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Hey Ma
 
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Hey Ma

~ James
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
Price: £4.98 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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Frequently Bought Together

Hey Ma + Pleased To Meet You + Seven (2001 Reissue)
Price For All Three: £13.94

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Product details

  • Audio CD (7 April 2008)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Mercury Records Ltd (London)
  • ASIN: B0014I4K30
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 8,691 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.

Extraits
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. Bubbles 5:23£0.69
Listen  2. Hey Ma 4:09£0.69
Listen  3. Waterfall 5:10£0.69
Listen  4. Oh My Heart 3:42£0.79
Listen  5. Boom Boom 4:14£0.69
Listen  6. Semaphore 3:45£0.69
Listen  7. Upside 4:25£0.69
Listen  8. Whiteboy 2:48£0.69
Listen  9. 72 3:38£0.79
Listen10. Of Monsters And Heroes And Men 4:36£0.69
Listen11. I Wanna Go Home 4:20£0.69

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
In need of proof that indie mid-distance runners James are more than just that lot that made audiences "Sit Down" in the early 90s, with the occasional B-list single since? Then set yourself down in front of the title track of this, their first album in seven years and their most vital release in fifteen. "Hey Ma!" shrills Tim Booth in a disfigured falsetto, "boys in body-bags, coming home in pieces!". It's a robust piece of dissent, awkward to listen to and not exactly a short-cut to radio playlists, but the remarkable thing is how infectiously the band chime up around him, from muted flutters to spirited pulse-boosting bombast without missing a beat, acoustic guitar shredded like ticker-tape, buoyed by hopeful harmonies. It becomes a ringing pop tune, transcending its context but in turn reinforcing its message, because you can't escape it--a textbook protest song, and as such a precious rarity. This classic James line up--the one that last crafted 1993's Laid--invoke the spirit of that record and though Brain Eno doesn't produce Hey Ma they remain inspired by his methods, resulting in a fluid gushing of inspiration, numerous melodic shadings and complex weaves of sound that are never quite allowed to run away with themselves. "Bubbles" explodes in a welter of criss-crossing driven hard by a quivering trumpet fanfare, "White Boy" has the kitchen sink thrown at it and judders nearest to their earlier eccentricities, while "Of Monsters & Heroes & Men" hosts a much more subtle evolution, perfect for Booth's unwinding prose and the hymnal ends it achieves. --James Berry

CD Description
Ninth album from the cult Mancunian indie rockers follows their 2007 reformation and is their first new studio release since 2001's 'Pleased To Meet You'. The album was produced by Lee "Muddy" Baker (Chungking, Mo Solid Gold, James's Tim Booth) and recorded at Warsy Chateau in northern France, where Baker allowed the band to jam and improvise at will. The result is a set of coruscating pop-rock featuring Booth's trademark erudite lyrics that is already being hailed as the best thing they have done to date.

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Customer Reviews

38 Reviews
5 star:
 (25)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (38 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A mighty comeback album, 7 April 2008
Wow what a comeback album this is, I encourage all James fans, old and new to investigate....

Bubbles

One of the best James songs ever written. The starting of the song is very similar to the like of Laid album/The Lake stylistics but explodes into a very beautiful passionate song which seems to be about a new born life with a great future. Just a brilliant opening track. transferred from live performance to record seamlessly. You will be singing 'I'm alive' for months. Uplifting stuff! 10/10

Hey Ma

It may be 16 years on but the song Mother is still a haunting track and Hey Ma is no different lyrically, but it is a very uplifting song musically which contrasts so well with the deep lyrics being sung about 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan and particularly about consequences of your actions. This sort of shows the best and worst of Tim's voice, there is a point where he sings 'coming home' in a kind of a strained way yet somehow im transported back in time to the early 90s in other places. Strange, but great, pointed lyrics. 9/10

Waterfall

This could probably the succesor to Say Something, my feeling on this song is that it is wonderful but at times the production is too heavy and almost sags under its own weight like the latest Manics album does. There are parts I love to this song such as the lovely verse guitars and backing vocals in the chorus and the chanted verse is particularly wonderful. The 'Im so cynical bit' is the part I think goes over the top perhaps for me. Again the underlying feeling of Laid but production values of Seven 8.5/10

Oh My Heart

Very anthemic in a Booth and The Bad Angel meets Seven kind of way, I read a review which says an 'old-school' James anthem. I can hear U2 in the guitar as well which puts me back to the Seven album. There is something about it that doesn't win me over in the same way the previous songs did, but the fact that I'm giving the first four tracks at least 8/10 bodes very well for the rest of the album. The fact that there is loads of guitar in this track is great and is as far away from Pleased To Meet You as my bloody football team winning the title! This could really soar live as well a real out-there number. 8/10

Boom Boom

A song which at first didn't really grab me and thought was not fantastic. However it started getting ingrained in my head and for days I had the melody in my head. It has a dominant trumpet line. This is a song similar to Were Going To Miss You lyrically in terms of hitting back at the critics of the band who had written them off. It is quite a dark melancholic song with an orchestral ending. 7/10

Semaphore

A very beautiful slow number about a man who has hit a woman realising what he's done. 'But its too late for sorry' Fantastic echoey guitar and bass with some fantastic lyrics. The slowest song on the album which allows pause for reflection for what we've heard already. 8/10

Upside

First aired at least a year ago at some of the gigs last year. It is the one song I'm truly disappointed with, it doesn't really do anything for me. It's about immigrants being away from their loved ones. For some reason it doesn't work for me, I think it is in the arrangement somewhere and the chorus also doesn't work for me. Not what I was expecting. A bit of a mess. 5/10.

Whiteboy

I love this track, it's the most fun and uplifting track since laid. This really is the 'old-school' James track I had been looking for, a mile away from the poor 'What Is It Good For' et al the whole song is what sums James up for me; fun, slightly goofy, uplifting, estoric, catch as fcuk particularly love the way the 2nd verse explodes into the 'Wanna talk to me Whiteboy' 2nd chorus just whisks you away! 9/10

72

A song about religion and brings up strong imagery of suicide bombers. The darkest song on the record although ironically a little funky with a dark electronic backdrop and rythmn section. The chorus of WAR will be ingrained in your head immediately. 7.5/10

Of Monsters Heroes and Men

This song is based on an extended poem full of imagery. This was played love at the September Hoxton shows. It's an interesting song that builds up to a kind-of mantra at the end with Andy's trumpet kind of taking over the song. Again it doesn't have much of an effect of me compared to what has gone before. 6/10

I Wanna Go Home

This is brilliant. A wonderful yearning song, although a bit too short. It is about a guy in a bar full of remorse, dying of a remorse. A fantastic closing track with effects coming in and out and builds to a crescendo of 'I wanna go home right now', awe-inspiring and I can personally identify with the lyrics as well. I just wish it could have gone on longer. 10/10

Child To Burn (Itunes Deluxe track)

This is an extremely beautiful Wah Wah/Laid style track with slide guitar, and Tim in falsetto most of the time. Extremely atmospheric. 9/10

Overall

A totally fantastic album overall, miles better than the last two albums. It sounds totally 'together' and everything hangs together well. Apart from one or two flawed songs, mainly in terms of arrangements this contains some of the best James songs ever written. Yes it possibly lacks anthems in a 'singles' way, however it is closer to Laid in spirit in terms of lyrics and some of the music. There are moments of a bigger sound, with A Seven-esque production value namely Oh My Heart and Waterfall. This is now my 3rd favourite James album, and only Laid and Whiplash better this one. In terms of a comeback album this is so much more than I and James fans could have hoped for. Ignore those stupid reviews that give this 1 and 2 stars they obviously can't hear the beauty within. Dream Thrum score. 8/10 - a mighty album.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Gobsmacked, 11 April 2008
With all the mixed fan and press reviews I was expecting very little from this album. But blow me down, it bowled me over. It is everything it could and should have been. There is more heart and soul in one of these songs than many bands manage in a whole career. It is a remarkable record, a real career highlight and the band should be as proud as punch that they have delivered something as beautiful and uplifting as this. There are elements of Laid, Strip mine and Seven but it works as its own album. Of course there is the odd daft Tim Booth lyric, it wouldn't be a James album without it. He tells us on the title track that war is bad. Just in case you were unsure. But that's ok, just like seeing a beautiful girl in a daft pair of trousers, its almost endearing.

And that aside, it's a beautiful, hopeful, elegant, bloody brilliant record.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Typical James: slightly flawed magnificence., 8 April 2008
By J. J. Blackbourn "Sloop Jon B" (Spalding, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a very good album and I believe I am well qualified to speak on the subject.

Here are the facts. James are a great band. This album contains 7 wonderful songs and 4 unmemorable fillers.

We have been here before though, over the past 20 years I have awaited many James albums with baited breath and so I know what to expect. James are prone to watering down their albums with some genuinely uninspiring self-indulgent tunes. On Hey Ma, they all appear together in the middle. "Oh My Heart" & "Semaphore" would shame a B-sides compilation by The Feeling and are total deadweight. "Boom Boom" is actually James at their worst as they manage to create the horrendous hell that sounds like Coldplay meets The Smiths. Apparently these tracks were chosen from over 120 others...The mind boggles. Anyway, forget all that, there are 7 gems on this album which help you forgive the cardinal sin of mid-CD mediocrity. "Waterfall" is going to become a James live classic akin to "Sometimes", "White Boy" is a multi-layered mental fusion with some choice lyrics, Tim in self-deprecating mood is a good balance to some of the heavier semi-pretentious lyrics of "Upside Down". Tucked away at the end of the album is the token epic James slowy "Of Monsters, Heroes and Men". Like "Out to Get You", it is instantly addictive and should come over well in a live venue.

So how will this album be remembered? Well, it is a top class James album. Despite its weaknesses, it still makes so many of today's British guitar-based bands look like the paper-thin inadequate pretenders that they are. Nice job, don't forget that after seeing them live this weekend I will of course change my opinion about the middle 4 tracks.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant
Halleluyah,
I maybe biased, cos I love James and have done so since Stutter; but Hey Ma is simply brilliant. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ian Peter Burrows

3.0 out of 5 stars James do their usual trick...
It starts magnificently, "Bubbles" now figuring in my top five James songs. It's a tremendous track, starting quietly, suddenly exploding into life, and turning into a glorious... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Peter Lee

5.0 out of 5 stars Their best album
I have most of their albums and I think this is the best - can't stop playing it.
Published 4 months ago by D. W. Benson

5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Just a truly great album that I have not stopped listening to since I got it. I highly recommend this album to new and Old fans of James and anybody who enjoys music. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Iain M. Miles

4.0 out of 5 stars Top Draw - A Real Grower
Thought James had had there day but this album is a little gem to add to my dusty old collection - Get it bought you won't be disappointed.
Published 5 months ago by M. R. Keegan

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
I had no idea 'James' were back together and recording, let alone releasing a new album, such is the amount of press this new album has received!!! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. B. J. Roberts

5.0 out of 5 stars stunning return
The world wept when james , went their separate ways , but now it rejoices with truly an awesome and moving album. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Stephen De Lai

5.0 out of 5 stars Best comeback album ever
When I first heard James was reuniting, my heart was being tugged on in two directions. I would love to hear James again, but I was expecting a half hearted attempt at rekindling... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Timothy Larabee

4.0 out of 5 stars mmm ... chocolate !!!
"My works about words and sounds you can taste, violins and trumpets, chocolate cakes" sings Tim Booth halfway through this majestic, triumphant return, and so sums up both Hey... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. C. J. Davidson

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I hoped it would be...
I've only been a James fan since my uncle recommended Millionaires. I bought that, and quickly followed it up with the Best Of and, a couple of years later, Pleased to Meet You. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Robbie Swale

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