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Rating: I reviewed "Starfish" out of admiration for a group I highly esteem, for the unmistakable voice of Kilbey and for an Album that, in my opinion, is truly "extraordinary"
The Church, who have been around for twenty-five years, a slew of albums, moreover self-produced by them, enjoyed as much yesterday as today by all of us, "small and big fans" always on the hunt for their news, and "almost always" rewarded with moderate satisfaction, an example? ........ "El Momento Descuidado", pleasant and accessible.
The "charmingly shocking" impact, is inevitable for those who have known them from the beginning, but as you listen and re-listen, the whole thing fades away, until you intensely desire it. They have brought back to light nine of their most famous hit songs, all reinterpreted in entirely acoustic form, completely dressed up for the occasion, spontaneous, calm, subdued, relaxing, with finely tuned arrangements, always breathtaking the arpeggios between Koppes and Willson-Piper, a strong emphasis on strings, keyboards, organs, mouth accordions, and mandolins (all characteristic and fundamental instruments for The Church), harmonies suited for the XXI century, accompanying that sweet trail of nostalgic memories that pleasantly make us smile still, in other words, I am talking about "The Unguarded Moment", "Almost With You", "Metropolis", "Chromium", "Sealine", "A New Season", "Tristesse", "Under The Milky Way" and "Invisible", extracted from "Starfish", "The Blurred Crusade", "After Everything Now This", "Heyday", etc. etc... and they have delighted us with another five unreleased tracks, that is: "0408", "November", "All I Know", "Till The Cows Come Home", "Between Mirages".
An Album that stands out? It's hard to say for a group outside the norms, who have consistently traveled against the tide of the '80s, with unpredictable results, very attentive to details and with innate class. This "exception" can surely turn into criticism from many admirers, not inclined to appreciate this their ( ), or it can benefit from benevolent comments on the novelty, thus leaving room for the tastes, judgments, and prejudices of others, but believe me listening to a current "Under The Milky Way" following the steps of the original in "Starfish" will not disappoint you, I find both so engaging.
A very polished sound that "does not adhere to" the original versions, but is a demonstration of the continuous evolution of this group, which does not distort its essence.
I could conclude by stating that time hasn’t worn them down, but has simply matured them, and that says it all!
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 The Unguarded Moment (03:35)
So hard finding inspiration
I knew you'd find me crying
Tell those girls with rifles for minds
That their jokes don't make me laugh
They only make me feel like dying
In an unguarded moment
So long, long between mirages
I knew you'd find me drinking
Tell those men with horses for hearts
That their jibes don't make me bleed
They only make me feel like shrinking
In an unguarded moment
So deep, deep without a meaning
I knew you'd find me leaving
Tell those friends with cameras for eyes
That their hands don't make me hang
They only make me feel like breathing
In an unguarded moment
03 Almost With You (04:28)
See the chains which bind the men
Can you taste their lonely arrogance
It's always too late
And your face is so cold
They struggled for this opulence
See the suns which blind the men
Burnt away so long before our time
Now their warmth is forgotten and gone
Pretty maids not far behind
Who you trying to get in touch with
I'm almost with you
I can sense it wait for me
I'm almost with you
Is this the taste of victory
I'm almost with you
See the dust which fills your sleep
Does it always feel this chill near the end
I never dreamed we'd meet here once more
This laugh reserved for a friend
05 Metropolis (03:21)
There'll never be another quite like you
I'm so involved with everything you do
Don't say nothing good will ever come of this
Don't say the damage is worse than it is
Back in Metropolis, circuses and elephants
Where the oranges grew
Back in Metropolis nothing can ever topple us
When I'm standing with you
You stare down at some crowd from your trapeze
And when you fell they fell down on their knees
And when you broke they scrambled for a piece
And when you spoke I felt their anger freeze
Back in Metropolis, circuses and elephants
Where the oranges grew
Back in Metropolis nothing can ever topple us
When I'm standing with you
Back in Metropolis talk about a holocaust
And then visit the zoo
Back in Metropolis the weather is ridiculous
What's it all leading to
And it's only a day away
We could leave tonight
You could sleep along the way
Dream in black and white
06 Chromium (03:43)
Silver needles
Golden eagles
Frightened faces
Basket cases
Jags and riches
Queens and witches
Electric mantras
And tight-fitting dreams
Never been so high
Never been so low
Never been so high
Gilded flowers
Long-lost hours
Morning programs
With fake suntans
Neo-maniac in the cul-de-sac
Otherwise it's this ennui
Chromium platin'
All this waiting brings me down
Suffocatin'
All those colors bring me around
Broken records
Faded labels
Songs to sing to
When you were young
A tattooed pierced arm
Fresh and perfumed
Switch your prison
Fly away
And jewels on your fingers
Tears in your dresses
Fabulous mansions
And damp little rooms
This one intrigued me
This one will grow
Purity sleeping
Reality looms
07 Sealine (02:38)
The minute the sting penetrates your finger
You're strapped to the pain like an angry stranger
The moment the rain freezes in the gutter
Caught the flaming birds and their hideous matter
The second the claw lifts up your chin
I'm alone in your head and you can't get in
Somebody said that it's all for you
It's a miracle, let it alter you
But I will not follow you to the sealine
Somebody went and turned it on for you
Revelation baby, you're beautiful
But I will not follow you to the sealine
The instant the transfer hits your account
And it's deep in the black, and just one way out
The morning the storm rolled to the coast
We were down to the shake, and our silent throats
The evening the trees lash at the window
The roots crawl up, strangle the candles
Somebody said that it's all for you
It's a miracle, let it alter you
But I will not follow you to the sealine
Somebody went and turned it on for you
Revelation baby, you're beautiful
But I will not follow you to the sealine
(To the sealine)
It's a miracle, let it alter you
Revelation baby, you're beautiful
To the sealine
11 Tristesse (04:06)
Here in this desert, beneath the sun and stars
Still troubled by the rumblings of a million distant cars
Please be good to me tonight, let me find my way
The air has some command in it I cannot disobey
A gunfight in Dodge City, a murder in Bombay
All these deeds and worldly needs I must shrug off today
All my life spent searching for prowess
Left me lying here with you, tristesse
I was working in an orchard that grew the strangest fruit
It wasn't Mother Nature that made those trees take root
Your children cannot hear you, they only want your loot
You hold on to their essence like a parachute
They never believed you were in distress
Now you've gone and left them with tristesse
Oh, waters inflamed
Ah, fires burning out
Ah, ice melting down
Ah, fires burnt out
A hotel suite in a rich man's town, a hut in Botany Bay
A prisoner by my own device, a mountain in my way
I'm gonna have to alter my address
"Cause I can't stay much longer with tristesse
And they call this carnival progress
Invited by our queen tonight, tristesse
12 Under the Milky Way (04:51)
Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty
Sound of their breath fades with the light
I think about the loveless fascination
Under the Milky Way tonight
Lower the curtain down in Memphis
Lower the curtain down all right
I got no time for private consultation
Under the Milky Way tonight
Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find
Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find
And it's something quite peculiar
Something that's shimmering and white
Leads you here despite your destination
Under the Milky Way tonight
(Chorus)
Under the Milky Way tonight
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