Red
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Artist: Guillemots List Price: £16.99 Our Price: £7.98 You Save: £9.01 (53%) Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours  |
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 | Product Details: Release Date: 24 March 2008 Record Label: Universal Rating:   Sales Rank: 769 | | Look for similar items by category:
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| | Customer Reviews: Essentially flawed, but contains some great tracks (25 November 2008)Guillemots are a very talented bunch, there's no question about that, but finding a direction for their creativity is evidently a problem, because this album is all over the place. While some people may revel in the diversity of this release, I can't help feeling that it lacks coherence as a result. Everything is thrown in here - rock, disco, funk, ballads, drum 'n' bass, obligatory plinky-plonky sounds... they're on their second album and, unfortunately, almost descending into self-made cliché. If I'd have been sequencing the album, I'd have probably left the immense, menacing 'Kriss Kross' until the very last track because, as the opening song, it is so brilliant, everything else on the album pales in comparison. Although there are quite a few really good tracks on this album (specifically, the rather gorgeous 'Falling Out Of Reach', the infuriatingly catchy 'Get Over It' , the drifting, expansive 'Words' and the lovely last track 'Take Me Home') there are also some very ordinary and unremarkable songs which bring the overall feel of 'Red' down somewhat and, given the ability of the group, you can be forgiven for feeling disappointed that they haven't followed 'Through The Window Pane' with something a little better than this. Indeed, there are still some songs on this album which I'm not sure are good or not - 'Cockateels', for example - and some where the eclectic arrangement destroys the potentially great song, such as 'Don't Look Down', which merely descends into a barely-listenable mess. Fyfe and the group are obviously having fun and producing some fun music, but there were moments on their debut which really took you somewhere different, almost other-worldly, emotionally, and 'Red', as accomplished as it may be, just doesn't do that. I'd say that it is just about worth buying for the handful of the better songs on this album and, especially, 'Kriss Kross'. That particular song has to be heard to be believed. I suppose that I just had higher expectations for this album and have had my hopes dashed a little. Don't worry, I'll get over it. A generous four stars for the album's undeniable highlights. I just hate copy protect CDs (09 October 2008)The other reviews on here concentrate on the music. Opinion is divided on whether this is a great record or a bit of a mess. My view it has some great moments but is at times a bit self indulgent. But then I loved the debut CD so it had a lot to live up to. My main point is of a more technical nature. I believe that if I buy a CD I should be able to copy it to my mp3 player. I quite like to do a CD-R for the car as well - so the original doesn't end up scratched. Now clearly the 'music industry' would prefer that I can't do that. And so under the guise of providing enhanced content (a rather poor quality video promo which starts up when you put the CD in your PC), they make it next to impossible to get a decent quality rip. I buy a lot of CDs. They sound better on my rather good stereo system than downloaded mp3s. I am less inclined to buy a CD if I can't copy it. It is now childs play to download illegal mp3. Record companies - you do the maths. Potential purchasers you have been warned. Gets better with every listen (19 June 2008)Gorgeous rich sound - very similar to the accoustics when I went to see the band play live at the Southampton Guildhall - that may be due to the location where the album was recorded. Unpredictable melodies and key changes make this a wonderfully challenging listen and something of an emotional rollercoaster. So grown-up that poppy hits like "Get Over It" seem almost too simplistic and commercial. Awesome musicianship and highly versatile vocals. Definitely my album of the year! If you like this, check out Elbow's "Seldom Seen Kid". A reason of dissapoint (19 May 2008)A simply poor albúm. I buy this and regreat. I send It to the trash. Unique (08 May 2008)What do you get, if you put together a bunch of well educated and driven musicians - among others an extremely gifted singer/songwriter who happens to be slightly mad? You get - ta-dah - Guillemots! This is most certainly not easy listening, although there are actually songs on this album with hit potential. This is quick shifts, unexpected turns, wonderful surprises and grand, almost epic arrangements. This is pop-rock-jazz-musical-funk-folk-ethnic - with a twist! So you really have to keep an open mind in order to stand it. But if you can do that, you're in for a very special treat. As many have already noted, this album is a grower. There are a few songs that catches on immediately, but most of them take a little while to sink in. Don't worry, though: They will! And when you've been captivated by the sound, you'll start to notice the lyrics and discover yet another treat. There may be a song of two on "Red" that are no more than average, but that is acceptable considering that several of them actually deserve more than five stars. I really belive, that I'll still be listening to this album in ten, twenty, thirty years from now. |
