The Album Review Club - Week #194 (page 1303) - Ants From Up There - Black Country, New Road

Although I quite like Kick, well, Never Tear Us Apart and Mediate, I always thought that was the zenith of their career and never gave previous stuff much quarter as it seemed to be very generic Aussie rock.

Let's see if my prejudices are out of wack.
 
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I went through a brief Inx/Simple Minds/Dire Straits/ Level 42 Phase. Happily it didn’t last too long. Despite that I will put my many prejudices to one side and give this a proper listen.
 
Interesting choice - if my life depended on it I couldn’t name any song by Inxs. I’m sure (or maybe not so sure) that I may recognise a few when I give it a listen
 
Never liked them, was dragged along to see them at Wembley with the girlfriend at the time who loved them and to be fair they were great live.
 
Had a look at the track listing to see if I was familiar with anything but I don't think so. A band that many people speak highly of but that have mostly passed me by other than their radio play. Will be interesting to see how I find it.
 
Apologies for the delay in posting and going back to the playlist/guessing game briefly……I’ve been holidaying on the (sometimes) sunny shores of Lake Garda but following the thread via my phone and was delighted to see that my song nomination was the top choice.

However, in the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that I first heard this song myself only a few weeks ago, on Folk Alley Radio I believe. I know nothing about this band/album other than what I have read since. The song made an instant impact and has clearly done so with a number of other posters too. It leapfrogged a number of selections as my nomination for this playlist.

As an aside regarding the Leonard Cohen track, there’s a covers album of his songs by Jennifer Warnes called “Famous Blue Raincoat” which is well worth a listen.
 
stoneblue said:
As an aside regarding the Leonard Cohen track, there’s a covers album of his songs by Jennifer Warnes called “Famous Blue Raincoat” which is well worth a listen.
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That was the version of the song that I heard.

Congratulations on winning the song poll. I thought the Junip song was great.
 
Second listen this evening.
I’m sort of getting the same feeling both times.
I think it’s surprisingly appealing for the most part. Nothing that I could say is outstanding or a grabber, but ultimately I think the album runs out of steam towards the end.
Maybe the last three or four tracks.

It’s pleasant enough in the background and I definitely get the vibe that this would be worth seeing live.

I do think there is a lot could be done with a few numbers in a live setting and I can imagine him being the frontman for it.

But ultimately, twice now, my interest waned at the end.

We’ll go again tomorrow.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
I always felt too that their sound and energy was probably better live than in studio.
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Well, they were superb live. Fabulous energy that always got the crowd going and each member of the band clearly knew what they were doing.

However, I think that if any band I listened to could be labelled a singles band, this was it. They wrote great riffs, melodies, chunky, funk guitar lines and they had an outrageously popular front man. And in Chris Thomas and Mark Opitz, and in one early single Nile Rogers, they clearly had producers who knew how to lay it all down in the studio.

Whilst I’m glad that some have heard this, I’m pleasantly surprised that many people haven’t, which will make this interesting.

I’m also gobsmacked that @GornikDaze can’t name any of their songs :)
 
mancity2012_eamo said:
Second listen this evening.
I’m sort of getting the same feeling both times.
I think it’s surprisingly appealing for the most part. Nothing that I could say is outstanding or a grabber, but ultimately I think the album runs out of steam towards the end.
Maybe the last three or four tracks.

It’s pleasant enough in the background and I definitely get the vibe that this would be worth seeing live.

I do think there is a lot could be done with a few numbers in a live setting and I can imagine him being the frontman for it.

But ultimately, twice now, my interest waned at the end.

We’ll go again tomorrow.
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The first three songs are by far the best, so that’s a fair comment.
 
I bought this album based on the single LLT which I’ve always liked , I’ve not listened to the album for years but always preferred it to ‘Kick’ which was overplayed on the radio.Ive never bothered with anything else they did since but looking forward to reacquainting myself with this.
 
RobMCFC said:
Well, they were superb live. Fabulous energy that always got the crowd going and each member of the band clearly knew what they were doing.

However, I think that if any band I listened to could be labelled a singles band, this was it. They wrote great riffs, melodies, chunky, funk guitar lines and they had an outrageously popular front man. And in Chris Thomas and Mark Opitz, and in one early single Nile Rogers, they clearly had producers who knew how to lay it all down in the studio.

Whilst I’m glad that some have heard this, I’m pleasantly surprised that many people haven’t, which will make this interesting.

I’m also gobsmacked that @GornikDaze can’t name any of their songs :)
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I get that Rob.
Some bands or artists are just meant to be heard ( or seen) live.
Some people are just born for it. They feed of the kinetic energy between them and the audience and give it out in spades.

I also get what you are saying about them being a singles band.

You have given me an idea for a new thread. I have someone in mind who was just meant to play live but was the total opposite to a singles band.

There’s several approaches to putting it out there but I’m not sure we need another musical thread right now.
 
Coatigan said:
Orlando Weeks' new album.

Well I assume, unless there is another that released a new album last week ;).
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Yes, I had to give you a bit of trivia today given the hints (and correct answers) for this album selection went by before some of us even saw them. ;-)

Sorry journolud, that is of course the one, and I named a single from it too. I figured most of the rest of you would get it when Coat also mentioned how the singer's previous band's best album was misunderstood here too, before my time here to help.
 
Soft spot for INXS and Kick Album previously reviewed a decade ago.

forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk

Album of the day - Inxs ( Kick )

Kick is the sixth studio album by the Australian rock band INXS, released in 1987 by WEA in Australia, Atlantic Records in the United States and Phonogram Records in the United Kingdom on Audio CD, Compact Cassette and Gramophone record. As the band's most successful studio album, it is...
forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk

Looking forward to LLT.
 
Thanks to a longer-than-normal commute I got to hear LLT stem to stern. Knew four or five songs and forgot how much I liked “This Time”. Will review later after another few listens but tend to agree it varies between quite good and a little generic depending on the tune, though I heard some reasonable ones I didn’t know.
 
Most music devotees living in Australia would have heard these tracks many times over and I am no exception.

I think its reasonable to say they are a singles band clearly all extremely talented and I agree they are better live than in studio which is not the norm for me at least of artists I spend more time listening to than INXS.

MH is the quintessential frontman and the Farris Brothers wouldn't have got into Rob's playlist had MH not come along.

For me I actually prefer their earlier albums that have a rawer edge to them and simpler but effective production.

A bit more post punk less layered that you can listen and move to.

Single wise Just Keep Walking from there first album does it more for me than there many well known material from their more popular albums like Kick , LLT . The Swing and X.

Not a huge fan of INXS as I have said previously but a good choice from Rob nevertheless who we are slowly adopting an an honourable Aussie on the music front given his comparative ( meaning in a amiable way ) lack of ardency for all things UK.

Without seeming trite I only played the few songs I haven't heard repetitively in fairly recent times as you cannot listen to or watch many mediums here and not be inundating with INXS perhaps heightened by MH's sad early passing and decided on a 6/10.
 
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