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82 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful album & band before Shirley took out the Garbage, July 12, 2004
When one singer leaves their original band to join another & wind up having much larger success than before, it can leave that previous group in the dust to be forgotten for all time. But in the case of Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson, her old band Angelfish had just as much potential and talent to make it on their own before Garbage's future members saw the band's video on MTV, and at last found their frontwoman. As Shirley went on to multiplatinum glories with Garbage, Angelfish's self-titled 1993 debut (and only album) still stands alone as its own singularly fine work.
Stylistically, ANGELFISH leans more towards Garbage's 1995 self-titled debut with its more guitar-based rock textures than the highly-polished techno flourishes of 1998's VERSION 2.0 & 2001's BEAUTIFULGARBAGE. This is mostly thanks to the producership of husband-and-wife duo Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth (both formerly of Talking Heads). In fact, ANGELFISH could be in the vein of the Heads' first album from before Brian Eno was brought into commercialize them. In any event, ANGELFISH is a rocking good time displaying all the qualities that would help make Shirley's work with Garbage such a rousing success.
Charging out of the gates at the beginning is the sexy, glam-rock come-on of "Dogs In A Cage". David Bowie would have given his eyeteeth for a song like this in his DIAMOND DOGS days, but Shirley is just as alluring in her come-on. Who knew that such a dark, yet strangely inviting Scottish lass like Shirley could be so seductive?
The rock continues on a cover of Holly & The Italians' "You Can Love Her" (love that drum intro), "King Of The World" (who said a female singer has to use "queen" in the title), and "Mummy Can't Drive" (this is a woman you may not want to bring home to the parents). While Shirley may have been the obvious breakout star of the group, Angelfish the band are given ample opportunities to shine on these revved-up ditties. Frantz & Weymouth must have told the group to just play live & not let overdubs get in the way, hence the raw, ballsy performance they give to these tunes.
However, ANGELFISH is mostly an album somber in mood & slinky in its instrumentation. "Suffocate Me" is another song that is so flat-out sexy, it's a wonder that it can come off that way in the cool & detached (but no so much to forsake all emotion) voice of Shirley. "The Sun Won't Shine", "Heartbreak To Hate", "Tomorrow Forever" & "The End" have her & Angelfish turning out goodbye ballads that even at their most Bic-lighter-waving moments have enough volume to place them above sappiness. On the other hand, my favorite song off the album "Sleep With Me" follows that method of slow-and-steady-wins-the-race, but with a much happier outcome in the end. Deep down inside, Shirley just might look like an ice queen on the outside, but it doesn't take much to melt her facade to get to the heart of gold.
ANGELFISH may not have set the charts on fire with its release, but it apparently did well enough for a video to reach MTV & catch the eyes of the members of Garbage, in need of an eyecatching frontperson to take them to the top. Better yet, while most famous musicians' pre-fame groups may worth mentioning for curiosity issues, Shirley Manson & Angelfish happily turned out an album that had all the potential to being a breakout success in itself.
Hopefully, those music fans who have been won over by Garbage's body of work will seek out Angelfish's lone album to see that Shirley Manson not only had talent to spare beforehand, but with a group that could best be described as Garbage with an extra dose of testosterone (apologies to Shirley). A liberal amount of production gloss may have boosted Garbage into the stratosphere, but Angelfish shows it could have succeeded on its raw talent alone had the public had wider-open ears.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended for Shirley Manson/Garbage fans, March 14, 2005
I got this album--most likely the same as the majority of the people who bought this album--because I am a fan of Garbage and wanted to listen to Shirley Manson's older band. I wasn't sure what to expect. As a huge fan of Garbage, and as someone who thinks Shirley Manson is one of the greatest frontwomen of the last 20 years, I decided to give it a chance, with no real expectations, one way or the other.
The result was that I was very pleasantly surprised. The sound of Angelfish was far more primitive than Garbage. Angelfish didn't have the the gloss and the synths of Garbage, so it sounds more stripped down and basic. Compared to Garbage, the songs are more straight-forward and guitar oriented, but still have the same pop-sensibility. The band, Martin Metcalfe (guitar) Derek Kelly (drums) and Fin Wilson (bass) are all competent musicians, but to be honest, aren't of the same caliber as Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker. The entire CD is a fine collection of songs, and although some tracks are better than others, there isn't really any filler. The overall tone/vibe of the album is somewhat dark and cynical, as song titles like "Dogs in a Cage," "Suffocate Me" and "The Sun Wont Shine" would suggests. And as much as I enjoyed these songs, I find that the more pop oriented material are the album's high-points. "You Can Love Her," "Sleep With Me," and "Heartbreak to Hate" remain some of Manson's most memorable enchanting songs to date.
Angelfish was a young band, just starting out, and this was an excellent debut. If Manson had not gone on to sing for Garbage, I imagine they would have improved over time. Angelfish is a relatively short album, only about 35 minutes total. In sum, it's a good, short-but-sweet, somewhat cynical pop album. Although Angelfish's lone album is not as good as anything Garbage has released, it's still a fine album and highly recommended for Shirley Manson/Garbage fans.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a GREAT CD!, September 29, 2001
I came across this album listing while looking for other CDs. When I saw that Shirley Manson was the lead singer of this band, I knew that I had to listen to a few tracks. I was blown away by what I heard, of course I am biased because I love Shirley as a vocalist. Keep in mind that Angelfish and Garbage are two different types of music. Nonetheless, I love both group's albums. Some of the best songs on Angelfish's album are "You Can Love Her", "Sleep with Me", "Suffocate Me", "Heartbreak to Hate", and my personal favorite "King of the World." Shirley reminds me of Deborah Harry (Blondie) when she belts out this tune. Make no mistake that all ten songs on this album make it worth purchasing.
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