The Wedding Present - Interstate 5
The Wedding Present.....
They've been an ever constant in my life, even when they were called Cinerama, no matter how shitty my life was (is) getting I can always rely on Gedge and co. to lift me.
Right from the off they just grabbed me with their open lyrics of heartache and loss... but always with a slight sense of mischief and a knowing smile....
And to quote the late great John Peel... "The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the Rock 'n' Roll era. You may dispute this, but I'm right and you're wrong!"
And to accompany Gedge's lyrics there was the faster than is humanly possible guitar playing (in the early days anyway!) of the man himself... Gedge, the fastest right hand in the world...(ahem!)
There has been many an argument on the inter web thingy forums about whether it was right for them to change their name back from Cinerama, personally I don't care one way or the other... but if changing their name back will give them a bit more coverage and open them up to a whole host of new listeners (which it has) then that's got to be a good thing.
The Wedding Present have had 18 UK top 40 hits including 12 in one year due to their record breaking run of limited edition singles in 1992...(looks like this might be beaten by Elvis this year though)
Anyway, I should really get to the music....
This is the opening track from their brand new album Take Fountain released today.
(I've joined the intro track "On Ramp" to it as it makes more sense!)
This is the extended version of the single that was released last November, It's a wonderful 10 minute epic that starts like Dark Side Of The Moon era Pink Floyd, now that's generally a bad idea, but it works well here as an intro and only lasts for a couple on minutes before launching into more familiar Weddoes like territory and then drifting off into a soundscape that wouldn't sound out of place in an Ennio Morricone scored film soundtrack.... Fantastic stuff.
To my ears The All New Wedding Present have still got the guitariness of the old Weddoes but have kept the strange pop sensibilities when it comes to arrangement that Cinerama had cultivated so well over the years... although saying that Cinerama cranked up the guitars on more than one occasion too.
This album has the crisp and yet warm production of Steve Fisk who produced their 1994 album Watusi, now if only they'll work with Albini again..... dream come true and all that.
I'm not sure if this album is as great as the early Weddoes, only time will tell there... and a few more dozen listens, but i'm glad that Gedge seems to be writing the sort of belligerent songs of loss and confusion that he hasn't really done to this effect since "Seamonsters" (incidentaly, one of the greatest albums ever recorded..... obviously just my opinion though), i'm just a little sad he had to go through another downer of a breakup to write it.
And now for a couple of Signpost tracks just in case you're new to The Wedding Present...
The Wedding Present - My Favourite Dress
"A strangers hand on my favourite dress"
That just sums it up really....
This is taken from their 1987 debut album George Best, and what a cracking debut.
This was my introduction to them (apart from loads of plays on Peel where you could find a young SVC sat with his finger on the record button waiting for yet another great song instead of being out chasing girls..... geek!).
The Wedding Present - Brassneck
Probably the song (along with Kennedy) that made The Wedding Present as popular as they were....
This track was on every indie compilation ever made in 1989 and could be heard blasting out of every bedsit or college dorm in the land....
Still a bloody great tune.
Oh yeah, it's from their second album "Bizarro"..... and erm.... what a cracking second album it is.
I've re-uploaded the tracks from this post.
Basically "Dalliance" is one of the best songs ever recorded, and features on possibly the best album ever recorded..... I really could have picked any track from this album.... seriously, It's that good.
And as a bonus there's the mighty "Crusoe" by Cinerama.
Oh, and Dalliance is taken from their third album "Seamonsters"..........
It's more than cracking... It's incredible and should be owned by everybody.
Buy - The Wedding Present - Take Fountain
Buy - The Wedding Present - Seamonsters
Buy - The Wedding Present - Bizarro
Buy - The Wedding Present - George Best
Buy - Cinerama - This Is Cinerama
Visit - The Wedding Present & Cinerama @ Scopitones
Visit - The Wedding Present fansite
Thus brings the end to my all too brief foray into the world of The Wedding Present...
I hope you've enjoyed it, and I really hope that you have someone to call your valentine today...
But if like me you haven't.....
Take Care.
Simon
x
No comments:
Post a Comment