Sounds a bit like A THREAT and it IS. I know the first couple of albums fairly well but then it all blurs into one a bit so I want to get DEEP DOWN into the DEEP CUTS. I may need some help from the experts with the b-sides. Chasing Lights COMING UP shortly.
NO PRESSURE then! I actually like a lot of the album tracks on Chasing Lights more than the singles so my chances are not bad!
The only Saturdays songs I like are ‘Up’ and ‘My Heart Takes Over’. I look forward to discovering a load of top ten smashes I’ve never heard of.
Not that I’d have the audacity to hijack this thread but here’s a greatest hits medley. I wouldn’t think of myself as a big fan yet I have all the albums.
Chasing Lights (2008) UK album chart: 9 06 If This Is Love - I always found this quite flat and an odd choice as a first single when they had Up in the wings. It doesn't smack the way it should. 11 Up - well this is QUITE the tune and really takes me back to 2009/2010. It does PERHAPS sound a little light as it has dated, but it's still such a great song. Quite the revelation at the time and really brought them to my, and many a gay's, attention. 07 Keep Her - Quite good album track, the funky verses with the synth overlay are probably my favourite part. The chorus is a TAD weak for a track 3 but I'm here for the overall sound. 07 Issues - Again I always found this one a bit light and it's a little on the CHEESY CHAVVY side. I still prefer it to If This Is Love but it's not particularly memorable despite the chorus being quite catchy. 11 Lies - YES! This is EXACTLY the kind of pop I live for. Airy revenge pop that hooks you in from the beginning and just has a wonderful drive to it. Album highlight for me. 07 Work - I feel this is them trying to be something they're not and it doesn't quite suit them. The attitude on Lies feels more appropriate for them than this vibe. Still, it's a pretty good song and you can see how they got from here to something stellar like Ego. 08 Chasing Lights - Lovely tune, beautiful tune. Who sings the first verse? It's very nicely sung - I think that it isn't oversung in a way it could have been. It has Wrong Impression vibes in the chorus (but slightly more annoying). In the final bridge, the double tracked vocals work really well. 10 Set Me Off - What a banger of a chorus! The attitude here is so much more 'them' than on Work. A real earworm this one. 09 Fall - This one is just GORGEOUS. The chorus is the kind they do so well - sweet, sad, beautiful. The vox are quite far forward in the mix which makes it sounds slightly simple at times, but it suits the song. The little bit of acapella vocals at the end are stunning. 06 Vulnerable - I BET this one is dUb's favourite. Sorry dUb, it's a bit meh to me - b-side territory here. Interesting use of a sampled recorder (I think?) and there are some interesting CHOICES with the mix 'n' match keys it's sung in, but I wouldn't really miss this if it wasn't on the album. 07 Why Me, Why Now - Is this trying to be a bit Amy Winehouse-y? It's quite pleasant but doesn't quite hit the same highs as elsewhere on the album. The "Why me why now?" segment is the best bit. Average score: 8 Biggest keepers: Up Lies Set Me Off
BONUS MATERIAL 06 Just Can't Get Enough - unnecessary even if it's for a GOOD CAUSE. They don't really add much do they. 11 Up (Wideboys Remix edit) I mean, it sounds pretty much the same to me as the main version but with a harder beat. So I guess it should get the same mark as the original
Agree with "If This is Love". The line "If this is love, then I don't want to know what is" still annoys me TO THIS DAY. Agree with most of your rates actually, of the ones I can remember which isn't all of them. I've always had a soft spot for the horribly basic "Just Can't Get Enough". Such a BOP.
Battered sore and high on hurt Out of mind and out of words Lost for love and lost for air That is how you leave me here
It should be "If this ain't love" shouldn't it? Maybe they just thought "is" was nicer sounding. It has annoyed me since I very first heard it.
Do you know, I always thought If This Is Love was a cover. But looking it up now I don't think it was! I just attributed the nonsensical lyrics to whoever sung it originally, but now I blame them entirely!
I bought the first album in a Woolworths closing down sale for £3.49. Patchy, mostly on the wrong side of patchy, but some solid pop moments too.
Yay "Why Me Why Now", "Keep Her", and of course "Up" (single mix), are my favorites from the first album. I also suggest exploring the b-sides. "Crashing Down" is my favorite from the first album:
"Golden Rules" (b-side to Just Can't Get Enough) is fun, too. That should be all you need from the first album era. Get ready for Wordshaker - I think I prefer it to the first album (and it has arguably their best song which I won't reveal). The two singles don't really do it justice.
Ah! I think I was probably a bit harsh on Keep Her, it could have been an 8. Which are your other choice picks?
B-sides from this era are: What Am I Gonna Do Crashing Down Beggin' Golden Rules Unofficial The singles are ALL on Spotify now. All the B-sides are HERE in one album:
The song was originally called If This Ain't Love, and was sung this way in the demo by another girlbandm but for some unknown reason they changed it. That makes much more sense.
I wonder why they went for If This Is Love as the lead. Perhaps to test the water ahead of Up, rather than spunking their best chance straight away?
Bizarre! I bet someone at the record company thought that having "ain't" in the title was too negative or something of that ilk
There's also THIS Demo CD which came before the Chasing Lights album, most of them are just demos of the album tracks, though there is one (admittedly shite) unreleased track on it:
Though there's this much poppier version of Why Me Why Now which is much better than the album version:
