As Above, So Below [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Barry Adamson

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 23, 1998)
• Original Release Date: June 23, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Mute U.S.
• ASIN: B000006P31
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,568 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Barry Adamson's sophisticated adult indie pop is decadent, indulgent, and almost too smart for its own good. Adamson's lyrics owe a lot to the sly, dandy-headed work of Scott Walker and Serge Gainsbourg. The music on As Above So Below displays all the overblown brilliance of Burt Bacharach's best, although it's no retro pastiche. It sounds utterly contemporary and big, like the soundtrack to a big-budget feature flick. There's a reason Adamson's music is so often compared to soundtracks--those swooshing musical movements, that full orchestra of sound, and the way his music subtly conjures a place or tells a story. But he's at his best in the middle of a groove, as in the last minute or so of "What It Means," a big bad voodoo noir stomp. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The warmest welcome to Hell?, July 2, 1998

By A Customer

Quite simply, an impressive talent. The almost omnipresent sense of religious perspective that runs through this album gives shape to a very complete and rounded whole. Stand-out moments are the horn arrangements on "Jazz Devil" and the sheer intensity of "Still I Rise" which builds and continues to build like there's no stopping it. A refreshing listen, and gloriously dark around the edges.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars like tricky covering angelo badlamenti with portishead, September 18, 1998

By	[e-mail] (san francisco, ca usa) - See all my reviews

i'm a huge fan of mr. adamson's work, and this album is some of his finest. his lyrics are descriptive ("...just a poorer imitation of the man i most resemble..."), inviting ("...take a small vacation from the hospital of sorrows..."), metaphorical ("...you can play the instruments, and i'll play the buffoon..."). a former bassist for The Bad Seeds, he shares mr. cave's affection for the romanticized tragic figure. jazz inflections and big band references mingle with r&b and rap (even a sample from Public Enemy!) to create an album unlike any other in recent memory. extremely listenable, i find myself humming infectious lines from these songs all the time.

4.0 out of 5 stars Calling Agent 00666, August 31, 2007

By	Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Its really too bad that Barry Adamson is not better known internationally. There are few musicians around who can match his very literate knack for what might be termed cinematic jazz noir. Even that label is problematic as one's definition of jazz would have to be quite elastic to make it fit. At any rate, if you listen to very much of Adamson's work, you'll note that he has chiseled out a musical niche quite his own.
I have owned As Above, So Below for almost four years now and listen to it occasionally. Recently, I dusted it off to hear if there was anything I missed the last few times I played it. Well, with Adamson there is so much substance that you are bound to find something new to enjoy when you give his CDs another spin. So though As Above, So Below is somewhat of a mixed bag there are still some very memorable tunes that will play in your head long after the music is over.
As the title suggests, the contents plumb the depths of rage and despair although the dark atmosphere Adamson generates is leavened by his mordant humor. Read the lyrics in the booklet that comes with the CD. For some reason, it does not contain the words for Come Hell or High Water, but you'll find the rest useful in beginning to try and understand what Barry Adamson is about.
My favorites here are the spirited Can't Get Loose,, the jaunty What It Means and the noirish Jazz Devil which features the agent 00666 whom Satan sends back to earth to live it all again. Fans of Adamson know his affinity for James Bond and Jazz Devil is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of that affinity. Much of the rest of the CD features music that is very grim and industrial sounding which generally is not to my liking. But a lyrical gem among these is The Monkey Speaks His Mind. Fans of the movie Fahrenheit 451 will feel a frisson of recognition when they hear the closing tune Jesus Wept, a short piece that completely changes the mood generated by what was heard in the four previous tunes.
Since this review is review number 666 for me, I just couldn't resist making this CD its subject. I have most of Barry Adamson's CDs and enjoy at least something about each of them. If your taste leans toward what is described here and you are not very familiar with Adamson, take this review as a high recommendation not only of this, but of his entire oeuvre.