Customer Reviews

Amazing Grace

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is the best Spiritualized album since Lazer Guided Melodies and Pure Phase. And it is worlds better than the overproduced an artifical feeling Let It Come Down. I even feel it is better than Ladies and Gentleman... J. Spaceman has once again connected to the raw spirit and energy manifesting from within himself that defined those two earlier works. He has once again personified for me and given musical expression to the existential malaise, the eternal transcendental longing for truth, which is bound always to be frustrated, and the disgust with hypocrisy and the evils of entrenched and dogmatic institutions (i.e., organized religion and societal structures) which I myself feel so strongly and that could not otherwise be expressed with such powerful subtelty. He offers no clear-cut redemption, but the beautiful expression of the music and his soulful lyrics allows one to participate with him in this cathartic endeavour of unburdening the soul of negativity and disgust with everything, indeed with life itself, and both the listener, and I suspect Pierce as well, come out the other side transformed. For me, this album is nothing less than a metaphorical confession. I am simply spent after one full listening. But just as in the real confession in Christianity (which one can feel with palpable urgency has shaped Pierce's background and outlook -- even if only to afflict him with these unanswered doubts as if he were Job himself from the Book of Job), I continually need to come back for more. Preach on Brother Pierce, preach on! We need your medicine!

I can finally say I agree with GOD on something... the Amazon review of this album is pathetic. Jason Pierce has finally done what I thought he should have done all along: fuse his beautiful songcraft with the Velvets-inspired adrenalin of early Spacemen 3. And the result is totally exhilarating. "This little life of mine" roars into life and you can just tell from the production and the performance, this song was recorded live. "She Kissed me" has a similar live feel. Whoever complained this was an unnecessary return to lo-fi in a bungled attempt to be more relevant (can't remember where I read that: Magnet? Mojo?) completely missed the point. Jason Pierce's music has always been about finding the source of life pulsing within our veins, the one thing that we all have in common. No rock artist has ever had such an intimate, poignant relationship with lifeblood. It's what makes Spiritualized such a fragile, bewildering, exhilarating- altogether HUMAN- experience.

As for the more spread out songs, mostly on side two (i own the vinyl), songs like "Rated X" and "Lay it down slow" belie a new complexity, evidence of further maturation of Pierce's songcraft. The maelstrom of noise at the end of "Lay it down slow" is the only way this bittersweet album could end. Amazing and wonderful. I couldn't stop listening to this album when I first bought it, and it shot straight to my shuffle (which means I want to listen to it a lot).

I honestly still don't know what to think about this yet. I've been listening to it non-stop since it hit the shelves and while trying not to compare it to past Spiritualized releases, I still can't grasp some of this. On one hand, there are phenominal songs on here ("Hold On", "Oh Baby", and "Lord Let it Rain on Me"), but then there's tracks where they hit the distortion pedal and try to emulate the sound they seemed to have abandoned since their previous efforts. I really don't know if the record fits right as a whole. It all just seems like a square peg trying to get jammed into a round hole sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I love everything J. Spaceman has given me, and I'm almost positive that in due time this record will settle and become yet another favorite of mine, but be warned, both loyal Spaceman fans and new listeners, this album is more of an acquired taste than a quick fix of ear candy. This is still probably better most of the horse dung that got released in 2003.

Spiritualized continue the terrific trend of not making an album deserving of less than a 9/10. Amazing Grace is an amalgam of all the finest points of previous albums - so if it's not quite as good as, say, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, it's still a worthy substitute. There's a steady stream of garage rock roar throughout, as though Spaceman has returned to declare that this crazy BRMC peddled rawk'n'roll which pervades the music scene lately was really of his creation - and he's right. "Hold On" and "Lord Let It Rain On Me" are the high points though, two desolate ballads mixing languid folk and gospel. There are also, like most Spiritualized records, a few exciting jazz experiments, particularly on "The Power and the Glory."
So Spiritualized have once more escaped straitjacket and made another record radically different from its predecessor. And it's damn good.

With the drama surrounding Spiritualized's new album, Amazing Grace, and their subsequent drop from major label Arista and signing on with Sanctuary, people had a right to be doubting how good the album would be, if it was ever to see the light of day at all. Well, rest assured people, this is still Spiritualized as we know them (well, him - J Spaceman) with only a slight difference from Let It Come Down, their last release. Gone are the hundred-plus musicians augmenting Spaceman, the huge gospel choirs, the brass section, etc. In their place are tigher song structures, more rock-focused melodies, and an overall emphasis on the base elements of Spiritualized's unique sound.

As the rumors go, Arista had a fallout with them over the more raw, garage-ish sound and they were dropped, to be picked up by small label Sanctuary. This may or may not be true, but the album as a whole sounds in no way like Spacemen 3's (Spaceman's previous band) droning, trance-garage crunchy sound. The first song, "This little life of mine" is a modern, crunchy, rocky play on the "this little light of mine, i'm gonna let it shine" gospel song, and sounds exactly like you'd think: they gave the pastor an electric guitar, loads of feedback, and a drop of acid. The next song, first single "She kissed me (it felt like a hit)" sounds like classic early Spiritualized, with overt drug analogies and a catchy chorus, which then fades into the slow burner "Hold on," the first work of beauty on this disc. The song offers the simple advice of holding on to the ones you love, but as always, sounds sincere and almost deep coming from this band. Other slow ballads on the album, including "oh baby" and "ballad of Richie Lee" offer the familiar warm, endearing quality of songs like "Broken Heart" or "Stop your crying" but without the overblown, theatrical sound that some found annoying or pretentious.
In fact, that statement describes this album pretty well: it sounds like modern, non-electronically augmented Spiritualized, but without the pretentiousness apparent after the Pure Phase album. (Not that pretentiousness is necesarilly bad: "Ladies and Gentlemen..." is still my favorite Spiritualized album). Lightly augmenting the mix are horns, a few strings here and there, but none of the full-blown orchestrations of old. This sounds like the album Spaceman may have wanted to make all along: taut, gripping, resourceful, affecting, yet rip-roaring rocking when it wants to be.

If a bigger suprise happens this year in rock music, it'll have to be a damn good one because the fact is, Spiritualized are back and just as good, if not better, than ever. I can see this album making Arista come crawling back to its senses and Spaceman's doorstep, begging forgiveness. Luckily Spiritualized didn't need them to make yet another fantastic album - this is my second highest recommendation this year, behind the mighty "Hail to the Thief" by Radiohead - good praise indeed.

Here's a nice quote from "Hold on" one of my early favorites:
"Cause death cannot part us if life already has, hold on to those you hold dear." I'll take this bit of simple advice to heart, and you should too. Like much of his lyrics, this has a simple, pure beauty to it, and so does "Amazing Grace."

As a record store employee, I hear many different complaints about many different albums. My least favorite complaint is "I liked their _____ album better." (whether it be first, last, or what have you). I don't see what there is not to like on "Amazing Grace". It's pure Spiritualized. Is it as good as "Ladies and Gentlemen...", of "Let It Come Down"? I don't think so. But what does that matter? I like "Dark Side of the Moon" better than I like "Animals", but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't recomend "Animals" to anyone. "Amazing Grace" may not be as good as previous efforts, but there is enough good on the album to help it stand on its own. Spiritualized was 3/3 before I bought "Amazing Grace." Based on that, I took a chance, and now the Spaceman is 4/4.

Jason Pierce has done a lot of great records over the past years. This one is less gospel inspired than the previous one. This one is more direct. A little like the song "Medication." This record was incredible to watch being played live. I love it.

There is something special about seeing Spiritualized play live. Anybody who has been to one of their shows knows what I mean. They feel the music. They live the music. They are the music. To me this album represents that raw live sound that is just completely awesome. Spaceman, not backed by a million man orchestra, stripped down to basically what he can fit on a stage arranges a rockin, and almost jazzy little masterpiece.

I endured the release of "Let it Come Down" with a thick skin and the knowledge that things couldn't get much worse. I was surprised that the usually mercurious J. Spaceman put a new album out merely two years after the last one, but after letting this one spin in the CD player for a while I was glad he didn't hesitate in releasing this.

"Amazing Grace" is nearly not a Spiritualized album. The songs are short, the production is stripped and the music is simplistic for J. Spaceman.

Openers `This Little Life of Mine' and `She Kissed Me (It Felt Like a Hit)' harken back to the days of `Electricity' from "Ladies and Gentlemen..." but that's not a bad thing. It seems that Mr. Pierce absorbed some cues from BRMC when they toured: These songs are simply noisy rock n roll songs that don't give an F about anything but the song.

`Hold On' and `Oh Baby' return to the expected Spaceman sound but not in some tired or stale way. On any previous Spiritualized albums these songs would have been two separate seven minute masterpieces; as it is they barely ecplipse seven minutes combined. `Hold On' is nearly a country-western Christian ballad, but in the hands of the capable Spaceman it accomplshes something more. `Oh Baby' is another ballad, this time a whisper soft whisp of ambient hum and gospel choir that sounds like what I imagine the ascension to Heaven to feel like. It is also pure beauty committed to tape that is best appreciated with a full soul.

`Never Goin' Back' brings back the stripped down rock sound again before `The Power and the Glory' soothes you with its bluesy intstrumental crawl. `Lord Let it Rain on Me' is a plaintive cry to an indifferent deity that is simply too good to pass up.

I didn't think much of `The Ballad of Richie Lee' at first, but successve listens reveal its lyrical density. If I could ever write a song or poem this complex about a lost loved one/friend, I would consider it my greatest achivement. `Cheapster' is another raw rocker, but at this point on the album it feels out of place, and `Rated x' is basically a `Richie Lee' reprise. If I ever burn this CD `Rated X' stays and `Richie Lee' is gone, mostly because of the former's orchestral beauty. `Lay it Down Slow' sounds like how you think it might, and it is the perfect closer for the album.

I like the fact the J. Spaceman is re-discovering his love for rock and roll again, but most of the upbeat tunes on this album sound too similar, that's why I don't give it the full five stars. However, after the disappointment of the previous album these 11 songs are exactly what a long time fan such as myself needed, and having seen the tour behind this album only helped my appreciation grow. If you see this album buy it, and if the Spaceman ever comes to your town see him. It can only do you good.

first off anyone giving this album 1 star can't accept the fact that jason pierce will never again make a copy of 'lazer guided melodies'. this album is somewhat different from his last few efforts in the fact that it is more raw and stipped down...although this may sound like a negative comment, it actually works well here...from start to finish it is just as emotional and powerful as previous spiritualized albums, just lacking the complex (sometimes overblown) production. if you can ever see them live i would highly recommend it...it is an extraordinary experience.