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Rating: An endless wait, that which precedes "Horizons," the new album by Anathema, following that "A Natural Disaster," now quite far in time (2003). Left without a contract after the collapse of "Music for Nation," they found "asylum" at KScope; under this label, they release this album, in which some of the most beloved songs of their career are re-proposed in a semi-acoustic key.
Whether it was planned following their acoustic tours or is just a stopgap while waiting for "Horizons" is unknown, though it will be a question you'll ask yourself often during the listening of this "Hindsight." We find indeed songs excellently rearranged to the point of being fresh and pleasant to listen to, like "Fragile Dreams," "One Last Goodbye," or "Are You There," which greatly benefit from the use of strings and the sweet yet dark voice of Vincent Cavanagh (who offers a perfect and chilling performance throughout the work), but they are alternated with tracks that are blatantly identical to their original versions: this is the case with "Inner Silence," or, an even more evident example, "A Natural Disaster."
Also enjoyable is the unreleased track that closes the album, "Unchained," expressive as always, even if not up to the level of all the other tracks present on "Hindsight." A negative note goes to the brevity of the work (only 10 tracks) and the little attention paid to the packaging of the album.
Certainly an album played with heart and with the desire to create something more than just a simple acoustic work, but despite everything, it is not unmissable: perhaps there was no real need for it, but for the fans of the band (especially those who have embraced their "alternative" turn), it is a mandatory listen that will draw some melancholic tears.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Fragile Dreams (05:30)
Countless times I trusted you
I let you back in
Knowing... Yearning... you know
I should have run... but I stayed
Maybe I always knew
My fragile dreams would be broken for you
Today I introduced myself
To my own feelings
In silent agony after all these years they spoke to me
After all these years
Maybe I always knew
My fragile dreams would be broken
For you
02 Leave No Trace (04:52)
Born to the glare of the senses
Spoon fed reality infused
A new inherent
Passive contentment
You are so easily amused
Here and now
We are gone in a heartbeat
A dream in the
Passage your time
Chances are fading
This world isn't waiting
The moment is passing you by
Questions lie beneath the surface
The fools are fooled once again
Benign coincidence
We stole our existence
And gladly cast it to the wind
Here and now
We are gone in a heartbeat
A dream in the passage of time
Chances are fading
This world isn't waiting
The moment is passing you by
Slowly spinning on the wind back home
03 Inner Silence (03:40)
When the silence beckons,
And the day draws to a close,
When the light of your life sighs,
And love dies in your eyes,
Only then will I realise,
What you mean to me
04 One Last Goodbye (06:03)
How I needed you
How I grieve now you're gone
In my dreams I see you
I awake so alone
I know you didn't want to leave
Your heart yearned to stay
But the strength I always loved in you finally gave way
Somehow I knew you would leave me this way
Somehow I knew you could never stay
And in the early morning light
After a silent, peaceful night
You took my heart away and my being
In my dreams I can see you
I can tell you how I feel
In my dreams I can hold you
And it feels so real
I still feel the pain
I still feel your love
I still feel the pain
I still feel your love
And somehow I knew you could never never stay
And somehow I knew you would leave me
And in the early morning light
After a silent, peaceful night
You took my heart away
Oh I wish, I wish you could have stayed
06 Angelica (05:00)
Where are you tonight?
Wild flower in starlit heaven
Still enchanted in flight
Obsessions lament to freedom
A timeless word, the meanings changed
But I'm still burning in your flames,
Incessant, lustral masquerade,
Unengaged, dilit love didn't taste the same
And I still wonder if you ever wonder the same
And I still wonder...
07 A Natural Disaster (06:20)
It's been a long cold winter without you
I've been crying on the inside over you
You just slipped through my fingers as life turned away
It's been a long cold winter since that day
And it's hard to find
Hard to find
Hard to find the strength now, but I try
And I don't wanna
I don't wanna
I don't wanna go on and speak now
Of what's gone by
'Cause no matter what I say
No matter what I do
I can't change what happened
I can't change what happened
No matter what I say
No matter what I do
I can't change what happened
I can't change what happened
No, no, I can't change
You just slipped through my fingers
And I feel so ashamed
You just slipped through my fingers
And I've failed
'Cause no matter what I say
No matter what I do
I can't change what happened
I can't change what happened
No matter what I say
No matter what I do
I can't change what happened
I can't change what happened
No, no, I can't change
Just slipped through my fingers
And I feel so ashamed
You just slipped through my fingers
And I've failed.
08 Temporary Peace (05:10)
Deep inside the silence staring out upon the sea
The waves are washing over half forgotten memory
Deep within the moment laughter floats upon the breeze
Rising and falling dying down within me
And I swear I never knew, I never knew how it could be
And all this time all I had inside was what I couldn't see
I swear I never knew, I never knew how could be
All the waves are washing over all that hurts inside of me
Beyond this beautiful horizon lies a dream for you and I
This tranquil scene is still unbroken by the rumours in the sky
But there's a storm closing in voices crying on the wind
The serenade is growing colder breaks my soul that tries to sing
And there's so many many thoughts when I try to go to sleep
But with you I start to feel a sort of temporary peace
There's a drift in and out
Drift in and out
Drift
09 Flying (06:27)
Started a search to no avail
a light that shines behind the veil
trying to find it
and all around us everywhere
is all that we could ever share
if only we could see it
feel there's truth that's beyond me
life ever changing weaving destiny
and it feels like i'm flying above you
dream that i'm dying to find the truth
seems that your trying to bring me down
back down to earth back down to earth
layers of dust and yesterdays
shadows fading in the haze
of what I couldn't say
and though I said my hands were tied
times have changed and now I find
I'm free for the first time
feel so close to everything now
strange how life makes sense in time now
and it feels like i'm flying above you
dream that i'm dying to find the truth
seems that your trying to bring me down
back down to earth back down to earth
back down to earth back down to earth x2
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By SUPERVAI1986
"The genius of turning melancholy, sadness, and pleasure into sensations that caress the human soul is not easy. But Anathema in this are monumental stones."
"This album for those who seek these emotions can only be fascinated and cradled by the wisdom of this masterpiece."
