journolud
Well-Known Member
Good shout and good pick if you’re right. Im not overly familiar with them but love the track that was on Pillows and Prayers, the Cherey Red compilation years ago
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The Album Review Club - End of Round #9 Break (page 1904)
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Tomorrow is the official day. Today is for clues, so you’ve got plenty of time.Bugger, I've been a bit distracted with things going on recently. I'll get myself sorted out and get something together. Is it today or tomorrow?
OB1
Well-Known Member
There's nothing I own that I wouldn't dare review but it would be a Van Halen not a Van Hagar album.I'm assuming you wouldn't dare do a Hagar one (though I do have a soft spot for "Right Now"), but I own all of the DLR ones and while they vary in quality, not a single one is less than very good (7 is a minimum score). The first will always be my favo(u)rite.
Unlike you, I don't have it in for Sammy: I was a fan before he joined VH but Dave is my fave rock star.
PragueBlue
Well-Known Member
Correct about the band. Well done!!Bit of research and I think I’ve got this
Eyeless in Gaza is the band
I’m guessing the album ,Photohraphs as Memories ?
ive heard of the band but never heard anything by them.
While Photographs as Memories is my favourite album of all time, it was EIG's first album (from 1981), so I chose a different album that is a wider cross-section of their work.
They're still going and producing quality music over 40 years later!
BimboBob
Well-Known Member
Looking forward to this. I've never heard of them! Shameful really. I'm not going to listen until it's posted up.
journolud
Well-Known Member
In anticipation have already listened to their top tracks on Spotify and they went down wellCorrect about the band. Well done!!
While Photographs as Memories is my favourite album of all time, it was EIG's first album (from 1981), so I chose a different album that is a wider cross-section of their work.
They're still going and producing quality music over 40 years later!
PragueBlue
Well-Known Member
As everyone now knows who it will be, can I post details of which album today or should I wait until tomorrow?
BimboBob
Well-Known Member
Now!As everyone now knows who it will be, can I post details of which album today or should I wait until tomorrow?
PragueBlue
Well-Known Member
As I have already mentioned, this album is being put forward as a last minute substitute. The album I was going to choose is not easily accessible on Spotify and although it is on Youtube, the quality of the video is rather poor. So I have had to make a late change. So apologies if this write up is a bit jumbled.
Having said that, this is not a poor substitute at all. It’s an album by my favourite group of all time and the one that I listen to most often. It’s certainly a change of pace and style from my previous offering.
Anyway, the album in question is Voice - The Best of Eyeless in Gaza by (surprisingly enough) Eyeless in Gaza. The pride of Nuneaton.
Eyeless in Gaza have been around over 40 years with the odd short break while the two main members did their own thing. Despite being active for so long, they have never really achieved any great success or recognition, although they have made the indie charts on a few occasions. I personally regard Photographs as Memories (their first album released in 1981) as their best work and it remains my favourite album of all time to this day. I didn’t choose that album however as Voice (the best of) shows a wider spectrum of their work.
Eyeless in Gaza are quite a hard group to classify. Wiki describes their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles”. Not really sure what most of that means but it sounds like it may be about right. They are a group that needs a few listens to really appreciate but sadly few people seem to be able to get past their sometimes experimental sound, frequent and abrupt changes of time signature and unusual instrumentation and song arrangements. I think that their music isn’t always easily accessible and it is rather an acquired taste but perseverance will reap rich rewards!
There have only really ever been 2 members of the band from their formation in 1980 to the present time - Martyn Bates and Peter Becker. They have produced over 20 albums and so have a fairly significant body of work should anybody wish to delve into their treasure chest of music further.
Voices - The Best of Eyeless in Gaza, is, as the name implies, a compilation of their music - from their first album in 1981 up to this album's release in 1993. This is, in my opinion, the period when they produced their finest work, even though they are still producing some pretty good stuff now.
Voices is an album of 26 tracks but only runs to a total of 1 hour and 10 minutes. Unfortunately it starts with Kodak Ghosts Run Amok which is really the only track of theirs which I have never been able to appreciate in some way or another. I always skip that when listening. My favourite tracks are mainly from their earlier years, with special mentions to Speech Rapid Fire, Transcience Blues, Drumming the Beating Heart, One by One, Veil Like Calm and the beautifully melancholic Others (my most listened to song on Spotify). New Risen and Welcome Now stem from a slightly later period when they tried to move a bit more mainstream. A move which they didn’t really pull off but I find the songs from that era rather endearing all the same.
It’s difficult to say much more about the group and their music as they are difficult to tie down and put into words. I have been listening to them constantly for over 40 years now and I can’t even really explain it myself. From their enthusiastic singing (putting it kindly) and unconventional instrumentation, to their failed attempts at more pop type tunes, it just simply works for me. I’ve spent the last 40 years listening to them and wherever I am, it just feels like home when I put on one of their albums.
I guess what typifies the band most for me is that during that period when they were trying to go pop/mainstream, they finally got some sort of recognition and appeared ‘live’ on TV. It wasn’t Top of the Tops or Old Grey Whistle Test but Saturday Superstore (a Saturday morning TV show for kids) and sadly for them the live stream cut out in the middle of their performance ;-) So near and yet so far!
Anyway, I don’t expect this album to meet with universal approval and I strongly suspect it may be a contender for bottom spot but I’m fine with that. I’m just pleased to be able to share it with you and maybe one or two will get some enjoyment from it.
Having said that, this is not a poor substitute at all. It’s an album by my favourite group of all time and the one that I listen to most often. It’s certainly a change of pace and style from my previous offering.
Anyway, the album in question is Voice - The Best of Eyeless in Gaza by (surprisingly enough) Eyeless in Gaza. The pride of Nuneaton.
Eyeless in Gaza have been around over 40 years with the odd short break while the two main members did their own thing. Despite being active for so long, they have never really achieved any great success or recognition, although they have made the indie charts on a few occasions. I personally regard Photographs as Memories (their first album released in 1981) as their best work and it remains my favourite album of all time to this day. I didn’t choose that album however as Voice (the best of) shows a wider spectrum of their work.
Eyeless in Gaza are quite a hard group to classify. Wiki describes their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles”. Not really sure what most of that means but it sounds like it may be about right. They are a group that needs a few listens to really appreciate but sadly few people seem to be able to get past their sometimes experimental sound, frequent and abrupt changes of time signature and unusual instrumentation and song arrangements. I think that their music isn’t always easily accessible and it is rather an acquired taste but perseverance will reap rich rewards!
There have only really ever been 2 members of the band from their formation in 1980 to the present time - Martyn Bates and Peter Becker. They have produced over 20 albums and so have a fairly significant body of work should anybody wish to delve into their treasure chest of music further.
Voices - The Best of Eyeless in Gaza, is, as the name implies, a compilation of their music - from their first album in 1981 up to this album's release in 1993. This is, in my opinion, the period when they produced their finest work, even though they are still producing some pretty good stuff now.
Voices is an album of 26 tracks but only runs to a total of 1 hour and 10 minutes. Unfortunately it starts with Kodak Ghosts Run Amok which is really the only track of theirs which I have never been able to appreciate in some way or another. I always skip that when listening. My favourite tracks are mainly from their earlier years, with special mentions to Speech Rapid Fire, Transcience Blues, Drumming the Beating Heart, One by One, Veil Like Calm and the beautifully melancholic Others (my most listened to song on Spotify). New Risen and Welcome Now stem from a slightly later period when they tried to move a bit more mainstream. A move which they didn’t really pull off but I find the songs from that era rather endearing all the same.
It’s difficult to say much more about the group and their music as they are difficult to tie down and put into words. I have been listening to them constantly for over 40 years now and I can’t even really explain it myself. From their enthusiastic singing (putting it kindly) and unconventional instrumentation, to their failed attempts at more pop type tunes, it just simply works for me. I’ve spent the last 40 years listening to them and wherever I am, it just feels like home when I put on one of their albums.
I guess what typifies the band most for me is that during that period when they were trying to go pop/mainstream, they finally got some sort of recognition and appeared ‘live’ on TV. It wasn’t Top of the Tops or Old Grey Whistle Test but Saturday Superstore (a Saturday morning TV show for kids) and sadly for them the live stream cut out in the middle of their performance ;-) So near and yet so far!
Anyway, I don’t expect this album to meet with universal approval and I strongly suspect it may be a contender for bottom spot but I’m fine with that. I’m just pleased to be able to share it with you and maybe one or two will get some enjoyment from it.
Out on blue 6
Well-Known Member
Now that's a great pick. The best picks should be ones that challenge the norm of bands that have been heard hundreds of times. Hopefully it won't end up at the bottom and may surprise a few.