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Rating: If it is true that an artist's best works are born during the worst periods of their life, the Charlatans are the perfect demonstration of this. The history of their more than twenty-year career is made of joys and sorrows, rises and falls. But it is especially from the tragedies that, unfortunately, have plagued the group's existence that they have managed to bring out the best things. And if in 1997, "Tellin' Stories," their most commercially successful album, came out just a year after the death of keyboardist Rob Collins in a car accident, this new work "Modern Nature" follows the death, on August 13, 2013, of drummer Jon Brookes due to a brain tumor.
Their greatest ability has been to go through trends (Madchester, Britpop), adapting their sound but always managing to sound "100% Charlatans." And this album, the twelfth of their career, is no different. They are still the same, unmistakable Charlatans. The only real novelty is the blonde bowl cut that Tim Burgess now sports...
The album moves through the realms of a mutating alternative rock where the desire to remember the late friend (here replaced by Stephen Morris of New Order, Peter Salisbury of The Verve, and Gabriel Gurnsey of Factory Floor) reigns supreme, with light and full-of-life songs. From the psychedelia of "Talking In Tones" to the carefree single "So Oh," from the gospel rock of "Come Home Baby" to the lively "Let The Good Times Be Never Ending," from the dark "I Need You To Know" to the baggy piano of "Trouble Understanding."
An album that flows by swiftly without flaws. The only downsides are the lack of a true standout track in the lineup and the fact that the tracks are too similar to each other.
Nonetheless, long live the Charlatans.
Tracklist and Videos
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