From: Hayden Scott, scott@shaddickspence.com.au Subject: RE: interesting review of AENT and SS/RL/P Date: 2/17/2002 10:52:32 PM To: kirk dexter, kirkdexter@yahoo.com Church mailing list, seance@lists.no-fi.com I think you're correct when you say that "the Church is NOT the same band that they were once". Putting the obvious rejoinder aside (ie "maturity and natural progression"), the band's change is not at all that surprising given they've been together for 20+ years - the Beatles went from "Please Please Me" to "Revolver" in about 2-3 years. I must admit that before each new Church album I wonder if there will be one track that has that Byrd's jangle to it. And when it's not there, I suppose I'm a little disappointed. All the same, I genuinely think that AENT is a great album. It probably achieves exactly what it sets out to do - envelop you from start to finish. I'm not sure what is wrong with saying that AENT represents a high point for the band. Sure, it doesn't sound like BC, but does it have to? Are such high points only measured in terms of "poppy jangly music"? Regards, Hayden -----Original Message----- From: seance@lists.no-fi.com [mailto:seance@lists.no-fi.com]On Behalf Of kirk dexter Sent: Tuesday, 19 February 2002 10:34 AM To: Church mailing list Subject: Re: interesting review of AENT and SS/RL/P OK. I just turned 41, so I don't know if it is generation related, or is it people are scared to say something bad about the Church. I think the Church's last good album was Heyday. Starfish was good, but it was more "rock" than I was used to. then GAF came out and I realized how good Starfish was compared to it. Then came P=A and I realized how good GAF was compared to it. The poppy jangly music was gone. Before you pounce on me...I know there are plenty of people out there who think P=A is their best. Fine. I guess I am just a jangly Beatles-like purist. The Church had their moments in they years since Starfish, with a song here or there (I liked HOB), but you have to admit, these albums are not matching the melodic pop of the 80's albums. Again, don't pounce...I just happen to like that kind of music and therefore, have painfully endured years of come evolution hoping one day that I would hear a song that likened to "Just For You." When I see a review like this, "an album that can stand proudly besides '80's high points like The Blurred Crusade and Heyday," I have to gag and think people are just scared to say that . People will yell at me and say, "Of course they are not. That is maturity and the natural progression of a band." But if anyone says that you can compare this album to Blurred Crusade, that's like comparing Sgt. Peppers to some crap by Creed. I think this album may rival P=A in it's inability to grab the listener. My opinion only, but others probably share this. I'm sorry, but I think an album CAN grab you on the first listen, and this one surely doesn't. For the first time since before 1984, I will pass on this year's Church tour. > Saw this review in Brisbane's The Courier Mail newspaper > > Jonathan S > > The Church AENT **** (four stars) > Noel Mengel > > > Every band with a long history goes into the studio wanting to make > an album > that's every bit as strong as their stuff when they were young and > hungry. > > Not many achieve it. > > But several years of sporadic recording at various points around the > globe > has done the trick for the Church with an album that can stand > proudly > besides '80's high points like The Blurred Crusade and Heyday. > > Fans, of course, have always found something to enjoy on Church > albums, even > when the line-up was reduced to the core of founder members Steve > Kilbey and > Marty Willson-Piper. > > But there never seemed to be the chemistry that crackled when the > band were > on a high in the early to mid-80's, when I saw them play some of the > finest > live shows I've seen by any band, anywhere. > > However, a spark seems to have been rekindled since founder guitarist > Peter > Koppes returned permanently to the fray and the line-up firmed with > drummer/producer Tim Powles. There was promise of better things with > the > 1998 album Hologram of Baal and it has certainly been delivered this > time > around. > > The difference isn't in the sound. After all these years, it's still > elegant, shimmering _ rippling like a cooling summer breeze through a > soft > curtain. > > The difference comes this time with the quality and depth of the > tunes. If > other Church fans are like me, over the past 15 years they will have > become > used to making do with a couple of strong tracks on each new release. > > No such problem this time. The filler never arrives. Like all the > best > rock albums, the sum is greater than the parts, each song in its > proper > place and flowing seamlessly into the next. > > It's hard to pinpoint reasons for this return to top form, but > inspiration > seems to have come in the form of their last studio project, the > covers > collection Box of Birds. > > This was a record that found the common ground between tracks as > varied as > Iggy Pop's The Endless Sea, Neil Young's Cortez the Killer, David > Bowie's > hit for Mott The Hoople, All the Young Dudes, and a song which could > have > served as the blueprint for their sound, George Harrison's psych-pop > masterpiece It's All Too Much. > > The band usually pieces its songs together from lengthy studio jams. > They > might not have changed their method, but the Box of Birds interlude > seems to > have focused their minds on songcraft again. > > Opening track Numbers sets the tone with muscular guitar riffs > providing the > counterpoint behind one of their most appealing melodies in years. > And > slowly it rolls, each song murmuring into the next, the guitars of > Koppes > and Willson-Piper building a warm, rich bed of sound. > > The guitars soar to a high on the majestic Chromium, the kind of tune > that > would sound superb on radio. Surely somewhere there has to be a > place for > it between Creed and Cold Chisel. > > Perhaps no one will ever really now why After Everything is a great > Church > album when so many previous albums only hinted at former glories. It > just > is. > > Enjoy. > > Also available: Sing-Songs/Remote Luxury/Persia (EMI). > > Some of the Church's best material in the 80's didn't appear on > albums but > on these three EPs, especially the 1982 collection Sing-Songs. > > Several of these tracks have never been available on CD but > aficionados and > new fans will be impressed by A Different Man, a bright pop-rock > number with > classic descending riff and Byrds-style jangling guitars, and a > version of I > Am a Rock that sounds as if Paul Simon had them in mind when he wrote > it. > > It's a surprise to hear these songs almost 20 years later: They > gallop along > compared with the more leisurely pace the band now favours. It's a > pleasure > to hear them available again, especially in a country that hasn't > been very > serious about looking after its rock'n'roll history. > > Music this good deserves to be looked after. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games http://sports.yahoo.com