Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What it says on the Tin, 17 Sep 2007
With The Coral, more than any other band, you know exactly what you are going to get with every album and they never disappoint. Roots and Echoes is no exception - great uplifting melodies and lyrics for any occasion. Not a bad song to be found here.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's here, 24 Aug 2007
This is the album I've been waiting for from The Coral. There have been some outstanding tracks before - most notably 'Dreaming of You', 'Goodbye', 'Pass it On' and 'In the Morning' - perhaps the biggest hint of what they were capable of came with the entire second album 'Magic and Medicine'. Anyway, they've finally delivered here. This is an absolute classic.
The same influences are on display here as before: Merseybeat, The Doors, Love, Them - this time around there is more than a passing nod to the Walker Brothers. But it's so much more than just a pastiche of their heroes. What they've done this time is to really focus on crafting a consistent collection of songs. And the result sounds really polished and timeless. The artwork gives it away really, harking back to the days when bands really worked on delivering albums rather than a couple of singles and a load of disposable tracks.
I'm sick of hearing about how many great bands there are around at the moment because there really aren't. It's a crime The Coral get overlooked in favour of pretty bland output from the likes of Razorlight or The Killers. But I have a feeling I know which band is going to stand the test of time, especially on the evidence of 'Roots and Echoes'. I can't recommend it highly enough. Check out 'Rebecca You', it's the best song I've heard since, well, since 'In the Morning'...
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Classic - but perhaps about 40 years too late, 17 Feb 2008
The Coral are a band who seem to deny the existence of any decade of music beyond the 1960s, which - depending on your point of view is either a great or frustrating thing - and their last album 'The Invisible Invasion', as decent as it was, had left me growing slightly tired of their sound. This album, however, restores all faith in their ability as songwriters and musicians - it's a fantastic listen, full of vintage, top-class songs seeping with craftsmanship and quality.
On 'Roots & Echoes', The Coral have controlled their excesses and tendency to throw in the odd sea-shanty or two and, instead, produced an album with shades of late 60's psych-pop reminiscent of The Zombies. In fact, has this album been released in 1968/1969, it would probably be talked about as a classic but, instead, it is compared alongside it's influences and the obvious charges of unoriginality and being derivative are, whilst perhaps valid, slightly frustrating given the fact that this really is brand new, well-written, fantastic music.
If anyone doubts the songwriting ability of The Coral, they should check out the dreamy 'Rebecca You', the catchy 'Who's Gonna Find Me' or the beautifully touching 'Not So Lonely'. In fact, this could quite easily lay claim to being The Coral's best album. It's certainly on a par with my previous favourite, 'Magic & Medicine' and the two albums certainly share similarities in terms of direction and consistency. There are no weak songs here, just track after track of soaring melodies performed with passion, pure love for music and the very aurally-pleasing acoustic, late 60s sound, with touches of organ, strings and wonder.
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