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Rating: From the debut of a young indie-rock quartet, formed in Chorley, that part of England where brit-pop bands pop up like mushrooms, you wouldn't expect even half of all this... "Love is here" is instead a masterpiece without mincing words, without labels, a record where styles mingle but the sounds never muddy. A clear album with dark and intimate tones, nostalgic and why not, mature... To say that these young lads (at the time of their debut) are only a little over 20 each, and in '70, when Tim Buckley released his album "Starsailor", from which James Walsh's band "borrows" the name, the four were probably still nursing at their mother's breast. Perhaps due to their independent record label, or as a corollary of a genre (brit), often a moment of break from social stereotypes (Oasis teaches...), "Love is here" is a record full of anger, as evident from the lyrics and Walsh's edgy voice. This anger, however, is contained by the impressive and sophisticated musical setup of the "Star", never sparse and simple as the brit often allows its flag bearers. What comes out is something unexpected and reaches high levels, perhaps unattainable for any group not named Pink Floyd.
The session is opened by "Tie up my hands", a masterstroke in production, considering the piece, one of the best on the entire album, seems to wrap you up gradually and then leave you with that sense of fulfillment, which makes the rest smooth sailing. Yet it's not so, because the level never drops and after "Poor Misguided Fool" (a sort of seductive tango rock!), comes an "Alcoholic", that if it had been composed by U2, we would be here talking about it as a milestone of melodic world rock. You can't even catch your breath when "Lullaby" makes us dream, in the wake of previous tracks, with guitar and piano seemingly making love on the soft rhythmic bed of bass and drums. "Way to fall" is another tear-jerking masterpiece, a decidedly "guitar-friendly" piece, transformed by the four English lads into a melodic ballad of high drama. You then have to really stop to breathe to understand that what you're listening to is real because you're only on the fifth track, but the emotions are already at a thousand. "Fever" is a leading single, but it has nothing different from the rest; in fact, it's perfectly integrated and it's no surprise it was snubbed by British networks. The times and rhythms are not at all radio-friendly, but the "Star" didn't yet care about the airwaves, they would in future productions ("Four to the floor" would be a strong hit on their second album). Intimate and profound, "She just wept" doesn't worry about taking off and like many of the songs on this album, prefers to fly low, just to not get lost in the nothingness of the sky and remain firmly attached to a sincere melody full of vivid emotion. The title track (perhaps my favorite song!) "Love is here”, is a chilling song, breath-stealing in a melancholy that doesn’t produce anguish but serenity. The double guitar (acoustic/electric) of Walsh and James Stelfox’s bass here united in unison go in a sweet crescendo, Barry Westhead’s piano cements the whole, while Ben Byrne’s cymbals are precise and never intrusive. The final riff with a sharp closure would alone be worth the price of the record.
But the record has three other pearls before the close: "Talk her down”, which picking up track number 2 drags us into dance-like, almost ballroom atmospheres. "Good Souls" is very Oasis in its lightness, while the epilogue "Coming Down", is a rocking ballad with acoustic sounds, that don’t lose the poignant melody of the entire work. Starsailor, in the following years, would make two other great albums, but it would have been truly impossible to match "Love is here", perhaps precisely for this reason they chose to distance themselves a little from its tones: imitating oneself without surpassing would have made no sense... After all, Coldplay did the same, who, after "Parachutes”, changed tone, producing two similar and absolutely beautiful albums, although different from the first. "Love is Here" never tires, you can listen to it in the car or in the living room, alone or with your woman, at night or day... this is simply music!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Tie Up My Hands (05:46)
Wipe the make-up from your face
Tie your hair and gently fall from grace
Until I come again
Take the disaffected life
Men who ran the company, ran your life
You could have been his wife
I wanna love you but my hands are tied
I wanna stay here but I've been denied
Lets watch the clock until the morning sun does rise
Wipe the sweat from off your brow
All that you believe is here and now
Could have had more doubt
Wipe the shadow from your eyes
Rest your daughter while your mother cries
You could have let him fly
I wanna hold you but my hands are tied
I wanna stay here but I've been denied
I wanna lie here 'til we've killed this bitter doubt
I wanna hold you but my hands are tied
I wanna stay here but I've been denied
Lets watch the clock until the morning sun does rise
(Break)
I wanna hold you but my hands are tied
I wanna sleep here but I've been denied
I wanna stay here 'til we've killed this bitter doubt
I wanna hold you but my hands are tied
I wanna sleep here but I've been denied
Lets watch the clock until the morning sun comes out
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh
Woah-oh-oh-oooh
Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oww
02 Poor Misguided Fool (03:51)
As soon as you sound like him
Give me a call
When you're so sensitive
It's a long way to fall
Whenever you need a home
I will be there
Whenever you're all alone
And nobody cares
You're just a poor misguided fool
Who thinks they know what I should do
A line for me and a line for you
I lose my right to a point of view
Whenever you reach for me
I'll be your guide
Whenever you need someone
To keep it inside
Whenever you need a home
I will be there
Whenever you're all alone
And nobody cares
You're just a poor misguided fool
Who thinks they know what I should do
A line for me and a line for you
I lose my right to a point of view
I'll be your guide in the morning
You cover up bullet holes
As soon as you sound like him
Give me a call
When you're so sensitive
It's a long way to fall
You're just a poor misguided fool
Who thinks they know what I should do
A line for me and a line for you
I lose my right to a point of view
03 Alcoholic (02:56)
Don't you know you've got your Daddy's eyes
Daddy was an alcoholic
But your mother kept it all inside
Threw it all away
I was looking for another you
And I found another one
I was looking for another you
When I looked round you were gone
Stay by my side
And the pipe dream is yours now
Stay by my side
And the singer won't get in our way
Don't you know you've got your Daddy's eyes
And your Daddy was an alcoholic
But your mother kept it all inside
Threw it all away
I was looking for another you
And I found another one
I was looking for another you
When I looked round you were gone
Stay by my side
And the pipe dream is yours now
Stay by my side
And the cynics won't get in our way
Don't you know you've got your Daddy's eyes
And your Daddy was an alcoholic
But your mother kept it all inside
Threw it all away
I was looking for another chance
To see your blue eyed problem
04 Lullaby (04:13)
Get back on your feet again
So insincere
Quiet American
I held you so dear
Get back on your feet again
So into you
We met in a cinema
You fell from my view
Lullaby
Stop twisting my words tonight
If you get high on life
Don't leave me behind
Get back on your feet again
Nothing to say
Some of your weaker friends
Get in my away
Get back on your feet again
Always seem down
Some of your weaker friends
Don't want you around
Lullaby
Stop twisting my words tonight
If you get high on life
Don't leave me behind
Lullaby
You live in my ruined mind
Make light of all my fears
And lead me from here
(Break)
Oh-oh-oh
Oooohhh
Get back on your feet again
So insincere
Quiet American
I held you so dear
Get back on your feet again
Nothing to say
We met in a cinema
You got in my way
Lullaby
Stop twisting my words tonight
If you get high on life
Don't leave me behind
Lullaby
You live in my ruined mind
Make light of all my fears
And lead me from here
05 Way to Fall (04:29)
Son, you've got a way to fall
They'll tell you where to go
But they won't know
Son, you'd better take it all
They'll tell you what they know
But they won't show
Oh, I've got something in my throat
I need to be alone
While I suffer
Son, you've got a way to kill
They're picking on you still
But they don't know
Son, you'd better wait to shine
They'll tell you what is yours
But they'll take mine
Oh, I've got something in my throat
I need to be alone
While I suffer
Oh, there's a hole inside my boat
I need to stay afloat
For the summer long
Left my sweet soul
Beneath the bedclothes
I'm not coming down
Walls have ears
But no-one hears
When nobody's around
Son, you'd better wait to fall
They'll tell you where to go
But they won't know
06 Fever (04:03)
There's a fever
On the freeway
In the morning
In the morning
And the lover
Smiling for me
Without warning
Without warning
There's an outlaw
On the highway
And she's falling
And she's falling
Man, I must have been blind
To carry a torch
For most of my life
These days I'm hanging around
You're out of my heart
And out of my town
There's a fever
On the freeway
In the morning
In the morning
And the lover
Smiling for me
While she's falling
While she's falling
Man, I must have been blind
To carry a torch
For most of my life
These days I'm hanging around
You're out of my heart
And out of my town
There's a fever
On the freeway
In the morning
In the morning
And the lover
Smiling for me
Without warning
Without warning
Man, I must have been blind
To carry a torch
For most of my life
These days I'm hanging around
You're out of my heart
And out of my town
09 Love Is Here (04:41)
If you could see the lover in me
And we can join our hands together
You could see how good it could be
We'll sing these stupid songs forever
Can you feel it?
Love is here
It has never been so clear
You can't love what you have not
So hold on to what you've got
Is Trudy really smiling for me?
I'd change my name in case she found me
Trembling I can't believe
I've got to leave the girl behind me
Can you feel it
Love is here
It has never been so clear
You can't love what you have not
So hold on to what you've got
If you could see the aching in me
I'd change my name in case you lost me
Trembling down to my knees
I've got to leave the world behind me
Can you feel it
Love is here
It has never been so clear
You can't love what you have not
So hold on to what you've got
10 Good Souls (04:53)
Feel,
Sick after every meal,
I'd say,
Cos I know,
The life from your burning wheel,
Won't wane,
Sleep,
I sleep every day,
Wipe the cobwebs away,
I need to be loved,
Christ,
I'm out of my mind,
I need to be loved,
I need to be loved,
As I turn to you and I say,
Thank goodness for the good souls,
That make life better,
As I turn to you and I say,
If it wasn't for the good souls,
Life would not matter,
Dive straight in on your girlfriend,
Making her feel like there's going to be a war,
Dive straight in at the deep end,
Making you feel like there's going to be a war,
As I turn to you and I say,
Thank goodness for the good souls,
That make life better,
As I turn to you and I say,
If it wasn't for the good souls,
Life would not matter,
One good day of the week,
And I'll be up again,
One good day of the week,
I'll be higher than the government,
As I turn to you and I say,
Thank goodness for the good souls,
That make life better,
As I turn to you and I say,
If it wasn't for the good souls,
Life would not matter,
As I turn to you and I say,
If you're messing with a good heart,
You've got to take what's due.
11 Coming Down (14:30)
If you don't mind
Could we not fight?
I see you're close woman
In the night
I'm sober
Still Alive
Waste your days
On your own
Getting drunk
getting stoned
I'm sober
Still alone
Must I always take a back seat?
Must I always be your clown?
Did you ever really love me?
Were you always coming down?
See your face
See your eyes
Shouldn't have left
Shouldn't have lied
I'm sober
Spirit's died
Must I always take a back seat?
Must I always be your clown?
Did you ever really love me?
Were you always coming down?
Must I always take a back seat?
Must I always be your clown?
Did you ever really love me?
Were you always coming down?
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Other reviews
By enryka
Even the first notes of the album present a notable melancholy, that melancholy that arrives on a rainy winter’s day, the kind of melancholy that cradles the soul.
Listening to this album reconciles one with the world, with the entire universe precisely because there is a great certainty: love is here.
By Brahms
'Love is Here' reaches truly extraordinary heights of expressive objectification.
The usual initial arpeggio opens a world of desperate nostalgia, it seems like being in a Renoir painting, made of gardens and children playing.
