1. Focus 9/New Skin - Focus:
2. Under The Iron Sea - Keane: We're all keen on Keane in our family. We boys like guitar bands but this is a trio with no guitarists and a brilliant singer in Tom Chaplin. Second albums are notoriously difficult (the first was a phenomenon) but this is great - 11 tracks, 3-6 minutes each, not a dud in sight. The lyrics are interesting enough, mostly on ups and downs in human relationships and with atmospheric arrangements a la U2 a 'sinister fairytale-world-gone-wrong' feel is everywhere. It's also Beatlesque ('A bad dream' is quite Lennonish). Gutsy but tuneful 'Is it any wonder?' and 'Crystal Ball' (I lost my heart, I buried it too deep, under the iron sea) were early singles. Other standouts are (musically) upbeat 'Put it behind you' & 'Broken Toy' and the more doleful 'Hamburg song' & 'Try again' (my favourites). 'Frog prince' at the end is whistful and winning. Those who think 'they don't make 'em like they used to' should hear this well-crafted pop album.
3. Love - The Beatles: Strictly for fans this one is limited in appeal. I don't need to say much about it except that the job is pretty well done, full of interest and best heard on headphones. Some tracks fail - why bother playing a track backwards or sticking guitar from elsewhere in front of a straight version of Yesterday? Others work well, eg the clever Get Back/Word, etc combination and the revelatory While my guitar gently weeps. They've been pretty conservative. Why not a verse of German on I wanna hold your hand? Sorry not to hear Lennon's 'India, India' here too.
A great discovery of my teens was Dutch band Focus. The predominance of instrumental numbers was a factor - as a young Christian I wanted to avoid certain lyrics. Thijs van Leer was one half of the genius, drummer Pierre van der Linden no small part of it. Here they carry on the tradition with help from guitarist Niels Van Der Steenhoven. The result is 14 varied tracks often breathtaking in skill and panache, sometimes strangely weird. There are slightly too many nods to the past for me but it's a fine album. Perhaps 'Curtain call' is my fave. I got mine on i-tunes and haven't seen the CD in a shop. Their loss. To hear some check out the Focus website.
2. Under The Iron Sea - Keane: We're all keen on Keane in our family. We boys like guitar bands but this is a trio with no guitarists and a brilliant singer in Tom Chaplin. Second albums are notoriously difficult (the first was a phenomenon) but this is great - 11 tracks, 3-6 minutes each, not a dud in sight. The lyrics are interesting enough, mostly on ups and downs in human relationships and with atmospheric arrangements a la U2 a 'sinister fairytale-world-gone-wrong' feel is everywhere. It's also Beatlesque ('A bad dream' is quite Lennonish). Gutsy but tuneful 'Is it any wonder?' and 'Crystal Ball' (I lost my heart, I buried it too deep, under the iron sea) were early singles. Other standouts are (musically) upbeat 'Put it behind you' & 'Broken Toy' and the more doleful 'Hamburg song' & 'Try again' (my favourites). 'Frog prince' at the end is whistful and winning. Those who think 'they don't make 'em like they used to' should hear this well-crafted pop album.
3. Love - The Beatles: Strictly for fans this one is limited in appeal. I don't need to say much about it except that the job is pretty well done, full of interest and best heard on headphones. Some tracks fail - why bother playing a track backwards or sticking guitar from elsewhere in front of a straight version of Yesterday? Others work well, eg the clever Get Back/Word, etc combination and the revelatory While my guitar gently weeps. They've been pretty conservative. Why not a verse of German on I wanna hold your hand? Sorry not to hear Lennon's 'India, India' here too.
2 comments:
Good to see Keane in your top 3.
My choices for 2006 would be:
1. Snow Patrol Eyes Open
2. Keane Under the Iron Sea
3. Feeder The Singles
Yes, I haven't got into Snow Patrol for some reason.
Post a Comment