Customer Reviews

Brave Words

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

 

 

Glorious album of pop and emotion from the best band in the Southern Hemisphere. Not an idle claim as New Zealand has produced a load of great bands that beat Australia by some way. "Night of Chill Blue" is the most tender love song I have ever heard. Martyn Phillips has something to say as a writer without being dogmatic or banal. Sweet without being sickening, singalong without being dumb and upbeat without having a lobotomy. A band that know that there are some things worth celebrating and some things worth reflecting upon. And they were sublime live. Buy!

It is very hard to screw up a good song, but the production and mix on this record are terrible. It's a real let down after the brilliant Kaleidoscope World album by the Chills (the first one you should buy on CD if you don't already own it).

A few years ago, Martin Phillipps, the head Chill, put out a 3 CD set called "Secret Box" that contained 70 home demos, b sides, live and radio recordings. Most of the songs from Brave Word are on that set, but are mixed, performed and produced a million times better. That set is essential for Kaleidoscope World fans.

From The Chills Website:

I remembered that you had mentioned in interviews that you had wanted to remix it and call it Braver Words.

"The problem with Brave Words is that it was done really, really fast. It was recorded and mixed in about two weeks. Obviously, that's the first album after 7 years, plus that band was about 2 1/2 months old at that stage. In all aspects that record was really done fast. we basically just recorded things as they had been live. Then we went back and sort of went overboard trying to redo some stuff to make it sound as big as we'd been hearing it."

Buy this if you have to, but the Secret Box is the best way to hear these songs.

...i'd give it the full 5 stars. this is the chills' first proper studio album. after touring extensively, going through several line-ups, and releasing a myriad 7"s over the course of 6-7 years, they finally got themselves together for this album. only, compared to their previous vinyl-only offerings--which have since been collected on the excellent kaleidescope world--this falls a little flat. the songs are great, and more immediately accessible than their predecessors, but they were all new to the band, and hadn't been performed at shows previous to the recording of the album. so the record soundss like a band feeling out a batch of new songs, and while many of these tracks would go on to become live staples and fan favorites, here they are like ducklings, waddling around, running into things...but cute all the same.

This album is a fine example of the consistently high-quality music of the Chills,whom I personally rate as New Zealand's best band.Ever. It typifies the 'Dunedin Sound ',originating in the early 80s,and which is (way before the US discovered it) closely akin to much of today's college radio 'alternative' guitar rock. It was so far ahead of its time that only now has can the average US music afficionado truly appreciate it (we connoiseurs have known and recognised their genius for years).

This album is one of the most completely wonderful ever made by any band on Planet Earth. To think that a dot on the world music map in New Zealand (come on, Canada!) could produce something that should be on the Mt. Rushmore of post-punk is amazing. Martin Phillips, the leader of the band, is simply a pop genius.

The tunes alone vary from fast uptempo rockin' pogoing classic to atmospheric washes of sound but it's the lyrics that raise this to another level.

I GUARANTEE anyone who buys this CD will not be disappointed no matter the price.