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the_eggwhiteI'm continuing my great music listen through whilst getting set up to get some work done from home... I'll be keeping some notes as I go, but not to the extent I do when I'm not working. I won't be doing track by track notes, just impressions of the whole CD. It'll also be written a bit at a time, when I take a break from work, then compiled into a single post (the rest of this post, in fact). It may be a bit "bitty" to read as a result. I'll post what I have every now and then.
Alabama 3 - La Peste
This is the album which got me into Alabama 3, and I still think of it as a highpoint for them. Whilst I've quite liked some of their later stuff, I've not liked it enough to buy it myself. This doesn't have quite as strong an overall theme as "Exile..." but I just find the songs are of a more memorable quality. Slightly more bluesy, and with the basslines actually doing a bit more for the songs. Which is all good.
The highpoint for me on this album is the first half - pretty much all of the first five songs are just excellent, and the quality doesn't drop much for the rest of it. The Hotel California cover is a bit of a speedbump to me - it's not bad, but I just don't think it quite fits on the album. After that, things are still good, but not quite as good as the first half.
Verdict: Keep.
All About Eve - All About Eve
I've always liked All About Eve, and they're a band who've always had some not-entirely-unpleasant associations for me, which helps a bit as well. This particular album (their first studio album) has some of my favourite songs on it... but it also has some other stuff which I can take or leave. I've always found that Julianne Regan's voice just stands out above most other singers, though, so even the weaker songs are pretty damned awesome.
It's easy to focus on Julianne Regan (particularly if you were a teenage fan in the late 80s & early 90s and appreciate the slightly-hippyish goth look), but it's a good idea to pay attention to the rest of the band too. There's some pretty mighty guitar work around too.
Some of the other songs on this album strike me as a little twee (Stand up and take a bow, "Gypsy Dance", you've earned it) but they're more than made up for by some of the highpoints ("Flowers in our hair", "Every Angel", "Wild Hearted Woman", "What Kind of Fool", etc...). Then there's "Martha's Harbour", which is a fantastic song, if not exactly bright and cheery. It even got some airplay and did well in the charts (yes, good music used to occasionally be recognised in the charts, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth).
Also, for an album from 1988, it's pretty long.
Verdict: Keep.
All About Eve - Scarlet and Other Stories
This album feels a lot like a continuation of the previous. The feel and sound is remarkably similar, although the production is a little less raw. The other big difference is that Julianne Regan has, I feel, found her voice a little more. It wasn't exactly missing on the previous album, but she didn't stand out quite as strongly as being something special the way she does on (for example) "Road to your soul".
It just feels like she's reaching a bit deeper here and getting that little bit more from doing so. Again, it's not just her - the guitar work stands out a bit more too. For example, the intro to "Gold and Silver" is a good, meaty bit of guitar that stands out... as does the solo in "December".
In fact, I think that as a band, they do better on this album overall. If it doesn't have quite as many stand-out tracks, I think it's because the overall quality is so high. If I had to pick some standouts, it'd be the previously mentioned "Road to your Soul" and also "Tuesday's Child". After those two, I'd just want to pick most of the songs, which doesn't help much...
Verdict: Keep.
A brief aside... I don't own the All About Eve albums "Ultraviolet" or "Touched by Jesus" - this is an omission on my part. I have set things in motion to rectify the matter. Unfortunately, this means that my planned CD clearout has actually lead to my CD collection growing by two. Oops. I should have realised this was going to be dangerous!
Alabama 3 - La Peste
This is the album which got me into Alabama 3, and I still think of it as a highpoint for them. Whilst I've quite liked some of their later stuff, I've not liked it enough to buy it myself. This doesn't have quite as strong an overall theme as "Exile..." but I just find the songs are of a more memorable quality. Slightly more bluesy, and with the basslines actually doing a bit more for the songs. Which is all good.
The highpoint for me on this album is the first half - pretty much all of the first five songs are just excellent, and the quality doesn't drop much for the rest of it. The Hotel California cover is a bit of a speedbump to me - it's not bad, but I just don't think it quite fits on the album. After that, things are still good, but not quite as good as the first half.
Verdict: Keep.
All About Eve - All About Eve
I've always liked All About Eve, and they're a band who've always had some not-entirely-unpleasant associations for me, which helps a bit as well. This particular album (their first studio album) has some of my favourite songs on it... but it also has some other stuff which I can take or leave. I've always found that Julianne Regan's voice just stands out above most other singers, though, so even the weaker songs are pretty damned awesome.
It's easy to focus on Julianne Regan (particularly if you were a teenage fan in the late 80s & early 90s and appreciate the slightly-hippyish goth look), but it's a good idea to pay attention to the rest of the band too. There's some pretty mighty guitar work around too.
Some of the other songs on this album strike me as a little twee (Stand up and take a bow, "Gypsy Dance", you've earned it) but they're more than made up for by some of the highpoints ("Flowers in our hair", "Every Angel", "Wild Hearted Woman", "What Kind of Fool", etc...). Then there's "Martha's Harbour", which is a fantastic song, if not exactly bright and cheery. It even got some airplay and did well in the charts (yes, good music used to occasionally be recognised in the charts, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth).
Also, for an album from 1988, it's pretty long.
Verdict: Keep.
All About Eve - Scarlet and Other Stories
This album feels a lot like a continuation of the previous. The feel and sound is remarkably similar, although the production is a little less raw. The other big difference is that Julianne Regan has, I feel, found her voice a little more. It wasn't exactly missing on the previous album, but she didn't stand out quite as strongly as being something special the way she does on (for example) "Road to your soul".
It just feels like she's reaching a bit deeper here and getting that little bit more from doing so. Again, it's not just her - the guitar work stands out a bit more too. For example, the intro to "Gold and Silver" is a good, meaty bit of guitar that stands out... as does the solo in "December".
In fact, I think that as a band, they do better on this album overall. If it doesn't have quite as many stand-out tracks, I think it's because the overall quality is so high. If I had to pick some standouts, it'd be the previously mentioned "Road to your Soul" and also "Tuesday's Child". After those two, I'd just want to pick most of the songs, which doesn't help much...
Verdict: Keep.
A brief aside... I don't own the All About Eve albums "Ultraviolet" or "Touched by Jesus" - this is an omission on my part. I have set things in motion to rectify the matter. Unfortunately, this means that my planned CD clearout has actually lead to my CD collection growing by two. Oops. I should have realised this was going to be dangerous!
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2011-12-02 19:59 (UTC)no subject
2011-12-02 21:34 (UTC)