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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unbelievably, the seventh great Felt album in a row!,
By New Gold Dreamer (Cheshunt, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Poem of the River (Audio CD)
Rating: 7.5/10Best songs: "Dark Red Birds", "Stained-Glass Windows in the Sky", "She Lives By the Castle" "I will be the first person in history to die of boredom" is a great opening line for an album. "And I will have as my epitaph the second line of `Black Ship in the Harbour'" is a cheeky follow-up. By the way, that `second line`, taken from the band's Ignite the Seven Cannons album, is "I was a moment that quickly passed". It's a striking beginning to the autumnal Poem of the River, the seventh Felt album, which continues to build on the new-found musical partnership between guitarist/lyricist/singer Lawrence and organist Martin Duffy and despite being slightly not as good as Forever Breathes the Lonely Word, is another thing of wonder to add to a canon work that was, frankly, an embarrassment of riches by this stage. The mood here is alternately romantic, rough, sweet and laid-back, with two epic songs - "She Lives By the Castle" and "Riding on the Equator" - dominating proceedings in terms of length. The former is a real beauty; if only it didn't go on just that little bit too long with its extended organ solo at the end, we'd be talking one of the top ten Felt songs. Still, for the first four minutes, it's one of the most delicate, sweetest things created by this band, and Lawrence's vocals and guitars in particular are rather wonderful. "Riding on the Equator" isn't quite classic Felt, but it slides along prettily and contributes to the album very well. There's a long guitar solo at the end that might not jump out at you upon first listen, but it`s very sweet indeed! The opening "Declaration", with its rough, ready and simpler sound, foreshadows the down-to-earth sound of The Pictorial Jackson Review, while the stunning "Stained-Glass Windows in the Sky" would be just as much of an influence with its short, sharp burst of pop bliss. The latter song in particular encapsulates everything great about the Lawrence/Duffy era of Felt in just over two minutes; a peachy, slinky guitar, a beautifully resigned Lawrence vocal and a insistently catchy beat, it drifts in and out before you know it, but it`s fleeting nature is the main reason it works. In fact, Poem of the River may be the most innocuous, nicest Felt album of them all. It doesn`t scream for your attention, it just plays along very nicely and proves to be the slowest-burning of Felt`s ten albums. "Silver Plane" is an understated, gentle little ditty that I like more and more every time I hear it, while the closing semi-acoustic "Dark Red Birds" is up there with "A Preacher in New England" as one of the absolute best Felt album closers; haunting, relaxing, poetic and deeply lovely, it just pulls you in and keeps you there. A perfect, mellow accompaniment to Forever Breathes the Lonely Word's pop-fuelled sparkle, Poem of the River proved that a this stage, Felt could do no wrong. Disappointing detours into cocktail-bar jazz instrumentals over the next two albums (less so on the otherwise great The Pictorial Jackson Review, overwhelmingly so on the weak Train Above the City) would disrupt their momentum, but sadly no band was ever perfect!
2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
my favourite album,
This review is from: Poem of the River (Audio CD)
I love this album - it is gentle, beautiful and melodic. If you've not heard it, you must.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Without an oar in sight.,
By Brent Black "mostuncertain" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Poem of the River (Audio CD)
This is my favorite of the Felt mini albums. It is the first release in the second half of Lawrence's 10 albums in ten years plan & marks the continuation of the discernable shift which began with the wonderful Forever Breathes The Lonely Word LP, released a year earlier in 1986. If you're buying the Felt re-issues, this EP is #6. Like the rest, it comes in a thin cardboard jacket with minimal artwork & no liner notes, & which usually include only a single B&W picture of Lawrence on the interior gatefold. As an overall effect, I like what they have done with the packaging, although I tend to prefer the uniformity of a standard Jewel case for releases which I collect.
This EP is full & very well fleshed out instrumentally. Every track features vocals, & has a nice flow in the overall narrative of the set. As a mini album it is exceptionally ordered & paced, with just the right amount of musical exploration to keep you seated & listening. Like the other late releases, the songs featured are a nice hybrid of those constructed around Lawrence's breathy lyrical hooks, & the droning hypnotic jams of the early Eps which have evolved to become the closing sections of only particular songs. It is of reasonable length at 26:05, but devoid of filler. The keyboard playing of Martin Duffy is again prominent, & his collaboration continues to enhance the focus & clarity of the Felt sound. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good place to start,
By Greg Cleary - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Poem of the River (Audio CD)
This was the first Felt album I ever heard, and you probably will not find a better one to start with. It is #7 in the series of ten Felt albums. At 26 minutes, it might be better described as an EP, but Lawrence never worried about such distinctions, so why should we? If you buy albums for their length, you are probably one of those people who go to buffet-style restaurants where you can stuff yourself with all the mediocre food you can eat for one low price. I'll go to a decent restaurant and enjoy a great-tasting, modestly-sized meal, thank you very much.
"Poem of the River" is great from start to finish and exactly the right length for what it sets out to do. Any longer, and the delicate spell that it casts would begin to diminish. The first song, "Declaration," is unlike any of the others--a brief burst of rock and roll, played just smoothly enough to avoid being jarring, as Lawrence declares, "I'll stab a knife into the face of any man who dares to oppose me." Having gotten that out of the way, Lawrence and his bandmates are free to create some of the most gorgeous music you'll ever hear. Martin Duffy's organ dominates, as it did on the previous album (the excellent "Forever Breathes the Lonely Word"), and the two obvious high points are the extended instrumental jams at the end of "She Lives by the Castle" and "Riding on the Equator." The latter song, in particular, is an answer to the eternal question, what would "Freebird" sound like if it had been written by an artsy English band from the 80s? Other good starting points for those interested in Felt are "Forever Breathes the Lonely Word," which is similar to this one in terms of sound (and not quite so short!) and "Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories"--an earlier album that has a more stripped-down, guitar-oriented sound, and is also full of great songs. Felt is one of the most underappreciated bands of the rock era, and when you hear them for the first time you might find yourself thinking, "Where has this music been all my life?" This is especially likely if you are already a fan of 80's bands like the Cure, the Smiths, and R.E.M. 0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant. Buy it now.,
By Max Newell "max_newell" - Published on Amazon.com
One of the best albums from a fantastic band. If you like Felt, you MUST own this album.
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