The Album Review Club - Week #145 - (page 1923) - Tellin' Stories - The Charlatans

Surprised I didn't already know this album as 97 I was in my peak music snob stage so something not selling well would have been right in my wheel house.

First impression is that it is very Scouse sounding. There is something in the delivery and sound of Scouse vocalists that is distinctive. X Marks The Spot grabbed me the most mainly due to vocal delivery and it's untidy feel. It felt like the most unpolished song of an album that is aggressively competent and restrained.

On second listen it does feel less bland and i'm beginning to suspect this is the kind of album that becomes the favourite album of other bands that you prefer. The strings and flute are nice but even when they get a little intense and dramatic like at the end of The Prize I wanted them to be more so - it just feels very polite.

Undecided reminded me of Badly Drawn Boy but less grimy. Glynis and Jaqui and It's Harvest Time take us back to the jangly psychedelia pop stuff before Loaded Man marks the albums high point for me. It's probably the simplest song on the album but I enjoyed the nasally vulnerability and after last week's controversy ironically it's a song that i could imagine Radiohead writing.

Hockens Hay promptly dumps us back in a medieval market place before Fontilan brings back some atmosphere. It sounds like Hockens Hay if the banjo hadn't been invented and if it was recorded in a cave. Green Velvet Jacket ends the album with a little bit of tension but I wanted much more drama. Maybe it's too subtle for me.

I know nothing about these guys and their character but I imagine they'd turn up at a venue to play on time and be very good BUT the guitarist wouldn't have told you ahead of time that his guitar has a broken pick up. You'd think the gig had gone well but then they'd call me a dickhead on the way out and I'd be up all night trying to figure out why they hadn't liked me.

I'll give it a 6 out of 10 because it was fine. I think if I'd listened to it a few more times I think it might stretch to an 8 because at heart I'm still a music snob and unheralded competency is my jam. However should I get the urge to listen to it more i would probably be better served by playing Nick Drake instead.

Edit: strong suspicion that Radiohead totally ripped of Loaded Man when they wrote How to Disappear Completely
 
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shackattack said:
I'd say that was a very fair and accurate opinion, personally I was never a huge fan of HMS Fable but Comedy is arguably one of his best compositions. Here's Tom is possibly my favourite Shack album. His new album is pretty much as you described - 3-4 great songs on it, some not so.
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I like Here's Tom too but skip a few tracks much like On the Corner with Miles & Gil or whatever it's called. If someone could do a Best Of would knock all these Indie Chancers for 6. There's some great non-LP tracks too, Al's Vacation, Oscar and various B sides la' (ha). I remember seeing PF supporting Echo late 85 and sure they played Comedy.
 
mrbelfry said:
Surprised I didn't already know this album as 97 I was in my peak music snob stage so something not selling well would have been right in my wheel house.

First impression is that it is very Scouse sounding. There is something in the delivery and sound of Scouse vocalists that is distinctive. X Marks The Spot grabbed me the most mainly due to vocal delivery and it's untidy feel. It felt like the most unpolished song of an album that is aggressively competent and restrained.

On second listen it does feel less bland and i'm beginning to suspect this is the kind of album that becomes the favourite album of other bands that you prefer. The strings and flute are nice but even when they get a little intense and dramatic like at the end of The Prize I wanted them to be more so - it just feels very polite.

Undecided reminded me of Badly Drawn Boy but less grimy. Glynis and Jaqui and It's Harvest Time take us back to the jangly psychedelia pop stuff before Loaded Man marks the albums high point for me. It's probably the simplest song on the album but I enjoyed the nasally vulnerability and after last week's controversy ironically it's a song that i could imagine Radiohead writing.

Hockens Hay promptly dumps us back in a medieval market place before Fontilan brings back some atmosphere. It sounds like Hockens Hay if the banjo hadn't been invented and if it was recorded in a cave. Green Velvet Jacket ends the album with a little bit of tension but I wanted much more drama. Maybe it's too subtle for me.

I know nothing about these guys and their character but I imagine they'd turn up at a venue to play on time and be very good BUT the guitarist wouldn't have told you ahead of time that his guitar has a broken pick up. You'd think the gig had gone well but then they'd call me a dickhead on the way out and I'd be up all night trying to figure out why they hadn't liked me.

I'll give it a 6 out of 10 because it was fine. I think if I'd listened to it a few more times I think it might stretch to an 8 because at heart I'm still a music snob and unheralded competency is my jam. However should I get the urge to listen to it more i would probably be better served by playing Nick Drake instead.

Edit: strong suspicion that Radiohead totally ripped of Loaded Man when they wrote How to Disappear Completely
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Anyone that has seen Mick play would be amused by the comment " I imagine that they'll turn up at a venue on time"
I remember seeing mick play at an alcohol free venue in Liverpool - he fell off the stage bladdered. The joke was that they should have been called Smack . The rest of your write up I'd agree with. Ironically in around 2000 they did an NME tour and Coldplay were their support band.
I can see the Nick Drake comparisons especially with the composition of the music.
 
Out on blue 6 said:
I first came across Mick Head through Shack and the fine album in its own right Waterpistol. An album that came out around Britpop but should through lost tapes and record company nonsense come out a couple of years later. Like a few Liverpudlian bands the influence isn't The Beatles but Love and Forever Changes. The Head brother's were part of Arthur's touring band before Baby Lemonade took over. Mick's much publicised drug issues have meant fairly sporadic releases. A good run early 2000s and then not much until a recent run of well received work with Bill Ryder- Jones producing. The song The Prize sums up this album and his work best. I won't score it (even though it would be top end) as I saw with Radiohead random posters always score high because it's an album close to their hearts. I can't remember someone coming in and saying 2/10 bag of shite. I suspect it will fall between 6-7 but doubt anyone will hate. Quiet room, headphones,glass of your favourite and hopefully you will enjoy.
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The Bill Ryder Jones album Iechyd Da is a stunning album and his production of Mick's last 2 albums has been the main factor in their success
 
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shackattack said:
I remember seeing mick play at an alcohol free venue in Liverpool - he fell off the stage bladdered. The joke was that they should have been called Smack .
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Yeah I read a little about them after I'd listened to the album but I wanted to stay true to the impression I'd formed in my mind.

Someone much smarter and informed than me should write about societies double standards around heroin. A local scrote addicted to heroin would probably rob your gran but if you somehow manage to write a book or play a guitar then you're some kind of tortured genius.

Then in a shocking twist some randomer will write on the internet nearly 30 years later that society has a double standard around heroin abuse whilst saying the song you wrote about heroin is one of the best on your album. Instead of being saddened that you don't even remember selling your furniture for a fix I'm left wondering if Coldplay might be better if Chris Martin was a smack head
 
mrbelfry said:
Yeah I read a little about them after I'd listened to the album but I wanted to stay true to the impression I'd formed in my mind.

Someone much smarter and informed than me should write about societies double standards around heroin. A local scrote addicted to heroin would probably rob your gran but if you somehow manage to write a book or play a guitar then you're some kind of tortured genius.

Then in a shocking twist some randomer will write on the internet nearly 30 years later that society has a double standard around heroin abuse whilst saying the song you wrote about heroin is one of the best on your album. Instead of being saddened that you don't even remember selling your furniture for a fix I'm left wondering if Coldplay might be better if Chris Martin was a smack head
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Personally I like faults and failings in people it makes them more real to me. I also agree re the double standards on how people view people around substance misuse especially heroin.
Some artists would regard it as a creative and empowering tool but I doubt a premiership footballer using it would be looked on in the same light
Chris Martin on heroin now that would be a concept album and a half !
 
Apologies to everyone who's albums I've missed - works been absolutely crazy this week and I'll try to give this album a listen in the next few days.
 
GoatersLeftShin said:
Apologies to everyone who's albums I've missed - works been absolutely crazy this week and I'll try to give this album a listen in the next few days.
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Probably best that your schedule opened up after Editor's Choice. We had 2-3 albums worth of discussion over the last one!

And all good for the one prior. I'm not sure you'd be into that one, but any feedback is appreciated anytime down the line. You don't open your eyes for a while, you just breathe that moment down. :-)
 
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