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Track Listings
| 1. Verona |
| 2. Silver Lining |
| 3. Wonderful Life |
| 4. "Blood, Tears & Gold" |
| 5. Sunday |
| 6. Stay |
| 7. Illuminated |
| 8. Evelyn |
| 9. Better Than Love |
| 10. Devotion |
| 11. Unspoken |
| 12. The Water |
Product Description
Review
Well, not quite. There are moments throughout, a synth line here or a drum beat there, when Neil and Chris could have climbed into the stereo. But the same could be said of any number of melancholy 80s popstrells who weren’t averse to DX7 chordage and were suspicious of real percussion. Happiness is almost as retro as Roland Rat in a Frankie t-shirt eating a Wispa, but far, far more elegant.
If there’s one epithet to describe this album, it’s "grandiose". No opportunity is spared to slip in a choir (in the Black-esque opener Silver Lining they could be rehearsing Mozart’s Requiem) or a chorus that demands a flame thrower. Which, when the result is current single Wonderful Life, or their debut Better Than Love, which should be subtitled "not to mention sex, fine wines, and much of the charts this week", is a very good idea indeed. The latter, with its frantically arpeggiating keyboards and Tears for Fears bassline, plus enough drama to have its own show and more pomp than Elgar on loop, should, by rights, have done a Bryan Adams instead of languishing at number 50.
But while theatricality and a brooding demeanour also make Sunday, a power-dressed Europop floor-filler that channels early Depeche Mode and the PSB, and Stay (think rain and gospel singers) hits in waiting, they aren’t quick fixes for ropey writing. "So stay with me Evelyn / Don’t leave me with the medicine / In the night" (Evelyn) might make you giggle more with a triumphal new romantic orchestra surging behind it, but it’s unlikely that’s what the Manchester boys intended. Kylie, meanwhile, has grounds to take offence, having been given the turgid Devotion – surely a lost Bosnia & Herzegovina Eurovision entry – to guest on.
Style and gravitas are all very well – if Hurts could also have been consistent with the substance, Happiness would have trounced its 80s counterparts and many of its contemporaries, too.
--Alix BuscovicFind more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
Customer Reviews
Every now and again an act comes along that divides opinion, "they shouldn't be doing that" indie snobs, journalists included, it was the same when Keane released their debut 'Hopes & Fears' in the mid 00's, Coldplay too have taken a pounding over the last few years for being too dull, not rock'n' roll or "of the moment". When you have tunes to back up what you're doing, so what?, just stick two fingers up and carry on, that exactly what `Hurts' have done and done it brilliantly.
This album is flamboyant, massively over the top, power ballad pop but you can't deny it's an impressive debut. It's an album that will have the Coldplay effect for sure, certain types will destroy it down the pub with their mates, but once back home, secretly it will be the first thing they'll play on the i-pod docking station.
The Pet Shop Boys comparison has also been made, I think after listening to this CD, Neil & Chris must look within and shake their heads in great disappointment. It's the music they should have made about 5 albums back.
Just give it a try, it won't Hurt(s)
This album is truely awesome. Every song feels epic. These guys have obviously put in so much effort to make something different.
I for one give this album 10/10, there isn't a single song I don't like.
Superb album every track is really good. Read more
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