mrbelfry
Well-Known Member
Sorry gents. I just love the drama and nuttiness of Brave New World. I can accept that it's objectively a clunker and I hate myself for loving it so much
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The Album Review Club - Week #146 - (page 1935) - Ocean Rain - Echo and the Bunnymen
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
mrbelfry
Well-Known Member
Tellin' Stories - The Charlatans
Despite their name the Charlatans are legit. You listen to them and they just scream elite band material. Every player is great and although Tim Burgess gets mixed reviews I think he's got the perfect voice to give this an air of authenticity. If he was a better vocalist it would sound like he was just singing over a bunch of seasoned session players - no one with such an ordinary voice could afford that band if they were paying by the hour.
I hadn't heard the whole album before but do remember the singles. They are all significantly better than I remember. How High is probably the most "brit-poppy" but still has enough of a classic rock tone that it doesn't date it. The whole album actually has a pretty classic rock style which keeps it very listenable nearly 30 years later.
Get On It sounds like a Bob Dylan track and is probably my favourite. Closely followed by Tellin' Stories. Only Teethin' and You're A Big Girl Now were my least favourites but I didn't actively dislike them.
So it's an 8 for the album but a recognition that the Charlatans are a band I'd struggle to say I was a fan of.
In 1992 The Charlatans released Weirdo. It's got a lovely bit of cover art which feels like it's taking strong inspiration from The Smiths with the inherent retroness of what those are referencing. It's got a super 90's vaguely retro wide font spelling the name of the band and then the name of the single in a different font that I guess is kind of weird but not really. It's a really decent single. I danced to it plenty probably at 42's and the Venue.
In 1992 Radiohead released Creep. It too has classic 90's fontery but the cover art is a little darker. I'll make a huge assumption and say it reminds me of the JFK assassination with the arrows point to JFK's head indicating bullet entry holes. Both singles were big in America and both are vaguely referencing the same nostalgic point in history.
In 1997 The Charlatans release Tellin' Stories which has some of the dance groove of Weirdo but the whole thing is kind of refined and largely sounds similar to the 1992 release. Because The Charlatans are a great responsible band deserving of respect.
In 1997 Radiohead release OK Computer. Because Radiohead are a pretentious, disrespectful and awkward band deserving of veneration.
Because they are responsible adults The Charlatans will never release anything like the first half of The King Of Limbs. It would be beneath them. But because they are responsible adults they'll never write anything close to the second half of The King Of Limbs. They'll never be mocked and derided and so there is nothing to defend, nurture and love.
So the album is an 8 but even though some of the tunes will return to my memory every now and then I will probably never return to this. It neither requires or expects any effort - it's dependable, respectable and excellent. It's Coldplay for people
who like music.
Despite their name the Charlatans are legit. You listen to them and they just scream elite band material. Every player is great and although Tim Burgess gets mixed reviews I think he's got the perfect voice to give this an air of authenticity. If he was a better vocalist it would sound like he was just singing over a bunch of seasoned session players - no one with such an ordinary voice could afford that band if they were paying by the hour.
I hadn't heard the whole album before but do remember the singles. They are all significantly better than I remember. How High is probably the most "brit-poppy" but still has enough of a classic rock tone that it doesn't date it. The whole album actually has a pretty classic rock style which keeps it very listenable nearly 30 years later.
Get On It sounds like a Bob Dylan track and is probably my favourite. Closely followed by Tellin' Stories. Only Teethin' and You're A Big Girl Now were my least favourites but I didn't actively dislike them.
So it's an 8 for the album but a recognition that the Charlatans are a band I'd struggle to say I was a fan of.
In 1992 The Charlatans released Weirdo. It's got a lovely bit of cover art which feels like it's taking strong inspiration from The Smiths with the inherent retroness of what those are referencing. It's got a super 90's vaguely retro wide font spelling the name of the band and then the name of the single in a different font that I guess is kind of weird but not really. It's a really decent single. I danced to it plenty probably at 42's and the Venue.
In 1992 Radiohead released Creep. It too has classic 90's fontery but the cover art is a little darker. I'll make a huge assumption and say it reminds me of the JFK assassination with the arrows point to JFK's head indicating bullet entry holes. Both singles were big in America and both are vaguely referencing the same nostalgic point in history.
In 1997 The Charlatans release Tellin' Stories which has some of the dance groove of Weirdo but the whole thing is kind of refined and largely sounds similar to the 1992 release. Because The Charlatans are a great responsible band deserving of respect.
In 1997 Radiohead release OK Computer. Because Radiohead are a pretentious, disrespectful and awkward band deserving of veneration.
Because they are responsible adults The Charlatans will never release anything like the first half of The King Of Limbs. It would be beneath them. But because they are responsible adults they'll never write anything close to the second half of The King Of Limbs. They'll never be mocked and derided and so there is nothing to defend, nurture and love.
So the album is an 8 but even though some of the tunes will return to my memory every now and then I will probably never return to this. It neither requires or expects any effort - it's dependable, respectable and excellent. It's Coldplay for people
who like music.
Big Joe Corrigan
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I haven’t heard much of The Charlatans, I remember The Only One I Know, and the lead singer did a duet if I remember with Sarah Cracknell and Saint Etienne. I have a couple of long train journeys this weekend so will be listening to this album for the first time.
threespires
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Got my pick ready for next week.
Struggling for an hard to get clue though.
Post what it is and we'll see if we can think something up for you.
threespires
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Tricky one to score this. I'm always happy to hear a Charlatans song or two but struggle to get into them at a whole album level. It's not that I lose interest as such, it just doesn't 'stir the blood' (TM Sadds or Eamo I can never remember which) sufficiently.
BlueHammer85
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journolud
Well-Known Member
Sounds like Oasis would if they were trying to be lots of other bands and artists instead of just the Beatles
BlueHammer85
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Sounds like Oasis would if they were trying to be lots of other bands and artists instead of just the Beatles
Oasis have never sounded remotely like the Beatles.
Yeah that's not in the slightest true. And has been proven by serious people in a number of different ways, beyond just the obvious sounding alike to regular punters.Oasis have never sounded remotely like the Beatles.
Not a dig at them, just saying the comparison that has consistently followed them is justified.