Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
That said, on Heroes to Zeros--the Beta Band's first fully self-produced effort--everything seems to be gelling nicely, despite the dizzying disparity of the parts involved. It's more guitar-heavy than previous efforts, and it's strangely exciting to hear frontman Steve Mason cutting loose on the axe here--everything from U2-style dynamics to mournful English folk fingerpicking seem well within his grasp.
"Assessment" is the instant winner, Mason dolefully intoning "I think I cut my skull on the way down/ I think I lost my head when I lay down" over chiming guitar fanfares and roaring brass. But elsewhere, the band's characteristically eccentric manner is given free reign: try "Wonderful", a sprawling cosmic love song, or "Liquid Bird", a weird mélange of scintillating House of Love guitars, hip-hop rhythms and electronic kickdrums that beat like a hummingbird's wings. --Louis Pattison
Review
This surely signifies a band that long to shed their identities; desperate to escape society's expectations and attempting to start again from scratch. Of course with a band contradictory enough to publicly diss their wonderful first album both of these options could be true. The fact remains that Heroes... marks a whole new era for the Betas.
Kicking off with the spunky, horn-assisted single, "Assessment", Heroes... is a move further towards a more song-based approach. Gone are the meandering lo-fi dubs of the 3EPs and the ingenious loops and perversity of the aforementioned debut. Instead we get a tighter, more ethereal development of the funky breakbeats and (whisper it) rock dynamics of Hot Shots II. For the very first time our Scottish heroes are cranking up the guitars! Solos abound and acoustics ring pastorally. ''Out-Side'' (named ''Pot Pissin''' in the lyric sheet. Yes, I said lyric sheet) is mosh-mongous while ''Liquid Bird'' and ''Assessment'' contain riffs that could be taken from U2's first album.
But the Beta Band are far too oblique and tricksy to stick to any kind of dull 4/4 format. Vocals trip over each other in counterpoint and within the mix there's always enough bleeps and burbles to remind you that this is a very 21st century hybrid. ''Space'' explores both the inner and outer variety with a krautrock clatter. Elsewhere, they demonstrate their uncanny knack for low-key beauty on ''Wonderful''. It's left to tracks like ''Space Beatle'' and ''Rhodedendron'' to represent the off-kilter grooves of their previous work, albeit with a sweeter sense of melody.
Oddly the only negative point seems to be in the final mixing by uber-fixer/producer Nigel Godrich whose echoey touch (along with the strangely unemotional multi-tracked vocals) at times puts you in mind of mid-period Pink Floyd. It's not such a bad reference, but one can't help wishing he had some new tricks up his sleeve. This aside, the Betas now find themselves at a critical stage. The radical departures on Heroes... could lead them either way. Whether they conquer the universe or disappear into the ocean of sound, it's still an intriguing journey... --Chris Jones
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
'Space', the second track picks up gamely where 'Assessment' left off with swaggering bass/drum interaction that betrays the hip hop/dub influence the Beta Band have internalised and yet made entirely their own. 'Lion Thief', has been an early fan favourite, harking back to the Three EP's era with it's folk inflected intro before progressing to a groove centred piece utilising the same riff. This is also an excellent example of the way the whole album works, described by Beta Band frontman Steve Mason as like 'the Milky Way in a tea cup.' This is an album that initially feels densely layered, with whole new spaces opening up open repeated listening. However, if one really pays attention, it becomes apparent that the songs seem to wax and wane, building euphorically to a swell only to plunge the listener into a brief space where Steve Mason's voice is given full reign to pervade your entire being. This is no more obvious than in the sprawling funk of 'Easy', though Richard Greentree takes on vocal duty here.
'Out-Side' raises the album back to exultant heights after a reflective break, only for 'Space Beatle' to combine downbeat verses with transcendent choruses. 'Rhododendron' sounds like 'Pet Sounds' for today, showcasing a beautiful organ sound coupled with synth melody and excellent percussion. Any retro vibe is rapidly dismantled by the futuristic indie dub groove of 'Liquid Bird', whose hard-edged sound is in turn countered by 'Simple.' The heart-rending introduction melds effortlessly with the gargantuan groove that follows it, echoing the Smiths in the way you want to dance and cry at the same time.
This album works superbly as a whole, and goes a further step to fulfilling the potential that it has long been acknowledged is possessed by this band. The closing track, 'Pure For', offers the listener a resolution in the mantra of "I'm so glad you found me," nicely rounding off the emotional journey of the album. 'Heroes to Zeros' is an album tailored neatly to fit the crowd who find themselves alienated from the emotionally shallow music scene of today, and I hope it brings the Beta Band the success that has long eluded them.
Yet what you get is well worth your money, and pushes "conventional" music to its limits. This is the Beta Band after all. I don't know what their aim was in the making of this album, but they have managed to produce their most accessible collection of songs. Perhaps they were trying to win over a new audience, or go mainstream? Unfortanately, it failed, and we'll never get to see The Beta Band on TOTP.
But we will always have the songs. Several standout here, such as the U2 esque Assessment, the absolute classic Out-side, the inspired Space and the gentle interlude of Rhododendron.
Recommended as an album but not as a Beta Band album. Simply not as good as their others. But then, what is?
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
