Ash - 1977[1996]
Two-thirds of Ash were born in 1977, which means that their latter-day punk-pop isn't very catholic. Instead of sticking to the rigid rules of American punk-pop — which means you can't stretch the song past three minutes — Ash take a cinematic approach to their songs, throwing in elements of power pop, glam, post-
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Catatonia - Paper Scissors Stone
For awhile there, Catatonia sounded novel and fresh in the middle of a British music scene warped on maudlin self-respect, but now that they've gone and suffered through their own euphemistically tinged bouts of exhaustion and pop star rehabilitation, the rot has set in. With its sobered, Veruca Salt-style drift and gospel-orchestrated ill assessments, Paper Scissors Stone is, more than anything else, a warning against ever misunderstanding what it means to have most of the people like you only some of the time. In reality, there's nothing like chugging indie sung with the ferocity of a grown woman laying an egg to give a little polish to your record collection, but even the most committed fan should admit that there can be too much of an odd thing. Guitarist and core songwriter Mark Roberts offers very little for ex-girlfriend Cerys Matthews' sense of loss, fiddling with pop's bellybutton in the feathery "Shore Leave" or beside the ridged energy of "Stone by Stone," and he goes to great lengths to remind you of empty batteries and the terrible, regrettable reconciliation of ex-lovers. Perhaps given more time to situate itself against the shifting British indie community, Paper Scissors Stone would be viewed as a welcome return. Instead, it sounds like the clumsier, more brittle answer to International Velvet, with the natural pop thrills cut off at the knees and the music an unmemorable parenthesis to a career built on reactionary sleight of hand. [The Japanese release adds "Long Time Lonely" and "Apple Core" to the album.(all music guide)
Doves - The Last Broadcast[2002]
When Doves issued Lost Souls in fall 2000, Britpop was immersed in its melodic gloom-and-doom era, ushered in by the success of Radiohead. The likes of Coldplay, Travis, Elbow, and Starsailor followed in their wake, as did Doves. What separated Doves from the rest was a glint of passion, evident on their 2000 debut, Lost Souls. Two years later, the atmospheric dreamscapes of Lost Souls were torn asunder for the musical daybreak of The Last Broadcast. As it turns out, the psychedelic vibrancy of "Catch the Sun," the brightest track on the album, pointed toward this brave second record. Gone are the hazy space rock trips and the cheerless attitudes; Doves are on the sunny side of the street for The Last Broadcast. The seven-minute sonic boom of "There Goes the Fear" finds Jimi Goodwin sharing vocals with Jez and Andy Williams for a glorious chorus. Each of them switches up vocal duties throughout, lending a joyous feel to the album itself. From the bold front of "Words" to the fiery momentum of "Pounding," The Last Broadcast shows a refreshing rawness that was absent before. The High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan delivers sweeping orchestral arrangements for the sublime "Friday's Dust," while the electronic dewdrops of "The Sulphur Man" push Doves' divine ambience further to the front.Doves were caught up in making grand compositions on Lost Souls, which worked fabulously, but it was too much. They've stripped down to the basics, letting the optimism of The Last Broadcast take center stage. It's a brilliant moment. (all music guide)
Gomez - Bring It On
The British band Gomez is a five-piece, consisting of Ben Ottewell (vocals, guitar), Tom Gray (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Paul Blackburn (bass, guitar), Olly Peacock (drums), and Ian Ball (vocals, guitar, harmonica). Whereas the majority of up-and-coming British bands are either retro-pop (à la Oasis), trip-hop (Portishead), or space rock (the Verve, Radiohead), Gomez is one of the few to contain bluesy elements in their rock. Their debut for Virgin Records, Bring It On, was praised in the rock press on both sides of the Atlantic. They also received the distinguished Mercury Music Prize for 1998 Album of the Year in England, where they edged out such stiff competition as Massive Attack's Mezzanine and the Verve's Urban Hymns. They completed their inaugural U.S. tour opening for Eagle-Eye Cherry in October 1998, while the press still offered praise -- Spin magazine called Bring It On "a damn beautiful album," giving it an eight-out-of-ten rating. Liquid Skin followed in 1999 and the rarities and B-sides compilation Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline was issued a year later. A third studio album, In Our Gun, appeared in spring 2002. Another hiatus saw Ian Ball relocating to Los Angeles, while still working with the band at their new studio in Portslade, England. The dozens of tracks recorded during this time were whittled down and fashioned into Split the Difference, released in May of 2004. By that time, Hut, their original label, had gone under, leaving them signed to Virgin (Hut's distributor). Despite all the critical acclaim, sales were never up to what Virgin was expecting from Gomez, and the two sides parted ways later that year. In 2005, they signed with ATO Records and released Out West, Gomez's first live album, in June of that year. How We Operate arrived in May 2006, and the band rounded out the year by assembling a retrospective collection of singles, rarities, and unreleased tracks for Five Men in a Hut: Singles 1998-2004. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
Geneva - Further
Taking cues from Suede and Smiths, as well as the Byrds and the Lovin' Spoonful, Geneva carved out a distinctive, idiosyncratic niche in the post-Brit-pop territory of late '90s British indie-rock. Geneva formed in 1992 in Aberdeen, Scotland when Andrew Montgomery (vocals) and Steven Dora (guitar) met and began writing songs together. Montogmery was then working as a journalist for the Sunday Post and Dora was studying marine biology at university, and neither had previously been in a band before. Eventually, they recruited guitarist Stuart Evans and bassist Keith Graham and, after spending some time working with a drum machine, drummer Douglas Caskie. Playing both originals and '60s folk-rock standards, the band began rehearsing under the name Sunfish and started playing Scottish clubs as of 1992. Over the course of the next year, their enthusiasm began to wear out, and they eventually stopped sending out demos. Nevertheless, they continued playing and writing new songs that were more individual than their previous material, using this new material as leverage for a gig in London. One of these new demos made its way toward Nude Records, who signed the band after witnessing one rehearsal. Changing their name from Sunfish to Geneva, the band released their debut single "No One Speaks" to considerable praise in the latter half of 1996. It was followed in early 1997 by "Into the Blue," and by its release, the UK weekly music press had divided into factions that supported Geneva and critics who believed they were a manufactured band. Geneva released their full-length debut album, Further, early in the summer of 1997. Their sophomore effort, Weather Underground, arrived three years later. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Gene - Olympian[1995]
1. Haunted by You
2. Your Love, It Lies - Gene, James, Matt
3. Truth, Rest Your Head
4. A Car That Sped
5. Left-Handed
6. London, Can You Wait?
7. To the City
8. Still Can't Find the Phone
9. Sleep Well Tonight
10. Olympian
11. We'll Find Our Own Way
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Gay Dad - Leisure Noise[1999]
Brit-pop phenoms Gay Dad were led by singer Cliff Jones, a onetime music journalist who first began conceiving the band during the early 1990s. Initial details are sketchy and the nascent group's line-up was fluid, although drummer Nicholas "Baz" Crowe was a mainstay from the outset; a 1994 demo recorded with legendary Rolling Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham proved so disastrous it derailed Gay Dad's momentum for over a year, however, and they did not make their live debut until 1995. Early gigs were often a shambles, and by 1996 Jones -- who in the interim had developed a fascination with psychedelia and glam-rock -- began to rethink the band's approach; a subsequent demo earned Gay Dad considerable insider buzz, and in the spring of 1997 they signed to London Records. Their debut single, 1998's "To Earth with Love, " became a UK smash, and the band -- in addition to Jones and Baz now comprising guitarist Charley Stone, bassist Nigel Hoyle and keyboardist James Riseboro -- emerged as media darlings; the full-length Leisure Noise followed in mid-1999, with Stone leaving Gay Dad soon after. It would be three years until they would appear again, but they chose not to replace Stone and instead kept the group smaller for Transmission, a focused effort that showed them lean closer to their pop tendencies than their psychedelic tendencies. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Embrace - The Good Will Out[1998]
Debut albums rarely arrive with as much expectation as Embrace's The Good Will Out -- in Britain, at least. Arriving after the massive success of Oasis and the Verve, The Good Will Out was perceived as the heir apparent to the lad-rock throne. One listen to The Good Will Out illustrates why -- the group ingeniously combines the anthemic hooks and monolithic roar of Oasis with the sweeping aural majesty of the Verve. That alone makes the album a bracing listen, but The Good Will Out doesn't quite have enough substance to compete in the big leagues. Danny McNamara simply doesn't have the charisma of Liam Gallagher or Richard Ashcroft, and his songs aren't as immediate or memorable as Noel Gallagher's or Ashcroft's. That's not to say they're bad songs -- on the contrary, they're quite good, and they're performed passionately. It's just that in comparison to their peers -- who really are their influences, as well -- they lack that certain magic. Nevertheless, The Good Will Out illustrates enough promise and panache to make it a first-rate debut. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Elastica - The Menace[2000]
The Menace, released in 2000, is Elastica's second full-length album.
After the release of their eponymous debut record in 1995, the band started touring and in the process started partying ferociously and dabbling in drugs. The first attempt to record their second work was in France and Ireland at the end of 1996, but internal problems caused the departure of members (including vocalist/guitarist Donna Matthews and bassist Annie Holland) and the temporary dissolution of the group.
Leader Justine Frischmann, who had recently broken up with boyfriend Damon Albarn of Blur, started to work on Brian Eno-influenced mood music with flatmate Loz Hardy of Kingmaker, resulting on tracks like "Miami Nice" and "My Sex", which ended up on the album. Frischmann reconnected with Annie Holland in early 1999 and formed a new line-up of the band, including keyboardist/vocalist Mew, formerly of Heave, guitarist Paul Jones (Lineoleum's former member) and keyboardist Dave Bush, formerly of The Fall.
The band listened to previous recordings of the material and decided to re-do it all in four weeks, in September 1999. Bush's ex-bandmate Mark E. Smith participated in the writing and recording process of two songs in the album ("How He Wrote Elastica Man" -- a pun on the Fall's "How I Wrote Elastic Man" -- and "KB"). The album also features two early sessions with Donna Matthews ("Image Change" and "How He Wrote Elastica Man") and a Trio cover, "Da Da Da", featuring the keyboards of Damon Albarn, under the name Norman Balda.
The cover photo was taken by visual artist and musician Maya Arulpragasam also directed the video for "Mad Dog God Dam"
Elbow - Alseep In The Back (2001)
Amazon.co.uk Review
While it's tempting to position Elbow next to the sardonic likes of Badly Drawn Boy--mainly because of their proximity to the city of Manchester and their way with an acoustic guitar--Asleep In The Back, their frighteningly competent debut album, bears not the joker's smile. Instead, it comes straight from Manchester's simmering, ugly dark side--eleven tracks of rain-sodden misery, blown up into the breed of gracefully elegiac fatalism that once formed the essence of the likes of Joy Division. The foggy psychedelic swirl and sewer-deep dub basslines might recall the prog-rock indulgences of Radiohead, but Elbow's grievances are unmistakably aired from the far end of a dole queue; "Any Day Now" veritably fidgets with small town frustration, lead singer Guy Garvey--a man with the voice of an angel and the face of a brickie--hissing "Any day now/ How's about getting out of this place/ Anyways?" over and over, a mantra of desperation. Should we take it as a given that Elbow will break out of this rut of depression and despair? Asleep In The Back is good enough to suggest so. But then, Asleep In The Back also knows that fate can be awfully cruel. --Louis Pattison
Hurricane #1 - Hurricane #1[1997]
Hurricane #1 is the debut studio album by the British rock band Hurricane #1, released in 1997. Charted at number 11 in the UK album charts, and the top 10 in Japan. The album was recorded at Lincoln's Chapel with producer Stephen Harris. All songs written by Andy Bell (Creation Songs).
James - Laid[1993]
Laid is the sixth release and fifth studio album by the British alternative rock band James. It was released on October 5, 1993. It was the first of several collaborations between the group and Brian Eno, who produced all but one of the album's tracks - in Stuart Maconie's authorised biography of the group, Folklore, they admitted that Eno didn't like the song "One of the Three" so they recorded it when he took a day off. The sessions also resulted in the experimental Wah Wah album.
"Out to Get You"
"Sometimes" (Lester Piggott)
"Dream Thrum"
"One of the Three"
"Say Something"
"Five-O"
"P.S."
"Everybody Knows"
"Knuckle Too Far"
"Low, Low, Low"
"Laid"
"Lullaby"
"Skindiving"
Stereophonics - Just Enough Education To Perform[2001]
Just Enough Education to Perform is the third album released by Stereophonics. It was originally to be called "JEEP". It also became their second album to reach #1 in the UK. Guitarist Kelly Jones came up with the title after his brother came home from a stint in the army and wrote the word on his bedroom wall. Car manufacturer Daimler-Chrysler however had copyrighted this name so it was changed to its current title, although frequently it was known as the acronym J.E.E.P. It was published by V2 in 2001. All songs were written by Kelly Jones with the exception of "Mr Writer," which was written by Kelly Jones and Marshall Bird (words by Kelly Jones) and "Handbags and Gladrags" which was written by Michael D'Abo. The album was dedicated to the memory of Anne-Pascale Pleuchot and Scott Piering. It was recorded at Real World Studios, Bath and Monnow Valley Studios, Monmouth.
"Vegas Two Times"
"Lying in the Sun"
"Mr. Writer"
"Step on My Old Size Nines"
"Have a Nice Day"
"Nice to Be Out"
"Handbags and Gladrags"
"Watch Them Fly Sundays"
"Everyday I Think of Money"
"Maybe"
"Caravan Holiday"
"Rooftop"
Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches[1990]
Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches was the third album by British band Happy Mondays. It was released in 1990 and was produced by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne at Eden Studios in London.
In 2000 Q magazine placed Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches at number 31 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2005, the album was voted the 51st greatest album of all time by Channel 4 viewers.
Cover artwork by Central Station Design.
In November 2007 the album was rereleased by Rhino records with extra tracks and a DVD of music videos.
"Kinky Afro" – 3:59
"God's Cop" – 4:58
"Donovan" – 4:04
"Grandbag's Funeral" – 3:20
"Loose Fit" – 5:07
"Dennis and Lois" – 4:24
"Bob's Yer Uncle" – 5:10
"Step On" (John Kongos, Christos Demetriou) – 5:17
"Holiday" – 3:28
"Harmony" – 4:01
The La's - The La's[1990]
The La's were one of the few English alternative groups to keep traditional British guitar pop alive during the late '80s and early '90s. Drawing heavily from the punchy British Invasion sound of early Beatles, the Hollies, the Searchers, and the Small Faces, the group's eponymous debut is a swirling array of ringing guitar hooks and strong, undeniable pop melodies. Throughout the record, chief songwriter Lee Mavers turns out small, well-crafted gems, highlighted by the hit single "There She Goes," whose jangling hooks and sighing melodies simply scratch the surface of the abundance of pleasures on the record. While Mavers claimed at the time that the label forced him to release The La's, it's hard to imagine the record being any more infectious. As it stands, The La's was a refreshing slice of classicist guitar pop at the time of its release, and its charms have not faded over the years.
1. Son of a Gun
2. I Can't Sleep
3. Timeless Melody
4. Liberty Ship
5. There She Goes
6. Doeldrum
7. Feelin'
8. Way Out
9. I.O.U.
10. Freedom Song
11. Failure
12. Looking Glass
13. All By Myself
14. Clean Prophet
15. Knock Me Down
16. Over (live)
17. I.O.U. (live)
The Libertines - Up the Bracket
Up the Bracket is the debut album from British band The Libertines, released on 14 October 2002, reaching #51 in the UK Albums chart.
The album was re-released on 8 September 2003 with an additional track, "What a Waster" and DVD featuring the promotional videos for the singles: "Up the Bracket", "Time for Heroes" and "I Get Along". The album was the start of a revival for the British rock scene, with bands including Razorlight, The Paddingtons, Arctic Monkeys, The View, The Kooks and many others influenced by the album.
01.-Vertigo
02.-Death On The Stairs
03.-Horror Show
04.-Time For Heroes
05.-Boys In The Band
06.-Radio America
07.-Up The Bracket
08.-Tell The King
09.-The Boy Looked At Johnny
10.-Begging
11.-The Good Old Days
12.-I Get Along
13.-What A Waster
14.-Mocking Bird
The Music - The Music[2002]
• The Dance
• Take The Long Road And Walk It
• Human
• The Truth Is No Words
• Float
• Turn Out The Light
• The People
• Getaway
• Disco
• Too High
try it
The Charlatans - Some Friendly
Some Friendly is the debut album by the British band The Charlatans (known in the United States as The Charlatans UK because of the 1960s San Francisco band The Charlatans), released in 1990 (see 1990 in music).
Recorded at The Windings near Wrexham, Wales in 1990 the sessions proved somewhat fraught - the band fell out with the owners of the studio; "it was one of those studio bust-ups ... Rob and Martin were up to their old tricks, smashing stuff up and that" said singer Tim Burgess later.
However lack of songs proved to be the major problem. Having been together for less than a year the band hadn't had the opportunity to stockpile songs and the album suffered as a result, featuring a few tracks that "had to go on there just to make up the numbers" (Burgess again).
The band also felt that some songs (especially "White Shirt" and "Polar Bear") were overproduced, with the bass being lost in the mix and that the whole album sounded rather 'thin'.
Both "The Only One I Know" and "Then" provided the Charlatans with hit singles however (peaking at #9 and #12 respectively in the British pop charts) and sales were good all over the world especially in the bands native UK where the album went straight in at #1 in the album charts.(wikipedia)
"You're Not Very Well" (Baker, Blunt, Brookes, Burgess, Collins) – 3:31
"White Shirt" (Blunt, Burgess, Collins) – 3:25
"The Only One I Know" (Baker, Blunt, Brookes, Burgess, R. Collins) – 3:58
"Opportunity" (Blunt, Brookes, Burgess) – 6:41
"Then" (Blunt, Brookes, Burgess, Collins) – 4:11
"109 Pt.2" (Blunt, Brookes, Burgess, Collins) – 3:18
"Polar Bear" (Baker, Blunt, Brookes, Burgess, Collins) – 4:56
"Believe You Me" (Blunt, Brookes, Burgess, Collins) – 3:41
"Flower" (Baker, Blunt, Burgess, Collins) – 5:27
"Sonic" (Brookes, Burgess, Collins) – 3:32
"Sproston Green" (Baker, Blunt, Burgess, Collins) – 5:08
Supergrass - Supergrass
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"Moving" – 4:26
"Your Love" – 3:27
"What Went Wrong (In Your Head)" – 4:05
"Beautiful People" – 3:22
"Shotover Hill" – 3:43
"Eon" – 3:44
"Mary" – 4:00
"Jesus Came from Outta Space" – 4:10
"Pumping on Your Stereo" – 3:20
"Born Again" – 3:38
"Far Away" – 5:05
"Mama & Papa" – 2:30
Australian bonus disc
Suede - Dog Man Star
Original Release Date: October 25, 1994
1. Introducing The Band
2. We Are The Pigs
3. Heroine
4. The Wild Ones
5. Daddy’s Speeding
6. The Power
7. New Generation
8. This Hollywood Life
9. The 2 Of Us
10. Black Or Blue
11. The Asphalt World
12. Still Life13. Modern Boys
Starsailor - Love Is Here[2001]
Band: Starsailor
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Indie Rock
Released: 08-10-2001
Length: 57:45Bit
rate: 192 kbps
Track list:
01. "Tie Up My Hands" – 5:46
02. "Poor Misguided Fool" – 3:51
03. "Alcoholic" – 2:56
04. "Lullaby" – 4:13
05. "Way to Fall" – 4:30
06. "Fever" – 4:03
07. "She Just Wept" – 4:12
08. "Talk Her Down" – 4:11
09. "Love Is Here" – 4:41
10. "Good Souls" – 4:53
11. "Coming Down" – 14:30
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The Smiths-The Queen Is Dead[1986]
All songs written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, except "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" (used as an intro to "The Queen Is Dead"), written by A.J. Mills, Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott.
"The Queen Is Dead" – 6:24
"Frankly, Mr Shankly" – 2:17
"I Know It's Over" – 5:48
"Never Had No One Ever" – 3:36
"Cemetry Gates" – 2:39
"
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" – 3:15
"Vicar in a Tutu" – 2:21
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" – 4:02
"Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" – 3:14
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses [UK][1989]
The Stone Roses had been formed in 1984, yet 1989 saw their debut full length release (the band had released a handful of singles in the previous years, on a variety of labels). The band were from Manchester where the Madchester movement was centred. Despite not considering themselves as a Madchester group, with their eponymous début The Stone Roses found themselves riding a wave of nationwide success along with Madchester groups such as the Inspiral Carpets and Happy Mondays. The Roses recorded the album with John Leckie, a notable producer who had worked with Pink Floyd on Meddle and it was released by Silvertone, a division of Zomba Records created to work with what they called "new rock" acts.
The Roses played a number of gigs supporting the album, including several now regarded as "legendary", including one at what was arguably the centre of the "Baggy"/"Madchester" scene, The Haçienda nightclub. Andrew Collins wrote in NME: "BOLLOCKS TO Morrissey at Wolverhampton, to The Sundays at The Falcon, to PWEI at Brixton - I'm already drafting a letter to my grandchildren telling them that I saw The Stone Roses at the Hacienda." The Roses' 1990 Spike Island gig also holds a formidable reputation, organised by the band themselves and attended by over 27,000 fans.
On its tenth anniversary in 1999, a two-disc anniversary edition of The Stone Roses re-entered the British charts, reaching number 9. （wikipedia ）
"I Wanna Be Adored" – 4:52
"She Bangs the Drums" – 3:42
"Waterfall" – 4:37
"Don't Stop" – 5:17
"Bye Bye Badman" – 4:00
"Elizabeth My Dear" – 0:59
"(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister" – 3:25
"Made of Stone" – 4:10
"Shoot You Down" – 4:10
"This Is the One" – 4:58
"I Am the Resurrection" – 8:12
Suede - Coming Up [1996]
Brett Anderson carried on after Bernard Butler's departure, adding a teenage guitarist and restructuring the intent of Suede, if not the sound, for their third album, Coming Up. The most striking thing about Coming Up is the simplicity. Gone are the grand, sweeping gestures of both Suede and Dog Man Star, leaving behind the glam, which is now spiked with an invigorating sense of self-belief -- Anderson is out to prove that he's a survivor, and he does give a damn whether you believe he is or not. So Coming Up has none of the lush, melancholy, and paranoid overtones of Dog Man Star. It's about celebrating being young, going out, taking drugs, having sex, and living life. And it sounds just like it reads -- Richard Oakes pounds out fizzy, fuzzy guitar riffs while the rhythm section lays back with dirty, sexy grooves and new keyboardist Neil Godling exudes a sultry, unattainable cool. Even on the wistful ballads "By the Sea" and "Picnic by the Motorway," there's none of the enveloping mel...ancholy that consumed Dog Man Star -- they're as optimistic as the buoyant, melodic rockers that comprise the rest of the album. As a statement of purpose, Coming Up is unimpeachable. Though it doesn't break any new ground for the band -- unless you count the newfound sense of optimism -- it's a remarkable consolidation and crystallization of Suede's talents and all the evidence anyone needs that Brett Anderson was always the guiding force behind the band. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
1. Trash
2. Filmstar
3. Lazy
4. By The Sea
5. She
6. Beautiful Ones
7. Starcrazy
8. Picnic By The Motorway
9. Chemistry Between Us
10. Saturday Night
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