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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Housemartins used crazily bouncing melodies to sweeten their political pop. After they broke up (after just two albums), P.D. Heaton tried a similar technique with the Beautiful South--lush melodies, rolling piano, and beautiful voices sugar-coating delightfully subversive lyrics. Only where the Housemartins railed against bankers and unthinking sheep, the Beautiful South moved from the political to the personal (except for some delicious swipes at the music biz), writing gorgeous love songs to dull partners ("I Love You But You're Boring"), gruesome murders ("Woman in the Wall"), and conversation fear ("You Keep It All In"). Funnier still is "Song for Whoever", which reveals the man behind the love song: "Oh Shirley, Oh Deborah, Oh Julie, Oh Jane / I wrote so many songs about you / I forget your name". --David DaleyEND
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect pop... a Pet Sounds for the 80’s.,
By
This review is from: Welcome To The Beautiful South (Audio CD)
This is one of the finest albums I’ve ever had on my CD player. Welcome to the Beautiful South is 50 minutes of pure pop perfection, as Heaton, Corrigan and Co. croon along to infectious jazz beats with literary pop hooks, tales of marital abuse, alcoholisms and the moribund exasperation of modern-day relationships. If this were Radiohead or Lou Reed, the band would have had us reaching for the razor blades by the end of track three. Instead, song-writing duo Heaton and Rotheray take a leaf out of Morrissey’s song book and inject their morbid musing with a satirical wit and comedic depth.The result is how you would imagine Noel Coward sounding if he’d lived through the eighties recession. Bitter, bile-spewing though utterly charming; lifting the spirits for those unwilling to pay attention, whilst giving the rest of us a lesson in how to create substantial pop. The biggest hits are the best of the bunch, with Song for Whoever and You Keep it all In representing not only two of the finest tracks of 80’s pop music, but two of the finest works of pop music ever. They may be deceptively downbeat and cynical to the full, but still somehow, as romantic and beautiful as music can get. However, it is not just the jazzy piano ballads that impress, oh no, there’s also some wonderful guitar work on display... most notably on the rocking Girlfriend and the somewhat trivial, though always entertaining, Straight in at 37. The closing numbers are as different as you could possibly get to the majority of pop music being created at the time. Love is... begins in a way not too dissimilar to the rest of the album with it’s melancholic tales of middle-class love; before transforming into a wild and raucous sing a long corker, with more than a passing nod to The Beatles. Whilst the closing number, the wonderfully titled I Love You (But You’re Boring) is truly, unlike anything else on the album. Here a solo acoustic guitar leads us through sound effects, vocal passages, hidden voices and a whole lot of distortion as Heaton screams about a love that was too busy listening to Carousel, to bake a phallic cake. This really is one of the best albums ever... and a debut to boot. The music is catchy, memorable and always intelligent, whilst the musicianship of the band is absolutely faultless. Though the future line up would change, and the band as a whole would go on to explore further lyrical dimensions and more experimental sonic textures, this is still the greatest example of band’s undiluted creativity. A must own for every household.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
simply a classic record,
By A Customer
This review is from: Welcome to Plus 6 (Audio CD)
It's hard to believe that the Housemartins would be one of the most influential British groups of all time. Not only did the band give us some classic material, but their break up would give to rise to two of the most talented and successful British acts around namely Norman Cook (a.k.a. Beats International, Freakpower, Pizzaman and Fatboy Slim) and the Beautiful South, who were actually a more laid back version of the Housemartins. The band have built up an impressive catalogue over the years and it all began with their first album and the ballad "Song For Whoever". The album features soft pop at its best and really includes a style that is a mix of folk rock, pop and the blues with the songs all being given a distinctly British feel to them. The album includes some of the best British songs of the last twenty years and is far and away the best album the band have released to date. The album includes the standout tracks "Have You Ever Been Away", "You Keep It All In", "I Love You (But You're Boring)" and "Straight In At 37". Overall it's a great album and is highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the Beautiful South: Beautiful South - Straight in at No.1 for me!,
By
This review is from: Welcome To The Beautiful South (Audio CD)
Following from the format laid down in the Housemartins, jaunty bouncy tunes which belie the seriousness of the lyrics, and really eye catching album covers, the Beautiful South's debut record is a corker.
Opening with the witty `Song for whoever', then trawling through subjects as disparate as loneliness (I'll Sail This Ship Alone) and murder (The Woman In The Wall) with a distinctly jazzy tinge and always with a literate style and a sense of humour, this is a collection of eleven fine songs with no filler. Perfect pop, these can be listened to intently or as background music, but however you chose to listen you will be tapping your foot and humming along in no time. A thoroughly entertaining record, one of the finest offerings available from the early nineties.
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