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

[stonerblue]

I do like this album, but my own favourite of theirs (his) would be A Pagan Place.
I remember first hearing the title track, along with Red Army Blues, and being transfixed and moved in equal measure.

From 86 this is a brilliant listen too. Radio broadcast.

A mate sat me down with a chunk of solid and put pagan place on full pelt. Changed my musical life.

 

[GornikDaze]

I do like this album, but my own favourite of theirs (his) would be A Pagan Place.
I remember first hearing the title track, along with Red Army Blues, and being transfixed and moved in equal measure.

From 86 this is a brilliant listen too. Radio broadcast.

I could’ve written that - Red Army Blues is an awesome song

 

[RobMCFC]

Earlier I quoted a music critic who implied that some thought The WBs were U2 imitators before. That’s patently ridiculous, since they’re actually Echo and the Bunnymen imitators. Well, I’m kidding, sort of. Actually they’re Psychedelic Furs imitators. Naw, kidding again. That’s okay anyhow since I like E&TB and PF (especially). But why don’t we stop with all this and just think about The WBs on their own merits.

The bottom line is I wanted to like this more than I did but I liked it well enough anyhow. It fits in the “nice try” bucket, and by “nice try” I am 67% sincere and 33% sarcastic.

While TWOTM may wear thin on WBs fans because its been so oft-played, there’s a reason for that (and for why scads of bands have covered it): it’s a brilliant tune. It has universal appeal, terrific lyrics, an absolute earworm of a keyboard hook, it’s dance-y without being martial, with the extra instrumentation added as flourishes instead of added to cover up thin melody (which happens a bit too often for my taste on the rest of the record). Simply put, it was the hit from this record because it’s the best thing ON the record. I still like it because it’s so good I’ve never tired of it.

Elsewhere the record is a little uneven, though there's nothing I didn't think was at least decent. I did roll my eyes at a few songs though, and the opener is the best example. Can someone please inform Scott that you can’t title a song “Don’t Bang The Drums” and then have a snare sound so loud it sounds like the head is being thwacked with a rowboat oar? That’s not irony; it’s just silly.

After that, things get better, or best, with “TWOTM”. Then comes “Spirit”. This song has two chords best I can tell. That’s fine, but it underscores my point that the production on this record is attempting to elevate the fairly rudimentary to levels beyond the band's ability/desire to play and/or write. “The Pan Within” is okay, but I did quite like “Medicine Bow”, which has a Midnight Oil feel which should please a certain poster here :). Here the percussion drives things forward kinetically in a way different from most of the rest of the record. “Old England” again seems fine; “Be My Enemy” feels like a standard uptempo chug-along that under normal circumstances I’d probably like but for whatever reason it seems out of place. “Trumpets” returns to that echoey feel with those pianos and that sax and the odd observation that someone’s love is like trumpets which seems like a strange thing that personally would annoy me but to each his own. Again, it’s not a bad song at all, but like so much here it suffers in comparison to its big hit cousin.

However, I was struck by the title track closer with an image that really hits home in underscoring change, or progression from what carries you along directionally to a much larger, less helpful environment where you’re on your own and have to figure out where you want to go without aid. That’s a pessimistic read; I assume it was meant more optimistically, but it works either way. While I wish the song was a tad more melodic lyrically, I really liked this one.

I suppose I could hear a teeny little bit of Reed and Morrison and Dylan and Springsteen in here, but these are aspirations of an amateur, not homages or spins. That sounds harsh, but it’s definitely not the “poetry” putting these songs into the ear – it’s the extra instrumentation, and even then, that sonic variation is covering up sins like lack of chord changes and shrillness and Scott’s more-than-periodically tuneless singing. But that said, production like this can be good at covering up sins, and Scott’s an okay poet and the band talented enough that they can get away with it as long as I don’t take their aspirations too seriously.

So on balance, I didn’t like it well enough for a 7, which is kind of my cut-off point for records I’ll play again, but it’s certainly a very solid 6 if only for “Moon” and the closer and “Medicine Bow.” The remainder I could take or leave.

Really what I came away with was how much better a band with this kind of sonic sense should have done in creating more tunes like the hit. Big Music is one ideal but you have to have the chops to take full advantage and The WBs don’t demonstrate them often enough.

Edit: while I was writing this and my Spotify went into the extended version of this record, I heard "Sleek White Schooner". Bloody fucking hell, I was right the first time: these guys ARE Echo & The Bunnymen imitators!! Good ones too I might add.

Very nice review, you’ve set the bar high with that.

It didn’t immediately remind me of Midnight Oil, but there’s something about this album that I’m really enjoying. Not ready for my review yet because bizarrely, I cant work out exactly why I’m enjoying it (which might seem an odd thing to say, but hopefully I’ll be able to work it out for my review).

 

[Mancitydoogle]

Earlier I quoted a music critic who implied that some thought The WBs were U2 imitators before. That’s patently ridiculous, since they’re actually Echo and the Bunnymen imitators. Well, I’m kidding, sort of. Actually they’re Psychedelic Furs imitators. Naw, kidding again. That’s okay anyhow since I like E&TB and PF (especially). But why don’t we stop with all this and just think about The WBs on their own merits.

The bottom line is I wanted to like this more than I did but I liked it well enough anyhow. It fits in the “nice try” bucket, and by “nice try” I am 67% sincere and 33% sarcastic.

While TWOTM may wear thin on WBs fans because its been so oft-played, there’s a reason for that (and for why scads of bands have covered it): it’s a brilliant tune. It has universal appeal, terrific lyrics, an absolute earworm of a keyboard hook, it’s dance-y without being martial, with the extra instrumentation added as flourishes instead of added to cover up thin melody (which happens a bit too often for my taste on the rest of the record). Simply put, it was the hit from this record because it’s the best thing ON the record. I still like it because it’s so good I’ve never tired of it.

Elsewhere the record is a little uneven, though there's nothing I didn't think was at least decent. I did roll my eyes at a few songs though, and the opener is the best example. Can someone please inform Scott that you can’t title a song “Don’t Bang The Drums” and then have a snare sound so loud it sounds like the head is being thwacked with a rowboat oar? That’s not irony; it’s just silly.

After that, things get better, or best, with “TWOTM”. Then comes “Spirit”. This song has two chords best I can tell. That’s fine, but it underscores my point that the production on this record is attempting to elevate the fairly rudimentary to levels beyond the band's ability/desire to play and/or write. “The Pan Within” is okay, but I did quite like “Medicine Bow”, which has a Midnight Oil feel which should please a certain poster here :). Here the percussion drives things forward kinetically in a way different from most of the rest of the record. “Old England” again seems fine; “Be My Enemy” feels like a standard uptempo chug-along that under normal circumstances I’d probably like but for whatever reason it seems out of place. “Trumpets” returns to that echoey feel with those pianos and that sax and the odd observation that someone’s love is like trumpets which seems like a strange thing that personally would annoy me but to each his own. Again, it’s not a bad song at all, but like so much here it suffers in comparison to its big hit cousin.

However, I was struck by the title track closer with an image that really hits home in underscoring change, or progression from what carries you along directionally to a much larger, less helpful environment where you’re on your own and have to figure out where you want to go without aid. That’s a pessimistic read; I assume it was meant more optimistically, but it works either way. While I wish the song was a tad more melodic lyrically, I really liked this one.

I suppose I could hear a teeny little bit of Reed and Morrison and Dylan and Springsteen in here, but these are aspirations of an amateur, not homages or spins. That sounds harsh, but it’s definitely not the “poetry” putting these songs into the ear – it’s the extra instrumentation, and even then, that sonic variation is covering up sins like lack of chord changes and shrillness and Scott’s more-than-periodically tuneless singing. But that said, production like this can be good at covering up sins, and Scott’s an okay poet and the band talented enough that they can get away with it as long as I don’t take their aspirations too seriously.

So on balance, I didn’t like it well enough for a 7, which is kind of my cut-off point for records I’ll play again, but it’s certainly a very solid 6 if only for “Moon” and the closer and “Medicine Bow.” The remainder I could take or leave.

Really what I came away with was how much better a band with this kind of sonic sense should have done in creating more tunes like the hit. Big Music is one ideal but you have to have the chops to take full advantage and The WBs don’t demonstrate them often enough.

Edit: while I was writing this and my Spotify went into the extended version of this record, I heard "Sleek White Schooner". Bloody fucking hell, I was right the first time: these guys ARE Echo & The Bunnymen imitators!! Good ones too I might add.

Great review as usual Foggy, not sure I agree with it all, although I accept there are a number of similarities between TWB , PF, EATB and a number of other 80s bands
around at the time including The Alarm and Simple Minds both which I can’t stand.
I think the big difference with TWB or MS is that they continued to reinvent themselves every few albums , the album after this one ‘Fisherman Blues’ being case in point.

 

[Mancitydoogle]

I do like this album, but my own favourite of theirs (his) would be A Pagan Place.
I remember first hearing the title track, along with Red Army Blues, and being transfixed and moved in equal measure.

From 86 this is a brilliant listen too. Radio broadcast.

I was considering nominating ’A Pagan Place’ as ‘Red Army Blues’ is possibly my favourite WB song but I thought this album was a Liitle bit more accessible.
Give it a mark if you feel inclined.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Great review as usual Foggy, not sure I agree with it all, although I accept there are a number of similarities between TWB , PF, EATB and a number of other 80s bands
around at the time including The Alarm and Simple Minds both which I can’t stand.
I think the big difference with TWB or MS is that they continued to reinvent themselves every few albums , the album after this one ‘Fisherman Blues’ being case in point.

I’m definitely not an Alarm fan but I do like Sparkle In The Rain by SM, and New Gold Dream is okay. Otherwise their output was in between banal and infuriating.

 

[bennyboy]

 Sim

I’m definitely not an Alarm fan but I do like Sparkle In The Rain by SM, and New Gold Dream is okay. Otherwise their output was in between banal and infuriating.

Simple shite.Another in a long list of shite Scottish bands.

 

[Coatigan]

Great review as usual Foggy, not sure I agree with it all, although I accept there are a number of similarities between TWB , PF, EATB and a number of other 80s bands
around at the time including The Alarm and Simple Minds both which I can’t stand.
I think the big difference with TWB or MS is that they continued to reinvent themselves every few albums , the album after this one ‘Fisherman Blues’ being case in point.

'Reinvent' is a good word, something I myself have been meaning to touch on. The thing that has always drawn me to the Waterboys is their constant restlessness, always wanting to explore influences.

Mike supposedly started off in a punk band in Ayr, and story has it wanted them to join the punk scene in London, but the rest feared homesickness. So he went on his own, and tried a different sound. Of which I would say this album is probably the last of, as a phase. Then they toyed with gospel and blues, but didnt release anything till much later. Instead they went to Ireland and got into folk influences. So much so that to this day the Irish will sometimes try claim them as their own (and hence the U2 comparisons). Which I refuse to accept, but do acknowledge it is probably their best (not my favourite, but all round best) work.

Some years after Fisherman's blues they released what is my favourite of their albums, Too Close to Heaven. Which is actually a jumbled together collection of stuff recorded before FB and the swing to folk themes.

Then I think they just went through a spell of it being all about live performances. After which point I have to admit I stopped paying attention, but they did then return with a more 'pure' basic rock sound which wasn't bad.

That said, I do think of them more as a greatest hits band, and there are great gems on their albums, but amongst a whole lot of ok to decent material. As opposed to albums that are outstanding as a whole, for me at least. But I still consider them underappreciated, myself.

 

[Coatigan]

Earlier I quoted a music critic who implied that some thought The WBs were U2 imitators before. That’s patently ridiculous, since they’re actually Echo and the Bunnymen imitators. Well, I’m kidding, sort of. Actually they’re Psychedelic Furs imitators. Naw, kidding again. That’s okay anyhow since I like E&TB and PF (especially). But why don’t we stop with all this and just think about The WBs on their own merits.

The bottom line is I wanted to like this more than I did but I liked it well enough anyhow. It fits in the “nice try” bucket, and by “nice try” I am 67% sincere and 33% sarcastic.

While TWOTM may wear thin on WBs fans because its been so oft-played, there’s a reason for that (and for why scads of bands have covered it): it’s a brilliant tune. It has universal appeal, terrific lyrics, an absolute earworm of a keyboard hook, it’s dance-y without being martial, with the extra instrumentation added as flourishes instead of added to cover up thin melody (which happens a bit too often for my taste on the rest of the record). Simply put, it was the hit from this record because it’s the best thing ON the record. I still like it because it’s so good I’ve never tired of it.

Elsewhere the record is a little uneven, though there's nothing I didn't think was at least decent. I did roll my eyes at a few songs though, and the opener is the best example. Can someone please inform Scott that you can’t title a song “Don’t Bang The Drums” and then have a snare sound so loud it sounds like the head is being thwacked with a rowboat oar? That’s not irony; it’s just silly.

After that, things get better, or best, with “TWOTM”. Then comes “Spirit”. This song has two chords best I can tell. That’s fine, but it underscores my point that the production on this record is attempting to elevate the fairly rudimentary to levels beyond the band's ability/desire to play and/or write. “The Pan Within” is okay, but I did quite like “Medicine Bow”, which has a Midnight Oil feel which should please a certain poster here :). Here the percussion drives things forward kinetically in a way different from most of the rest of the record. “Old England” again seems fine; “Be My Enemy” feels like a standard uptempo chug-along that under normal circumstances I’d probably like but for whatever reason it seems out of place. “Trumpets” returns to that echoey feel with those pianos and that sax and the odd observation that someone’s love is like trumpets which seems like a strange thing that personally would annoy me but to each his own. Again, it’s not a bad song at all, but like so much here it suffers in comparison to its big hit cousin.

However, I was struck by the title track closer with an image that really hits home in underscoring change, or progression from what carries you along directionally to a much larger, less helpful environment where you’re on your own and have to figure out where you want to go without aid. That’s a pessimistic read; I assume it was meant more optimistically, but it works either way. While I wish the song was a tad more melodic lyrically, I really liked this one.

I suppose I could hear a teeny little bit of Reed and Morrison and Dylan and Springsteen in here, but these are aspirations of an amateur, not homages or spins. That sounds harsh, but it’s definitely not the “poetry” putting these songs into the ear – it’s the extra instrumentation, and even then, that sonic variation is covering up sins like lack of chord changes and shrillness and Scott’s more-than-periodically tuneless singing. But that said, production like this can be good at covering up sins, and Scott’s an okay poet and the band talented enough that they can get away with it as long as I don’t take their aspirations too seriously.

So on balance, I didn’t like it well enough for a 7, which is kind of my cut-off point for records I’ll play again, but it’s certainly a very solid 6 if only for “Moon” and the closer and “Medicine Bow.” The remainder I could take or leave.

Really what I came away with was how much better a band with this kind of sonic sense should have done in creating more tunes like the hit. Big Music is one ideal but you have to have the chops to take full advantage and The WBs don’t demonstrate them often enough.

Edit: while I was writing this and my Spotify went into the extended version of this record, I heard "Sleek White Schooner". Bloody fucking hell, I was right the first time: these guys ARE Echo & The Bunnymen imitators!! Good ones too I might add.

Since you finished your review with half a week to spare, maybe you want to consider swinging back round to last week's album you missed out on.

Don't have to rate or even dissect it, more that I think you might find parts of it interesting, and not something likely to regularly come up beyond this thread perhaps.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Since you finished your review with half a week to spare, maybe you want to consider swinging back round to last week's album you missed out on.

Don't have to rate or even dissect it, more that I think you might find parts of it interesting, and not something likely to regularly come up beyond this thread perhaps.

I did Astral Weeks. I missed a couple though before that — a few weeks each quarter work takes over my life. Which one?