Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb?, 4 May 2006
Superbi is the 9th studio album, not counting Carry on up the Charts and the Covers album.
It's been 17 years since the Beautiful South appeared and has the idea gone stale, or can they still capture the listener's imagination.
In fairness their last album of original material, Gaze was a mixed bag. The covers album did little to endear people although it received some critical acclaim.
Superbi needs to be a good album, it needs freshness, it needs something else, and it needs conviction and belief.
Does it have it? Well having heard a pre release version I am pleased say it does, it certainly bristles with confidence, the sort that has been lacking for the last few years.
It also bristles with new instruments, not heard before on a South album and new styles, most notably a country feel, especially tracks like Rose of my Cologne and Never Lost a Chicken to a Fox. These tracks are going to split people, personally I love them, and they sound fresh and different.
Lyrically the album is as strong as ever - from the lyrics to the excellent Meanwhile to the sadness and beauty of Bed of Nails, Paul Heaton does not let us down.
The album is preceded by the track Manchester - a jaunty upbeat number that does seem the immediate choice from the album.
This album is a real move away from previous Beautiful South Albums, it is still recognisable them as Beautiful South, but there seems to be a revolution happening here. Here though lies perhaps the problem, there are no poor songs as such, but in terms of style the album is not always consistent. Hearing a country influenced song one moment then suddenly a bitter sweet relationship song the next in traditional South Style can be a little disconcerting. Although listening to the album in order it is apparent the band have thought about this as the slower numbers never follow on from each other.
This is the best album they have put out in a long time, it maybe lacks the more complex song arrangements from albums like Miaow but this album shows there is still life in the band yet.
Alison Wheeler, still seen as the new girl on the block, despite this been her third album is stunning and she is rightly given lots to do, her voice is strong and sultry and the band have used this to great effect.
This is a really good album, and no one should be disappointed on hearing it.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superbi - - Superb, 26 May 2006
Eagerly awaited this cd and was not disappointed in anyway. Paul and the rest of the band deliver their ususal musical genuis and in their experimentation they have encompassed a new and very 'catchy' cd sound. The single Manchester is sure to have even the most sceptical people foot tapping along. The rest of the album consists of beautiful ballad style songs and the usual darker numbers. All in all an excellent offering from one of britains finest bands !!!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The clue is in the title, 15 May 2006
The Beautiful South return with their 10th studio album, Superbi. And as a long-time fan of the band it was pleasing to hear just how fresh the band sound after all these years. Saying that the album represents a 'change in direction' would be going a little too far, but there is a lot on this album that is different from what they have done before. There are new sounds, instruments, styles, yet the album avoids sounding experimental. Superbi is the closest to country the band have sounded, yet converseley at the same time its the closest to rock they've ever been.
There are some tracks that are very typical in style of Paul Heaton - current single 'Manchester' is remeniscant of the 1994 hit Good as Gold, the finale 'Tears' is strikingly remeniscant of The Real Blues which appears on Heaton's solo album Fat Chance. At the same time there are songs on here that sound nothing like anything they've done before. The best examples are 'The rose of my cologne' and 'Never lost a chicken to a fox', and the final minute of 'From now on' sounds almost like something out of Chicago.
For me, the stand out track on this album (and my tip for the second single) would be 'When romance is dead'. The lyrics are very astute, and this for me is one of the best ballads the band have done, it is heavier and more guitar and drum orientated, especially towards the end. I think this song would be very radio friendly, and given the necessary air-play (which sadly the band never seem to get any more) could be a big single.
This is a very good album. Certain tracks may not grab you at first, but they will grow on you with repeated listenings.
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