The Album Review Club - Week #191 (page 1286) - Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear

LGWIO said:
...And there was me thinking that the Red Star & Smiley face for the clues would have given the game away for the band.
The comments about the derivative nature of some of the tracks/guitars made me think back to the clue for old Stan and thought that he had carried over his derivative style into his writing for Yoho Ahoy.... or perhaps @mrbelfry was carrying on Stan's work with him introducing us to the good ship "The Onion"

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Painting with Booty sounds like a specialist skill.

I have kids kind of the right age to have watched Yoho Ahoy but I have never seen this before!
 
Had a listen to this for a bit of nostalgia and it was as good as I remember. Flag Day and Think For A Minute are the standouts now as they were then. If you take the vocals out of Think For A Minute I was surprised how much in my opinion it sounded like early REM. Anyway it would be 8/10 from me
 
I expected to enjoy this a little more than I did. Some great songs but as an album i was beginning to flag. I like Heaton as a songwriter, appreciate his social commentary and the wit and thought that he pours into his songs but if i'm honest his voice started to grate which surprised me as I have enjoyed much of his work over the years. Back to my Beautiful South albums.
I can only rate it as a 6/10.
 
The Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4

Well, a couple of unexpected finds with this nomination, firstly thinking 'Happy Hour' was a Beautiful South track and Fatboy Slim being the bassist - Fatboy Slim who i've seen a good few times!

All that aside this is a very solid album, one which many can relate - especially for me working for a fancy office in London the last 20 years - so 'Happy Hour' can sum up a good few work lunches, and 'Sheep' when i'm heading into work on a crappy commute.

I think Paul Heaton has a great voice, unique and can hit many notes - works perfect with the jangly melodies they produce, they craft a sound of their own and that is to be commended.

It is repetitive and I skipped a few tracks at times so will knock a point off . Good pick!

7/10
 
Saddleworth2 said:
I expected to enjoy this a little more than I did. Some great songs but as an album i was beginning to flag. I like Heaton as a songwriter, appreciate his social commentary and the wit and thought that he pours into his songs but if i'm honest his voice started to grate which surprised me as I have enjoyed much of his work over the years. Back to my Beautiful South albums.
I can only rate it as a 6/10.
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Concour.
To me, the HM's were just a contemporary version of the flying pickets (Remember them?!).
This has aged similarly imho.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Only You?

Bit harsh mate. Whilst they shared PH's socialist tendencies, I don't believe they shared his talents for songwriting. They certainly haven't shared his career longevity.
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Aye.
As a young lad, for reasons i no longer remember, i grouped these together.
Was never a fan of the FP's so in my youthful ignorance, binned them both off.
 
Out on blue 6 said:
Had a listen to this for a bit of nostalgia and it was as good as I remember. Flag Day and Think For A Minute are the standouts now as they were then. If you take the vocals out of Think For A Minute I was surprised how much in my opinion it sounded like early REM. Anyway it would be 8/10 from me
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I'm glad you caught that too, and I highlighted "Think For A Minute" too on that REM sound. It was almost uncanny hearing both and then going to Spotify to hear Murmur. Great minds and all that...
 
Out on blue 6 said:
Had a listen to this for a bit of nostalgia and it was as good as I remember. Flag Day and Think For A Minute are the standouts now as they were then. If you take the vocals out of Think For A Minute I was surprised how much in my opinion it sounded like early REM. Anyway it would be 8/10 from me
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The version released as a single was more musical and a little faster I think.
 
Great nomination from @LGWIO - with 17 votes/reviews, that's the most since October.

London 0 Hull 4 scored an average of 7.15 and just misses out on a place in the top 20 because The Blue Nile's album with the same score got 19 votes.

This week it's the turn of @FogBlueInSanFran who has already informed me that he's ready to so, so assuming he's up and about, we'll await his clues.
 
Indeed he is ready. The Housemartins are a hard act to follow! Or was that Split Enz? Anyway . . .

Clues:

1) Initially released on the continents of Asia, Australia and Europe, two key aspects of this popular debut LP were changed on the later American release, one change due to a world-altering event.

2) The record was produced by a pretty well-known studio guy who also produced two of the records we have already reviewed (one review quite recently).

3) The band’s name is represented by any one of a) a well-known GIF of a cartoon character which you might find often used in, say, Tolmie’s “It’s Quiet” thread; b) an important aspect of a 1952 Vincent Black Lightning; or c) a certain habit of Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

4) The record title is grammatically incorrect.
 
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