| Author | Message | ||
     Graham Twyford Unregistered guest |
Daily reader of this forum. For what it's worth, the new Idlewild album Warnings/Promises is fantastic. 100 Broken Windows was great too. I really don't care if they sound a bit like REM. At least it sounds like Fables/Pageant era REM and not Around The Sun. Any other GB fans like Idlewild? Or do I sense I'm in for a pasting... :-( | ||
| Pádraig Collins Unregistered guest |
I love their previous album, The Remote Part. I don't have any of the others. Saw them live in Sydney a couple of years ago. Superb gig in a pub. Six of them on a tiny stage. Around The Sun is a miserably awful album. I never thought I would say this, but REM should give it up. U2 have aged with dignity and just made one of the best albums of their career. REM have not made a great album since 1992 and I seriously doubt they are capable of ever doing so again. Not when they are so blind as to allow that crap out under their name. The emperors have no clothes on. | ||
| Graham Twyford Unregistered guest |
The Remote Part is excellent too. I love 'Tell Me Ten Words'. 100 Broken Windows is an outstanding album although didn't do so well. Their first album 'Hope is Important' is a bit of a racket with a few good songs but not great. Around The Sun was mind-numbingly disappointing. The first poor REM album - I hoped it would never happen. Saw them in Marseille 2 months ago and they were great. But the back catalogue carried the show. Peter Buck needs to plug his guitar back in and REM need to take some risks. They've been my favourite band (just ahead of GBs) since I was 15 but more crap like that and it's all over! | ||
| Kuba Unregistered guest |
I am a little bit confused with what I've read, let me explain my view. "100 Broken Windows" was a fantastic album, one of the best of 00's decade so far - full of great straightforward melodies, hooks, stunning energy and great Roddy lyric shots ("don't be real, be post-modern" being the fans' favourite). Their earlier works are rather punky/noisy efforts and are not that good. "The Remote Part" was Idlewild entering the rock mainstream, but it was ok, had some great tunes like "American English", the lyrics were more balanced and although the album was less energetic, I really enjoyed it. But oh, come on! "Warnings/Promises" is awful and impassionate, Roddy's lyrics are so poor, how on Earth can you compare it to "100 Broken Windows"? The best moments are average, these are the FM-friendly pop-rock ballads when this guy rhymes "together" with "forever"! For me it's the definitive end of Idlewild as an exciting rock band. | ||
| Graham Twyford Unregistered guest |
I didn't compare 'Warnings/Promises' to '100 Broken Windows' at all. As you rightly say two totally different records. But I think 'Warnings/Promises' has some great stuff - 'El Capitan', 'Disconnected', 'The Space Between All Things' etc. However I agree that on this one Roddy's lyrics are partly brilliant (El Capitan) and partly annoyiong ('Welcome Home'). I prefer it to The Remote Part on which stuff like 'All I Never Wanted' grated a little... | ||
| Pat Boland Unregistered guest |
Yes, 'Around the Sun' is a huge disappointment. As was 'Reveal' before it. In both cases I really liked the preceeding singles; 'Imitation of Life' and 'Leaving New York' are, for my money, as good as anything they've done in the last 15 years. Unfortunately, neither of the accompanying albums followed suit. That said, however, 'I wanted to be wrong' was one of the highlights of the recent show at The Point. Similarly, they opened with the magnificent 'I took your name' from the distinctly underwhelming 'Monster'. By the way, I find this comparison between REM and U2 rather tiresome. If making a couple of poor albums in a row was a yardstick for permanently writing a band off then U2 would have ceased trading some time around mid-1997. More to the point, neither of their last 2 albums bring the word 'dignity' to my mind. Although, now that I think about it, 'Stuck in a moment' did sound a lot like Deacon Blue (a Scottish pop-group whose sound fell somewhere between Prefab Sprout and Wet Wet Wet). I suppose it's no worse than stealing a middle-eight from A-ha!!! | ||
| Kuba Unregistered guest |
We were listening to it with my friend who is a huge Idlewild fan (since 2000, I think) and when we heard "I Want A Warning" we felt sooo embarrassed, we thought, "oh God, what is that, the most awful piece of music this year so far" or something like that. The guitars sounded so bad, the "solo" repeated this poor chorus line with an irritating manner, grrr. (sorry, my English is too poor to describe it more precisely). I agree there are some nice songs, "El Capitan" is ok, "Blame It On The Obvious Ways" has a nice chorus and I like "As If I Hadn't Slept" too, although it's ripping off R.E.M. But generally speaking, this is without a doubt the worst Idlewild record, they're getting worse on every next LP since "100 BW" so to be honest, I think the best songs are far behind them. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 55 Registered: 08-2004 |
Padraig said, "U2 have aged with dignity and just made one of the best albums of their career." You should have waited until April 1st to post that one. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Unregistered guest |
Pat, your touchiness regarding U2/REM comparisons I can take; your mentioning of the very great Prefab Sprout in the same sentence as the very awful Deacon Blue I can't. Shame on you. Jerry, you maybe expect me to preface a statement like the one I made above about U2 and dignity with the phrase IMHO, as many contributors here do. I'm not humble though. I was a bridesmaid at Molly Sugden's wedding you know. | ||
| gareth Unregistered guest |
I think i'm the only person on the planet who likes 'Around The Sun'. Listening to it now. It's a great record, great collection of songs and 'I Wanted to Be Wrong' and 'Ascent of Man' are 2 of the best things they've ever done. Maybe the record just hit me at the right time in my life. Dunno. They are fantastic on this tour too. Padraig, sorry about the rugby. We weren't going to let you win in Cardiff of all places. Forgotten how it feels to be celebrating a successful Welsh team...wonder if it will last?!?!? | ||
| Ted Member Username: Ted Post Number: 2 Registered: 01-2005 |
Me and my partner both really like the REM album too. I was a bit worried when she rushed out and bought it on the strength of Leaving New York, but now I like it more than I have liked anything of theirs since... well pretty much since they left IRS. Don't get me started on U2 though... | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 56 Registered: 08-2004 |
"The Outsiders" is a very good song too. The album is a lot less poppy than "Reveal", less experimental than "Up", relatively low key in style. Lyrically challenging rather than sonically, therefore not as obvious as anything by U2. | ||
| Kuba Unregistered guest |
"The Outsiders" is horrible and the rap part is so bad, probably the most embarrassing rap I've ever heard, just check those naive lyrics and the way this guy sings it. I love R.E.M., really liked "Reveal", but that last album is a disaster. | ||
| Pat Boland Unregistered guest |
Padraig, In hindsight, I share your misgivings regarding the Prefab Sprout/D£@(#n B&%€ compararison. I was simply trying to illustrate certain sonic similarities (both acts used the same producer - Jon Kelly - on occasion) that they shared. Of course Paddy McAloon is a songwriting Michel Platini compared to Ricky Ross's Ashley Grimes and it was never my intention to suggest anything else. Apologies for any offence caused. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Unregistered guest |
Pat, apology accepted (hey I was listening to that on my mp3 player this morning on the way to work!). Now apologise for the Wet Wet Wet comparison, which I shockingly failed to call you on in the first place. Ricky Ross is a god among men in comparison to Marty Pellow. Rangers fanatics are incapable of writing good tunes. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 83 Registered: 08-2004 |
Erm, just saw this old thread, does this mean Jim Kerr is a poet of repute????????? | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 10 Registered: 05-2005 |
...Only if he promised you a miracle!!! Seriously though, that WAS a great song and seemed to auger well what we could do with our lives at that time! But what is it with Prefab Sprout???? A mate of mine with several thousand c.d.s reckons a couple of their albums are some of his altime favourites. I find them intolerably inconsequencial and boring. They give me the same feeling as the last REM album that was terrible. Can't agree about Reveal. That's one of their best. "Bang the drum" has to be one of their best ever songs. Sheilds up...... | ||
| Graham Twyford Member Username: Graham_twyford Post Number: 16 Registered: 05-2005 |
I think Prefab Sprout is very much a lyrics thing. You need to check out the album 'Steve McQueen' and particularly songs like 'Bonnie' or 'Appetite'. Prefab Sprout are brilliant at their best but if you're feeling cynical their weaker songs can also sound impossibly twee. And I totally agree on 'Reveal' which I think is a brilliant album. | ||
| Matthew Berlyant Member Username: Incarag Post Number: 4 Registered: 06-2005 |
Count me in as a big Idlewild fan. Although I also have to say that I like every album since 100 Broken Windows (which is my favorite album of the '00s so far) slightly less, I will say that Warnings/Promises is quite good and underrated on this board. I guess it's inevitable that a band will get slammed when they attempt to move towards a slightly more mainstream sound as Idlewild have over the last few albums. I mean, I know people who don't like 16 Lovers Lane because it's too "mainstream" and they don't like the production, but to me that's the best Go-Betweens album. Regardless, I don't know how fans can diss a record with songs as great as "Love Steals Us From Loneliness" and my favorite "The Space Between All Things" (which if Capitol had any sense, they'd release as a single instead of the ok "I Understand It"). I do somewhat agree about Roddy's lyrics getting somewhat dumbed down on the last few records, especially this one. Matt P.S. I like Hope is Important and Captain, too, and I think those records are unfairly slammed, too, and are good for what they are. Then again, I grew up listening to a lot of hardcore punk, so there you go. | ||
| kuba a Member Username: Kuba Post Number: 16 Registered: 05-2005 |
Matthew, I don't think it's a question of sound. It's just that the songs are not that good anymore. I don't usually really care how "mainstream" a band sounds, "16 Lovers Lane" is one of my two favourite records ever and maybe it doesn't sound as "underground" as "Before Hollywood" (well surely it doesn't), but it's distinctive, it's wise, it's full of passion and pure beauty. That's the quality. "The Remote Part" was a very good Idlewild record in this "mainstream" style, but I think "W/P" is only average at its best moments. I like "Hope Is Important" though, I don't listen to much of this kind of stuff, but they seem to enjoy themselves and that's great. | ||
| Andy Greenwald Member Username: Agreenwald Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2005 |
Glad to see some users' obvious good taste (ie, the Go-Bs) extends to Idlewild as well! I've been a fan since the wonderfully snotty "Captain" mini-album and agree that "100 Broken Windows" is something close to masterpiece. "Warnings/Promises" took me a long time to get comfortable with -- almost too long -- but I've finally come around to seeing its strengths. Yes, the lyrics can be god-awful at times -- and I'll admit that's a hard thing to get around -- but there are some wonderful songs ("El Capitan" and "As If I Hadn't Slept," particularly) there. Overall, I see it as Idlewild's great "transition" album -- from noisy punks/indie hunks, to something more interesting, melancholy, and Cali-folk tinged. It's an album very much caught in between two identities and not at all a strong introduction to the band. I only hope that the sales of this album allow them to reach their eventual destination. | ||
| Rob Member Username: Rob Post Number: 32 Registered: 12-2004 |
I will certainly check out Idlewild, have only seen/heard them on TV. Sometimes I think not liking REM is akin to not liking puppies and kittens. Yesterday I was watching old Blueface singing "Everybody Hurts" at Live 8, and I commented that I had not liked REM since the mid 80s, and I particularly detested this song. My wife, who usually accepts our huge musical differences with great patience, was driven to defend Stipe et al with passion!! "He's a great guy", this kind of thing. He's a weird guy, that's for sure, but I think I'd prefer it if he stuck to his theatrical gestures and gave up singing. Stipe was great when you couldn't make out the lyrics. Once he started to make sense it all went pear-shaped. | ||
| James Member Username: James Post Number: 25 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've always held the view that REM found it harder to handle fame then U2. Not in terms of personality but in terms of how to make their music. The level of fame that they had at the end of the Green world tour seemed to suit them best. After that they have struggled to pitch their records to the world. Having said that they have made some great albums post 1990, and in my opinion 'Around The Sun' is one of them. But it's a record that certainly divides opinion. Best track for me is 'I Wanted to Be Wrong'. | ||
| Nigel Wheatley Member Username: Nigel_wheatley Post Number: 6 Registered: 05-2005 |
I always thought Prefab Sprout were rather twee and insipid, whereas Deacon Blue were actually pretty good. Their 'Raintown' album was great by anyones standards. Packed full of glorious pop songs, and delivered impeccably by the distinctive voice of Ricky Ross. | ||
| James Member Username: James Post Number: 28 Registered: 05-2005 |
When I was 14 I bought Steve McQueen and loved it, during the long wait between Prefab Sprout albums I persuaded myself to buy Raintown, as it was touted as being in a similar vein. I liked the album a lot then but I could not listen to it now, whereas the Prefab Sprout records from the same era get more unique and interesting the more time passes. I genuinely beleive that Paddy McAloon is the great lost genius of british songwriting. Ricky Ross has proved to be something of a hack songwriter with an unhealthy Tom Waits/Springsteen obsession. Over-romaticising Glasgow is not the basis for a great record (Blue Nile excluded!) |