This album meant (and still means) a lot to me.
For the majority of the people (especially here in the States) this band is the one behind the "Life In A Northern Town" big hit of the 80's, but for me this is like a precious stone carved in my heart (you can picture me now with a tear coming down my eye...)
When the popular (but always beautiful) "Life In..." is over, a keyboard introduces "The Edge of Forever", singer/guitarist/lyricist/composer Nick Laird-Clowes starts singing "When you were young did you ever loved somebody like i love you know..." over a poignant melody that explodes in the heartbreaking chorus. "New Light" has a gallopping rhythm with 12 strings guitar and angelic vocal harmonies courtesy of sax/oboe player Kate St.John; "In Places On The Run" still amazes me everytime with its twilight atmosphere, like it was recorded somewhere in a distant planet, or star ("I suppose we were somewhere in the sun..."); side one of the original vinyl ended with "This World", one of the most politically themed pieces on the record with a message of hope that radiates from an unforgettable tune.
When "Bound To Be" begins you feel the urgency of the song thanks to the cello/guitar/synthesizer acrobatic interplay; then, sit down, relax because the magnificent "Moving On" comes gently into your life - guitar, creamy bass, the smoothest drums you've ever heard, organ, piano - with Nick that sings "when you realized you've lost that face..." and you can actually hear him breathing with sorrow through the mic before the saxophone takes you home in the last phenomenal instrumental two minutes that crown this as one of the highest moment in 80's pop music.
"The Love Parade", the second single back then, is an instantly catchy song with a coda that reprises "Me & Mrs Jones" in a very creative way; "The Party" features R.E.M. Peter Buck on guitar and is a mesmerizing tune on the joys and pains of love and jealousy scored with string arrangement fading into the last song - "One Dream" - only vocals, acoustic guitar, sax and upright bass for a short masterpiece that ends what for me is "the" perfect album, a treasure that made me love music over everything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment