From: Tara, night_of_light@yahoo.com Subject: Re: interesting review of AENT and SS/RL/P Date: 2/18/2002 4:31:09 PM To: kirkdexter@yahoo.com seance@lists.no-fi.com Kirk... At 03:33 PM 2/18/2002 -0800, you wrote: >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. I've never found anyone to be too reserved to say something bad about the Church if that's what they felt. I don't think you'll find a bigger Heyday enthusiast here (just my biased opinion, btw; I'm not throwing down a gauntlet or anything.) But I still love the new album. >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 the Church is NOT the same >band that they were once. They may not be the same band. And After Everything is vastly different from The Blurred Crusade and Heyday, but that doesn't mean it isn't as good. Just different. Notice I didn't yell. Nice normal type. No caps. BTW, is writing all in lowercase the equivalent of whispering? >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. As I write this, I dangle several feet above the ground in the iron grips of this album, a position I have been in since first listen. Hey, I may be alone up here, but I don't mind as long as I can have repeat listens to "Night Friends." Don't misunderstand me, I respect your opinion and your right to dislike this album, whatever I or anyone else might think of it. But I don't really think that attributing the enthusiasm that other fans and reviewers have for this album to a fear of having a dissenting opinion is fair. As for missing the tour, think it over. If your dislike of the new album is the sole cause of your lack of enthusiasm for seeing the band live, at least be consoled that the shows so far don't seem to focus solely on the new album and feature a few oldies. Go on and have a sexy time! ; ) Tara > > 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 "That's all changed. I've been exposed to myself now, I don't have to go about doing it to others." -- David St. Hubbins _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com