Adventures in the Underground Journey to the Stars

South | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 4, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Young American
• ASIN: B000EQ60WM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,652 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adventures in the "Journey", June 11, 2006

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adventures in the Underground Journey to the Stars (Audio CD)

South is is one of those great bands that not enough people know about, with their sleepy mixture of downtempo and Britpop. It's a shame that a lot of people say, "Who?" when I mention them.

And their brilliant music continues in their third full-length album "Adventures in the Underground Journey to the Stars." They take tight melodies and solid songwriting, mix it up with some lush electronic backdrops, and produce some truly beautiful music. Yes, it really is that good.

The album opens with traffic, echoing footsteps, a train going by, and doors opening --probably the London tube. Then the drums kick in, a solid guitar riff blossoms out, and Joel Cadbury murmurs over a swirling melody: "Give in to love it's the one thing we have/Hold out your laugh see the beauty within/I know the way but you won't be the first/Don't mean there's no pain.... There must be more to love than this..."

It's a strong opener, and it leads in to a bunch of other really good songs. All types: expansive indie rock that commands "don't take yourself so seriously," electro-tinged rock'n'roll, and some swirling darker numbers that sound like a rainy night in a London park, just as the stars come out.

But the guys also explore some less-travelled musical territory. There's the twangy countryish "Know Yourself," and a couple songs have swirling, twinkly electronica. The album stays spellbinding right up through the finale, where Cadbury murmurs, "One thing after another/Safe in the knowledge that we are flesh and bone/As beautiful as the first day..."

South has only had two albums before this one, but with "Adventures in the Underground...," they reach new levels. These guys can tackle all sorts of music: moody indierock, lush shoegazer, swirly atmospherics, electronic-edged folkpop, and any imaginable blend of the above. And what's more, they can do it well.

If you stripped away the trappings and keyboards, the swirling guitars and solid basslines would still be there. The drumming is subtle and flexible, although sometimes the more prominent instruments make it hard to hear. Most impressively, keyboards and guitars actually seem to melt together until it's hard to tell just where one ends and the other begins, which adds to the dreaminess of it all.

Joel Cadbury's voice gets better with each album. At first he sounded kind of hesitant, and now he sounds smooth and confident enough to tackle the sadness, loneliness, and the love in these songs. "Sing my way through life/Fear it hides my smile/If eyes are windows too/the soul I see in you..." he croons over a driving rock rhythm.

With "Adventures in the Underground Journey to the Stars," South explores new territory while staying close to their electro-edged Britpop. An enchanting, bittersweet experience.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Album Showcases Trios Strengths, August 29, 2006

By 

Pete Nema (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adventures in the Underground Journey to the Stars (Audio CD)

<strong>South</strong> is a trio from London, England that have been playing together since 1998. <em><strong>Adventures In The Underground Journey To The Stars</strong></em> is their third full album, and is without doubt their most straight-forward pop effort, in a good and accessible way. The opening track is neither brilliant nor irritating and is filled with easy to take echoing vocals, a fast-tempo beat, and soothing "aaahoooo" background vocals. This track shows some affinity with bands such as <strong>Doves</strong>, <strong>Better Than Ezra</strong>, and <strong>Snow Patrol</strong>.

The album picks up with a really strong 3rd track, <em>You Are One</em>, that has a great melody, catchy guitar, and high quality supporting percussion and bass. Aside from the 30 seconds of "subway sounds" filler at the end, this is a song that I can imagine getting wide radio airplay. The music in <em>Pieces Of A Dream</em> shows some similarities to one of my currently favourite bands, <strong>Elbow</strong>, but the vocals are softer and closer to <strong>Jimi Goodwin</strong> from <strong>Doves</strong>. It's a mixture that works really well and makes for great bedroom listening. The next track <em>Know Yourself</em> is percussion-free, acoustical guitar-based duet sung with <strong>Pearl Lowe</strong> that has a slight slant toward alt-country. The seventh track, <em>Safety In Numbers</em>, has a vague 60's influence from bands like <strong>The Zombies</strong> or <strong>Status Quo</strong>.

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The clincher is the ninth track, <em>Up Close And Personal</em>, that starts out in such a way that it reminds me heavily of some of my favourite <strong>Badly Drawn Boy</strong> songs, but then within a minute gains its own unique feel. Although my opinion of this CD seems to change after each listen, at the moment, this is the track that keeps me coming back to have another listen.

The songs on this album are well placed in relation to each other. A slightly weaker middle section is surrounded by stronger tracks, with the best tracks placed carefully at track 3 and track 9. This means that any lulls in the CD are short and the strength of the next few songs brings you back into music. This entire album has made it into my current leisure-time listening rotation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Two steps back.....and for the better, April 24, 2006

By 

Steven Draa "THE music man" (Pine Mtn. Club, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adventures in the Underground Journey to the Stars (Audio CD)

I for one like the lo-fi, am radio sound and feel of the first record. I also liked the big sweeping rush of sound that the second album brought with it. But I am glad to see them step back into the lo-fi, low profile sound that first struck a chord with me.

They still pack a punch from time to time, but the melodies drive the cart, and they drive with passion.

This is a great record that should please all those that were a little saddend by the second record. I can't wait to see them play a small venue in Los Angeles soon. Hopefully the Troubadour!