- Audio CD (30 Aug 2004)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Limited Edition
- Label: Sanctuary
- ASIN: B0002JEP8M
- Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 27,511 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Days Of Our Lives |
| 2. I Would Never |
| 3. Broken Loves |
| 4. Because Of Toledo |
| 5. She Saw The World |
| 6. High |
| 7. Soul Boy |
| 8. Everybody Else |
| 9. Stay Close |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Some eight barren years have elapsed since Glasgow's nocturnal melancholics The Blue Nile last tendered a studio album. However, patience is a virtue and "High" - which features material conceived and recorded over a ten year period, including a song once gifted to a former Spice Girl - yields a generous dividend for prostrate audiophiles and sleepwalking nighthawks alike. Like a far-away comet circling the universe in sublime and yet static perpetuity, The Blue Nile manoeuvre impressively into view every few years having changed very little, a compliment which can scarcely be applied to many other artists in their profession. In the manner of Talk Talk's Mark Hollis or Jackie Leven, Paul Buchanan's distressed utterances exude a downcast but romantic spirituality, mining a rich blue seam of fatigued detachment from the diaphragm upwards while somewhere in the background pianos, electronic drums and subtle acoustic guitars pulse inconspicuously and yet with all the assurances of a heart steadily beating inside the chest. Eavesdropping on restaurant conversations, gazing at passing cars, looking at "the morning people going to work and fading away" is the stuff of cold, terminal exclusion but "High" is beautifully warm, offering the uncluttered quiescent orderliness of sonic Feng Shui for the soul. --Kevin Maidment
Review
The first album for eight years, and only the fourth in 21 years, High manages to maintain the Blue Nile's impeccably tasteful standards while soaring blissfully over the rattle and hum of most contemporary music. Paul Buchanan still sings his songs of faded love affairs, broken dreams and squandered ambitions with almost painful emotional candor, while the musical backings are as lush and flowing as ever.
Opening track "The Days of Our Lives" returns to the sparse sound of 1984's debut, A Walk Across the Rooftops, although the flush of youthful romantic exuberance has now been replaced by a world weary housewife who "sits around in her dressing gown". Buchanan's lyrics deal in the kind of details which can wrench the most telling of emotional responses from the seemingly mundane. On "Broken Loves" he sings, "Nothing I can say or do/will make you turn off the tv/and look up", perfectly evoking the heartbreaking frustration of knowing things are going wrong but not quite knowing why, and stalking similar territory to 1989's classic "Lets Go Out Tonight".
Elsewhere, "I Would Never" is as perfect a love song as you will ever hear, all the more striking for it's unashamed romanticism -as close as Buchanan ever gets to cliché. While most pop songs seem content to bask in the glow of eternal youth, The Blue Nile are resolutely adult in their concerns - 1996's Peace At Last dealt with the pressures and the joys of family and commitment, while High seems to deal with a re-affirmation of those same things, but with an occasionally ambiguous and fearful tone.
There are many recognizable Blue Nile motifs throughout - the imagery of rain, railway stations, traffic and rooftops will certainly be familiar - and the tempo barely rises above a stately shuffle, which for some might seem a missed opportunity for stylistic innovation. However, for those of us who've cherished the band's previous albums, High is like meeting a new friend, albeit one possessing a reassuring familiarity.
See you in ten years then, lads? --Michael Fitzsimmons
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In the late 80's I picked up the Blue Nile album Walk Across the Rooftops and it became one of my 'must take with me to college' tapes.
For some reason I never looked to see what had happened to this band and just assumed they would have split up. That was until I heard the recent excellent duet by Texas 'Sleep' with Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan. A search on Amazon showed Blue Nile had released a couple of albums since the one I owned. The 2004 album High has just been re-released (probably following on from the exposure with Texas).
I've now had High on in the car for a couple of weeks and it's just like being at college all over again. Paul's vocals as strong as ever and what a collection of tracks. Ever had one of those albums where you keep coming back to one track again and again? For me it's track 5, She Saw The World, what a belter.
Why isn't this band better known? Perhaps they are all the better for their relative obscurity.
For some reason I never looked to see what had happened to this band and just assumed they would have split up. That was until I heard the recent excellent duet by Texas 'Sleep' with Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan. A search on Amazon showed Blue Nile had released a couple of albums since the one I owned. The 2004 album High has just been re-released (probably following on from the exposure with Texas).
I've now had High on in the car for a couple of weeks and it's just like being at college all over again. Paul's vocals as strong as ever and what a collection of tracks. Ever had one of those albums where you keep coming back to one track again and again? For me it's track 5, She Saw The World, what a belter.
Why isn't this band better known? Perhaps they are all the better for their relative obscurity.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Blue Nile fans. Who are they?
I got into The Blue Nile because someone told me they thought I'd like them. They weren't wrong. And now everyone I know who likes good quality music likes them too, following a referral from me, because this band seems to exist on personal recommendations.
Which is just as well, as they only manage one album every 7 years, on average!
Whenever they do release an album, the critics fall over themselves to praise it. Maybe that's the kiss of death for them....
Well, these critics are quicker than me. I find that each album requires time and quite a few listens to actually love. Each time I've got my hands on an album, I am initially a bit disappointed. Until about 10 listens time, when I am raving to anyone who will listen to me that it is a work of unmitigated genius etc. etc.
Their (relative) downfall is that their tracks don't tend to have the instant appeal that a lot of listeners appear to need. Still others refer to the smooth, glossy, meticulous productions as background music. Surely that's unfair, if you listen to Paul Buchanan's impassioned vocal.
The religious overtones to some of the work can also put people off, but when music is this dizzily hypnotic, I just don't care one way or the other.
Unashamedly soulful and romantic, The Blue Nile carve an individual furrow through pop. Every album has been released on a different label so far - faith and longevity is clearly an issue for the record labels.
Their next album is due in about 2011 (on current stats), but I, for one, will queue up to get it. Come on, Mr Buchanan, write more, write faster.
But he won't. Tortured genius, or pedantic megalomaniac? Who knows? And who cares? We may only have 4 albums, but by crikey they're all corkers! If all songwriters took this much trouble, the aural soundscape would be awash in beauty all the time.
As close to perfect as Mr Buchanan can make it, this album's highlights include the title track and the awesome acoustic ballad "Because of Toledo". Oh, and the beautiful, bizarre and mildly disturbing opener, "The Days of Our Lives", featuring the same chord beating out for the duration of the track, with a snaky little bass riff set against a lyric that is either domestic stream-of-consciousness limbo, or the musings of an omni-present narrator berating modern life. Yikes! Compelling, though.
Stylistically, "High" harks back to the 1989 release "Hats", in that it feels more programmed than the more guitar-y, organic "Peace at Last". But, if it's possible, the songs are more mature and thoughthful than ever.
Exquisite. Measured. Moving.
I got into The Blue Nile because someone told me they thought I'd like them. They weren't wrong. And now everyone I know who likes good quality music likes them too, following a referral from me, because this band seems to exist on personal recommendations.
Which is just as well, as they only manage one album every 7 years, on average!
Whenever they do release an album, the critics fall over themselves to praise it. Maybe that's the kiss of death for them....
Well, these critics are quicker than me. I find that each album requires time and quite a few listens to actually love. Each time I've got my hands on an album, I am initially a bit disappointed. Until about 10 listens time, when I am raving to anyone who will listen to me that it is a work of unmitigated genius etc. etc.
Their (relative) downfall is that their tracks don't tend to have the instant appeal that a lot of listeners appear to need. Still others refer to the smooth, glossy, meticulous productions as background music. Surely that's unfair, if you listen to Paul Buchanan's impassioned vocal.
The religious overtones to some of the work can also put people off, but when music is this dizzily hypnotic, I just don't care one way or the other.
Unashamedly soulful and romantic, The Blue Nile carve an individual furrow through pop. Every album has been released on a different label so far - faith and longevity is clearly an issue for the record labels.
Their next album is due in about 2011 (on current stats), but I, for one, will queue up to get it. Come on, Mr Buchanan, write more, write faster.
But he won't. Tortured genius, or pedantic megalomaniac? Who knows? And who cares? We may only have 4 albums, but by crikey they're all corkers! If all songwriters took this much trouble, the aural soundscape would be awash in beauty all the time.
As close to perfect as Mr Buchanan can make it, this album's highlights include the title track and the awesome acoustic ballad "Because of Toledo". Oh, and the beautiful, bizarre and mildly disturbing opener, "The Days of Our Lives", featuring the same chord beating out for the duration of the track, with a snaky little bass riff set against a lyric that is either domestic stream-of-consciousness limbo, or the musings of an omni-present narrator berating modern life. Yikes! Compelling, though.
Stylistically, "High" harks back to the 1989 release "Hats", in that it feels more programmed than the more guitar-y, organic "Peace at Last". But, if it's possible, the songs are more mature and thoughthful than ever.
Exquisite. Measured. Moving.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The Blue Nile return at last with another collection of sublime, intoxicating yet uplifting songs, characterised by Paul Buchanan's sharply observed bittersweet vignettes.
I'm surprised that other review haven't picked out "Because of Toledo" for special mention. It's one of the most stark, haunting and melancholic songs this side of...well, anywhere, actually - and yet is truly what The Blue Nile are about. Paul Buchanan's voice, torn with hopeless resignation, is accompanied by a picked guitar line that builds through a typical "Blue Nile Chorus" striking in it's simplicity: an unusual but majestic key change, strengthened by a sudden harmony, a wordless almost breathless phrase then, a wash of strings, a solemn horn. No waste, no cinematic score for false drama, no theatrics.
Paul Buchanan's voice isn't technically perfect. It glows with an epic weariness. If we had to give it a name, it would be Walter Matthau. Yet it's up there with the great voices from that land - Gary Clark, Billy Mckenzie, Hamish Stuart, Roddy Frame....
So, I hear you ask, who do they sound like? Well,that's just it - no one. And we don't want another band to sound like The Blue Nile. We've already got a band that sounds just like The Blue Nile. They're called........The Blue Nile. And that's all we need.
I want you to go and buy this. I want you to share the experience I had all those years ago when "A Walk Across the Rooftops" leapt out of my stereo, slapped me about the face and told me things just wouldn't be the same again - at least for another 6 years, when "Hats" slipped into my blood and somehow scrambled my DNA.
HANG ON, just a minute, let's think about this...........more sales, bigger record company, more pressure from the suits, duets with Ronan, covers by Sugarbabes, remixes by Flip and Fill, interviews (aaarrgghh!). No, on second thoughts, maybe it's better this way, and I'll just continue to grow old to a soundtrack punctuated, from time to time, by The Blue Nile.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Lower
It breaks my heart to do this but I can only give "High" two stars, and they are really only given because it is Blue Nile. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Malibu Sue
Blue Niule -High Album (Used)
Wonderful album - Title track is breathtakingly good.
For a used CD. this is in good condition and my order was speedily processed and despatched. Securely packed.
For a used CD. this is in good condition and my order was speedily processed and despatched. Securely packed.
Published 9 months ago by Bronte
Review of the CD
I love this album, musically it's fantastic and it plays fine on my old CD player and even in the car - but it won't rip. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Small Fry
High by the Blue Nile
Take the best bits of 'Walk Across the Rooftops', 'Hats' and 'Peace at Last'. Mix them together and pop them in the oven for over ten years and pull out baked to perfection 'High'... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Soulbhoy
Buy this!
Just buy this. I promise, you will not be disappointed. 'Class' is the word to describe this and everything else about the Blue Nile. Why wont they bring another album out?! Read more
Published 18 months ago by FDC
A stunning album
High is nothing less than a beautifully crafted peice of brilliance. I have owned the album for a year now and off the back of it I bought their three others and whilst these are... Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2010 by Adrian Pitt
High - The Blue Nile
It's a well known story but for those who weren't paying attention I'll briefly summarise the tale for you. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2010 by Kevin Stapleton
Music to Commit Suicide To!
For me it's hard to put a label on the music of the Scottish trio known as The Blue Nile. Cerebral pop perhaps - but it's not really pop. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2009 by Dick Turpin
Superb
O.k-I admit I've been a bit slow here.Just purchased this 4 years after release.Reason?-I guess that although 'Peace' had its great moments,which for me were 'Family Life' and 'God... Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2008 by bish
Blue Nile create a genre of their own
Glasgow's nocturnal melancholics the Blue Nile released this classic a few years ago. The haunting melodies and impassioned voice of Paul Buchanan, evoke a deeper understanding of... Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2008 by Billy Ray Cyrus
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