Customer Reviews

Almacantar

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had the LP and the cassette, and when I found it was available CD, I got it as fast as I could. Another reviewer said it's one of the only albums she could play without skipping a track--it's completely true. That intro on "Sincere" still gets me every time. And the video, with the women representing the four seasons, sticks with me to this day.

I wasn't a big Fixx fan so I can't make the comparison there, and I can't really think of a band I could compare them to. ("Big Houses" is pretty good, much in the same vein though less synth-y if I remember correctly; I haven't listened to that one nearly as much.) I do like that every song on this album is a unique little story--what each of those stories are, though, is up to interpretation... :)

this is what it's all about if you're an 80s fan. though a fan of just good music would have you appreciate this as well. By the grace of god I came upon this and it is a real find, just beautiful. the production is wonderful. lush, smooth, musicianship is just great. amg mentions the fixx, and while I like them, this is a sound that I prefer, the singer isn't yelling as 80s singers were doing all too often. a real treat, though the used price of 60 bucks is WHACK, lol. if you look online you can probably find it in a digital form for cheaper, this would be GREAT to hear on vinyl as well, saw they have it here....

Indeed this album got brief airplay here in the Salt Lake City area, via the single "Kiss You When It's Dangerous" and then completely disappeared. That was in early 1986, one of the best years in pop music history along with 1984 and 1985. This album is a mixture of Howard Jones, The Fixx, and The Cutting Crew. Jones and the Fixx shared the same producer, Rupert Hine, with Eight seconds so it's no coincidence the music has a similar vibe and sound. Fans of those bands will likely love this album. I actually am privileged to own a CD copy of this.

This is some of the very best synth-pop from the 80's. No filler. No slow elevator music. Unique keyboard sounds and riffs on every song. The singer sounds a lot like Danny Elfman from Oingo Boingo. It is indeed a crisp clear production with all instruments standing out. Awesome keyboard and percussion in the foreground with the guitars and bass in support. An instrumental too, "Land of the Monsters", closes the album.
If you can find this album in any format it's well well worth adding to your collection. Should have gotten the same kind of attention as, for example, Propaganda's or Camouflage's one and only albums.

I heard a tune from this release once on a radio station local to me back in the summer of 1986 and never forgot it. Clean production and very Fixxesque elements compelled me to go for the full record. I found the cd, "Almacantar" years later discounted at a record store and was pleasantly surprised. Much of the recording shines but the single "Kiss You (When It's Dangerous)" is clearly the standout track to these ears and possibly the best Fixx 'inspired' song you never heard. It may not have been an American Top 40 hit but it did crack the Hot 100 here in the U.S. and made it onto a number of radio playlists. No complete new wave collection should be left without giving this a try.

A smooth mellow album from a great Canadian band. Much more silky and melodic than the Fixx or Glass Tiger. More like Cutting Crew's first album "Broadcast". Reminiscent of Vitamin Z, Johnny Hates Jazz, and early A-ha. "Kiss you (When it's Dangerous)" was on the play list of radio stations in the late 80s, but unfortunately not for long. I heard it in Detroit. I think it had some air time on MTV (back when they played good stuff). There are perhaps two dozen CDs in my collection that I can listen to without wanting to skip a song. This is one of them.

Another one for the "Shame It's Out-of-Print" File. This Ottawa quintet put out this album in '87 (reissued from an Apprentice label release in '86) and then one more album, "Big Houses," in '90, then they were gone. I can't speak for the second release as I've never seen or heard it, but "Almacantar" was a pure-bred Fixx knock-off. It was even produced by Rupert Hine, who worked on a number of Fixx albums. As long as you don't mind its copycat sound (or if you're a Fixx nut like me and you collect any band that sounded similar), this is great stuff. "Where's Bula?" won a Canadian radio contest in '86, which is how Eight Seconds originally got noticed, and "Kiss You (When It's Dangerous)" is alleged to have been a Top-30 U.S. hit (though I don't recall ever hearing it on the radio). If you can find it, grab it, especially if it's cheap. The sharks on eBay will make you pay upwards of 30 clams for it.