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Rating: At the dawn of the 1990s, a musical period when the English scene was experiencing an unprecedented drought, James really seemed to be preaching in the wilderness. Oasis and Radiohead were still far from emerging, Blur were making their first cries, The Smiths were defunct, Inspiral Carpets were on the brink of disbanding after two stunning productions, and neo-prog was at its end. In short, the six from Manchester, along with Stone Roses, Massive Attack, and a few others, were among the bands maintaining the good name of the United Kingdom.
And they were doing it in a truly spectacular way.
Between 1990 and 1993, three cornerstone episodes of their discography helped them gradually shake off the image of a protégé band of the aforementioned Smiths and opened the doors to pop, the good kind. A real turning point, kicked off in grand style with Gold Mother, continued with Seven, and beautifully concluded with Laid. Here we focus on the central album, that Seven which, according to many, represents the creative peak of the Mancunian group.
It doesn't take much to agree with this opinion because Seven, with its eleven songs, is a surprising work, from the first to the last note. Not to aim too high, but it's very likely among the top 10 pop/rock albums released in England in the '90s.
The opening trio of classics is enough to understand that the band was ready for a big leap (which unfortunately didn't happen abroad). It opens with a classic like Born Of Frustration, with Tim Booth's unforgettable falsetto gurgle, continues with the captivating Ring The Bells and the majestic Sound. It's not that describing this triptych is impossible, more so that it is pointless. What strikes in Seven is the use of trumpets, which adds an extra mood to the songs, which, as always, strike for their apparent simplicity. Apparent, yes, given the unusually numerous lineup of our band.
Going forward, Bring a Gun briefly revives the past; it’s a two-minute song that is more Smiths than the Smiths, a song smelling of Molotovs and street clashes. Then comes Mother, a slow and indolent ballad, before reaching Don't Wait That Long, probably the absolute peak of the entire album, six minutes of pure emotion, six minutes that warm the soul and serve as the perfect soundtrack for winter snowfalls. Live A Love Of Life must have been listened to several times by Richard Ashcroft before picking up the guitar and making his Verve the coolest band in the British empire. Next Lover is another majestic anthem supported by brass, Heavens vaguely recalls Say Something.
Another mention for the sweet Protect Me and its oblique guitar. Seven is yet another super classic with which James part from their listeners.
Millionaires is often referred to as the "pig album" (or pork), but Seven is really like the pig, of which, according to the proverb, nothing is wasted.
Masterful. 9.5
1 Born Of Frustration
2 Ring The Bells
3 Sound
4 Bring A Gun
5 Mother
6 Don't Wait That Long
7 Live A Love Of Life
8 Next Lover
9 Heavens
10 Protect Me
11 Seven
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Born of Frustration (04:22)
Wooooowooooowoooowooo
Wooooowooooowoooowooo
All this frustration
I can't meet all my desires
Strange conversation
Self copntrol has just expired
All an illusion
Only in my head you don't exist
Who re you foolin'
Don't need a shrink or an exorcist
Lalalala
lalalala
lalalala
la
Wooooowooooowoooowooo
Show me the movie of who you are and where you're from
Born of frustration
Caught upon the webs you spun
Where's ther confusion
A vision of what life is like
Show the movie that doens't deal in black and white
Talk talk talkin 'bout who's to blame
But all that counts in how to change
Stop stop talkin 'bout who's to blame
When all that counts in how to change
Lalalala
lalalala
lalalala
la
All this frustration
All this frustration
Who put brown owl eyes on a butterfly's wings
All this frustration
All this frustration
Who gave the leopard spots and taught the birds to sing
Born of frustration
Born of frustration
Wooooowooooowoooowooo
Wooooowooooowoooowooo
I'm living in the weeds where nothing is the way it seems
Where no one is who they need to be
Where nothing seems that real to me
'Bout time we filled our lives
Upon the walls of gold no solid ground
The world is spinnin' endlessly
We're clinging to our own beliefs
Born of frustration
Born of frustration
Wooooowooooowoooowooo
Wooooowooooowoooowooo
02 Ring the Bells (04:44)
Ring The Bells
Ring, ring the bells
Wake the town, everyone is sleeping
Shout at the crowd, wake them up
this anger's deeper than the sea
Chorus
Got to keep awake to what is happening
I don't see a thing thru my ambition
I no longer feel my god is watching over me
Got to tell the world we've all been dreaming
This is not the end, a new begining
I no longer feel my god is watching over me
Break, break the code
Concentrate, let the doors swing open
See through all your walls, all your floors
Now you're as deep as the sea
Chorus
When you let me fall, grew my own wings
Now I'm as tall as the sky
When you let me drown, grew gills and fins
Now I'm as deep as the sea
When you let me die, my spirit's free
There's nothing challenging me
Ooooh...
03 Sound (06:40)
Ape your father's sins, your mother's mood swings
To perfection
Fall into a spin, shed another skin
Strip away all your protection
Laugh at the wonder of it all
Laugh so loud you break the fall
And you see the gathering clouds
Cry at the sadness of the world
Cry so long you break its cold
And you hear the gathering sounds
Do everything you fear
In this there's power
Fear is not to be afraid of
Laugh at the wonder of it all
Laugh so loud you break your fall
And you hear the gathering sounds
Come, dip on in
Leave your bones, leave your skin
Leave your past, leave your craft
Leave your suffering heart
09 Heavens (03:56)
I've been sitting on top of these rocks
Watching the waters rise
Everyone that I have loved has gone floating by
I've been praying for the king of the world to come rescue me
From a land that's lost in dreams
From a land that's lost in dreams
Are you waiting for the heavens
Are you waiting for the heavens to descend
Waiting for the depend, the depend, the depend
Are you waiting for the heavens
Are you waiting for the heavens to descend
Waiting for the depend, the depend, the depend
I've been looking through microscopes to see how our life begins
I've been training my lens on the stars to see where it ends
But it's this living in between that's bringing me down
To a land that's lost in dreams
To a land that's lost in dreams
To a land that's lost in dreams
Are you waiting for the heavens
Are you waiting for the heavens to descend
Waiting for the depend, the depend, the depend
Are you waiting for the heavens
Are you waiting for the heavens to descend
Waiting for the depend, the depend, the depend
10 Protect Me (03:06)
Oh dear what can the matter be
Princess, dreaming again
Fearful, live life more easily
Darkness, leave her in peace
Always wanting help
Will make you weak
No such place has help
But in your dreams
Climb out of your well
Protect me
Protect me
Angel, what is possessing me
Feeling, making me weak
Falling under your spell again
Wanting, love's out of reach
Climb out of your well
It's not so deep
The price of living life
Is not so steep
No such place has hel
PProtect me
Protect me
Here they come again, here they come again, here they come again
Always wanting help
Will make you weak
The price of loving life
Does not come cheap
Climb out of your well
Protect me
Protect me
11 Seven (03:23)
Blow me away
Was that love you declared
Only a word
Love can mean anything
Understand the world we're living in
Oceans apart
What's that view from your wave
Beautiful craft
Weather and change
Understand the world we're living in
Love can mean anything
God made love to me
Soothed away my gravity
Made me a pair of angel's wings
Clear vision and some magic things
God is love to me
Thank you for those things
Understand the world we're living in
Love can mean anything
Darling
I'm open
Unguarded
Unbroken
Now we've done our time
We can drift away
Like the heavy cloud
With the weight of rain
Understand the world we're living in
Love can mean anything
Understand the world we're living in
Love can change anything
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