- Audio CD (3 May 2001)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Enhanced
- Label: Infectious
- ASIN: B00005A1MC
- Other Editions: Audio CD
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 38,012 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Alpha Ways |
| 2. Always: Your Way |
| 3. The Gentle Art Of Chocking |
| 4. Kohlstream |
| 5. Cemented Shoes |
| 6. Grounded |
| 7. C.O.R |
| 8. Infantile |
| 9. Ode To The Red Queen |
| 10. Tounge Tied |
| 11. Windows and Walls |
| 12. Taprobane |
| 13. Losing Touch |
| 14. Pieces |
| 15. Falling Off The Floor |
| 16. Under The Wheels |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Hailing from the same University Of London digs as Coldplay, and reaching for the mantle of Yank-inflected indie-rock when the muscular jock-rock likes of Limp Bizkit are in the ascendancy, youthful Brit-rock four-piece My Vitriol should really have found this debut album business a bit of an uphill struggle. Somewhat surprisingly, though, they've delivered the goods; at its best, Finelines suggests the dynamic scissor-kick choruses and sleek power-pop of the Foo Fighters, as envisaged through the effects pedals of My Bloody Valentine sound-alchemist Kevin Shields--the spirit of shoe-gazing spiked with guts, adrenaline, and adolescent fantasies of towering walls of noise. Thankfully, too, this is far more substantial than many debut albums; more than just a smattering of hit singles amid a sea of filler, Finelines is pieced together by slick segues and thoughtful sequencing. Even the effortlessly pop moments, such as roller-coaster-grunge peaks "Always: Your Way" and "Losing Touch", don't show up the occasional mellow forays into creeping-feedback guitar ambience. Any criticisms? Only that the reedy vocals of frontman Som Wardner lack a certain soul, making the actual emotional viscera of Finelines a little indirect. Still, on the basis of this fine debut, there's no reason why My Vitriol couldn't be serious "Voice Of A Generation" contenders. --Louis Pattison
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This band combine the angst of placebo, the sing-a-long factor of green day and the pure rock power of the Smashing Pumpkins. If you've ever heard of any of these bands, you should get it. In my opinion, the best songs are the ones which are deep and yet have you singing along before the end of your first listen, i was singing along to "always:your way" during the first chorus. This album filled a gap in my life that i didn't even know i had.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
First of all, I don't usually write reviews of this length but there are occasions in your musical experiences where landmarks are reached and you just can't keep silent. You just want to share your feelings.
Of the hundreds of artists I've ever listened to, some of them pretty good too, only Hole's 'Live Through This' and Smashing Pumpkins' 'Siamese Dream' have attained such musical landmarks in my life. Fine Lines is the third!
For me, what distinguishes a great artist from a good artist are when you get those 3 or 4 songs on an average length album which take your breath away" i.e. they make you feel you're sexier than Schiffer , better than Beckham, or just greater than the greatest; they make you feel beyond what you are in reality, they take you to another plane emotionally and psychologically. Fine Lines does this for me.
I've listened to Fine Lines more than 20 times now to get rid of that initial over-hyped feeling and write an as accurate a review as possible.
Believe me I didn't feel so enamoured at first but their songs just somehow grow on you after each listen.
My favourites are 'Grounded' which is simply beautiful, full stop; 'Cemented Shoes' which has a lovely dreamy quality and 'Ode to the Red Queen' which has a melancholy yet breathtaking chorus. I know 'Always: Your Way' is probably the favourite for most. This is a lovely fluid tune but for me the above are a bit better.
What confirms My Vitriol's talent to me (as if they need confirmation) is how they can take Madonna's 'Oh father' (a B-side song on their Grounded CD1 single) and make it in to a rocking tune. I checked out their web site, listened to the audio section and came across some other B-side tunes on the singles they have released and guess what............they are just as good so I bought them all too, bar one (Grounded CD2, which has a weak all-percussion tune called 'Deadlines'). 'Spotlights' and especially the incredibly catchy 'Breakfast' are another 2 fantastic B-side tunes. In fact, in my opinion, 'Breakfast' is just about the best My Vitriol number of them all.
I must say that having seen all the 5 star marks before I bought the album it did alert my interest yet I initially thought it may have been an over-hyped album but the more you listen to it the more you realise what a piece of brilliance this stuff is and I believe it's their first album. WHAT!!!! I wasn't concerned at what others had marked, if it deserved one star I would have given it but this really does deserve all five. The only weak tunes are the two all-percussion tunes, song 1. Alpha Waves and song 10. Tongue Tied, yet even these aren't too bad. I haven't taken in to account the interlude tunes such as 'Kohlstream' which for me serve as necessary breaks for me to catch my breath. My Vitriol show and uncanny knack of producing consistently good tunes of differing tempos.
Finally I just want to thank all you gals, guys and aliens who gave this album five stars, if it wasn't for your reviews this masterpiece would have avoided my radar and I would have missed out on one of my greatest ever musical experiences.
"Gratitude for Your Attitude".
Emmanuel
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It's 2008, a nice round 7 years on from the release of this album, and still it holds sway among the best of the best rock albums. Why? Well it does has it's reference point, influences and the like - but you'd be hard pressed to find a band before My Vitriol who sounded exactly like them. As mentioned in the reviews from the time, there are hints of the Foo Fighters, a pinch of My Bloody Valentine for sure, but these influences are taken into a whole new spectrum on Finelines.
This album sounds BIG. And no that's not a bad thing. In many respects their wall of sound is all the more refreshing in the current climate of clackety indie guitars that sound as if they were recorded in a shed. Instead Som Wardner and gang took their telecasters, said no to the clean channel and turned everything up to 11, filtering myriad spacey rock sounds into the mix.
The songwriting is not to shabby either, they pull huge choruses out of the ether for the ones you might remember "Always: Your Way" and "Grounded." There's even harder slabs of rock with the likes of Pieces, and more broody, introspective numbers like "Ode To The Red Queen." There's even c.o.r. - a 40 second blast of furious metal stylings, almost as if the band knew that they could out-metal the multiple platinum nu-metal acts in the charts at the time. This is all bound together with some brilliant instrumental(ish) tracks such as "Tongue Tied." In a way it's pointless trying to pick out a highlight though as this is clearly an album, not to be digested in individual chunks.
With the band vanishing into almost obscurity since 2003, lets hope they release something in the future just as good to remind us all what it's all about. In the meantime, if you haven't already, do yourself a favour and get acquainted with one of the best and most overlooked rock albums of the decade.
This album sounds BIG. And no that's not a bad thing. In many respects their wall of sound is all the more refreshing in the current climate of clackety indie guitars that sound as if they were recorded in a shed. Instead Som Wardner and gang took their telecasters, said no to the clean channel and turned everything up to 11, filtering myriad spacey rock sounds into the mix.
The songwriting is not to shabby either, they pull huge choruses out of the ether for the ones you might remember "Always: Your Way" and "Grounded." There's even harder slabs of rock with the likes of Pieces, and more broody, introspective numbers like "Ode To The Red Queen." There's even c.o.r. - a 40 second blast of furious metal stylings, almost as if the band knew that they could out-metal the multiple platinum nu-metal acts in the charts at the time. This is all bound together with some brilliant instrumental(ish) tracks such as "Tongue Tied." In a way it's pointless trying to pick out a highlight though as this is clearly an album, not to be digested in individual chunks.
With the band vanishing into almost obscurity since 2003, lets hope they release something in the future just as good to remind us all what it's all about. In the meantime, if you haven't already, do yourself a favour and get acquainted with one of the best and most overlooked rock albums of the decade.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
10 years on....
..... and this album is still incredible. I recently rediscovered them when going through my old CD's. Read more
Published 6 months ago by theone&only
Still fantastic, 6 years on.
I fell in love with My Vitriol 6 years ago when I was a 'slightly misunderstood' 16 year old with access to an alternative radio station. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2007 by LE Dewick
finelines is too good for words in the dictionary!
when i first heard this album i was totally utterly blown away.the guitar work is inspirational and sublime and most of all rocks. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2003 by Mr. R. V. Choolun
Ace...
My Vitriol have been around quite a while, although only have one "proper" album under their belts. Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2002 by "james___g"
Hardcore rock, anthemic choruses, power-pop & guitar texture
As a debut album this stands head and shoulders above most, and is better than a lot of established acts recent offerings. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2002 by Alister King
AMAZING THERE IS NO OTHER BAND LIKE THIS AROUND!
This album is a fine work of art. Its beautiful. Som Wardner is a great vocalist and the group are just geniuses musically, the sound reminds me of the prodigys guitar lines,... Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2001 by su8072_98@yahoo.com
the essential album of 2001
my vitriol, the most exciting and innovative band to grace my ears since nirvana or the smashing pumpkins have come up trumps with this lp. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2001 by "silversurfer19"
An amazing record...
Firstly I would like to say one word: "WOW", this album has it all, pure, beautiful, loud, amazing, lush, mean, emotional, happy, sad, etc... Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2001 by bigfatllama@beeb.net
A brilliant record
This is an intelligent and thoughtful record. It is 'musical' in a beautiful, rich and complex way that the likes of 'lowest common denominator' (S Club 7, Atomic Kitten et al)... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2001 by Rich (disloc8@hotmail.com)
Drippy Guitars Galore!
This review will be short and sweet. If you like drippy guitars (from the good old shoegazing day) mixed in with the harder ones of recent times.... Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2001 by markbirch@eircom.net
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