Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 

Here Be Monsters

Ed Harcourt Audio CD
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.



Amazon's Ed Harcourt Store

Music

Image of album by Ed Harcourt

Photos

Image of Ed Harcourt
Visit Amazon's Ed Harcourt Store
for 24 albums, photos, discussions, and more.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Product details

  • Audio CD (25 Jun 2001)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: EMI
  • ASIN: B00005K209
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 13,966 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

1. Something In My Eye
2. God Protect Your Soul
3. She Fell Into My Arms
4. Those Crimson Tears
5. Hanging With The Wrong Crowd
6. Apple Of My Eye
7. Beneath The Heart Of Darkness
8. Wind Through The Trees
9. Birds Fly Backwards
10. Shanghai
11. Like Only Lovers Can

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk

Here Be Monsters is the follow-up to Ed Harcourt's debut mini-album Maplewood and sees the singer/songwriter developing further on the gentle melancholy of his previous efforts with the help of Death In Vegas' in co-production and Gil Norton (Pixies) and Dave Fridmann sharing mixing duties. "God Protect Your Soul" combines an anguished lament ("I need to build a wall around me") with bluesy harmonica and trumpets to create the kind of rambling lyrics and off-kilt melodies a piano-led Elliot Smith might make. "Beneath The Heart of Darkness" starts in a similar fashion but one third in and it slips off into a sound mash of guitars and radio interference, then drifts back again to its gentle lullaby. While "Apple of My Eye" starts promisingly, with its quiet proclamation--"I'm sick of this angst"--it quickly becomes clear that Ed certainly isn't. One for all those who appreciate their music full of understated despair. --Caroline Butler

Product Description

ED HARCOURT Here Be Monsters (2001 UK 11-track CD album from the young singer/songwriter featuring the single Something In My Eye picture sleeve HVNLP31CD)

Customer Reviews

3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A thing of beauty 12 Nov 2003
Format:Audio CD
There's no other way to describe this fragile debut from one of Britain's most promising singer-songwriters... It is, quite simply, a beautiful record...

There's something thoroughly English about Harcourt's style and delivery, something almost parochial - this is not a bad thing, but a pleasure - Harcourt's music is, for the most part, soft, delicate - imagine a more upbeat Nick Drake, sat at the piano rather than with a guitar, and with richer production, and you might start to get somewhere close to what Harcourt sounds like... Supposedly, he wrote literally hundreds of songs sat in his grandmother's house out in the country before he was "discovered", and you can certainly imagine Ed sat at an old creaky piano, staring out at the English countryside...

Harcourt veers in style from the slow melancholy of "Those Crimson Tears" through to upbeat love songs like "She Fell Into My Arms", and even into vaguely "pop" territory with the likes of "Hanging With The Wrong Crowd" or "Shanghai"... He's at his most interesting though when he touches on the slightly experimental production of the likes of "Beneath The Heart Of Darkness", which builds up before literally collapsing in on itself in a wall of feedback and radio crackle... While that may sound a little self-indulgent, it never seems it, instead holding the attention of the listener for all of it's seven minutes...

On many albums, even those that I enjoy, I often find my fingers stretching for the "skip" button on my CD player to find a favourite track - but this is one album that I can happily start playing and listen to in it's entirety... There is not a weak track to be found...

I bought Here Be Monsters on a whim, knowing nothing about it and having never heard any of the music... Now I can safely say that it would be among my top ten albums of all time... All the friends I've played the album to have been equally enamoured... My advice - check it out now...

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely! 7 Feb 2004
Format:Audio CD
i bought this album on a whim after reading an interview with him in the paper and now i'm hooked. it's a great "mood" album to put on when you just want to chill out. i'm not sure i could classify it, but if you're into real music with guitars and pianos and feel like hearing someone sing about their good and bad times then i'd recommend you give this a try (after all it's not expensive for a whole cd worth of lovely-ness!)
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars fresh and exciting 4 May 2002
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
I'm always a touch sceptical about these new 'sensitive singer songwriter' types, mostly because they are neither sensitive or in fact any good as songwriters, but this is different, this is amazing. For a full-debut it doesn't get better than this, consistently brilliant and highly addictive, but at the same time very respectable, Harcourt should be the next big thing.

With the stand out being the single 'She Fell into My Arms', most of the tracks are piano-led, ala Ben Folds but with more options. A lot of the album also features a brass section, adding a classy feel to what is already a full line-up. Opening with 'Something in my eye', the album really hits steam come the first chorus of track two, 'God Protect Your Soul' - out of nowhere the album is kicked into life with Harcourt booming "I need to feel the walls around me" and suddenly the mood and tempo of the whole piece has changed and a special talent has arrived. By track four I can picture grown-ups crying at 'Those Crimson Tears', and then two tracks later the whole world will be grooving to 'Apple of my eye' - another fine single. It then gets scary with 'Beneath the heart of darkness', tempos are changed again and eventually, after a good old stomp with 'Shanghai' we settle with 'like only lovers can,' such is the imagination of this recording, listeners will soon find themselves studying and believing every word Harcourt says, this is pretty powerful stuff.

Sceptical? Yes. Intelligent? Extremely. Ed Harcourt deserves to be massive, something tells me that can't be far away.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Buy
When exploring the links to things other people have bought on Amazon, i discovered Ed Harcourt. I bought "Here Be Monsters" having heard all of none of his songs. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2003 by pepperpotter
4.0 out of 5 stars Good album; moments of imperfection but also of beauty
Not exactly as good as I thought it would be, but very good all the same. The singer's youth shows in some of the tracks and in occasional lyrics but there is more than enough to... Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2003 by Laura Lee Browne
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
How predictable. An amazon reviewer giving their beloved album five stars out of five. This time however, I believe I am entirely justified in according full marks to this... Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2003 by Mr. C. D. A. Price
5.0 out of 5 stars Here is Wonder, Greatness and Majesty...
Stunning - truly stunning. It's rare that I play an entire album from end to end without skipping a track. If it doesn't press my buttons, off it goes. Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2002 by max
5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I was Fiction, I wish I was Fact
"Here Be Monsters" is an amazing mixture of the best music genres that give birth to a unique style. Read more
Published on 12 July 2002 by Ox Cardinal
5.0 out of 5 stars Leave this world and build a wall around you!
This superb album captures everything everybody loves about music. You know those little moments that send shivers down the back of your neck on every listening. Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent
Why does everyone say the first track is radiohead-inspired? It's got a xylophone in it. So has No Surprises. But the similarities end there. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars sublime, beautiful, tearful, celebratory...
I have just fallen in love with this album, having heard 'she fell into my arms' on the radio, but knowing nothing else of Mr Harcourt or his music. Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2001
4.0 out of 5 stars Believe the hype
I bought this album on the strength of an article in Q magazine and must admit I was pleasantly surprised. It did take me a few listens to get into it and I am now hooked. Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2001
5.0 out of 5 stars inspirational record of the year
i bought this album after owning the maplewood EP from which several album songs are taken, however Ed Harcourt has truly surpassed himself. Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2001 by A. Williamson
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback