- Audio CD (29 April 2008)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Import
- Label: Wea Japan
- ASIN: B0013HDZ38
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,133,712 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I remember queuing up outside the old Top Rank in Southampton to watch the Mighty Neph on their 1988 'Watchman' tour, and the palpable sense of excitement still lingers. They were a special band going against the grain of tired old indie and pop pap that had taken a grip on British music at the time. This album is the sound of a group making music with little reference to their contemporaries -- it's as if they locked themselves away for a few years and simply did not listen to anything while putting it together. To watch them perform these songs live was an awesome experience but you get a good taste of the monumental sound of the Nephilim from these 9 songs. 'Endemoniada' lulls you into a wierd, dark faerieland -- full of atmospherics and barely contained nastiness. And the trip from thereon is something to relish. The three final songs link together with 'Name of the Rose' samples (including the Gregorian Chant scene) and are really quite unlike anything else you are ever likely to hear. There are so many layers to these pieces of music that you simply have to listen time and time again to properly experience them. But it is completely undated -- unlike so much of the 'Gothic' scene music from the 80s. This is probably because it was created 'out of time' and never attempted to fit in. Mc Coy said around 1988 that he'd been listening to nothing but string quartets, and it shows. Put this with the next album 'Elizium' and you have the most constructive, vital and important music of the period. Unimpeachable.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This, the second album by the Stevenage group, finds them experimenting with more atmospherics (samples from "In the Name of the Rose" can be heard throughout) and longer arrangements that would come to fruition on their brilliant third long player, Elizium. The album is really the first time that McCoy's belief system is brought out through the band. This again comes to fruition on their later recordings.
The album opens with "Endemoniada", the long slow intro building the tension before the band race off into a "none-more-Sisters" rocker. This is followed by the brilliant "The Watchman", one of the best songs they wrote. Paul Wright's signature picked guitar really makes this song. The musicianship within the band was criminally ignored, possibly because of their image and association with "Goth"...
"Moonchild", the single that actually cracked the Top 30 in the UK and put the band on the map for most people, still sounds as good now as it did 12 years ago. "Chord of Souls" always sounded better live than it does here - it kind of bounces along and only really gets going towards the end. "Shiva" was a B-side to the "Moonchild" single and should never have made it onto the album. It's a second rate instrumental with McCoy breathing and trying to sound mysterious. It's pretty cheesy and it lets the album down.
A much more open, laid back trio of songs closes the album. The brooding "Celebrate" sets the pace with a very stark arrangement (mainly just bass and vocals) that works realy well. "Love Under Will" is a good song with a storyline (about death, of course, tsk!). The final track, "Last Exit For The Lost" is a pure classic, from its opening bassline, and moody guitars right up to its up-tempo climax, it's 9 minutes 42 seconds of great songwriting. This song was a highlight of their live shows and is an outstanding album track. One of my favourites from this period.
Overall, the quality of the songs here far exceeded anything they had recorded up until that time. They were experimenting with every song, the atmospheric segues lending the album a very dark mood. It must have been an exciting time for the band. They had front covers of the music weeklies and they even had a top 30 hit single. Commercially, they were at their peak. Artistically, there was much better to come.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Back in 1988 chart music had for the most part descended into tiresome, predictable pap, and in the UK we had the appalling formularized singles of Stock, Aitken & Waterman which sent the thinking music fan running for cover.
What an amazing surprise this album was then - like a musical oasis in a desert. All I had seen was a photo of the band (they looked really cool) & a live review in the press, but this was enough to convince me to buy their CD, and I wasn't disappointed.
This was the music dreams (& beautiful nightmares) are made of. Not really heavy metal, but something completely new and an inspired re-invention.
From the slow instrumental build-up of the excellent opening track 'Endemoniada' into something much heavier (& those legendary emotive vocals of the god-like Carl McCoy), I knew I had stumbled onto something very special. At last I felt someone was making the music that I wanted to listen to; that spoke to me in grand gestures and had a dark intelligence - almost like a great movie.
The two awesome singles 'The Watchman' and 'Moonchild',combined with 'Phobia' and the live favorite, the full-on crescendo 'Chord of Souls', combined to make what must be one of the most thrilling sides (we're talking vinyl here!) of a studio album (in my opinion) probably ever produced.
The mood slowed a little on side 2, but the atmospheric sond effects, chanting monks and women crying that precede the commericial 'Love Under Will' provide an eerie bridge.
'Last Exit For The Lost' is the grand elongated climax - and the song I want played at my funeral!
This album is a must for all discerning rock fans, forget the 'gothic' tag - this is just great, grand, heavy music from a band who should have conquered the universe.
A truly overlooked classic.
What an amazing surprise this album was then - like a musical oasis in a desert. All I had seen was a photo of the band (they looked really cool) & a live review in the press, but this was enough to convince me to buy their CD, and I wasn't disappointed.
This was the music dreams (& beautiful nightmares) are made of. Not really heavy metal, but something completely new and an inspired re-invention.
From the slow instrumental build-up of the excellent opening track 'Endemoniada' into something much heavier (& those legendary emotive vocals of the god-like Carl McCoy), I knew I had stumbled onto something very special. At last I felt someone was making the music that I wanted to listen to; that spoke to me in grand gestures and had a dark intelligence - almost like a great movie.
The two awesome singles 'The Watchman' and 'Moonchild',combined with 'Phobia' and the live favorite, the full-on crescendo 'Chord of Souls', combined to make what must be one of the most thrilling sides (we're talking vinyl here!) of a studio album (in my opinion) probably ever produced.
The mood slowed a little on side 2, but the atmospheric sond effects, chanting monks and women crying that precede the commericial 'Love Under Will' provide an eerie bridge.
'Last Exit For The Lost' is the grand elongated climax - and the song I want played at my funeral!
This album is a must for all discerning rock fans, forget the 'gothic' tag - this is just great, grand, heavy music from a band who should have conquered the universe.
A truly overlooked classic.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Under-rated Dark Gem
One of my absolute favourite albums of all time, though could do with a remastered version - sounds a quiet and muffled compared to a lot of recent re-releases (by Killing Joke,... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. A. J. Sheppard
Dark ear candy - their finest hour.
This is their best album, and a wonderful album it is too. Sublime dark tones throughout, but what I really love about this particular album is it's hypnotic flavour - some dreamy... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr. L. J. Warne
Last Exit for the Lost
Simply put this album is a stunning achievement.
I never tire of listening to it. I think it is by far the Nephs' greatest work. Read more
I never tire of listening to it. I think it is by far the Nephs' greatest work. Read more
Published 17 months ago by sbdags
Sounds special and authentic
A little too much pathos by Carl McCoy? No, here everything is perfect. The atmosphere, the haunting melodies... a timeless classic. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Jo day
classic gothic rock....that will stand the test of time
There is something beyond the doom laden baritone vocals and garbled lyrics on this classic album , what is it i wonder,well its the sound of a talented young band at the peak of... Read more
Published on 7 April 2010 by DOGG
An essential album - just buy it!
It feels very strange but also very fitting that I am reviewing this album 20 years after I bought it as a 19 year old student in 1988. Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2008 by Paul S
Pure Genius
This album is one of the greatest ever made. The opening track Endemoniada is awesome, one of my favourite songs ever. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2007 by Mr. R. Phillips
Is the world deaf?
The fact that this album enjoyed only the modest success it did is a real indictment of the music-buying public's taste. Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2007 by Simon Freedman
The Best Gothic Album that was ever Created
I only heard this album two two years ago when I got it on tape but once I got into it I was utterly amazed by the sheer excellence of the musicianship and the song writing, it was... Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2006 by Mark Broome
Their best album and one of THE best albums ever!
Why people rate Elizium higher than this I will never know. I think those people must have got into The Nephilim late because this is their defining work. Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2005 by Adamski
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