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Rating: A milestone for britpop enthusiasts, a great pop rock album for others.
The third album by Ocean Colour Scene was released in '97 and ousted "Be Here Now" by Oasis from the top of the charts, though only for a week, and consecrated the Birmingham band as one of the most appreciated in England, even though they already deserved it from "Moseley Shoals". However, success overseas never came, and OCS went through a transitional phase that accompanied them until the early 2000s. Listening to this album, it remains a mystery why they stayed semi-unknown in America and the rest of Europe.
The ingredients are the classic ones of britpop: a keen eye for the greats of the Sixties' British Invasion, impactful melodies, mod looks and haircuts, all guided by Simon Fowler's slurred voice and Steve Cradock's guitar, evidently raised on bread and Stone Roses. It kicks off with a bang: Cradock's 'Led-zeppelin-esque' riff introduces "Hundred Mile High City", the opening track and first single. The first thought upon listening is something like: "Damn, these guys sound really good!" (listen to "All Up", the sixth instrumental track, or the coda of "It's A Beautiful Thing" to believe it). "Better Day" is the killer ballad, made to top the charts and end up on all the British girls' I-pods (considering we're in '97, on their walkmans) with mod aspirations. And it must be said that it's also very pleasant, just like its ideal companion "Get blown away", the twelfth track, while "Traveller's Tune", the best of the album in my opinion, combines Stone Roses-esque sounds and drums with a chorus that sounds like an outtake from "Exile on Main St." by the Stones.
Ocean Colour Scene thus confirm themselves primarily as great songwriters, both in their more upbeat tracks, though never overly so truth be told ("Spark And Cindy", where the Stone Roses reappear, or "Tele He's Not Talking") and in their slower ones ("Big Star", "Foxy's Folk Faced", "It's A Beautiful Thing", Fowler's duet with soul singer P.P. Arnold), yet managing to create their own style and an immediately recognizable sound. Recommended not only to fans of the genre (OCS is one of those bands that makes you appreciated during conversations, unlike the Oasis.. sigh).
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Travellers Tune (03:38)
Travellers Tune
Where do you go buttoned in your favourite coat
Stepping out to a different world
And you might be home late
And where are you now
Staring at your favourite box
The one with the traveller's cross
On the road past the gate
Chorus:
But if you find yourself standing on the corner
While you're thinking of a different world
Then you might see me waiting on the corner
Staring through you in your different world
And if I could swim
Then I'd get out and find my boat
Sail away to my favourite coast
And let you all in
And if I could do all the things you're asking for
Then maybe I'd find your door
And bring it home to you
(Repeat Chorus)
So where do we go
Like two Christophers in the snow
Yeah we're blind but we want to know
Just to say I love you
And all of our lives
We'll sail through the suns and moons
To sing our Travellers Tune
Just to say I love you
(Repeat Chorus)
(submitted By Caroline Young)
13 It's a Beautiful Thing (06:28)
Sonny went and flipped away and said he had to go
How can you ever say he never stayed alone?
And how could i belong with anyone you know?
Come on every line's a line i'll never know
Oh........It's a beautiful thing
Oh........It's a treible thing
Sometimes i can get along alone enough
Backing everyone away and never have enough
And how could i be playing every line for you?
Look at the things today that i can never choose
Oh........It's a beautiful thing
Oh........It's a treible thing
Sometimes i could never ever ever fade again
Sometimes i could never ever ever fade again
Sometimes i could never ever ever fade again
And how could I be playing every line for you?
Look at the things today that i can never choose
Oh........It's a beautiful thing
Oh........It's a treible thing
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