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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Home |
| 2. Waved On |
| 3. New Horizons |
| 4. Forgiveness |
| 5. Let’s Just See |
| 6. Come in Out of the Rain |
| 7. Peter Street |
| 8. Said and Done |
| 9. Thrasher |
| 10. How do you say Goodbye? |
| 11. One In Seven |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
For this, their self-titled debut, the Wigan four-piece Engineers have constructed an album that's majestic and epic, one which manages to be grandiose, but with no delusions of grandeur. Rather than the short, sharp shocks employed by many of their contemporaries, Engineers are content to let a song build slowly, adding layers of sound while keeping their slow, dreamy pace. It's a beautiful and symphonic album, owing a debt to their two self-confessed influences: Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden and Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue. Meanwhile, songs like "Home" and "Forgiveness" slot comfortably alongside the likes of the Doves, Elbow or Spiritualised. Occasionally, as on "Thrasher" or "One in Seven", they even sneak in a bit of My Bloody Valentine shoe-gazing, using fuzzed-up electric guitars instead of the strings and keyboards that threaten to engulf the entire album. And if this album has one flaw, that's it: it's relentlessly laid-back and blissed-out pace means that the songs too often blend into one another, or fade into the background altogether. But at least they only ever sound like themselves. --Robert Burrow
Review
Dreamy newcomers the Engineers are one band who defiantly refuse to give in to the current trend of British guitar based groups. Singer Simon Phipps has already made this crystal clear by declaring his burning desire to avoid sounding like anyone else or anything contemporary. He believes substance is much more important than style.
Going by this self-titled debut, it's fair to say his band are a million miles away from your Franz Ferdinands, Razorlights or Kaiser Chiefs. Instead, this London-based quartet opt for a sound more suited to the star-gazing school of Sigur Rós, Brian Eno and My Bloody Valentine.
Right from the choral opener "Home" to the guitar driven "One In Seven", the Engineers have undoubtedly crafted 11 sweet sounding melodies. While the band could easily be criticised for failing to alter the pace throughout, there is no denying their ability to produce epic songs such as the floating lullaby "Forgiveness" or uplifting stand out anthems like "Come In Out Of The Rain".
Much of the album -which was put together with the help of former Tears For Fears producer Dave Bascombe - is driven by Phipps' moody vocals which are at timessoothing ("Waved On") and elsewhere sombre ("Said And Done"). Although nearly every song follows the same slow building pattern, backed up by either gentle guitar chords or smooth strings, there a couple of surprises here in the form of the trippy "Let's Just See" and the slightly hard-edged "Thrasher"; the latter being considerably softer than its title suggests, despite the fact that it's probably the record's heaviest number.
Right now there are very few albums around in which nearly every song sounds as good as the last, but this is one of them. This is, without doubt, star-gazing music at its sweetest. --Damian Jones
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
WAAAH!! This is something else! I heard "Come In Out Of The Rain" quite by chance and immediately acquired this album and the Folly e.p. as soon as I could. I wasn't disappointed.
Lush, grand, mellow, warm, passionate, steeped in the last 40 odd years of melodic pop and rock music, these guys delight in drawing on all parts of that tradition to create a rich sea of sound all of their own. Plangent guitars and soft keyboards sit easily alongside Eno-esque atmospherics and sweeping thematic orchestrations reminiscient of John Barry, with dreamlike vocals woven throughout. As Peter Hammill said: " garnish your head with whatever turns you on", lay back at let the music wash the pain away.
This album is so full, you can find as many influences, direct or tangential, as you care to look for, but you still won't be able to pin it down. Apart from the obvious, I can hear shades of the brighter face of Porcupine Tree, and hints of the sweet voice of Green Gartside. (And the cover art would look splendid on an old 12" gatefold sleeve!) Can't wait to catch them live, or for the next offering.
Never mind your shoes, this is aimed at the stars. Beautiful.
Lush, grand, mellow, warm, passionate, steeped in the last 40 odd years of melodic pop and rock music, these guys delight in drawing on all parts of that tradition to create a rich sea of sound all of their own. Plangent guitars and soft keyboards sit easily alongside Eno-esque atmospherics and sweeping thematic orchestrations reminiscient of John Barry, with dreamlike vocals woven throughout. As Peter Hammill said: " garnish your head with whatever turns you on", lay back at let the music wash the pain away.
This album is so full, you can find as many influences, direct or tangential, as you care to look for, but you still won't be able to pin it down. Apart from the obvious, I can hear shades of the brighter face of Porcupine Tree, and hints of the sweet voice of Green Gartside. (And the cover art would look splendid on an old 12" gatefold sleeve!) Can't wait to catch them live, or for the next offering.
Never mind your shoes, this is aimed at the stars. Beautiful.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It's not easy to categorize The Engineers music, but if you're into mellow indie pop this cd is a must, in the vain of Thirteen Senses with beautiful vocals and lovely flowing music, i can only recommend this cd. Mind you it's tough knowing which track to play and in which order as there are too many stand out tracks, just sit back and enjoy one of the best albums to come out in ages.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
amazing!!album of the year-a must if u own records by talk talk,spiritualized or eno.highlights for me were "new horizons"(shades of brian wilson's 'til i die') and "one in 7"(talk talk gene-spliced with black sabbath)
loveit!!!
loveit!!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Delicious
How do you like your dreams?
Lush, please.
This is an inspirational collection. Bought it after seeing them support Porcupine Tree on The Incident tour. Read more
Lush, please.
This is an inspirational collection. Bought it after seeing them support Porcupine Tree on The Incident tour. Read more
Published 18 months ago by C. Porter
Supremely talented
To watch these guys live is a real honour, only then can you really appreciate how they put this music together. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2007 by S. Jordan
It's bliss up north
One reviewer expresses incredulity that Engineers are not up there with Coldplay and Keane. The answer's simple: those two have better dynamics and more memorable songs and tunes... Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2006 by JManley
Listen with your feet
This is a massive album - maybe not in sales or hype, but in scope and ambition. Reminiscent of early Verve (when they were epic) and Air at their most blissful, this a music to... Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2005 by A. P. Richardson
Well engineered
You have to admit, a self-titled album by a band called "The Engineers" sounds generic and instantly forgettable guitar rock. Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2005 by E. A Solinas
Like Bathing in Warm Honey
This album is a big luxurious duvet of sound to wrap yourself up in. The mellow, richly layered vocals are foremost in the sound with the instrumental music taking second place. Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2005 by turkey_baster
On the brink
You have to admit, a self-titled album by a band called "The Engineers" sounds generic and instantly forgettable guitar rock. Read more
Published on 19 July 2005 by E. A Solinas
Stunning
Quite why Engineers aren't as big as Keane or Coldplay is an absolute mystery.
Songs like Forgiveness, Waved On & New Horizons carry a wonderful resonance and I think in years to... Read more
Published on 11 July 2005 by M. Wilson
best debut in years
I don't really know what to say about this album except it is the best debut albumn that I have heard in many years. Read more
Published on 4 July 2005 by Scott Bumphrey
A really solid album
This is a really gorgeous album. The instrumentation is lush and dense and the melodies are soft and infectious. Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2005 by Mr. D. Spreckley
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