Blood

This Mortal Coil

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 7, 1998)
• Original Release Date: May 13, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: 4ad / Ada
• ASIN: B000009NC7
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #114,486 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest albums of all time, July 26, 2002

By	Geekus Eclectica (Worcester, MA United States) - See all my reviews

I've read through all the reviews posted before mine, and can't fathom how the more prolific reviewers somehow disliked this album. I've been surfing around amazon to make up a silly list of all-time masterpieces, and this is the first disc I checked up on.

First off, background: TMC is the baby of producer Ivo, main man at 4AD records, which has released a lot of great music from a lot of great musicians: we're talking Pixies, Breeders, Throwing Muses, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, Wolfgang Press, Colourbox (aka M/A/R/R/S - of Pump up the Volume fame), etc. This is not a tiny indie label that is built around one decent artist; 4AD rocks.

TMC is Ivo reigning in various 4AD artists and using them in (sadly only three) albums of uncategorizable, moody music. Most TMC tracks will involve stringed instruments, ambient electronic, piano, diverse percussion, the occasional bass, guitar, choir, and then a ton of sumptuous vocals, almost always female. The first two albums ("It'll End in Tears" and "Filigree and Shadow") feature 4AD artists more consistently; "Blood" is largely a tighter group of instrumental musicians, with vocalists being: predominantly Deirdre Rutkowski; then Caroline Crawley; and then a couple by Alison Limerick, and the excellent "You and Your Sister" with Kim Deal (Pixies/Breeders) and Tanya Donnelly (Throwing Muses/Breeders/Belly).

As for the first two albums: the first (IEIT) was a single LP, and like the next (F&S) was more varied in direction throughout the songs. F&S and Blood are 2xLP, full-length CDs, yet Blood is far more consistent in mood, and flows beautifully. I should mention also, that these two albums feature a decent amount of instrumental material, which at their worst are decent segues between songs, and at their best, sound as if they're soundtrack material for a very moving or otherwise excellent film. Both these latter two albums are continuously mixed. But Blood is by far the most consistent effort in terms of maintaining a mood, and in the worthiness of the individual songs. There is not one track here I would skip.

For those wondering if this is a "goth" album; no, it isn't, but it IS melancholy, and that's why a copy of this album is on most Goths' shelves, as they're the pretentious and melancholy representatives in the grand scheme of scenes, cliques, sub-cultures, and stereotypes. But TMC is rarely pretentious; it's very heartfelt, and this album in particular will likely stick out in your collection for years. I first heard it in... 1989? and still listen to it as often as just about anything (and I have a TON of CDs). And in my list of masterpieces - albums which I think of as flawless - it was the first one that came to mind. I'm a very eclectic listener, and this disc is a beautiful representative of an aspect of myself, my musical interests, and my emotions.

End note: old Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett fans might want to take note of the cover of Barrett's "Late Night." Barrett's original recording is marred by his dysfunctionality; here, it's a total work of art.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IMMORTAL MAGIC, June 27, 2000

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Blood includes the talents of Alison Limerick, Kim Deal, Tanya Donelly and Heidi Berry. Haunting voices drift across ethereal soundscapes in a harmonious blend of their own material and songs by legends like Gene Clark and David Crosby, among others. Strange things happen as the meandering music carries one eastward to bliss in isles of orchids and westward to wonder in the isles of the blessed. They equal one of their most beautiful interpretations, Tim Buckley's Song To The Siren (from 1986's Filigree And Shadow) on their version of Mary Margaret O'Hara's Help Me Lift You Up, in a quivering, atmospherical treatment. An uncompromisingly poetic collection where the lyrics and music have been meticulously crafted to paint the most vivid moodscapes in pieces like With Tomorrow, The Lacemaker, the sorrowful I Come And Stand At Every Door and Late Night, a sweet interpretation of the Syd Barrett song. A glorious epitaph to an idea that produced some of the most magical music of the late 80s/early 90s.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you know what we never did . . .we never danced, September 10, 2004

By	Thomas Dean Nordlum (Montréal) - See all my reviews

I got blood some months back, after falling in love with It'll End In Tears years ago, then discovering Filigree and Shadow and finding the beauty in that maze of lushness. Blood is no exception, it's the most different of the three This Mortal Coil records, much more consistent in mood and much more drenched with strings. But this record takes you on a journey to another place, to places so beautiful, the tracks on this record blend so wonderfully and are so perfect. Those strings on "the lacemaker" grab me each time. When you get to "you and your sister" it blends so well into "nature's way" and those strings and that voice . . .the comes "i come and stand at every door" one of the best tracks, sung by the ghost of a child from Hiroshima (Hiroshima Mon Amour). Then another amazing track "bitter" that goes on with it's dramatic stings. "help me lift you up" is stunning beyond stunning. I adore "til i gain control again" and "dreams are like water" which is such a perfect ending to three perfect records. I wish that there would be another This Mortal Coil record, but these are so precious, it seems that they can almost be enough. Yes, there is no "song to the siren" on Blood, but what Blood does offer is stunning, inovative, dreamy, and unique music. It will take you away, let it take you away. . .This Mortal Coil (sixteen days without sun, gathering dust the band played on again)