- Audio CD (28 April 1997)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Source
- ASIN: B00008GQC6
- Other Editions: MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 94,431 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Blue Hour |
| 2. Average Man |
| 3. Long Distance |
| 4. Self Help |
| 5. Falling Down |
| 6. Stone Thrown |
| 7. Clear Blue Air |
| 8. Pain Killer |
| 9. Full Of Stars |
| 10. Panic Attack |
| 11. Little Brother |
| 12. Rain City |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Ether Song is the follow up to Turin Brakes' critically acclaimed The Optimist. As leading lights of the much vaunted New Acoustic Movement, Turin Brakes were one of the bands that took on the unenviable task of making quiet, faintly nostalgic acoustic guitar music appeal to a young audience that, rightly, should want anything but. However, their debut LP, The Optimist had a certain soulful promise that ensured it appealed more to the post-clubbing than the pipe-and-slippers crowd, and its follow-up, the sturdy Ether Song builds on its predecessor with added clarity of purpose. Now, South London duo Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian have chosen to bolster their fragile acoustic core with a slightly more robust instrumentation: drums beaten rather than brushed, vibrant piano motifs to flesh out the languid strum, and even--gasp!--the odd electric-guitar solo. They still fall for clichés with a slightly depressing regularity: "Summer rain / Dripping down your face again", they duet on "Pain Killer"--the sort of lyrical profundity that should really be left to Bryan Adams. But there is real content here: "Panic Attack" holds a hint of the peculiar Englishness of Syd Barrett, while the shiversome "Long Distance" stands out as the finest song Turin Brakes have yet written, a grandiose treatise on obsession spattered with electronic laser-bursts and borne out by a piano coda of weighty epic stature. --Louis Pattison
Product Description
TURIN BRAKES Ether Song (2003 UK 12-track CD album) Second album from the Mercury Music prize nominated nouveau folkstrells. Includes the singles - Long Distance and Pain Killer [Summer Rain]
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
On first listening, Ether Song doesn’t start out as promisingly as their previous offering, The Optimist but it’s one of those CDs that will just grow on you. I had previously fallen in love with the liquid sound of Turin Brakes when I heard Future Boy from their first CD and once I’d bought the album, I realised I’d found myself a fantastic band and with it, a fantastic CD in The Optimist. But this is a review of Ether Song and again, I was really excited by the release of the new album to see if they could build on what they’d offered previously. Well, I’m pleased to say they have although, be aware, they’ve gone in slightly a different direction with this album, so if you’re a fan of bands changing between albums then stick with the Turin Brakes cos they’ll certainly surprise you with this.
If you want a taste of the Turin Brakes ‘of old’ then Pain Killer and Stone Thrown will certainly take you back, but other tracks to watch out for are the beautiful Average Man, so smooth it’ll make you wish you weren’t doing anything but laying back and listening to it. Others to mention are, Full of Stars, so hauntingly tuneful, and Panic Attack, which is so refreshingly different. My only complaint would be that the first part of the album up to track 6 is a bit samey, you could in fact be listening to the same song. But, for anyone wanting a good chill out CD or just background music for the soundtrack of a modern, contemporary lifestyle, then this album’s for you.
If you want a taste of the Turin Brakes ‘of old’ then Pain Killer and Stone Thrown will certainly take you back, but other tracks to watch out for are the beautiful Average Man, so smooth it’ll make you wish you weren’t doing anything but laying back and listening to it. Others to mention are, Full of Stars, so hauntingly tuneful, and Panic Attack, which is so refreshingly different. My only complaint would be that the first part of the album up to track 6 is a bit samey, you could in fact be listening to the same song. But, for anyone wanting a good chill out CD or just background music for the soundtrack of a modern, contemporary lifestyle, then this album’s for you.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Turin Brakes' last album, The Optimist LP, was something of an unexpected success for a twosome who do little publicity, don't have Hollywood girlfriends and haven't sold their music to advertisers. Many of the reviews struggled to pinpoint exactly what the extraordinary USP was of a guitar band writing poignant, lyrical melodies - hardly groundbreaking stuff, after all, and not a million miles from Travis, Coldplay et al. But somehow their particular brand of sweping emotionalism, folksy vocal harmonies and original songwriting added up to more than the sum of its parts, and The Optimist LP quite rightly collected accolades left, right and centre.
So now comes the 'difficult' second album, and for fans of Turin Brakes' first it may be a little disappointing. The layered, sweeping, studio-produced heartstring-tugging melodies are more or less absent, save from Long Distance (released as a single for that very reason), making way for a less polished, sparser sound on many of the tracks, some of which are positively cheery (think Flowers in the Window as opposed to Writing to Reach You). And indeed the boys say that's the sound they were going for, recording many of the tracks in only a couple of takes.
There's less of the Thom-York-esque cracked heartbreak and a little more of the slightly bizarre lyrics (singing 'now there's a river!' to yourself at top volume in the car can feel a little odd, however wildly emotional the track feels).
Ether Song is by no means a major disappointment, and shows the band exploring new sounds and moving forward. But it may be that in trying not to become bogged down in the same old sound, as Travis have, they have lost sight of the moving, emotional honesty that made their first album so extraordinary.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The Optimist LP was a surprise gem and made plenty of album-of-the-year charts on release, which it fully deserved. So it was with a sense of real excitement that I weighed out the cash for Turin Brakes new album, Ether Song. The singles had been fantastic, with a fuller sound than the early stuff but retaining the skewed lyrics, blazing vocal harmonies and rugged acoustics. What a shame that Ether Song just doesn't live up the promise of its creators' talent; sure, Long Distance, Stone Thrown and Pain Killer are great - but the rest of the album is full of half-songs and filler, or songs that start strongly but don't develop. The much-vaunted trip to the USA to record this has resulted in what seems like a lack of melodic ideas, and woolly, muffled production which still no doubt cost a packet. A big damn shame, I know that Gale and Olly still have it in them to make another great album...but Ether Song is not it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz..................
Wha?... Whattya wake me up for?... Is that Turin rubbish still playing... Oh my God! It's awful...Have they ever broken into a sweat in their lives?.... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2009 by Robert Thomas
wicked album
It did take me a while to get into this album but I think its wicked. Someof the songs are a bit sad, but every albums has theres. Read more
Published on 27 April 2004
Turin Brakes, Ether Song
The first I heard of Turin Brakes was their single, 'Painkiller' which wasplayed a couple of times on the Q music channel. Read more
Published on 22 April 2004 by "parkeh"
Different to their first album but brilliant - give it time
I first bought The Optimist and I love it. When I first listened to this, it wasn't in quite the same mould and so I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not. Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2004 by C. Ross
Dreary yawn-a-thon. Zzzzzz.
This bland and pretentious album has absolutely nothing going for it. A bit like Phil Collins-era Genesis. Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2003 by Superleccy
a bit of a disappointment after the Optimist
The Optimist was one of the best albums of the last five years, and I honestly believe it'll be regarded as a classic in years to come. Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2003
Just say no ...
This album is "protected" by a system called CDS. This is supposed to help combat the illegal swapping of MP3s. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2003
Disappointing follow up to 'The Optimist LP'
'Ether Song' has had the heavy weight of expectation ever since the unexpected success of 'The Optimist. Sadly, however, 'Ether Song dissapoints on every level. Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2003 by Flavio Ferrari
Rock isn't dead
I seldom send in reviews but this album has moved me to do so. As a thirty-something ex-rocker whose tastes were shaped by the seventies (the golden age of rock)I am pleased to say... Read more
Published on 11 May 2003 by David Hartman
Actually, I'm going to disagree with you all here
I love this album, like I loved THE OPTIMIST, so excuse me if I make this review a little biased, but to be honest I love this a lot, and I can't bear to hear people criticise it. Read more
Published on 1 May 2003 by Tom Carlisle
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