of Seraphim," as well as "Orbis de Ignis" and "Chant of the Paladin."

While not Dead Can Dance's best album, which is arguably WITHIN THE REALM OF A DYING SUN, this album should not be the last you purchase if you are a fan of this unique duo.

Ruhig, feierlich und mysteriös
In einer Welt, wo "Harry Potters" Phantasiereisen Buch- und Kinorekorde machen, da ist die mysteriöse Musik von "Dead Can Dance" bei vielen willkommen.

Das Album liegt zeitlich zwischen Aion und Within the Realms of a Dying Sun. Es hat die mittelalterlichen Elemente-Assoziationen des ersteren und die ruhige Atmosphäre (aber nicht so düster) wie "Within the ...").

Manche Tracks werden von einer Art Kirchenorgen begleitet (The Host of Seraphim) und "Severance" einer der besten Tracks des Duos überhaupt und eine gesangliche Sternstunde von Brendan Perry. Auf diesen beiden Stücken ist die Stimmung sehr relaxed und ernst, im Radio könnte man unbekannterweise auch glauben, es sei eine Gottesdienst-Übertragung eines fernen Landes an einem Feiertag. Das gleiche gilt meines Hörens für "Orbis de Ignis" daß sich wie eine Art erfundener gregorianischer Choral anhört (nur Gesang und manchmal eine Glocke, die auch auf Aion zu hören war.

"The Writing of my fathers Hand" ist eine schöne Ballade von Lisa Gerrard und klingt fast überirdisch schön. Fast zu schön für meinen Geschmack oder um es einem Gast vorzuspielen, der die Gruppe nicht kennt. Ähnlich "fast zu schön um wahr zu sein" klingt der Vocal-Track "Song of Sophia".

"Mother Tongue" hat einen monotonen Percussion-Hintergrund, eine Streicher-Begleitung und Lisas Stimme. Die Percussion ist aber nicht so bombastisch Wagnermäßig wie auf "Spleen and Ideal"

"Ulysses" getragen von Perry's Stimme hat Harpsichord/Streicher Elemente, die sich rhytmisch strukturieren.

Trotz der vielen Rezensionen scheint sich kein Hörer zu wagen, die Musik von "Dead Can Dance" näher zu analysieren. Begriffe wie "keltisch" oder "germanisch" (was ist das eigentlich?), gotisch (ebenso ein Gummiwort wo man viel interpretieren kann), mittelalterlich (wirklich oder nur assoziativ).

Die Gruppe hat(te) wirklich ein perfektes Image: Für ihre Plattenaufnahmen liesen sie sich sehr viel Zeit, perfekt produziert. Obwohl aus der "gotischen" Szene der Grufties kommend (?) spricht ihre Weltmusik viele Menschen an, die Umsätze dürften das zeigen.
Dead Can Dance ist die einzige Gruppe, wo ich noch nie eine ganz negative Rezension gelesen habe, ihr Nimbus und Ausstrahlung ist so erhaben, daß man eigene Kritik an den Musikern fast als sakrale Lästerung empfinden würde, was auch ich nicht tun werde. Nur in so weit, daß ich der CD nur 4 Sterne gebe statt 5. Es ärgert mich ein wenig, daß die meisten "regulären" CDs der Gruppe nur ca. 35 Minuten lang sind, auch diese. Brendan/Lisa vergebe mir diese Kritik! Auch die CD-Covers sind so spärlich gestaltet, daß sie Analysen ausschalten und zur eigenen Phantasie Lauf lassen. Man glaubt sich in ein Völkerkunde-Museum versetzt, mit Fotografien von uralten Kultgegeständen wie Masken, ohne natürlich das Land und den Herkunftsort zu nennen. Jedenfalls scheinen die Covers auch so bedeutungsvoll und tiefsinnig gestaltet, daß die Objekte zur Wichtigkeit und Suche im Zentrum eines "Indiana Jones" Filmes stehen könnten.

Wie hat die Gruppe es nur gemacht, sich so ein Image/Aura zu verschaffen? Wirklich faszinierend und beneidenswert. Hat sich die Gruppe die Rhytmusstrukturen, die seltsame Sprache in den weiblichen Vocals und die englisch-sprachigen Mystiktexte von Perry nur ausgedacht (wie Harry Potter) oder ist sie Essenz einer ausgeklügelten archäologischen Musikstudie des Paares? Niemand wird wohl dieses Geheimnis lüften, vielleicht ein Forscher im 4. Jahrtausend, der darauf eine neue Bewegung und Theorie aufbaut?

Diese CD ist unbedingt anschaffenswert, eine der besten von "Dead can Dance", etwas getragener und ruhiger wie die meisten anderen. Wenn man Perry einmal ausklammert ist sie in manchen Tracks schon den Soloplatten von Lisa Gerrard ähnlich.

Splendid!
Hypnotic! Grows in your head like a mind virus.

Not as the best but still great
Dead Can Dance's peak was throughout Into the Labyrinth and Aion yet The Serpent's Egg still contains the original Dead Can Dance essence.

Evil Sick Beautiful
This album was my introduction to DCD, and remains my favorite although it certainly has no shortage of competition from their later efforts.

I don't know how to relate to you how truly inspiring "The Host of Seraphim" is to me, both as a fan of the music and as a songwriter myself. I can only say with any effect that, for once, the title of a song like "Host of Seraphim" does not belie the pretense of the artist. It has that title because it REDEFINES the word angelic in my mind. I spent a great deal of time listening to Brendan Perry's takes on the album, mainly because when I was younger I was always very skeptical, being a man, that a woman's voice could have the same reach and dramatic effect as a man. And that I would equate that to Perry's voice is no mistake, because there is no doubt that he is a gifted singer, and Perry's slow sonorous tones in "Ulysses" still (and always will) give me the willies....but about three years after I first got this album (and was then listening to their later albums), I pulled out Serpent's Egg again and realized that the real depth of this album will always remain with Gerrard's songs, and particularly with "Host". The only gripe I could possibly have about this album is that they got the song order backwards...."Ulysses" really would have been more appropriate as an opener, and "Host" as the powerful finale. Instead, I find myself reordering the tracks in Winamp, but that's really not a major (and hardly a minor) complaint.

I don't want to waste myself away trying to describe the way this album moves me - and truly it would be a wasted effort, because I don't even think I'm through processing my reaction to it in a lot of ways musically - but to the potential listener I say: if you are curious about DCD at all, you can safely start here (or at the compilation called A Passage In Time, which contains both of the above-mentioned songs) and you'll never have to wonder again what all the hype is about. ... Read more

Album Description

First comprehensive anthology from one of Creation Records' shining lights. Compiled by the band and featuring rarities and previously unreleased material. This two CD anthology charts the rise of Britain's best loved shoe gazing rockers, featuring all their most celebrated tracks. The band's entire catalog is unavailable domestically. Castle Music. 2005. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

You MUST get your SWERVE on.
Correction to Amazon's info.: 33 tracks total, not 37. Not included: A Change Is Gonna Come, Last Day On Earth, Wrong Treats, Land Of The Lost. The 2 CDs are jam-packed nonetheless. Track order is different.
This is not exactly a one-stop shop for all the best of Swervedriver. It's one of those "hits" plus rarities comps., with something for everyone, including previously unreleased, import-only and vinyl-only material. A true best-of would have to include such songs as these: Laze It Up, Hands, Girl On A Motorbike, Last Day On Earth, Wrong Treats. I could go on.
But don't get me wrong. Do not hesitate for a moment to acquire this set. There are very few collections of music of any kind out there that kick as much ass as this. The previously unreleased Neon Lights Glow is, yes, an absolute killer. And I for one am glad the songs are not in chronological order, because the Raise-era material all in a row would wear my ears out and start to sound a bit monotonous.
Assuming this over 2 & 1/2 hours of Swervedriver are not enough for you, I advise you to do this next: Go to swervedriver.com, which contains a more-than-generous selection of live recordings. You can fill in the gaps, after a fashion. I chose the 5 songs I previously mentioned plus I Am Superman, Director's Cut Of Your Life & Up From The Sea.

a nearly perfect collection of goodies
There is no middle ground with Swervedriver fans.You either haven't heard of them or you love them.And though my collection of Swervedriver albums and b-sides and 7 inch records certainly gives me many reasons to love them, this double CD gives me two more.

Swervedriver played their cards pretty much perfectly here.They have thrown together (almost) all their "hits" and included most of the best b-sides over the years, plus a few unreleased gems.They have opted not to do so in chronological order, but that choice merely highlights their diversity instead of showing their evolution.The only really notable exclusions in my opinion are the b-sides "Flawed" and "Laze It Up", but one can't expect to get all the rare tracks onto two CDs.

For the starter not familiar with Swervedriver, there is "Son Of Mustang Ford", "The Birds", "Duel", "Kill The Superheroes", "The Hitcher", "These Times", and "99th Dream".For those already in love with the band, there are all the good singles previously only available in 7 inch form ("My Zephyr", "Mars", "Why Say Yeah", and "93 Million Miles From The Sun") here on CD for the first time.There are also a few officially unreleased tracks that have been floating around the bootleg circuit for a while.

The demo version of "Mustang Ford" closes the second CD.This is Swervedriver in its pre-produced, lo-fi, balls-to-the-wall, rock n roll glory, and this version clocks in at over 7 minutes.The preceding song, "Just Sometimes", is a bit of a repetitive throwaway but for the beautiful Adam Franklin riff on guitar."Over" is a two part track, blistering you in "Mustang Ford" fashion for the first few minutes before zoning off into Shoegazer Land."Neon Lights Glow" is easily the best unreleased track on the record.It includes the token Swervedriver guitars and the use of strings also previously attempted with "Last Day On Earth" (which is strangely absent from this collection).However, the use of strings here seems to be more in line with the usual Swervedriver oddities than it was on the more conventional "Last Day".This song is a completely brilliant eight minutes of bliss and is worth the price of the CD alone for hardcore fans.

So here's what you get with the CD besides a nice write-up in the CD booklet and a diagram of their various guitar pedal setups (which is an extremely cool addition for guitar players).

Disk 1

"Son Of Mustang Ford" - The single that started it all and the first Swervedriver song I ever heard on MTV's "120 Minutes".

"Planes Over The Skyline" - "Duel" single b-side.Brilliant guitar work as always, though a bit repetitive.

"The Birds" - In my opinion the most sing-along-able of all Swervedriver songs.Weird pop perfection.

"Duel" - Magnificent.Whenever that guitar changes for the chorus, my hair stands up on the back of my neck.That sound has never been successfully imitated before or since, or at least not to the same effect.This is the shortened single version.

"Why Say Yeah" - From the split 7 inch single with Sophia.A very good song though Sophia's "So Slow" on the other 7 inch was better!

"Scrawl And Scream" - An always underappreciated single from the "Never Lose That Feeling" and "Reel To Real" EPs.If memory serves correctly, this is a slowed down and superior version of "Afterglow", another b-side (not included in this collection).

"Rave Down" - A classic with another unforgettable guitar progression.

"How Does It Feel To Look Like Candy?" - A great song except that the horns drive me absolutely crazy.It could be me, but they seem lower in this mix.

"Blowin' Cool" - Another underappreciated dandy from "Mezcal Head", though I would have rather seen "Girl On A Motorbike".

"The Other Jesus" - Such a simple yet driving bassline, as well as crazy guitar interplay.

"Juggernaut Rides" - An early b-side that is as great as all their b-sides.

"For Seeking Heat" - The opener from "Mezcal Head".If this doesn't get your attention, you are likely dead.

"These Times" - This is the album version and the not the faster version that many people are fonder of.Regardless, a good song is a good song no matter what the pace.

"The Hitcher" - A fantastic b-side made even more amazing only in that Adam Franklin actually improved the song when he stripped it down for an acoustic rendition on one of his Toshack Highway EPs.Definitely a Top 5 b-side from a band that has as many great b-sides as The Cure and in a shorter period of time.

"My Zephyr" - Another 7 inch only release until now.Another great song with some really creative guitar work.

"Last Train To Satansville" - The great cowboy tale told Swervedriver style.I guess it depends on your mood if you think you were shortchanged on this one.Sometimes you love the extended outro and sometimes you don't.This version is only 3:30.

"Kill The Superheroes" - The song many Swervies would claim to be their all-time favorite, and it's a b-side.Adam Franklin's guitar work here is nothing short of mind-boggling.How he could think to use those riffs and put a vocal melody over it is truly the work of a genius...or a madman.This version is a bit shortened too, as it clocks at just over 6 minutes (regular version was 7 minutes I think).

"Behind The Scenes Of The Sounds And The Times" - I think it's odd that they'd throw this one right after "Kill The Superheroes" because the beginnings of both songs are so similar.This is another brilliant tune and probably my favorite off of "99th Dream".By the time that album rolled out, the switches and sounds Swervedriver used in this song were becoming more and more rare.

"Never Lose That Feeling" - The last song on the US version of "Mezcal Head".This version is without the second half "Never Learn" portion, so instead of nearly 12 minutes with both those songs sandwiched together, this one is a more tame 4 minutes.

Disk 2

"99th Dream" - The opener and title track from "99th Dream".Great tune and Swervedrive somehow seamlessly incorporates surf rock into their repertoire.

"Sandblasted" - An early shoegazer hit.

"Maelstrom" - A b-side from the "Last Day On Earth" EP.

"93 Million Miles From The Sun And Counting" - A slowed and shortened version of "Harry And Maggie", one of my favorite Swervedriver songs.Hearing this one on CD and in its full glory makes me think that they were right to put this one on the collection.It may actually be superior.

"Ejector Seat Reservation" - Title track of the third CD.This song has more in common with the preceding albums than it does the album that bears its name.

"Over" - I think this is a very early demo, probably from around the "Mustang Ford" demo time.Stylistically it has much in common with that time.As stated above, this is a first part hard rocker, second part shoegazer.

"Duress" - One of the highlights of their live shows and the ultimate zone out song.This one has been shortened by about 30 seconds.

"Mars" - From the same 7 inch single as "My Zephyr".One of the better b-sides out there.

"Neon Lights Glow" - As stated above, an until-now unknown masterpiece.This must've not made it onto a regular CD due to time constraints only since it is nearly 8 minutes long.

"Sci-Flyer" - The first song on their first album.It's so good a band out in California decided to name themselves after it.Can't say I blame them.

"Cars Converge On Paris" - Ahhhh.Some songs are just perfect to go to sleep to."Duress" is pretty good for that purpose, but it may give you nightmares.This one will make you dream happy dreams.Another perfect b-side.

"Deep Seat" - Probably the song I listened to the most from "Raise".A slow and plodding rocker with great riffs.

"Just Sometimes" - An unreleased track that is the weakest link on the CD.But at just over 2 minutes long, it isn't enough to aggravate me and I'm thankful they put it on here since I hadn't heard it before.

"Son Of Mustang Ford (demo)" - Seven minutes of Swervedriver rocking harder than they have since.This version is much more raw and aggressive than the album track.It's also a bit funny at times with all the "yeah"s that they use to punctuate certain parts of the song.

So there you have it.Thirty-three tracks total.If you're a Swervedriver fan who has all their stuff already, well you know you'll have to get this eventually so you might as well do it now.If you're not much of a fan but remember a few songs from them or don't, this is a good place to start.The price should not be a deterrent.This stuff is so vastly superior to anything else on the airwaves now it isn't even funny.Add it to your collection and you can become a Swervedriver snob like the rest of us and feel cool that you know about them when none of your friends do.

Brilliant!
Swervedriver

http://swervedriver.com

Buy this album and check out their site for fifty-five (55) MP3s.

You won't be disappointed!

AllThatNoise ... Read more

Amazon.com

Ride was an essential element of the wall-of-sound, trippy, melodic shoe-gazing movement of the early '90s. Nowhere is their best album and is one of the prettiest albums of that era. Songs are psychedelic wash of reverberation, and ghostly, passive vocal melodies. Born from the womb of My Bloody Valentine distortion, Ride tempers their sound with an easier melody, reaching across to the pop spectrum. "Vapour Trail" stands out as the leader of the pack--a gorgeous song that floats and drones in and out of your head like a cleansing fog. --Beth Bessmer ... Read more

Reviews (38)

One of the great albums
Like all great artists Ride rediscovered the obvious and transformed it into something totally new. Effects pedals have been around almost as long the electric guitar itself, but mostly have only been used as incidental embellishments; a bit of wah wah on a solo, some discrete phasing on a rhythm guitar part, the ubiquitous yet mostly predictable use of distortion. Ride took these basic elements and pushed them to the nth degree, creating a wild, glorious soundscape of such intensity and emotion that one runs out of superlatives trying to describe it. From the chaotic "Seagull", through the melodic perfection of "In a different place" and "Vapour Trail", to the glacial textures of "Polar Bear", Ride reinvented what it was possible for a guitar band to do. Their experiments with the aural possibilities of the electric guitar reached its apogee on the epic "Dreams Burn Down", alas a prophetic title as Ride's ability to maintain this level of creativity turned out to be short lived. Ride came and went while other artists (liked the astonishingly overrated Radiohead) more profitably expoited the genre they invented. The best album of the 90's.

After Nowhere
Nowhere is one of the greatest extended statements of melodic guitar and band to rise out of the shoegazing movement. "Guitar" is the word most used in describing Ride, and this it is true that this was a guitar band, but what makes the lyrical work of Andy Bell and gang so great is that it worked as a whole. I find it difficult to separate the guitars from the rhythm section as is possible with other guitar dominated bands. This is to say that the cymbal and bass line throughout the opening track, Seagull, make the guitar solo 3 minutes into the song possible, as do the vocals. This ability to approach the symphonic is what makes this a great set of music that is able to sustain the impressionistic intent from beginning to end.
In the re-issue with the Today Forever ep the soundscapes of Nowhere are embellished in ways that can only be followed by a few moments of silence.
Seagull, Polar Bear, Vapour Trail, and Beneath stand out, and yet the CD is as seamless as My Bloody Valentine's masterpiece, Loveless. The music of each band is quite different, but as companions to a time period, and a genre (and this is a genre, shoegazing) they do stand the test of time. If a person were to have only one Ride CD then the re-issue of Nowhere would be the one, followed by Going Blank Again Re-Issue.

He he he
If heroin has a sound it would sound exactly like this band.

A nice "Ride".
I'm not going to say that this is the essential album of the genre, but it is one of the better ones. I think it takes a few listens to get into, and no particuliar songs really stand out, but as a whole it's very good. I like the cover art, because it really does reflect the sound of the band. In short, if you're into the "shoegazing" sound at all, you should enjoy this. It could be 4 stars.

Great First LP
This was a great debut LP by Ride. Probably their best although 2nd LP "going blank again" comes close.
This was Ride's greatest sound by a band that could and should have achieved more, in the sense of popularity.Although it may be better like this, so that only a select few can keep these gems to themselves, making it more personal. They were the best shoegaze band, even though many turn to MBV, however, Ride were more accessable. Shoegaze died mainly because of the music media backlash (especially NME). However, the current return of this genre may get this fabulous LP reviewed again and looked at without the biased opinion of the anti-shoegaze press. Then it will be seen for what it is rather than have a label on it. This is a great sounding, bright, fuzzing, melancholic and powerful record with a youthful energy that overwhelmes the listener if he has what it takes to feel it. Take the test!!! ... Read more

Album Description

Digitally remastered 1997 reissue for her landmark 1985album with six bonus tracks, previously available on CD onlywith the eight CD 'This Woman's Work' box set: 'The Big Sky'(Meteorological Mix), 'Running Up That Hill' (12in Mix), 'BeKind To My Mistakes', 'Under The Ivy', 'Burning Bridge' and'My Lagan Love'. 18 tracks total. Standard jewel case. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

The extra tracks are definitely worth a few extra bucks
Even without the extra tracks, this album is worth at least five stars. However, even if you already own the original, it's worth plunking down a few extra bucks for the bonus tracks.

'The Big Sky Meterogical Mix' is really fun, creative remix with different voice-overs added. The 'Running up that Hill' remix is also more than decent though I admit I like the original better.

'Be Kind to My Mistakes' is a sweet song about when you love someone you have to accept their blemishes along with the rest. 'Under the Ivy' is a gorgeous and sentimental piece -- it's one of my favorite Kate songs ever. Also, her piano playing really gets to shine on this track.

'My Lagan Love' is a beatiful a cappella piece -- the music is taken from an original Irish/Scottish folk song and Kate's brother wrote the words. 'Burning Bridge' is an upbeat pop tune with great vocals.

It's really nice to have all these rare tracks together (ligitly) on one CD. If you are a real Kate fan you can do what I did - resell your original copy on amazon and buy this one for the bonus tracks.

"A Must Have!"
"This remastered classic CD: "Hounds Of Love" from England's favorite sweetheart Kate Bush, goes all out to give you your moneys worth. The six additional bonus tracks-(there are 18 songs in all), and beautiful new pics of Kate are well worth your purchase. If you already have the original version, sell it now and get the remaster! I really enjoy listening to the 12 inch version of "Running Up That Hill"...the production quality is better than the original, and Kate had added some new twists to the song. I wasnt as impressed with the remix version of "The Big Sky" however its still an interesting addition to this masterpiece. "Under The Ivy" and "Burning Bridge" are fabulous!! It's as if they shouldve been on the album in the first place. "My Lagan Love" adds a unique touch at the end of the bonus tracks as Kate sings accapella in a traditonal Irish folk style.If you are searching for any reasons why you shouldnt buy this remaster of Kates classic album, give it up right now! Cause you'll never find any that are worth holding back your purchase.If you are already a Kate Bush fan and you dont have the remaster of "Hounds Of Love" then you really have no excuse not to get it. And if you arent a Kate Bush fan yet, this remastered CD is the perfect purchase to begin your collection!

One of the truly great eighties albums
"Hounds of Love" is the best Kate Bush album, her most successful, and yet it may be her least accessible. Certainly it contains a much wider musical range than most albums in 1985, what with the drums, guitars and pianos, followed by the bouzoukis, fiddles, uillean pipes, cellos and balalaikas. The album also has a wide range of allusion. Not only does it include a clip from "The Wall," but it also makes reference to Tennyson and Reich. Even more amazingly it actually make the portentous imperialist and the pseudo-scientific quack sympathetic and aesthetically successful. It starts off with the unusual love song "Running up that Hill," ("I'd make a deal with God/And get him to swap our places"). The video consists of a strange, intimate pair of dancers, which slowly spirals out of the attic where they are dancing to a strange foreign runway. "The Hounds of Love" is next and it is probably the song I care about the least. But then there is the joyful cheeriness of "The Big Sky." Then there is the carefully understated "Mother Stands for Comfort," ("She knows that I've been doing something wrong/But she won't say anything.") "Cloudbusting," one of Kate Bush's triumphs, refers to William Reich and his crackpot belief that by manipulating "orgone energy" (energy from orgasms) he could make it rain. Yet the song is a moving success, with its cello-driven melody, notwithstanding the fact that in both the song and the video Bush is playing a boy. ("Ooh I just know that something good is going to happen/And I don't know when/But just saying it could even make it happen.")

Then there is the second side, "The Ninth Wave." The songs are all clearly different from each other, in style and tempo and instrumentation, and they discuss such subjects as sleeping, ice-skating, witch-hunts, ghosts, Irish jigs, the evening and a statement of love. But they are all united in their theme about a drowning woman. It starts off with the apparently soft and increasingly sinister "And Dream of Sheep." ("Like poppies, heavy with seed/They take me deeper and deeper"). Then there is the short, effective and quite chilling violin driven "Under Ice." The dramatic "Waking the Witch" follows, where Bush is confronted by a demonic inquisitor and which contains the aforementioned Pink Floyd reference, a forceful drumbeat as well as a brief sequence of bells. But the best cut is "Watching you Without Me," about the strange ghostlike presence, which is my favourite Kate Bush song of all. Here her voice, singing relatively understated material, shows off its true power and nuance. Then there is "Jig of Life" as well as "Hello Earth." The latter is the longest song on the album, as it starts off with childish innocence (Hello Earth/With just one hand help up high/I can blot you out,) and then moves on to a threatening storm. Finally there is "The Morning Fog," with its simple melody, relatively simple arrangement and genuine expression of love for her family. (The 1998 CD includes six other songs, including remixes of "Running up that Hill" and "The Big Sky." The four unreleased songs are all good, though they do not cohere with the original album. The best of them is "Burning Bridge.")

Creepiest song ever recorded!
"Under Ice" will send cold chills down your spine as you conjure up a story in your own mind,with your own supressed idea of the boogie-man coming to the "surface." This may sound like mumbo-jumbo,but the singing,words,music, and sounds are a perfect blend,guaranteed to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up straight!!
"Waking the Witch" also has the same effect.Very creepy and clever."Running Up That Hill" is a poignant song of unrequited love,and anyone who has been there will attest to that!
Each track on this CD allows you to extract your own,personal interpretation.In short:All of the tracks are brilliant.This is my favorite Kate CD.

Kate at her best
Kate Bush began her career at the age of sixteen. Her earlier works are jazz-pop oriented, she then turned to electro-pop in the eighties (with members of the Alan Parsons project). 'The dreaming' is very experimental, the following album 'Hounds of love' (the subject of this review) is more accessible and full of emotions. It begins with a 'hit' : 'Running up that hill', which is a great song. Then, it is followed by the title track, a track with a beat that reminds Peter Gabriel's rythm section on tracks such as 'Kiss of life'. 'The big sky' is another electro-pop song. 'Mother stands for comfort' is a song with a nice keyboard and drum work. 'Cloudbusting' is in the same vein as 'Running up that hill'. 'Dream of sheep' is a piece where Kate is accompanied only by her piano. It depicts her great vocal skills, and is one of the most emotional song ever released in the pop world. 'Under ice' is a dark song with keyboards accompanying the low accents of Kate's voice. 'Waking the witch' is bizarre as it features clear and roaring voices. 'Watching you without me' mimic the ticking of a clock. 'Hello earth' is a balad featuring the trio backing Kate's voice. All in all, this record is GREAT and I recommend it to all lovers of great female vocals. ... Read more

Reviews (57)

(Finally) Following Up a Masterpiece
It only took The Stone Roses five years of lawsuits and general self-destructiveness to produce the only follow up album to their 1989 self-titled masterpiece. It has since become apparent that "Second Coming" is also their swan song. That said, though not as strong as the debut, it's a pretty darn good album in its own right. The Roses were never ones to shy away from extended tracks, and they start right off with the nine-minute epic "Breaking Into Heaven," which starts slowly with a bunch of sound effects and pays off handsomely. After that comes a selection of songs more sonically challenging and for the most part less danceable than the debut. Other highlights include the beautifully melodic "Ten Story Love Song," the equally pretty "Your Star Will Shine," the rocking "How Do You Sleep," and the hit single "Love Spreads," which is the most dance floor ready of any of these tunes. The rest of the material fills in adequately, but the "hidden" tracks at the end are, for the most part, not worth the effort.

Overall, a strong successor to The Stone Roses' excellent debut that also serves as their epitath.

Doesn't Deserve All The Harsh Criticism
The Stone Roses' sophomore effort "The Second Coming," at the time of its release in late 1994, probably caught more undue flak and bitter criticism than any LP in the history of rock music. If you were to read these harsh and pretentious album reviews written by the likes of Q, Rolling Stone, and NME, you would be inclined to belive that "The Second Coming" was not only a mediocre album but also one of the worst albums in living memory. It is neither. It is an excellent piece of work that, though imperfect, is still an intriguing and worthwhile listen.

John Squire's guitar playing here is consistently mesmerizing and enlightening. His blistering solos on the epic, atmospheric opener "Breaking Into Heaven" (ingenious intro) and the classic comeback single "Love Spreads" (like "Voodoo Child" with religiously controversial lyrics) are a thing of magic, and his sublime, more harmonic riffing on "Ten Storey Love Song" and "Your Star Will Shine" prove that his technique is just as melodically subtle as it was brazenly pyrotechnic. Mani's bass playing is thick and swampy, an ideal compliment to Squire's bluesy inclinations. Reni adds his characteristically accomplished drumming and beautiful background vocals, and Ian Brown noticeably grows as vocalist, eschewing his previously naive whisper for a sleazily enthralling moan.

The instrumental work alone merits much praise and attention; Squire as a virtuoso blues guitarist is far superior to Jack White or any of the current "blues revival" axemen, and Mani and Reni comprise one of the finest and most versatile rhythm sections of all time. The songs here aren't to shabby either. In addition to the ones I named above, you also get the frenetic dance-blues fusion "Begging You," the vague Zeppelin parody "Tears," and the fiery Hendrix tribute "Driving South."

Yet despite these ubiquitous strengths, almost every single review of this album that I have read begins with a line similar to: "Well The Stone Roses have finally followed up their absolutely perfect debut album..." When reviewing an album, I try to judge it on its own merits and not rank it relative to another album that was recorded at a different time with different intentions. "The Second Coming" is far different than its predecessor, yet I think that this is not necessarily a bad thing. When listening to the awesome psychedelic blues mayhem that fills these twelve tracks, I get the notion that the band didn't want to make a clone of "The Stone Roses." After all, they had pretty much maximized their previous musical style, producing some truly awesome classicist pop and spawning a thousand guitar-rock/pseudo-dance bands in the process. I honestly belive that if they had made another album just like their debut, it would have worn out its welcome and been judged by the same impossible standard as "The Second Coming." Everyone had already made up his mind about the Roses' second album, dismissing it with narrow-minded musical prejudice.

In conclusion, the new, heavier direction is brave and admirable. At least the Roses didn't bend to the level of Oasis and begin spewing rudimentary and unimaginative pop. The songs here are thoroughly melodic, intensely rhythmic, and mostly well-written, making this "disappointing" sophomore album better than the best efforts of most other bands.

A travesty that this isn't well known
This album puts a HUGE majority of albums to shame with it's virtuosity, lyrics, melody, beauty and art. It is SO overlooked and underappreciated that it should be considered a crime against humanity.

I really have to respectfully submit a theory that those who don't like this CD had expectations problems from the first release. This CD is not "The Stone Roses Part II" it is a new direction with hints at the old direction (listen: "Ten Storey Love Song").

This is a BIG slice of funk, blues, pop, and rock that would make any rock music fan drool endlessly. I am so sad that this CD is not listened to and admired as it should be. From the opening jungle sounds, betraying the (ultimately) African (or African American) influences which shaped this wonder to the final guitar soloing, breathy singing of Ian Brown, and rollicking bassline of "Love Spreads", this CD is full of quality art.

Please, if you discovered the Stone Roses late or just never picked this up, pick it up and listen to it as a work of art. An independent CD not related to the first CD in any but the smallest ways.

Let me put you in the picture,
let me show you what I mean.
The messiah is my sister,
ain't no king man, she's my queen!

Thank you Stone Roses for giving us this beautiful CD and all the other wonderful music you created!

Man oh man . . .
. . . was this a heart breaking experience the first time I listened to it. The first Stone Roses album is, in my opinion, one of the greatest albums ever made. It's an effortless little bit of dancey psychedelia, where the four band members seem to be actually inhabiting each other's brains - that's how tight it is.

Which understandably gave me pretty high expectations for the follow up. Which the boys decided to call 'Second Coming,' out of either ego or a weird fatalistic sense of acceptance. Because a second coming, this record ain't. I still remember listening to it the first time, sitting on the floor, trying to convince myself that it was actually good. I couldn't, and ended up selling it for cigarette money.

Five years later, I decided to give the thing a second chance. And I found myself liking it a lot more. Honestly, if this were the debut album from some random unknown band, I'd probably say it has a hell of a lot of potential and some catchy, engaging tracks. But it isn't some band I've never heard of - it's the Stone Roses - and this doesn't measure up to what they were capable of in the past.

What's wrong with this album? First, it doesn't feel as though the boys ever really came together on their songs the way they did in the past. It's like Brown or Squier wrote a couple of songs, played it for the band, and then just recorded the thing, right then and there. There isn't the loose effortless feel - there are clearly 4 separate musicians who aren't quite on the same page, musically speaking.

Second, John Squier is not a terribly good writer of lyrics - some of them are, in fact, painfully bad.

Third, Squier is an excellent guitarist. Not a problem in and of itself. But here, he seems very eager to show the whole damn world just how good he is. And how funky (which is not very). His soloing is incredibly self-indulgent and really sticks out like a sore thumb.

So is there anything good about this album? Absolutely. About half the songs are quite good. 'Breaking Into Heaven,' after the interminable intro, is excellent. As is 'Ten Story Love Song,' idiotic lyrics excepted. 'Your Star Will Shine' is quite lovely. 'Begging You' is a nice dancey little number that, unfortunately, suffers from extremely muddy production. 'Tears' is quite cheesy, but there's something compelling about it.

And 'Tightrope' is, in my opinion, almost worth the cost of the album. It's not like much the Stone Roses have done before, but it's lyrically excellent, and has a nice loose feel to it. It would have been nice to hear more in this vein.

The rest of the album is, if not unlistenable, very very generic. Nothing horrible, but nothing beyond your standard middle-of-the-road mid-90s radio pap. With a really really technically proficient guitarist.

So, all in all, there's good stuff here. For a big Stone Roses fan, this is hard-listening, making you wonder what might have been. For a Stone Roses neophyte, this is quite good, so long as you keep in mind that their previous album is the best musical thing this universe has ever seen.

COMING UNDONE!
BREAKING INTO HEAVEN: 5 stars.
DRIVING SOUTH: 2 stars.
TEN STOREY LOVE SONG: 4 stars.
DAYBREAK: 4 stars.
YOUR STAR WILL SHINE: 1 star.
STRAIGHT TO THE MAN: 1 star.
BEGGING YOU: 2 stars.
TIGHTROPE: 1 star.
GOOD TIMES: 1 star (talk about an ironic title).
TEARS: 2 stars.
HOW DO YOU SLEEP: 1 star.
LOVE SPREADS: 4 stars.

Tally 'em up:

28 stars
12 songs

You're more or less looking at a 2 star album. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Crotchety critics complained that this Glaswegian quartet sounded too close to cult Memphis band Big Star for their own or anyone else's good, but Bandwagonesque proved that unapologetic homage can sometimes work. The Fanclub's mesh of yearning, ethereal melody and cranked, feed-backing guitars came together superbly on "The Concept," "Metal Baby," and the thrashing "Star Sign"--mini-blizzards of mellifluousness that yoked Alex Chilton to Crazy Horse and the Ramones. Dismiss "Alcholiday" as "record collection rock" if you must: it doesn't make the track any less sublime. --Barney Hoskyns ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Every music lover should own this
Teenage Fanclub have made a better album than this in the form of Grand Prix but Bandwagonesque is an equally essential purchase. Part self-conscious evocation of sixties' pop, part grunge-inspired guitar fest, Norman Blake, Raymond McGuinley and Gerard Love pointed the way for a host of cross-Atlantic guitar bands with a Lennon/Wilson fixation and a modicum of talent. Alcoholiday, a blaze of criss-cross guitars and heart-breaking lyrics, is one of the finest singles never released, while The Concept, Star Sign and Guiding Star are not far behind. Utterly wonderful.

Get On The Bandwagon
Teenage Fanclub is one of the most underrated bands of the 90's. They are pure power pop and their fuzzy guitars perfectly balance off their exquisite vocal harmonies. "The Concept" opens the album and it is a brilliant song that sets the tone for the album. Lead singer Norman Blake's honey drenched vocals are backed by a fuzz-toned guitar riff and the lyrics are quite sly. Other standout tracks like "Alcoholiday", "Star Sign", "December" and "What You Do To Me" combine the band's Beatles and Big Star influences of slick harmonies, large hooks, crunching guitars and snarky lyrics.

Soundtrack to high school
One of the best records of the 90's. Finally getting around to replacing my long lost worn-out tape. Buy this.

up-beat and fun!
This cd is up-beat, fun, happy, sad, mellow, and energetic all at the same time. They use harmonys on the chorus and the melodies are pop-ish. I love it! It is good to chill out to.

a power pop classic
I just bought this album due to the fact that everyone says it is so great and because it is really cheap. Everyone is right. This record is fantastic. It is full of great songs like The Concept, What You Do To Me, and I Don't Know to name a few. Really if you are into highly melodic music with some distorted guitars I highly recommend purchasing this record. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Listening to Dead Can Dance is a transcendental experience. Enriched with dedications to the living Gaia, their creations subsist in natural and other worldly realms. Initially crafting songs which augmented their Australian roots with Gothic and Renaissance traditions, the group have since grown to encompass a hybrid of global sounds. On Spiritchaser the enchanted souls of founding members Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard shine in this, their most ethereal LP to date. Whereas earlier endeavors succumbed to genres grounded in eras of the past and non-Western present, it's immediately apparent that this album has loftier aspirations. Hypnotically threaded with traditional and electronic instruments, the exorcism of each song touches upon the universal essence beyond. While Gerrard's heavenly vocals are used primarily for instrumental effect, Perry's fertile lyricism both compliments her efforts and expresses the spiritual associations related to the album's title and meaning. Intrinsically delivered with shamanistic connectivity, the sensations ritualize the modern mortal. --Lucas Hilbert ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Black rock
"Spiritchaser" is not as bad as some previous reviewers have said, but it's also a far cry from DCD classics like "Aion" or "Within the realm..". On the other hand, it's difficult to compare this album to the group's prior work, since the band decided to ditch all medieval elements and to steer into a fairly obvious world music sound which especially draws from African folk music. The majestic, menacing edge of earlier efforts has been replaced by a laid-back, somewhat artificial feel and overly mannered arrangements. With voodoo percussion, unintelligible vocals, and environmental noises it would be quite o.k. if only the songwriting wasn't in decline. The tracks often have too few ideas for their length. On "Song of the stars", "Indus", and "Song of the Nile", Brendan and Lisa drone on and on for up to ten minutes on a single track. I just find most of the material here largely unfocused and unmemorable. The only interesting tracks for me are the densely percussive "Nierika" and "The snake and the moon" with some catchy guitar lines. People tend to love world music because it sounds unfamiliar to them, but let me tell you, it's all been done before with more passion and drama, particularly by artists from Peter Gabriel's "Real World" label.

The Unfortunate End
This is supposed to be Dead Can Dance's final work...which is very unfortunate, as "Spiritchaser" sees DCD breaking some amazing new ground here which cries out for further exploration by Perry and Gerrard. On this release, the Mideastern and European tinges fade away, to be replaced with a vibrant focus on Caribbean, Native American, African, and Indian directions that promised so much...had the duo gone on to work with them further. Everything on here is a standout track; there are no duds, really. And the control they exhibit here over their studiocraft is as impeccable as was found on "Aion". That release, this one, and "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun" are the ones to get for starters, but unlike "Within...", this album is so much a fully-composed listening experience that begs to be play from start to finish. It just irritates me no end that this is where DCD decided to call it quits. There seems so much unfinished from the strength of this album...

Indus - My Favorite Song Now
Very relaxing music, almost supernatural. Unlike anything else.

The kind of CD you "experience."
Blending a seamless mix of Native American and African styles of music into their synthetic brew, the final album from Dead Can Dance is also their must fully actualized. Not for casual background listening or mentally agitated states, "Spiritchaser" has filled my days at times when I've needed to sit back (or lay down) and reconnect with life and a more peaceful point of consciousness.

"Spiritchaser" is also a very earthy, sexual CD for me. As the liner notes state, there is a belief that organic instruments, made from living creatures, then contain part of the soul of the creature and make each instrument the voice of the soul from which it was created. That kind of reverence permeates the eight songs on "Spiritchaser," where the sounds and the voices seem to manage to seep into the listener's essence, touching hearts as gently as they touch minds. (Although you have to smile as the song "Indus" gracefully references George Harrison's "Within You Without You.") To close, "Spiritchaser" is the kind of CD you listen to when you wish to have an environment that surrounds and envelops you.

PS. I will heartily recommend this CD to fans of Delerium, Deep Forest and earlier Enigma, even though they are only marginally related.

Not big deal...just noise
YES, the voice of Lisa Gerrard is beautiful BUT can't be appreciated in this boring disc. Some sounds and nice, but the way in which they mixed them.....It's just noise. They tried to make an "ethnic" disc but they failed. I repet by buying this disc.
Luis ... Read more

Amazon.com

In 2000 Oasis wisely dispensed with theatrics and concentrated on being the world's greatest stadium-sized pub-rock band. And so, with just three mammoth video walls in tow, they toured the world. Big as the video screens were, however, the band's straight-ahead rock and Liam Gallagher's mouth were even bigger, and contributed much to the drama, tension, and entertainment of the tour behind Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. Fine examples of both were recorded when they played Wembley Stadium. Musically, Oasis make good on their claims to be the biggest and the best with rocking versions of "Supersonic," "Shakermaker," "Cigarettes & Alcohol," and "Live Forever." As for Liam, Familiar to Millions wouldn't be half the album it is had his inane ramblings, brotherly abuse, and audience taunts been edited out. That's where the real live atmosphere lies--there and in the sound of 70,000 fans singing the choruses of "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back in Anger." --Dan Gennoe ... Read more

Reviews (77)

Hope springs eternal for American rock fans......
I'm biased - Oasis can do very little to disappoint me. That being said, I think any fan of real rock-n-roll, not the garbage that American audiences seem to crave (boy bands, girl bands & mindless hip-hop etc.) will appreciate this live album. The entire band is in fine form. Highlights include Supersonic, Wonderwall, Don't look back in anger, Stand by me & Live Forever plus the seldom heard Step Out and a great cover of Hey Hey, My My. Listening to 70,000 people sing along is absolutely electric - Long Live Oasis

Rock n roll at its finest
Oasis may have lost a lot of their popularity stateside during these times of bubblegum pop (aka Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, etc), but any afficionado (lover, baby) of straightforward in-your-face-rock n roll should include this compilation of live tunes from one of the best rock bands of our time in their collection. There are imperfections in this CD certainly - Liam's off key singing in "Acquiesce" for example, but then thats what a live rock n roll gig is all about. Liam comes through on all other tracks with virtousity. This is a real rock gig at a premier venue (Wembley Stadium) by a real rock band. There first two albums were masterpieces for sure and the last two had their moments as well- this record definitely goes to show that this band is one of the very few keeping the rock n roll flame burning throughout the world. And with the addition of Andy Bell and Gem Archer in their line-up, it also shows that they are a long way from disappearing in the annals of rock history anytime soon(sibling rivalries aside!) Step Out, buy this CD and capture the atmosphere of a good ol rock gig with this CD. Live Forever.

Adnan.

Where are the objective reviews?
I am sorry. I love Oasis' music, own all their albums, but this live recording just sounds terrible. Liam's voice is really rough (too much smoking & drinking?) and he sounds half asleep/drunk on many of the tracks. I really like the new band members and Heathen Chemistry was just awesome, but they sound really new and not that great yet live on this recording. They should really release some live recordings from years ago - How about the Knebworth show? Oasis should take a lesson from U2 - They still sound great live after 20+ years in the business. Hopefully Liam will work on his voice and stay off the booze for shows in the future...

Great Live Album
This is, without a doubt, the best live album in the past ten years along with Nirvana Unplugged. This is in the midst of the changes Oasis were going through, of the heels of their heavily criticized Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants album, the replacement of rhythm guitarist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs and bass player Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan with Gem Archer and Andy Bell, and the gradual change of Liam's voice.
The band begins with F**king in the Bushes. There's not much to be said for this because it sounds a lot like the album version, and follows in the tradition of Oasis starting a show with an instrumental. They follow with two more songs from Standing On The Shoulder of Giants (the poppy Go Let It Out and the psychadelic Who Feels Love), befopre launching into Supersonic, a fan favourite from 1994, and follow it up with Shakermaker, which is usually a tedious song, but it is done quite well here (I also see the songwriter credits have been changed to comply with the whole New Seekers thing). Then comes the ultimate Oasis live favourite Acquiesce (amazingly a B-Side). Finally Noel gets a go at singing with Step Out which was left of Morning Glory because of legal problems with Stevie Wonder. Gas Panic follows. This is the best song of Giants, and is chilling here. Roll With It comes next which average on Morning Glory and average here. Then comes the only song from Be Here Now, Stand By Me , which is done nicely here, but let down by Liam's husky voice.
An amazing electric version of their masterpiece, Wonderwall introduces us to Disc 2, and follows with the rocker Cigarettes & Alcohol. Noel sings again on a good version of Don't Look Back In Anger, continuing onto the live favourite Live Forever. A cover of Neil Young's Hey Hey My My comes next, but then the concert is let down for 6 minutes with 'Champagne Supernova which I think shouldn't ever be performed live. The 'last one', the stellar Rock & Roll is followed, and the album closes with a separately recorded cover of the Beatles classic Helter Skelter.
All in all, this is a great live album.

An Amazing 2nd CD......
But the first one, not so much. The 2nd CD is just brilliant, the only song that doesn't blow my mind is Rock n' Roll star, and I don't hate that song at all. Oasis does amazing covers of "Hey,Hey,My,My" and "Helter Skelter" as well as amazing version of Wonderwall, Live Forever and Don't Look Back in Anger. Unfourtanatly there wasn't a single song on the first CD worth listening too. So as great as the 2nd CD is, the package falls short. ... Read more