Life On Other Planets

The first album I Should Coco gave us a taste what these guys could achieve musically with many styles and versitality, In It For the Money was a matserpiece of a rock record and the last self titled X-ray album delved in to pure power-pop. The new album has a different flavour, combining the usual Supergrass sound and rock roots from the seventies and eighties.

From the moment we here Za we are on a musical road that celebrates the greats like T-rex on Grace, a Hendrix guitar riff on Rush Hour Soul, Pink Floyd on Prophet 15 and the Beatles on the last track Run.

The first track starts out with a synthesiser and cymbals that lead into a piano that suddenly leaps into a David Bowie type sound. The main body of the song is T-rex style.

Rush Hour Soul is power-pop song with a Hendrix riff and classic Supergrass melodies.

Seen The Light is the song that highlights the T-rex influence the most from the beging with a hint if Elvis and a sheep.

Brecons Beacons is a song about witches that could have been released in the early eighties.

Can't Get Up is a pure rock song that has a memorable chorus.

Evening of the Day is song that enters many stages of development. Starts off with a piano and then leads into the guitar based sound that then leads into a punchy chorus. The song ends with a slowed down version of we're not supposed to type sound.

The poweful short Never Done Nothng This Before, the first single of the album is very catcing and rich with La La La's nd guitar riff, drumming and piano.

Funniest Thing is another eighties type effort with a memorable chorus.

The current single Grace is another T-rex style sing along song.

La song is a cheery sing along song.

The album then takes a driffernt turn for the ending. Prophet 15 is a Pink Floyd textured piece.

The last song run is an easy listening Beatles type song with a great guitar solo. The album ends with the synhesiser from the start.

This album at first might not do much but after a few listens, more time over the album will become a neccessity untill the next. Much like all their albums.

Borrowing heavily from a wide range of influences works very well when mixed with their own brand of originality and energy, and you can hear anything from T. Rex ('Seen The Light') to a bit of Abbey Road or Pink Floyd ('Run')... and 'Grace' is a great return to form in a similar vein to 'Pumping On Your Stereo' or 'Alright', and is guaranteed to cheer you up.

Without going on about each and every track, it suffices to say that there is something on this album for everyone, and is a welcome addition to their ever growing repetoire of hugely listenable stuff.

The fun kicks of with Za, with a 'Chopsticks' style piano start before the familiar
guitar blasts in and a 'Pumping On Your Stereo' style groove carries things along nicely.
A great opener to the album.

Then 'Rush Hour Soul' ups the tempo slightly with a groovy 70's guitar sound.

'Seen The Light' is excellent. It sounds very T-Rex like, with Gaz snarling 'I'm a rock and roll singer in a rock and roll band' in an Elvis Presley snarl! Fantastically catchy with a break in the middle with birds singing and a sheep baa-ing !

Not letting up comes 'Brecon Beacons', an uptempo number with a tale of a mysterious death and witchcraft ! Weird, but good.

Time for a breather ? Not just yet - 'Cant Get Up' starts slowly but before long the tempo picks up. This is another top tune with a sing-a-long chorus - 'I-I-I-I cant get up no more'.

'Evening Of The Day' mellows things out slightly, with a more sombre Gaz singing about love, railway lines and mountains. Think Supergrass doing a Jazz record and this might be close ! Things then mellow even more 2 minutes from the end with some cool whistling and mumblings from the guys.

Full on rock for 'Never Done Nothing' - probably the nearest thing to the punky style of 'I Should CoCo'.

Classic Supergrass next with 'Funniest Things', quiet verses with big choruses.

The first single 'Grace' is fantastic with unforgettable lines like 'You ate our chips and drank our coke, and you showed me Mars on your telescope'. 'Save your money for the children' is the backbone to this one and its a very catchy number from the boys.

'La Song' - quiet start and then bang. Lots of 'La La La' and punky guitars. And Gaz singing about 'The dance of the mashed potato' ! Superb.

'Prophet 15' slows proceedings slightly. Lots of famous names here - Oscar Wilde, Steve McQueen and Cuban hero Che Guevara ! All of them 'lost in a crowd' with Gaz. Wacky and wonderful.

'Just' brings things to a halt. A 5 minute come down that is absolutely fantastic. Only Supergrass can do stuff like this.

The band have pulled together styles from their first 3 albums and the result is a classic. I have enjoyed everything they have done so far and this is no exception. I don't think that they could ever match the first album and how it burst on to the scene, the time was just right and BritPop was exploding. But for here and now in 2002 this is just about perfect. Everything you want from a Supergrass album and a little bit more. Still the most underrated UK band. No-one will even come close to this in 2002.