domgourlay

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'In The City' didn't sell as well as 'Sound Affects' or 'The Scream' didn't sell as well as 'Kaleidoscope', these bands were still considered fairly high priorities at the time as far as their labels were concerned. I wouldn't go as far as to say none of them sold many records at the time however....perhaps not compared to ELO or Fleetwood Mac but certainly in comparison to the artists we're talking about today. Put it this way, how many Clash, Jam or Siouxsie records from that era failed to chart (and at a time when you had a shift a fair few units to even make the Top 40)? Exactly...

Fly a plane maybe?

professed to being in a band or even a musician.

its artists is paramount to your argument. The examples you mention are the obvious "working class oik" type bands, but you fail to mention other strategically placed acts like Scouting For Girls, The Script and The Hoosiers who are also targeted at a similar audience and peddle the same MOR-disguised-as-cutting-edge radio friendly trite.
I take your point that certain acts show a significant return on the investment put into them, but again surely this comes down to the industry playing it safe? Go back three decades and genuinely cutting edge artists such as The Clash, The Jam and Siouxsie (to name but three) were major selling artists on large record labels. The sad fact is that a lot of Joe Public is influenced by what it's told to like, and if the brand is sold effectively, they will lap it up accordingly.

more than individual critics? After all, it is they who invest so much money into bland, watered down, easily marketable versions of successful commodities of yore simply because familiarity sells to the masses even if it breeds contempt in other areas. I have this argument regularly with many people who continually lambast the likes of The Horrors, The Big Pink and Wild Beasts as supposedly being "silver spoon" bands who've had it easy, yet when all's said and done these bands are on independent or subsidiary labels and while they may have had a helping hand, haven't the resources, expert marketing or financial clout pumped into them that the likes of Kasabian, The Enemy or Stereophonics have being signed to major labels. Put it this way, you could put The Enemy in the best studio with the most experimental producers in the world without any budgetary constraints and they would still end up with the same turgid abomination as 'Music For The People'. At the end of the day, class and background should never be used as an excuse for standards, and ultimately, quality. Rant over...

The Enemy, Stereophonics et al have been so negative has had something to do with the substandard quality of their music Mr "Insider"?

Just a thought, eh...

and little else. The whole grunge phenomenon was on its last legs at the time, and while there's no denying the cultural impact Nirvana had, whether it would have been on the same level or magnitude is highly debatable, and of course impossible to say.

and was not that that impressed, particularly after seeing Mudhoney and L7 earlier in the day. One thing I do regret however is leaving Nirvana's set halfway through to pull an Irish girl who'd been staying in the next tent to me. The things you do when you're young, eh...

Seems a little ambitious methinks...

along with 'Sound Of Confusion' that wipes the floor with pretty much anything messrs Pierce and Kember have been involved with since, Spiritualized included.

Could be one of next year's surprise breakthrough packages IMO...

and it hasn't grown on me as much as I'd hoped it would. As for their previous albums, 'Flares' is undoubtedly head and shoulders above either of its successors, probably because it was quite a unique-sounding record of its time, whereas since then other artists have developed and improved upon their initial recordings whereas 'Afraid To Dance' and this suggest to me Port-Royal haven't.

Legendary band.

It was the 5th time I've seen Maps in one guise or another and by far the best of the lot.

He certainly made an impact on the newer, heavier sounding songs that's for sure.

and shouldn't be taken personally. The way I saw it, Spectrals and Desolation Wilderness had songs, Prize Pets didn't, and whether or not those songs were influenced by any particular era is irrelevant really.

Typo wrist slapped!

It just feels really laboured, almost forced even rather than the genuine inventiveness that made the likes of 'Jesu', 'Infinity' and 'Lifeline EP' so breathtakingly unique.

'Dark Entries' was one of the first (and last) things I actually learnt to play on guitar. I remember a lot of people at school hating them at the time but looking back they really were quite groundbreaking in many ways.

But yeah you're right, a very very underrated band that even now don't really get half as much praise as they should do.

for me, even after twenty years of trying.

Made me dig out 'Autobahn', 'The Man Machine' and 'Trans Europe Express' this week and investigate some of their lesser feted works into the bargain.

Its hardly Ashfield Comprehensive in NG17 is it, or any other rundown run of the mill comp!

quantifies as a stage school in my book. And as for Wiki...what?

Everyone I've spoken to since said they were great.

but yoy may have a point.
Definitely up there with 2009's best though for sure.

I definitely think this is a progression though, and certainly more melody based than the first record.

date back to just after Skywave broke up and only feature Oliver Ackermann.

the only time this band ever really made sense to me was when I was off my face at ATP last year. On record, I still don't quite get it.

'Test Two'...absolute classic.

for DiS, although I did review it here:-
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/albumreview/maps-turning-the-mindx16x09x09

Reviews are all about objective opinions odonnellpaul, and even though I do not necessarily agree with Joseph Rowan's score, he did put his viewpoint across for arriving at his criticism very well.

I just hope they don't go the same way as The Beta Band for example in that their first EP/LP was so impossibly perfect in every way that their subsequent works would forever be compared to and just fall short of such high standards. Time will tell I guess...

Wow!

Read the review thedrill....The Twilight Sad are one of my favourite bands of the last ten years and 'Fourteen Autumns...' happens to be in my top 10 albums of all time, so it would have been easy for me to approach this record from the perspective of a blinkered fanboy. That, however, would have also been quite pointless.

But yeah, I take your point!

Lovely song, nice review.

It does in my book, anyway, pedantics aside, I get your point Nat.

coming to the fore! You Glaswegians are a hard lot to understand at times mate!

Will have to try and make sure times don't clash too much.

And the Default This and I'm Not From London ones look pretty damn great too.

This record really isn't that bad at all.

at any rate.

a few months back in Nottingham and it was shambolic, very amateurish at times yet also quite good fun. But then I love Talulah Gosh and The Shop Assistants so am probably gonna be biased!

I don't quite get the levels of hatred aimed at these gals....
Please explain...?

:-)

on Arse Full Of Chips....as for 'Hey Friend...' however, I'm sticking to my guns on this one. It doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is, and for that alone gets my vote.