5 comments about Pink Flag.

1. The Sex Pistols came right from 60's and 70's avant-garde confrontational theatre (not that Sid Vicious would understand any of that). Wire represents a co-opting of agi-punk with semi-abstract minimalist lyrics combined with great hooks and maximum overdrive distortion creating at times this enormous wall of pulsating sound. The songs are short aka Minuteman, JFA etc short -- really an album that defined an anti-thesis to progressive rocks worst traits, the endless gratuitous noodling. Many bands would take this formula and run with it. Wire's next albums would further reveal their underlying art school inspiration, abandoning the visceral sound of this album for a cooler, more "studio" sound, which in itself would be just as influential as this essential album.



2. So this may be the album that initiated the band's success; it may be unique (in face value); it may have interesting art and a unique description of the band, but that's just about it.
   
   Most of the songs go from under a minute to under 3, which is good because most just aren't interesting enough to go on longer. The lyrics are not thoughtful, just dull punk-ish nonsense you would expect from any other band. For a group of people who had at the time little experience with instruments the music is good, but even still not wonderful or unique in any way.
   
   This album gives a few moments of 'huh, that's neat', but offers little else. The band's music really doesn't get interesting until 'Chairs Missing'; the first Wire song I ever heard was 'I am the fly', which gave me big expectations for the rest of their earliest work, but to be honest if I had first heard anything from this album I probably wouldn't have bothered to hear more (except maybe for the tracks 'Reuters' or 'Pink Flag').
   
   I don't mean to be a prick, but it seems the biggest fans of this album are the people who hate everything the band, along with all solo projects, did after the year 1980, and that's a stretch. This album separates the punk fans from actual Wire fans.
   
   I do listen to selections from this album occasionally, but I'd choose anything else from their catalogue over this. I think the best thing that came from this album would be the 'Twelve Times You' experimental record they made just a few years ago. And why 'Dot Dash', a really catchy, well-composed song, doesn't appear on the album is a real shame (though it is on earlier remasters, which are better worth getting).



3. Every decade sees thousands of albums released, each barely making its mark in the world. But there are those albums that are so revolutionary, filled with an urgency and a potency to shatter our preconceived notions of music, that they deserve attention. Dangerous is not Judas Priest, NWA, Slayer, or any rap album from the last fifteen years. Those artists and albums were simply selling an image. In this sense, dangerous refers to that music which punctured and tore the musical zeitgeist. And so begins our list, beginning with entry number one:
   
   Pink Flag - Wire
   
   1977 saw the birth of punk, and with it the death of standard rock and roll as it had been known up until that year. Seminal bands emerged and used punk as a method of shattering all the fat and excess from rock and roll, a purification of an over-sexed and commercialized sound. Thus, punk presented rock and roll in its simplest form: three chords, verse-chorus-verse.
   
   But an English quartet would quickly and radically change punk in 1977. The band? Wire.
   
   The songs contained within their debut album, Pink Flag, stripped punk down to its core essential. If a verse were not needed, Wire would discard it. If that additional chord did not need to be strummed, Wire would not strum it. If a song only need be twenty eight seconds long, Wire would only play the song for twenty eight seconds. Most songs clock in at under two minutes, filled with an urgency that not even the newest punk band could match. This is the sound of punk's bare bones.
   
   With this album, Wire grabbed punk by the throat and held it at the edge of the musical precipice, threatening to destroy punk while showing all that it was and could ever be.
   
   (nine more entries to follow)



4. Everyone's heard of the Iggy Pop, The Clash, Ramones, Damned and Sex Pistols, but many of you have probably not heard of Wire. I was very into the punk scene in the 1970s and I loved it all back then. But of all the punk albums that came out between 1976 and 1980, Wire's "Pink Flag" (1977) holds up best for me 30 years on. This album is very raw with a minimum of production, but with some key elements of production here and there. It's been referred to elsewhere as minimalist and taking a deconstructive approach to rock music. Both are true, and Wire does it with intelligence on "Pink Flag". I think they set a standard for what can be done with a few chords that no one else has achieved. The lyrics on "Pink Flag" are mostly imaginative and timeless, certainly better than most of what was written back then. If I had to recommend a few albums that best represent the era, I would include this one. This re-mastered version of "Pink Flag" sounds every bit as good on CD as my original-pressing vinyl LP, maybe even better. I highly recommend it.



5. A great recording. Song after song careen past in a glorious rush. Some of the tracks may seem at first like undeveloped sketches but further listening demonstrates that in most cases the music is memorable even without the repetition and structure most ears have come to expect -- it simply requires a bit more concentration. And Wire is full of ideas and display quite a range. I feel the term "British punk" is far too simplistic for this debut album. The songs on this album range from slow, haunting texture excercises, warped power pop, punk anthems, proto-hardcore rants -- and you must BLAST the volume when the title track comes on (do this while driving and you're in rock ecstasy.)

5 comments about The Very Best of Elvis Costello.

1. 42 tracks includes most of EC's greatest songs. If you do not own any EC cds start with this one. The old stuff is better but someone this prolific may still produce some gems, this double cd gives you a standard with which to measure the new stuff. Mr Costello has a very tough act to follow.



2. I don't like reviewing music as it's more often than not a matter of taste. "watching the detectives is one of my all time favs. Great reggae rythem and great lyrics" A handful of other songs are ok but it's a 2 CD set and not cheap and boy oh boy do I wish I had just bought the original CD with "W.T.Detectives" The hand full of (small baby hands) will be ripped to PC & the rest can gather dust on a shelf. Yawn!



3. While virtually impossible to come up with a "Best of" collection that will satisfy everyone, this compilation comes about as close as you can get. Pair this up with the 2-disc Armed Forces (E's best...IMO) and you'll be all set for a two hour tour-de-force through the catalog of a true 'Man Out of Time'.



4. The RE-Mastering on this "Best of" is terrible. The sound is blown out and distorted. If SOUND QUALITY is an issue for you then don't buy this album.



5. This I believe is the most complete hits collection of Costello's work to date. It's great in quantity (42 songs), and the selection is almost inarguable...and yet it's still imperfect. The problem with any Elvis compilation is that while he performed perhaps only ten or so truly great songs, there are at least 50 very good ones that could be included in a "best of" set. Why not "Welcome to the Working Week," "My Mood Swings," or even a few more Warner Brothers tracks like "Clown Strike"? They're at least as fun as "My Funny Valentine," a marginal cover of an already exhausted classic.
   
   I do appreciate the arrangement, though. The rolling mood is a nice break from the common chronological order of hits albums. And the older tracks seem to have been cleaned up and equalized well, considering how badly most magnetically recorded stuff sounds 20 years later. For a great selection of Elvis's finest, this is the best to date, though I feel the ultimate collection is down the road when higher density discs can store more data.

5 comments about Elastica.

1. Elastica was considered a britpop band, but miles ahead of junk like Oasis and Blur. Elastica won't change your life, nor is it a groundbreaking record. But the almost all-girl band plays a great blend of catchy, edgy, pop rock with a hard edge to it.
   
   Justine Frischmann and Donna Matthews add the right vocals, and they never sound as forced as that annoying Kathleen Hannah and Courtney Love, who, when trying to do rock, fail miserably. I really don't know how the band is able to put a metallic edge and sing pop vocals on top, but they do it. A couple of complaints would be the very bland choruses/harmonies (the horrible S.O.F.T. is full of them) that can pop out from time to time, but there's less of that. You'll want to sing along.
   
   The band themselves can rock out for the best of them. Once again, it's amazing how they can have hard rock and pop vocals on top, but it happened. It's the chemistry, probably. The guitar riffs are tasty pretty much, but the bass and drums really have their chances to shine, or at least display a stellar use of addictive, dancable goodness. And those bass tones are thick and hearty, you could ________ eat that gun-up on Line Up. Metallic pop-punk-rock has never sound so good.
   
   Elastica were often accused of being a rip off of the band Wire (they were sued by the band), but Elastica has enough twists to be there own. Then again, I've never heard Wire, so what do I care? Elastica is a bit deriative (The Indian Song=The Beatles influence), but a good pop song is a good pop song, and Elastica deliver plenty of them.
   
   7/10



2. OK, I've always loved this album, but it too went missing...then I thought, oh jeez, this album is 13 years old!!! I recently got the 4CD "Brit Box", and "Stutter" is on it, Elastica's representation...and it still retained its snap, crackle & pop...but I had the urge to hear "Connection" again, and the whole album really...I wanted to see if it still held up...I just found a good used copy, so I bought it, popped it on, and it all came flooding back.
   
   Really effing great, and the type of lightning-in-a-bottle magic, where everything came together...songwise, stylewise, hitwise (this album had like 6 hit singles??!!??), just once...then the Stone Roses curse set in, where they couldn't follow it up perfectly and much too late, 2001's "The Menace", while decent and even enjoyable, but Justine and co's moment had come and gone...the Roses were delayed by a record company lawsuit...Elastica were delayed by Justine's perfectionism, and bandmembers defecting.
   
   Now that the air is cleared up, and this album entered the realm of nostagia, I recall that while on Geffen and Infectious UK (I think that's their indie label in Britain??), they released a TON of B-sides and BBC sessions. Now that Geffen and Universal releases these 2CD deluxe packages...there's one out shortly on Beck's groundbreaking "Odelay", and there were 3 on Sonic Youth...it would be a GREAT idea (hint hint) for the label to reissue this landmark album, remastered and freshened up for this generation as well as 90s kids and 70s/80s punk/new wave kids...with ALL their great B-sides and more in one tidy, compact place...dontcha think??? Maybe include some songs that were scrapped and intended for a possible Geffen followup????
   
   Just a thought...loving this album all over again...oh joy!!!



3. i had this cd years ago...and somewhere along the way it went missing so i had to have a replacement. Now that i listen to it again, i remember why it was so great. there are so many bands out there now (yes, that i can admit that i enjoy) that have a similar sounds (a la the sounds). enjoyable, fun, and a classic



4. I've been trying this experiment lately. It all started when I heard a song on an episode of [...] As Folk that I absolutely loved and played endlessly. Suddenly, I was swept up in nostalgia, and I was recalling my Sophomore year of university in waves and waves of emotions, sounds and smells and memories that I didn't even know I had. So, I went further into this experiment and began dragging out old mixes and albums.
   
   Here I found Elastica. Sigh. I was about 13, it was my Freshman year of high school. There was this girl on the bus that I knew because we had been riding the same route for a few years. One day, I hear her humming "Car Lover" and I began singing along to it. We became fast friends.
   
   This is playing in my car right now. "Stutter", "Hold Me Now", "Annie", and of course "Hold Me Now" neatly sum up this album for me. I recommended it highly.



5. Short, catchy tunes decorated with excellent harmonies, solid drumming, and sophisticated arrangements. The lyrics lament, attack, and celebrate various relationships and, more importantly (or in the case of Stutter, impotently) SEX. Three people who can play their guitars and create lovely harmonies and counterpoint among them. Two guitarists who play on and around the beat. Lots and lots of energy. A bassist who knows how to properly employ the almighty hook. Wonderful energetic british rock.

5 comments about Like You Do...Best of the Lightning Seeds.

1. This work is pure and simple all the time. All the songs make sense too.



2. It can't be done, unless you hate all the elements which make up a good pop record. Ian Broudie and his band created music that sinks into your brain and leaves a mark like a barrel of wine spilled on a white shag carpet. 'Life of Riley' should be distilled and marketed under the brand name Catchy Cola, coming in a very close second after 'Three Lions', a song so melodic it forced me to love it in spite of not caring a tinkers' cuss about Football, American and British definitions of the word included. Not to say the 'Seeds do not have their introspective side! 'Waiting For Today to Happen' is somewhat fatalistic and bleak, a fact that will escape almost everyone until they get past the beautiful music long enough to reflect upon the lyrics. If you're looking for something to validate your drearily held belief that life is Misery and no mortal has ever suffered the misunderstandings the Clods and Philistines have thrust upon your sensitive soul, keep looking. This CD is for people who are happiest when they're happy.



3. This compilation has the famous songs (Pure, All I want, You showed me, Sense...) and others less famous. Great music from the British group!



4. The lightning seeds are a great band. Their songs can best be described as airy and light, makes you feel all fluffy, soft and warm inside. I love this band. When I have a hard time choosing something to listen to I just pop in the lightning seeds and it makes my day. I absolutely adore the lead singer's voice as well. They're simple and kind of popish, but they're a joy to listen to. Highly recommended.



5. The Lightning Seeds is one of my favourite bands... And this album just proves why. Like You Do is a collection of britpop at it's best. If you are wondering what The Seeds are about, this is the perfect album to start off with. One spin and I garuntee you'll be hooked - and no doubt will this album make you wonder what is wrong with "pop" nowadays. This album is truly timeless. I can still listen to it after 8 years and the songs just don't sound dated at all. It's just a shame that The Seeds are no more. Give your senses a treat and get this album. You won't be disappointed!

4 comments about Reasons to Be Cheerful: The Very Best of Ian Dury & the Blockheads.

1. This is a very good collection, good eclectic music, I own the LPs for some of the content but loading the CD into iTunes was much simpler than recording from the LP, and I really wanted the music in my library. Enjoy!



2. Ian Dury was a very popular item when i still lived in London over 20yrs ago. He half-talks his way through songs, backed by a hot funky-type band (with sax)So you get to hear the reasoning from his BIG deep wise heart, cynacism and the humour cockneys are re-known for. American's may find a poetry of its own in the distinctive cockney dialect.This man went through a crucible at one time as he was crippled by polio as a child (though not in a wheel-chair.) As quoted on the album, he was once asked if he felt he had missed out on life being a cripple. "Only a few buses" he said.Powerful music and not commercialised in the least.



3. This is the Ian Dury compilation to buy if you haven't got all the original albums. All the brilliant singles are here, along with the best of the album tracks together with some wonderful bonus material (such as the Kilburn & the High Roads stuff).
   
   Dury was a marvellously witty and perceptive lyric writer, and whilst his distinctive cockney drawl was hardly a great singing voice, it marked him as someone who was doing something completely different from everybody else. The Blockheads of course were also a great band, and again this marked Ian Dury out from the rest of the punk/new wave movement.
   
   This is a fabulous complilation, and at the moment its very cheap for a double CD. It'll cost you more to download all these tracks (legally that is!).



4. Blending elements of sly English music-hall badinage, Noel Coward wit and wordplay, warm jazz, and disco rhythms into a genre entirely and irresistibly his own, veteran 1970s pub-rocker Ian Dury was the most endearing musician to ever charm his way straight through your funny bone - and into your heart. Whether singing of the public embarrassment resulting from his youthful theft of a men's stroke magazine from a newsagent ("Razzle in My Pocket [A True Story]"), the demands of a morning hard-on ("Wake Up and Make Love With Me"), and the comic possibilities lurking just beneath the surface of history's creative geniuses ("There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards"), or rapping his way through the infectious dance beats of "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3," Dury had an unerring sense that not only could being naughty be great good fun, as well as an opportunity for verbal ingenuity - it could also get you on your feet and moving when enlisted with just the right dash of insouciant style. Favorite lyrics (from "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3"): "`Einshtein' can't be classed as witless/He said atoms are the littlest/When you do the bit o' split'liss/You frighten everybody shitless...There ain't half been some clever bastards (Chorus: "Lucky Peters, Lucky Peters")/There ain't half been some clever bas-tards...`Van Goff' did some eyeball pleazahs/He musta bean a pencil squeezah/He didn't do the Mona Leezhah/That was an Italian geezah!...There ain't half been some clever bastards..." I envy the uninitiated - you're about to wonder where Ian and his Blockheads have been all your life, while discovering your own latest "Reason to Be Cheerful (Pt. 3)." "Clever bastards," indeed!

5 comments about The Last Broadcast.

1. I was introduced to Doves with this album so maybe I'm biased, but this is not only Doves best album (as of June 2008) but also one of the best albums of the early 2000s. A mix of Pink Floyd and Coldplay is the best way I describe it to friends. Just great music.



2. I personally love this album. The faster tracks have good energy, and the slower ones are where sad meets psychedelic. this whole album just has a great feel to it. It has songs you can jam to and songs that take your mind elswhere. Overall, I recommend it.



3. To me this is their best album so far ( 2007). It's absolutely incredible. After falling head over heel for this one I bought their other albums and although they're good they don't match the quality of this one, for me. This is a perfect album, no dud and plenty of full force space rock. The vocals are amazing and the sound is grandiose. I'll be enjoying this one for years.



4. A great album from a band that hasn't even begun to hit their stride! If I were to make a list of the cd's that I would take with me to a deserted island, this cd would be near the top.



5. Dull and uninspiring, listening to this CD I couldn't see what distinguished the Doves from the other insipid sound-a-like bands that plague the modern music scene. If you like The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers then be grateful that they've saved rock music from boring dross like this!

5 comments about Crash.

1. This is one of my all-time favorite movies and the soundtrack is just as good. I can listen to this no matter what mood I'm in and it will make me feel better.



2. After watching the movie "Crash", I told someone I didn't know which was better--the movie or the soundtrack. Very haunting and very moving music. Perfect background for the movie. Has jumped into my Top Ten list of CD's that I love to listen to. Has a great "New Age" feel to it.



3. I was disappointed. At the time of my purchase, my opinion was in the minority, but... This CD just doesn't do it.



4. ...to a great movie. It's not as good as his soundtrack to "Afterglow" but a nice listen nonetheless. Without the great band members like Gary Burton & Charles Lloyd what can one expect?



5. Mark Isham is quickly becoming one of my favorite composers. His work on the indie film "The Cooler" introduced me to his talents and I enjoyed what I heard. It wasn't until "Crash" did I really start taking notice of his work. Mark's work on "Crash" is a mix of ambient and classical with a glimmer of Middle Eastern (like on the song "Flames"). A lot of film composers have a terrible habit of creating loud, bombastic music that simply overwhelms the film and the person watching the film. Mark avoids the bombastic trappings of Hans Zimmer and John Williams by creating a more lush, haunting, minimal score that will leave a profound, moving effect on the filmgoer. One of the best songs on the album is "Flames" a gorgeous Middle Eastern-influenced track with ethereal female vocals that reminded me of Azam Ali and Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance. My other favorite song on the cd is "In the Deep" by Bird York. The song is a lovely folk/pop/jazz song that captures the emotional turmoil that occurs through out the film. I wasn't too wild about The Stereophonics track. It kinda killed the intimate sound Mark Isham created. At least Bird York's song had that same lush, intimate, atmospheric sound. While "Crash" wasn't perfect by all means, the music itself is perfect in every sense of the word at least to me it is. Too bad I can't say the same for his recent work for "The Black Dahlia".

5 comments about Victorialand.

1. Short album which continues to articulate that singular Cocteau aesthetic, composed between the shimmering guitars and ethereal female vocals found lingering throughout. Opening with some of their most obvious beauty, it becomes noticeable somewhere through the middle of this album that the haunting melodic sense which usually provides staggering counterpoint to this vocalist seems underdeveloped, sometimes taking their minimal approach down a partially mechanical route, but nearly everything becomes salvaged with exceptional production values for the time highlighting the many facets to this diamond-like music. In the final few songs, the Twins again justify another album experience with greater consuming dynamics, making Victorialand yet another snap-shot of a sound long lost.



2. The Cocteau Twins were one of those bands that I had heard of but never really took the time to check out their music. The first time I heard them was on a CMJ compilation cd ten years ago. It was not until last year when I bought the remastered version of "Treasure" and "Stars and Topsoil" did I find myself under the spell of The Cocteau Twins. I recently picked up "Victorialand" this week. Like "Treasure", "Victorialand" is candy for the ears. The cd is only 32 minutes long which is the only flaw I found with the album. The album begins with the dreamy soundscape of "Lazy Calm", probably my very favorite track on the album. From there the music just flows smoothly with Elizabeth Fraser's fragile vocals. Another personal favorite is "Little Spacey". I just love Robin Guthrie's guitar playing on this particular song. His intricate guitar playing complements Elizabeth's unique vocals. I found myself entranced with the ethereal melodies. "Victorialand" is a great album to to pick for people who just started getting into the Cocteau Twins' music such as myself. The production is absolutely pristine and the music is enchanting.



3. I purchased the Remaster Victorialand a few months ago. I'll other people praise this album, I'll agree with any review. I writting this if you are a Cocteau Twins fan. If you have a early release of Victorialand and love it as I do. YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS ALBUM REMASTERED!!!! As an audiophile I compared this CD with earlier releases. This release is like High Def audio the recording is much cleaner and articulate. This album is the most played in my music collection but I haven't listen to it in awhile. But after listening to this release I am about to catch a second wind here. It is very enjoyable even a compressed media format, which sounds better than the earlier CD releases of Victorialand. I now on a mission to buy all Cocteau Twins remastered releases. Joy, pure joy. This release is as good as the Vinyl release. Buy it you won't be disapointed.



4. "Victorialand"is touched by the voice of angels. It fabricates a deeply emotional affect on the esoteric inner depths of ones soul and engenders a feeling of spirituality unknown to this world of existence. The listener is transcended into a realm of tranquility and a state of higher consciousness that many fail to achieve. This CD is beyond measure and the meaningless vocabulary of being called a masterpiece or astonishing. It simply is as air is to water; day is to night. It is life!



5. This is among the Cocteau Twins most beautiful and intimate records, and is unlike anything they or anyone else ever did. Working almost entirely without percussion, Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser surpassed themselves in imagining songs and settings which somehow evoke whatever in you, the listener, is most reserved and magical, the world you keep hidden even from yourself most of the time. If you don't want to get to that place, then this record isn't for you, but otherwise it is essential. In my collection of over 3000 recordings in all kinds of genres, this record has a permanent place in the top ten.
   For whatever reason, the previous CD reissues of this, on Relativity and Capitol, never sounded as good as the original 45 RPM LP on 4AD. The Capitol was better than the Relativity, but still lacked the LP's warmth and detail. Now it's finally been done right and you can hear it as it should be heard.

5 comments about Greatest Stiffs.

1. Wreckless Eric at his very best. This cd contains all his hits, if you are looking for something alternative to the mainstream stuff of the 80's then try Wreckless Eric.



2. I would like to give this CD 5 stars (lets face it there were so many better records made at the time that are simply classic), but I always remember Wreckless Eric with fond memories. In the late 70's, I found a brown vinyl 10" EP burried in the back of my local record store on Main Street (remember those things?). I discovered Wreckless Eric, finding his vocals and music facinating. I subsequently bought all the vinyl released by him and just recently while filling my new Zune, I decided I had to add him. Eric created a raw, pub room pop that I could just envision at a local pub in seedy inter-city section of England in 1979. I know Wreckless Eric could never have been a top of the charts kind of artist, but for a raw pop sound that is just down right great to listen to, the late Wreckless one is worth spending a couple of bucks.



3. Coupla good songs - the rest is beneath mediocre. Should be a one-star album, but raised a notch based on the label's sense of humor....."greatest stiffs" indeed.
   
   The two good songs on this compilation can be found on much better punk-era various artists collections.



4. 2 okay songs and the rest is garbage.
   
   whole wide world, cherie and the rest
   
   
   He was famous b/c he was with "Stiff", was one of the first new wave guys, and had a drunk, doofus persona.
   
   This is not an artist for any type of serious consideration.



5. brains wit humor personality soul. great tunes. the very best of wreckless eric. what are you waiting for?

5 comments about The Verve EP.

1. REMINDS ME OF PINK FLOYD'S UMMAGUMMA AND ATOM HEART MOTHER (ONLY THE SPACY SECTIONS)
   
   Released in 1992, this is the Verve's first significant release. It is an EP and is only 30 minutes long (I generally knock down EP's by a star, because they aren't good values).
   
   This is churning guitar driven space rock. It reminds of the spacier parts of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother. However it has more of an ambient sound.
   
   The music here is a lot like the Verve's first full length album, A Storm in Heaven (although that one is more along the lines of Pink Floyd's More).
   
   The only real problem with this EP is that it is not very distinctive and sounds a lot like A Storm In Heaven. I played this CD right after A Storm In Heaven, and thought that I accidently played the same CD twice. I had to back and check the CD's and the song titles to see that they were actually different. That is why I only give this 3 stars. It is short and not essential. You could get A Storm in Heaven and have a lot more of the same.
   
   The Verve (not to be confused with Verve Pipe) lasted about 6 years. They put out 3 full length CD's and a ton of EP's. I have a CD compilation where the band was going accoustic and singing actual songs! It is not very good.
   
   YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK OUT FRANCIS MONKMAN, JAM. THE MUSIC IS SIMILAR, ONLY A LITTLE HARDER (AND I THINK A LITTLE BETTER).



2. Assuming you have Storm in Heaven and/or Urban Hymns - you NEED this album. The excerpts do not do justice to this EP-that-feels-epic. Storm in Heaven was very atmospheric, dreamy... but 4 out of the 5 songs here - except A Man Called Sun - BUILD UP.
   
   Gravity Grave, She's a Superstar, Endless Life, and Feel are simply amazing songs created by the band and produced by Barry Clempson. (It has an autumn-feel to it.)
   
   In short, at a little over 30 minutes this EP is never tiresome to listen to every year.



3. Verve were one of the most overlooked bands of the enitre decade. America only took notice of the wigan quartet when they would go on to release their Bitter Sweet Symphony single and album Urban Hymns. In that time Verve amassed a catalogue that in my opinion, is the greatest of all time. There's no other artist in history that matters or means as much as Verve. This EP is a great start, in fact I would advise any newcomers to the band to start right here and progress forward, because each album in their discography exudues self awareness and confidence in changing sounds and you would be better off starting at the beginning.
   
   Here's what you'll get in alll
   
   Gravity Grave - It's an epic recodring, with the trance-like bassline that Simon Jones gets into its clearly a danceable song. Nick Mccabe brings in the brilliant use of his guitar to full effect, with delay and reverb in tow. The overall sound of the guitarwork is incredible, i can't imagine a better guiotar player ever in history then Nick Mccabe. Also, the lyrics are just heavenly, "to me you're like a setting sun, you rise then you're gone." Richard Ashcroft again dazzles me with his vocals which are insanely perfect.
   
   A Man Called Sun - Another brilliant track, this song is a clear example of the brilliant work that Nick Mccabe can do with a minimalistic approach. Richard Ashcroft sings with a silenced voice, he does that a lot on earlier Verve recording such as this and A Storm In Heaven, it adds to the atmosphere.
   
   She's a Superstar - This is pure cosmic bliss. In a perfect world people would have been listening to this slow, surreal ballad instead of the grunge rock music. This is a gorgeous song full of beauty in shiny guitars and again vocals that are just epic. This isn't just a record, its already a classic, beating out anything before it and anything afterward.
   
   Endless Life - A beautiful atmospheric tone introduces the song and takes you into a meditative state. The song gradually builds up to a climax and Verve are taking us for one wild journey. Rochard Ashcroft is singing very muted almost, but it adds once again to the aurreal effect, like it's happening before you and you're a part of it all.
   
   Feel - The closing song is over 10 minutes in length, and incredible song in it's own right. The beautiful shimmer of Nick Mccabes gutiar work still clearly evident. Also the brilliant use of the id section where a funnel of feedback is sed to introduce the end, it just shows how experiemtnal this band was in their make- up.
   
   Clearly put, the greatest EP release ever and a classic none can top, this is except for Verve.



4. "A Man Called Sun" may be the best produced song ever. Previously "Riders On The Storm" by The Doors got my vote, but this song is just about perfect.



5. I love the last two songs ENDLESS LIFE and FEEL. Lyrics didnt really mean a thing to Verve at this time. They were just used as another instrument to compliment the atmosphere of the music. Using pauses, drawing out words flow like the guitar. I really like the drumming on FEEL, it has a hypnotic quality that draws you in and keeps your head bobbing. the song is 10 and half minutes long but it goes by fast. A MAN CALLED SUN is very spooky and very good.