Can anyone YSI 'Elvis' ver. of title track?
― Slacker Bilk (S-), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 05:58 (fourteen years ago) link
new edition actually uses Elvis version, supposedly
(pretty sure I first heard it YSIed here btw)
― Lot, Heady & Regal! (sic), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 06:33 (fourteen years ago) link
"Broken Heart". It's got one of those lyrics, the kind that people like M.Ward manage to knock out in their sleep, that is so simple yet affecting to the core.
― dog latin, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 09:38 (fourteen years ago) link
n.b. this album has aged far worse than any Spz release up to and including LICD*
says og pre-adolescent spiritualized fan l0u1s jagg3r
― the archetypal ghetto hustler (history mayne), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Yes, this album is perfect - the live show last year was magnificent. Broken Heart was played at my dad's funeral (he was obsessed with this album during his illness), which makes it hard to listen to now, so I'll vote for the Elvis version of Ladies and Gentlemen instead.
― gotanynewsstory? (Dorianlynskey), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:15 (fourteen years ago) link
I actually think Lazer Guided Melodies and especially Pure Phase sound A LOT more dated that Ladies and Gentlemen does now. In LGM's case it doesn't matter because the whole sound is so out-of-time in its own right. Pure Phase now sounds a bit empty and washy by comparison.
Anyway, it's between the title track, Broken Heart and Stay With Me for me. Plumped for Stay With Me in the end just because I played the hell out of that song for several months, something about the rising bassline.
I heard Electricity the other day and that one really has aged badly, largely because Pierce has been lazily rehashing it at least once on every album since.
― Maraca Son Sistema (Matt DC), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:15 (fourteen years ago) link
i love the twangy guitar-y bits on this lp so 'stay with me' is a contendah. 'cop shoot cop' would be for the sublime last few minutes. but all the squally noise crap has to go. i don't mind guitar squall necessarily, but jp isn't actually that good at it -- cf most of 'electricity'.
― the archetypal ghetto hustler (history mayne), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:34 (fourteen years ago) link
i don't know/care if it's aged. I'VE aged so i can hardly fault the 1997 album 'ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space' for doing so.
"Cop Shoot Cop" because the squally noise crap has got some nice horns in it plus the ending wouldn't make sense without the middle plus well it's me
― Tibetan 'buca the Dead (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:39 (fourteen years ago) link
has got some nice horns in it
yeah tbh i have appreciated the noisey bits more since i got a better pair of cans dontchaknow.
nb dorian:
some nice horns in iti love the twangy guitar-y bits
not for nothing, but this is the kind of in-depth musicological commentary that the friday guardian is sorely in need of
― the archetypal ghetto hustler (history mayne), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:41 (fourteen years ago) link
Feel totally "blah" about this album these days. It's not that it's aged badly or well, just that now I hear it as the sound of my once favourite band destroying everything I loved about them.
Not even sure I can be bothered to drag it out and re-listen, it'll just uspet me. I seem to recall being enamoured of Think I'm In Love once up on a time. If that's the one with the bassline I'm thinking of.
For a second I saw the talk of the Electric Mainline ep and thought "ooh, actually I like Medication..." then realised all the songs I was thinking of were on Pure Phase.
― There's Always Been A Dance Element To (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:44 (fourteen years ago) link
I feel like, in a way, a Spiritualized album that makes you feel strongly about it is a bad Spiritualized album. No challop.
― Tibetan 'buca the Dead (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:46 (fourteen years ago) link
I played it a lot back in the day.
I got a 'load' of the new 'version', played once, it's alright.
But boy! Has anybody slogged through the 'sessions' CD pack?
― Mark G, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:09 (fourteen years ago) link
― the archetypal ghetto hustler (history mayne), Wednesday, March 10, 2010 10:41 AM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark
Those are pretty much the kind of notes I make the first time I hear an album I'm reviewing.
― gotanynewsstory? (Dorianlynskey), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:16 (fourteen years ago) link
Actually I think it's All Of My Thoughts.
And now I can stop listening to this album.
Thing is, most of the appeal of this album comes from the fact that the songs are so familiar. Yet if this album came out today, I don't think I'd buy it. Or listen to it more than once, if I had.
― There's Always Been A Dance Element To (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:29 (fourteen years ago) link
Actually, I couldn't even do more than a minute of Pure Phase, either, so it's probably just me. I just had to go and wash my ears with some bangin' techno or something. What on earth has happened to me? Sigh.
― There's Always Been A Dance Element To (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 11:31 (fourteen years ago) link
Trying to work out what there is about Ladies & Gentlemen that would seriously put off a fan of the first album, unless you don't want them to use any kind of arrangement other than crystal glass rim drone noises.
― Maraca Son Sistema (Matt DC), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 13:24 (fourteen years ago) link
Voted I think I'm in Love, cos the first track seems to incomplete to win a poll, though I love it
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 13:31 (fourteen years ago) link
Can you honestly not hear the difference?
It's like the difference between a sublime 85% pure chocolate bar and total overkill of chocolate AND CHERRY AND CARAMEL AND FUDGE AND NUTS AND FRUIT AND EVERYTHING SMOOSHED INTO the same space.
Part of what I love about the first album is the lightness of touch. How every note, every riff is in its right place, perfectly balanced, like you couldn't remove a single instrument without the whole thing falling down and not making sense. LAG... is just complete overkill of "well, if a single cello was good... A WHOLE 40 PIECE ORCHESTRA WILL BE EVEN BETTER!!!"
Also, as I've repeated often enough times, the rhythm section on the first album is one of my favourite rhythm sections of all time. So much of that album is driven from what's happening in the rhythm section, so many of the melodies are driven by the bass, the structure of the song kind of comes from the bottom up. LAG... just kind of plods where LGM soars.
― There's Always Been A Dance Element To (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 13:33 (fourteen years ago) link
Except there aren't any 40 piece orchestras on Ladies and Gentlemen, he's actually pretty restrained with the arrangements - the later Jason Pierce would have drenched that in orchestration but it's all very precise. Cool Waves is the only track that feels close to over-orchestrated to me.
― Maraca Son Sistema (Matt DC), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 14:13 (fourteen years ago) link
the later Jason Pierce would have drenched that in orchestration but it's all very precise
I was talking about Broken Heart there, dunno where that bit went.
― Maraca Son Sistema (Matt DC), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 14:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Voted Broken Heart, the way it slows down at the end is so....heart breaking!
― Adam Bruneau, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 17:10 (fourteen years ago) link
Album is not perfect, but very meaningful for pre-blog indie (to use hro context). Kinda shocked this got a 10 to be honest they're just handing them out these days.
― Adam Bruneau, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 17:12 (fourteen years ago) link
I agree with what I think Matt is saying: that LAGWAFIS gets tarred with the "over-indulgent" brush on account of where the band went later. The album strikes me as only marginally more orchestrated than Pure Phase (the truculent wispiness of which I still love), albeit much much more than LGM.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 17:24 (fourteen years ago) link
It's mostly string quartet or small brass section as I remember.
― Maraca Son Sistema (Matt DC), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 17:25 (fourteen years ago) link
That "much much much more than LGM" is crucial, given that LGM is the only album I really still rate as any kind of "Great" album.
LGM is really the only SPZ ***** album. Pure Phase is good at about a **** but LAG... really is pretty much pushing to get above a ***.
― There's Always Been A Dance Element To (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 17:28 (fourteen years ago) link
well... i like it!
― the archetypal ghetto hustler (history mayne), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 17:36 (fourteen years ago) link
I really need to listen to this album again. At the moment, I can only remember the first two tracks and "Cop Shoot Cop" and, on basis of those recollections alone, I think it's amazing.
― we call him black Nev coz he's black & his names Neville (HI DERE), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 17:44 (fourteen years ago) link
a)what is the best song
"I Think I'm in Love" -- maybe not the best, that's too difficult to say, but an early favorite on the album and one that gets stuck in my head all the time.
b)is this album perfect?
Yes.
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 18:27 (fourteen years ago) link
The live performances of this in the UK this past winter were even better than the album. Ridiculously good in fact.
― Jamie_ATP, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 18:32 (fourteen years ago) link
― we call him black Nev coz he's black & his names Neville (HI DERE), Wednesday, March 10, 2010 12:44 PM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
there is a pretty big section of the middle of this record that is forgettable
― mizzell, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 18:35 (fourteen years ago) link
I Think I'm in Love is also the funniest track. People tend to get so wrapped up in the cosmic boo-hoo that they forget the humour of this album.
― gotanynewsstory? (Dorianlynskey), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 19:39 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, voting that.
"Electricity" is way too obvious, I could have sung that song without ever having heard it before!
― Mark G, Thursday, 11 March 2010 09:25 (fourteen years ago) link
I Think I'm in Love is also the funniest track. People tend to get so wrapped up in the cosmic boo-hoo that they forget the humour of this album
Voting that as well and yeah you're right it's funny, although I'm struggling to find much humour anywhere else in this album.
― anagram, Thursday, 11 March 2010 09:33 (fourteen years ago) link
All I meant was that there is some humour in the album, which critics tend to miss, not that it's wall-to-wall lols. There's a sense that he's poking fun at the self-indulgence of heartbreak even as he's wallowing in it, but it's certainly not the dominant tone.
― gotanynewsstory? (Dorianlynskey), Thursday, 11 March 2010 10:56 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh man so many good songs. So glad I saw them on this tour at a small club. It was epic.
Used to be my go-to make out record. I know, obvious. But also effective.
― Nate Carson, Thursday, 11 March 2010 11:35 (fourteen years ago) link
i've always thought the disney-ish 'stop your crying' etc had a comedy element
this one -- i can kind of see it now. not so much when i was a moody 17-y-o lol but yeah it's there
― the archetypal ghetto hustler (history mayne), Thursday, 11 March 2010 12:03 (fourteen years ago) link
My gut is telling me to pick "I Think I'm In Love". If we could choose "Home of the Brave" and "The Individual" as one combined track then it'd be a tougher decision. "Stay With Me" is a darkhorse candidate.
I can't be bothered to sit through all of "Cop Shoot Cop" these days. It took me 10 years to realize that the final section, the part where they mellow out after the free jazz freakout, is the best part of the song.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Thursday, 11 March 2010 12:16 (fourteen years ago) link
"I have a broken heart/But I'm too busy to be heartbroken" strikes me as a witty line, especially when it turns out that all the pressing business he has to attend to is doing drugs.
― gotanynewsstory? (Dorianlynskey), Thursday, 11 March 2010 12:49 (fourteen years ago) link
all they "hey man" stuff in "cop shoot cop" is p tongue-in-cheek (or do i mean NEEDLE IN ARM amirite) imo. except it's a double irony coz he actually was a junkie.
― the archetypal ghetto hustler (history mayne), Thursday, 11 March 2010 12:53 (fourteen years ago) link
lot of those lyrics are taken from 'sam stone' by john prine (eg "there's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes")
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 11 March 2010 12:58 (fourteen years ago) link
the two cds of demos etc are on spotify
― gfunkboy (history mayne), Friday, 12 March 2010 11:21 (fourteen years ago) link
they are not as good as the finished records - surprise
actually that's not fair. this long version of electricity is better than the single, oddly.
― gfunkboy (history mayne), Friday, 12 March 2010 11:26 (fourteen years ago) link
is this album perfect? are the notes where they are suppose to be? i would say it pretty close to perfect. while i was listening to it tonight it brought back a bunch of memories from 1997. i can't say it is perfect because i can't play it all the time, need to be in the mood to listen but when i am, well than it's perfect.
voting for "Cool Waves" because it not getting any love.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 13 March 2010 04:11 (fourteen years ago) link
is the reissue remastered?. i remember reading on the spz messageboard that it still sounds the same. which is why i didn't purchase it.
― Creeztophair, Saturday, 13 March 2010 05:06 (fourteen years ago) link
No reason whatsoever to remaster it.
― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Saturday, 13 March 2010 05:10 (fourteen years ago) link
i agree, but i can't justify buying the album again for demos and the elvis version of the title track. which, in my opinion, isn't as good as the version that made the album.
plus it's expensive.
― Creeztophair, Saturday, 13 March 2010 05:30 (fourteen years ago) link
"Cop Shoot Cop" = "Riders on the Storm" btw
― Tibetan 'buca the Dead (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 13 March 2010 09:28 (fourteen years ago) link
come again? csc is kinda good for a start
― nakhchivan, Saturday, 13 March 2010 10:33 (fourteen years ago) link
All the hating on the mad guitar squall in "Cop Shoot Cop" itt makes me want to throw things.
― Simon H., Thursday, 18 July 2013 09:13 (ten years ago) link
ladies and gentleman we are talking bollocks in space
― the SI unit of ignorance (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 18 July 2013 11:40 (ten years ago) link
this is like the fucking best thing tbh
― the SI unit of ignorance (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 18 July 2013 11:41 (ten years ago) link
not Hawkwind level best thing but best thing these kids did
in that general soupy sea of drone/snore/shleep/drugs endlessness
― the SI unit of ignorance (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 18 July 2013 11:42 (ten years ago) link
Christ has this album aged well.
― Turrican, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 17:51 (seven years ago) link
no idea why it was reissued in 2010 tbh
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 17:52 (seven years ago) link
To get the proper version of the title track on it.
I did get that twelve disc version, one was missing so it was a tenner.
'All of my thoughts"' is about a minute longer.
― Mark G, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 18:10 (seven years ago) link
Y'know, I still think this record is easily as good as OK Computer, and felt just as ambitious as that record even at the time. It's a superior "break-up record" to Blur's 13 too, IMO.
― Turrican, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 18:24 (seven years ago) link
Remember when they won that Brit award, and Kate left her table where she was sitting with The Verve to go up with Jason and the rest of the band, smile, and then went back to her table again?
Shortest band reunion ever.
― Mark G, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 20:10 (seven years ago) link
No, I don't! Did that even happen? I can't remember Spiritualized being nominated for a Brit in 1997/1998. I know The Verve definitely were.
― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Tuesday, 7 June 2016 21:58 (seven years ago) link
Looked it up, it was the NME awards, back when they got televised I guess.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 8 June 2016 06:31 (seven years ago) link
Ah, right! Yeah, that makes sense... NME put this record ahead of OK Computer in their EOY list, iirc!
― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Wednesday, 8 June 2016 17:59 (seven years ago) link
The Fatboy Slim tape off the front of the already-split Kate / Jason LAGWAFIS NME cover still holds up imo
― glandular lansbury (sic), Wednesday, 8 June 2016 18:04 (seven years ago) link
It's been almost 20 years, month for month, and against all odds I now enjoy this album far more than I used to. It has… aged well?
― pomenitul, Thursday, 23 February 2017 15:08 (seven years ago) link
Best album packaging ever.
― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 23 February 2017 18:49 (seven years ago) link
The packaging hasn't aged as well as the album, mine is in tatters.
― nate woolls, Thursday, 23 February 2017 19:52 (seven years ago) link
Was gonna say, mine's completely knackered too.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 23 February 2017 19:56 (seven years ago) link
Same. Squashed and warped to buggery.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 24 February 2017 22:07 (seven years ago) link