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| From | Randall J Paske <rpaske@kc.rr.com> |
| Subject | Re: 2003 CD's I'm listening to..(Cinerama) |
| Date | Tue, 10 Jun 2003 22:02:59 -0500 |
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At 04:19 PM 6/10/2003 -0400, Will wrote:
>Cinerama frontman David Gedge also used to front the Wedding Present, but,
>for some reason, I never really got into the Present, aside from one song
>("Brassneck"). But, to be fair, I never owned anything by them and only
>heard "Brassneck" because a friend of mine bought the CD. Now, though, I've
>got three Cinerama CDs, and I love all of 'em, so, clearly, I need to
>reinvestigate the present. Word is that "George Best" is the best starting
>point. Can any fans confirm...?
I wrote to Will earlier, but now that I'm at my proper e-mail address, I
can respond on-list: some diehard early fans still think GEORGE BEST is
the Wedding Present's best, but I've never understood that position. I
disagree completely. It's my least favorite Wedding Present release. The
songs sound too much the same, the production is tinny, and Gedge did (and
continues to do) much better work. I had a hard time getting into either
GEORGE BEST or TOMMY beyond a few songs.
I became a fan with BIZARRO, which contains "Brassneck." That's a good
album. My favorite is SEAMONSTERS, which is murky and moody. If you like
the guitar sound that is becoming more prevalent in Cinerama's work (and if
you like Steve Albini's production on the most recent Cinerama stuff), you
might like this--you'll get lots of blistering guitar here. This is one of
my favorite albums of all time. It's rather intense, though. The HIT PARADE
collections have a similar sound, with songs that are a little more pop. I
prefer HIT PARADE 1 to HIT PARADE 2. I think they were reissued together
recently.
WATUSI is all over the map--actually, I think *this* might be the best
starting place for a Cinerama fan who wants to check out the Wedding
Present. Lots of variety, lots of great songs, even though it gets a bad
rap from some quarters. The MINI EP and SATURNALIA are really good, too.
The latter brought Simon Cleave on board for guitar and some co-writing;
Cleave now plays guitar in Cinerama.
Look at me go on. That's what happens when you give me an excuse to gush
about the Wedding Present. In brief, I'd say to start with WATUSI or
SEAMONSTERS, or maybe BIZARRO since you already know "Brassneck." I'm
flying to Chicago next weekend to see Buzzcocks one night and Cinerama the
next. These are two of my top 5 favorite bands ever, so I can't wait!
Randy
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