The Lightning Seeds may or may not be the latest entry in my "dead bands" series. For one thing, this was always a "band" that had the "one-man show" thing going on. That man would be Ian Broudie, who has made his name producing artists from Echo & the Bunnymen to the Zutons; the Coral to I Am Kloot. For a second thing, Broudie has had a habit of pulling the "band" out of mothballs every now and again, though the only recent release was a best-of collection back in June (only available in the U.S. as an import).
As a creative entity, the Lightning Seeds has never received a great deal of credit. Somehow, the sound was deemed too "clean"; "whispy"; "lite." All Music Guide writer Alex Ogg all-but-tore Mr. Broudie a new one when reviewing the album Dizzy Heights: "[the Lightning Seeds are still] obsess[ed] with the perfect '60s pop song, polite guitars, and saccharine vocals on an endless quest to rewrite 'Unchained Melody'." Now, for one thing, "Unchained Melody" is a pretty great song - one capable of overcoming the awful image of Patrick Swayze playing in clay. Beyond that, there's plenty of room in my life (and perhaps yours) for the occasional foray into "clean, whispy" pop.
From the LP Cloudcuckooland, 1989 >>>
[MP3] "Pure"
From the LP Jollification, 1994 >>>
[MP3] "Lucky You"
From the LP Dizzy Heights, 1996 >>>
[MP3] "You Showed Me"
[MP3] "Sugar Coated Iceberg"
From the LP Tilt, 1999 >>>
[MP3] "Sweetest Soul Sensations"
No comments:
Post a Comment