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Rating: Reading the comments on a previous review of mine, a respected user of our site mentioned Joy Division. Following my thoughts, I embraced those critics who consider how, in the last five years, with the evolution of electronics, there has been a favoring of revisiting those artists who, due to the characteristics of their sound, lend themselves amiably to sampling.
Joy Division, tempering their pace with their dark sound, that voice as delicate as it is elegiac, do not lend themselves to this, and our era penalizes them.
The Cranes represent, or represented in my opinion, the best offering of the nineties on that path.
In '86 they released a demo that quite clearly makes us think of Joy Division; from "Self non Self" they began to distance themselves: there's an electronic drum that's a bit too stereotypical (the core of the group, the two siblings, only play strings), Alison Shaw's voice sings, they seek rhythm, they search for their identity and a good record label.
Having found one, they released "Whings of Joy," a remarkable album, based on the synergy between the two instruments of the also beautiful Alison: the voice, here finally sugary, and the bass, very present and never tiring. The brother follows, with appropriately sharp and effected guitar.
Why should I risk getting cancer and being cut away for writing so much about previous works?
Because the album in question, "Forever," released after two years (too many for a band in a launch phase) of difficult maturation, represents their pinnacle and their end (premature?): the drums, where present, are decently played and draw precise squares; the guitar is composed and the bass accompanies it disciplined; wide trips of G major and at times melody appears with Alison's voice, who in the meantime has become breathtaking, capturing us.
Indeed, after the third listen, from track 6, a faint scent appears... For more superficial readings, it seems that the Cocteau Twins hadn't even finished defining a style before finding their counterpoint in the Cranes. So what? And the Joy Division?
Listen carefully to the tracks of Forever and notice this: here Alison's voice has something different: she doesn't sing, she cries. After 6 listens, from track 8 onwards, it makes you want to cry, and certainly not out of fatigue.
After exhausting those who followed them with their constant changes with each album, the failed subsequent "Loved," the Cranes were relegated to oblivion.
Listening advice: get yourself "Forever" and "Closer" by Joy Division (which you should already know), listen to track 7 of the latter and then track 3 of Forever; once the operation is finished, stop everything and you are ready to listen to Forever from the beginning, in a rigorously repeated manner, without time limit.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Everywhere (03:41)
Don't you know I care
Don't you know that I'll be there
As soft, as wide as air
Climb to the stars
Shine high up there
And fall into your stare
With all the colours I can wear
I'd touch you if I dare
And there'll be angels everywhere
And when our body is bare
And everything is soft and clear
As close as we can bear
And all our love goes everywhere
And I know I could be lost
And always too soon it's over
But there's everything to feel
And there's everything to discover
02 Cloudless (05:33)
Like jumping in the breeze, falling in the sea
You live up there....
Like things you try to keep, moments as you sleep
You live up there....
And you were angels in her hair,
As warm as summer air...you live up there
Like jumping in the breeze, falling in the sea
You live up there....
It feels like fields in June and spring
And lots of happy things... you live up there....
Like the things that never go away
And all the things you love
And all the moments that never end
And all the things you tried to say
You live up there, you live up there....
Higher than the sky, higher than you eye,
You live up there
Higher than the clouds, higher than the clouds
You live up there....
Oh you live up there.... higher than the clouds
And when you kiss her there
You know, you know you'll soon be in the air
Like falling in the sea,
You'll lay your head down next to me
You live up there
Higher than the clouds....higher than the clouds
03 Jewel (03:09)
If I could keep
this moment here
live away
get away
and now I feel you
crossing my heart
shining shining
like a jewel
ooh
put me high on a wall
and let's not fall
let's not fall
sweet dreams I remember it all
I remembered it all
doo te doo...
if I could keep this hour
and hold you gently next to me
it would sparkle like a jewel
and all this means so much to me
you know it's gone
it's gone too fast
wish you could never be in the past
but then i'll (have) more to lose
alone and screaming
eo eo eo...
04 Far Away (03:55)
There she goes
Far, far far away
There she goes
And everything she once had is gone
Everything she had, everything she loved
Everything that made her glad
Everything she loved is gone
There she goes, there she goes
And nothing seems to matter now
And all her things are scattered everywhere
And then from nowhere come these tears
Never ceasing, never ceasing
There she goes, there she goes
Once lit a star that shone
Watched 'til it all was gone
05 Adrift (05:13)
we're like a boat drifting
in a lonely sea
and the stars and moon
shine down on me
down, down the river we go
holding on for dear life
to the last stick of the raft
for we do love
and he tried to be brave
through each and every tear
and the only warmth
is the warmth of-their bodies
we're like a boat drifting
in a lonely sea
and I start to cry
I need nothing but you
I wish I could be beautiful for you
but I feel as shallow as steel
no words are hollow enough
for how I feel
06 Clear (03:45)
I look around here as I start to undress
It's all upside down and I must confess
My heads going round and I sleep less and less
My days are wasting and my life is a mess
Tears on my face in my eyes in my hair
I call out your name but there's no one there
Nights are cold and the days aren't sunny
Nothing in the fridge and there's fuck all money
At least I've got a brain and a way to think clear
Use all my resources to get out of here
I look out of the window as the rain pours down
It's not easy to leave, but I've got to do it now
My head aches a lot and I can hardly see
Oh Lord, I don't know what's to become of me
Nights are cold and the days aren't sunny
Nothing in the fridge and there's fuck all money
But at least I've got a brain
And a way to think clear
Use all my resources to get out of here
07 Sun and Sky (03:35)
There are feelings you know
That sometimes I can't show
It's too painful you know
Cos it does hurt me so
Other times it all flows
Can't control where it goes
And it pours and it pours
Like it will never stop
And I try but it's not enough
If I could only make it stop
And I try but it's not enough
And then sometimes the sun fills the sky so slowly
And I know this is the happiest that I could ever be
And each moment makes me happier,
Means more to me
More than you know
Don't know what the future holds
Just watching it all unfold
Don't know what the future holds
Just watching it all unfold
And then sometimes the sun fills the sky so slowly
And I know this is the happiest that I could ever be
And each moment makes me happier,
Means more to me
More than you know
08 And Ever (04:07)
It's quiet now now
So won't you sleep
Just close your eyes and fall in deep
I hear it calling
And now you're falling
And now you're falling
And now you're falling
And now you're falling
10 Rainbows (03:12)
Give me rainbows to fill up my eyes
Give me colours so that I won't cry
Give me flowers as I go walking by
In these hours where I only try
Give me love, give me hope, give me faith
Give me all of your dreams
Now there's joy everywhere in my heart
And it feels like Spring
Where did you go? Where did you go?
And why can't I see you...
Why can't I feel you?
Give me rainbows, take away the clouds
Give me colours
That's all I want now
That's all I want now
That's all I want now
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