Thetownend.com

OK, I have been 'bangin on' about The Stranglers for many a year on here and elsewhere. Now however, I would like to ask for 'the pleasure of your company' to sample the new album by former Stranglers front man Hugh Cornwell. The album, which came out today, is a free digital download from the following site:

www.hooverdamdownload.com

Would be grateful if some of you chaps and chapesses would download, give it a try and post a mini review on here. I think it is absolutely awesome and probably his best work since leaving The Stranglers in 1990!

You have nothing to lose, so give it a go.

NMH

30 years too late  :wink:

i probably won't like it but i'm always looking for new music.

here's my recommendation...

whiskeytown - strangers almanac (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strangers-Almanac-Whiskeytown/dp/B000002RBZ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1213047667&sr=8-2)

ryan adams' first band. i was in a bar in the states where it's basically a musical free-for-all; bring your own ipod and put your tunes on - if it gets booed, it gets turned off and the next person has their turn. anyway, the barmaid had her ipod on and was playing some whiskeytown. it was amazing.

so, i headed down to barnes & noble and picked it up. glad i did. it's undoubtedly one of the best albums i own and has barely been out of my CD player.

check out the tracks 'excuse me while i break my own heart tonight' and '16 days'...

you are in love with the yanks full stop(.)

True, but its still bloody good though ! Produced by the fella that does the White Stripes. Makes the songs sound very raw. Really bloody good ! Needs listening to loud !

NMH

perhaps.

I honestly think you will.

NMH

Both superb tracks, and that is an awesome album...as is Fathless Street by same band.  If you don't mind things a little more country then Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris is always superb too.  And Emmylou Harris has the best voice ever...beautiful.  Need to get her new album.

But what about Hoover Dam chaps ? Have any of you downloaded it ?

NMH

No

Your loss

NMH

Yup, but not had time to give it a considered listen yet (still at work). I'll let you know tomorrow

EDIT: I did listen to the first track though (you can't pass up a song called "Please Don't Put Me On A Slow Boat To Trowbridge") and really enjoyed it. For what little that's worth

Ive no Computer at home at the moment but will give it a try when i do.

See, told you it was good !  :D

Hope you enjoy the rest. Pleasure Of Your Company, Delightful Nightmare, Beat Of My Heart & Banging On At The Same Old Beat are also a bit special too.

NMH

Some years ago I had a girlfriend, who lived in a place called Jackaments Bottom twixt Ciren and Tetbury....her father was a blacksmith locally and used to do work for Jet Black of the Stranglers, who used to live down the road in Culkerton. Wouldn't know if he still lived there.

Yep, he still lives there. Seen him at the dentist in Tetbury a few times over the years.

NMH

I'm listening to it now, just over half way through on track 6.

It's not bad, but not amazing either. Solid I suppose. It sounds a bit music by numbers, everything sounds very deliberate. Like it was drawn up with "We'll have a bass line which sound like this there", "That style of drum beat for this song" and "Got to but a guitar riff which sounds like that after that chorus".  I suppose all music's a bit like that, but some of the tracks come across more like that than they should. Like they were designed instead of coming from the bed of any inspiration.

Sounds like a silly bollocks talking criticism now I've written it out. I'd like to see if anybody else listens to it and gets what I mean.

Lyrically and vocally it's exactly what I expected, which I guess is what everyone else would expect too. What struck me was the over simplistic production. It's very nice to have things sounding a bit raw (why I nearly always prefer bands' debut albums) but it lacked the energy that should come with that. It felt like someone going through the motions almost.

I didn't think I would like it anyway, which is why I had avoided it to start with. I guess I felt a bit mean simply saying I hadn't bothered. That said, I feel even more mean now I have.

And fB's point summed up exactly how I felt when I listened to the first few tracks.

Thanks for your opinion chaps. Am always interested in what other people think, even if their opinion is different to mine. I think that its very raw for him, some of the lyrics are contrived, which is what Hugh is all about. I really like it and just can't stop playing it. There's lots of quirky stuff in there that, for me, took a couple of listens to appreciate.

Glad you tried it!  :D

NMH

According to the (admittedly American) documentary I saw on Channel 4, the Hoover Dam would be the last remaining man made structure on Earth if humans were suddenly to disappear.  Apparently, it would survive, unmaintained, for several thousand years, after which it would collapse.

Sorry NMH - haven't had time to listen to the download.

   I reckon that's a bit of specculative bollocks...Stonehenge has been around several thousand years,  I suppose it might struggle with an earthquake, but what other natural forces would  bring it down.

Point is, if humans were to disappear vegetation would grow up around the stones at Stonehenge very quickly.  Animals would then move in and make homes there (OK, making this up, but you get my drift.)  The vegetation would die away and regrow, each time depositing a thin layer of soil on the site which would eventually obscure the stones.  This is one of the reasons that archaelogists find mediaeval artifacts (say) 12 feet below the surface.

Unmaintained, Stonehenge would probably disappear from view within 200 years or so.  The documentary was really quite interesting...and suggested that even cities like London or New York would effectively vanish within 1,000 years or so.  No more buildings, cars, streets - just the rivers, trees and hills that were there before man arrived.

[Once more, apologies to NMH for taking this thread off on a tangent.]

Think thats one of the reasons that he named it after Hoover Dam. He's very proud of the work and hopes that it will remain long after he is in his box.

Apologies accepted Ardiles as long as you download it and review it !  :soapy tit wank:

NMH

 It's a fair point....interestingly the climax vegetation of chalk downland is yew wood.

   There's a magical place I used to go when living on the South Coast near Chicester, called Kingley Vale, which is a rare example of chalk downland yew wood....some of teh trees are supposedly 2000 years old.

   I used to like to go there and get somewhat out of the head.....happy days

   http://www.infobritain.co.uk/Kingley_Vale.htm

Can someone tell me why it is called the Hoover dam....is it obviously named after the chap who built it....and did he clean up?

It was named after the then President, Herbert Hoover, but I think by the time it was opened he'd lost to Roosevelt in a re-election.

Thanks Si Pie...

Not seeing many reviews on here chaps !

 :(

NMH

I've asked people in my street.

Jim at number 29 thinks it didn't set his world on fire, Doris at number 12 thinks he's no Frank Sinatra and the Turner's of house number 3 thought it was great, even the kids liked it.

Was that funny ?

 I liked the way it started with the Jim Morrisonesque reference to lighting fires and thought it might lead to to situation whereby Si Pie's neighbours were dead rock stars, offering their thoughts on the ex Stranglers front mans latest efforts.

 It didn't quite happen though....something like Jimi at no 5 said "just ask the axs" would have been good.

i downloaded it earlier this week, though i've not burnt it to a CD to listen to it in the car yet.

i did think si's post was funny though

It made me smile.

I'm now imagining you to be exactly like that dude off the telly who solves crimes. Monk.

Close...very close...NOT !

NMH

Hate to sound like a broken record, but I'm really, really interested in your thoughts. The reason being that this was an attempt at something different by Mr Cornwell and there are a few of us compiling info to try to feed back up the chain. So if you could download, give it a try and then post your thoughts I would be very grateful - even if the comments are negative. So far, we have:

SP: Didn't think he'd like it and wasn't surprised.
FB: It's not bad, but not amazing either.
PD: Liked the first track hasn't listened to the rest yet.

Thanks in advance

NMH

You could try posting something on the Swindon Music forum. You might get a bit more willingness to download and a bit more response.

I downloaded it this morning and have given it one listen so far.

First impressions were not bad. I realise that's about as useful as a chocolate teaspoon, so i will try and listen to it a few more times and come back with a more useful response!

Wouldn't summarising my actual criticism of it be better then, instead of just taking a vague general polite phrase I used?

Is it too far under the radar to get listened to by actual music critics? I know often their views change with the fashions of the era as much as anybody else, but they're more likely to aim some real criticism, better than stuff like "I thought it was ok".

Sounds a bit harsh, but are you really interested in what a football forum thinks of it, or are you just looking for someone to back up your opinion?

Well I've listened to "With You or Without You" and quite enjoyed it. A good tune with Lou Reed-esque vocals and a nice repetitive riff, quite reminiscent of the Velvet Underground actually. It's not groundbreaking but then music rarely is these days.

I just bought an album by a band called Acoustic Ladyland, which is a good listen. I think they started off playing versions of Hendrix songs, hence the riff on his famous album title, but they have blossomed into something quite unique.

Have a listen here:

http://www.myspace.com/acousticladylandmusic

The whole point was to see what some 'younger' people thought of it.

NMH

Not much point me listening to the rest of it then. Kidding, I'll burn it to CD so I can have a gander while driving to/from work. Promise. But any review of mine is likely to be perfunctory (e.g. "liked it"  or "OK" or "not all that") as I'm not much of a muso. And if you are looking for a younger view to push back up the chain, mine should be firmly tagged "middle-aged fart"

and mine should be tagged "older than him"

"Older than time itself" would give a better idea of the scale we're dealing with here

I used to watch the Stranglers in the Tally Ho in Finchley circa 76-77....I'd guess Cornwell is even older than me though, nevertheless my opinion is probably worthless.

Me and Si represent all 'younger' people, between us we cover the whole range.

FB

No, you just cover the obnoxious twat contingent.  8)

NMH

Can i get an insult if i do a review for you? I'm young-ish

Sure, whatever you like.  :D

NMH

So Cornwell cancels gig at 12 Bar because he doesn't want to play under his real name. Strange man.

They're a bunch of smug cunts. I hate the way everyone fawns over them when they come into my local.

I thought that too! He is playing Stratford under the name of 'The Shakespearo'. Think these 2 gigs were supposed to be 'secret gigs' prior to a UK and European tour.

NMH

All the Shakespearos.

Bring on the nubiles