Just listened to this now aging record on the rega and the production sounds bang up to date.
Thomas was a man well ahead of his time.
Just listened to this now aging record on the rega and the production sounds bang up to date.
Thomas was a man well ahead of his time.
One of the best albums of the 80s. Along with Golden Age Of Wireless- I know most people prefer this one and from a progger perspective it probably is but GAoW has a special place in my heart.
Golden Age is really a fantastic album, especially if you grab the recent (2009) remaster with the intended tracklisting and all the bonus tracks. It's probably one of my favorite 20 or so albums ever made, I just never tire of it. Flat Earth is pretty great as well, though more hit and miss for me - both the title track and "Screen Kiss" are incredible. I love how Dolby, after getting that sort of manufactured Weird Science look decided to instead do an album like this, more R&B than technopop!
I recently revisited his last album and wrote about it - it's a very good piece of work, IMO better than any of his albums outside of Golden Age of Wireless. Obviously he took his sweet time working on it but there's so much depth to nearly every song on there. As much as I love "Windpower" and "Flat Earth" I kinda feel like "17 Hills" is almost certainly the best song he ever wrote, especially once you dig into the lyrics, which are about as complete a story as you can tell in a song.
Critter Jams "album of the week" blog: http://critterjams.wordpress.com
"The Flat Earth" is one of the top ten favorite records of all time.
- Matt
Keyboards/Guitar/Bass/etc. - http://www.lebofsky.com
Monstrika | Secret Chiefs 3 | miRthkon | MoeTar | Bodies Floating Ashore | Solo Stuff
Yeah, this is an excellent album. Every song is great.
The man was a big influence on me as a kid living in the world of pop radio music - but not really liking it - Dolby made radio cool for me once in a while. Great albums. All of them.
Thanks for the reminder, will que it up on my Rega tonight.
Love this album. Been a while since I've heard it. Must correct that!
My favorite Dolby release. To this day I remember how psyched I was to hear Mulu the Rainforest on CD.
I went through a period where I listened to this album daily. It's that good.
Any love for Aliens Ate My Buick?
An 80s classic. I like everything about it from the artwork and South American photos to, of course, the music-though I've always felt that HYPERACTIVE was a bit out of place with the rest of the tunes.
Aliens Ate My Buick only disappointed me because I'd seen him in a club the year before playing most of those new songs live, and it was incredibly great - it sort of ruined the album for me because I found the album performances kind of stilted in comparison.
Flat Earth is totally gorgeous, but I think Golden Age Of Wireless is one of the greatest collections of songwriting ever. Both albums SOUND fantastic to me.
Love his first two and "Budapest by Blimp" as well. Nothing since has impressed me.
The production is excellent! I wore this one out listening to it. I have a burnt copy I made and to this day listen to it often.
Coming September 1st - "Dean Watson Revisited"!
I find that the album moves from track to track so that while, yes, "Hyperactive" is a jarring contrast, it's not the only jarring contrast on that album. "Hyperactive" makes sense with "Dissidents", "The Flat Earth" makes sense with "Mulu The Rain Forest" and "I Scare Myself" makes sense with "Screen Kiss", so you could argue that "White City" is the most atypical song on the album.
I lke about ½ of it a lot, the rest is too much pop to my taste.
Tell me about your childhood... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0b1tdAfW2I
I always felt that album is a bit dreary - "Eastern Bloc" is the only song that really pops out (and even that one is kinda melancholy), though looking at the tracklist, most of the songs are very good, and the production is top notch too (especially given that it was 1992, a period where a lot of former pop stars really started to lose their freakin' minds).
The one I've really liked lately is the live "Sole Inhabitant", in which Dolby builds the songs up from scratch and loops all the elements together. Draws mostly from his first two but it also contains "Budapest", "Airhead", and an awesome take on "I Live in a Suitcase". It's live but it's very well recorded and the performances are just about flawless. All Dolby fans should check it out.
Critter Jams "album of the week" blog: http://critterjams.wordpress.com
I love Golden Age of Wireless and The Flat Earth pretty equally. He really marked out his own sonic territory with both and they're a wonderful place to spend time. I bought Golden Age on the strength of "Europa and the Pirate Twins" before "She Blinded Me with Science" came out. So I fell in love with the original track listing, which contains the tune I consider his masterpiece "Leipzig." Okay, and "Screen Kiss" is pretty phenomenal as well. To me, he's a superior and more musically sophisticated alternative to the kind of thing Peter Gabriel was trying to do through the 80s.
I haven't been drawn into any of the music he's done since, but maybe I just didn't give it enough time and attention. I tried "Astronauts and Heretics" a few times but found it awkward and uninspired in both the music and lyrics departments.
His last album from three ago is really, really good. It was his first in two decades. Lots of variety but excellent.
http://www.amazon.com/Map-Of-The-Flo.../dp/B005ME7DUO
^ I have a download but somehow haven't given it a full listen. I actually loved the song Toadlickers so much I just kept playing that! Have to listen to the whole thing through...
God, I love this album. Was just talking about it at the office a couple weeks ago. Most people here didn't know he'd done anything after "Science". "Hyperactive" and "I Scare Myself" are the two standout tracks for me.
Much prefer 'Golden Age ...' - stunning album.
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