Customer Reviews

Carved in Sand

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This album is an outstanding rock experience. The Mission is definitely one of the greatest - and most ignored - artrock bands of the 1990's.

The opener »Amelia« is a frightening song about incest, recited by the abusive father. On the A side of the vinyl album then follows great melodic rock songs in breathtaking symphonic arrangements, ending in the absolutely outstanding »Deliverance« which till this day is one of my favourite rock songs of all times!

Side B starts with a soulful song called »Grapes Of Wrath« (self-explanatory). The journey goes on, and this amazing album ends in the beautiful summer and love song »Lovely«.

A fantastic album!

May be some critics want to say that The Mission has more influence from Led Zeppelin than from it self. That absoluty no true. And here you kind find a solid and profund argument to that. Here, in the music. Excelent lyrics, a very special voice, fantastic gotic guitars and a rock sound that make more powerfull the quartet in live. Then, they transform to a trio an they did really ugly music, but here (in their 3 first CD's)the do great dark.

I cannot think of a better goth album, seriously!
Wayne Hussey is, in my personal opinion, the best goth singer out there, along with Robert Smith, Peter Steele and the guy from Sisters Of Mercy.
This whole cd transpires class, darkness, soulful melody, great arrangements and deeply meaningful lyrics.
I would personally classify this type of music as a goth-rock hybrid, but the term really does not give The Mission total justice and it is a bit too tight on them.
Very hard for me also to point out a favorite, although Butterfly On A Wheel is my favorite for very romantic reasons.
Not sure I could explain with words the depth of love, at its purest state. One has to live this song, as it is, in itself, a way of living and thinking love, more than just a mere song.
I could not help noticing the opening track Amelia, which struck me for the in-your-face honesty of this *father sexually abuses daughter* tale, very realistically described by Wayne Hussey without having to get trivial. Another class act.
I like the rocker Deliverance which makes me pick up my guitar and jam along with it. Sorta brings The Cult to mind, but with a sensitive side.
Grapes Of Wrath brings out the philosopher in the listener. Into The Blue is an incredibly classy goth number.
I totally relate to Wayne's sense of dark poetry.
Truly inspiring!

In my ignorance, I always used to associate the Mission with the Cult as I looked out across the musical spectrum. Both have religious overtones, both have a hard, rocking mystical sound, and when you have a Mission song title identical to a Cult lyric "Who would break a butterfly on a Wheel?" (Soul Asylum), this can only reinforce the impression. But there's a world of difference, and most of that difference is Wayne Hussey.

Ian Astbury always sounds like some hard-swearing, rough-assed rocker. Wayne, on the other hand, has a fluidity, a vulnerability, even a femininity, that infuses so much of the Mission's work with a feeling of flesh - sensual and suffering. There's actually something of Jesus in Wayne. And while that one's sinking in, there's a lot of poetic irony in the man, which relates back to the rich tradition of ballads, poems, and laments reflecting the Christian idea of death and resurrection.

`Butterfly on a Wheel' demonstrates this most clearly: Love both breaks and heals the wings. The flower crushed under the snow will rise again in the Spring. During the song, the plaintive vocals with their undertone of ultimate hope and the sweeping grandeur of the music, evoking revolving Suns and changing seasons, brings this resurrection motif quite startlingly to life.

The irony of `Amelia' the opening track, is of a more direct nature. `Daddy can love you more than Mummy can,' screams Wayne in the guise of an incestuous father. The impassioned vocals, full of evil, pain, desire and guilt, all at the same time, and the strong beat, relentlessly belt out the irony of lust masquerading as paternal love.

These two songs are definitely the highlights, and, in a way, are offset, balanced, and even enhanced by the album's flaws. What can you make of `Grapes of Wrath' a powerful Mike Peterish vocal, bursting with the kind of naive almost corny angst and idealism the Alarm are famous for. Nevertheless, like the Alarm, it impresses by its sheer sincerity.

`Sea of Love,' with its Beatlesque, sitar-flavoured psychedelic rock, has problems working as a song and works better as a meditation aid. As a quaint and intricate object, it functions as a kind of aural objet d'art.

The simpler songs sound the most Cult-ish, like "Into the Blue' with its driving chord changes and choppy rhythms; and the powerful, soaring `Deliverance'. This song - unrepentantly stopping for no one - calls through a web of Celtic imagery for deliverance, without caring if damnation is delivered instead.

The whole album, but especially the B-side is varied and erratic. `Belief' starts off like a piece of over-produced pomp rock, but the lyrics soon
start throwing dark, potent images at us:
`Masquerade as Jesus Christ and suffer the crucifixion'
And when the guitars kick in, scimitars seem to be flying. `Paradise Will Shine Like the Moon' is a jangly, acoustic rush that lunges into a kind of mad rockabilly finish. `Hungary as the Hunter' is a frantic, snarling, growling guitar bash, but with interesting blue pools of a more atmospheric sound that almost elevate this song to music Nirvana.

`Carved in Sand'is an album full of wonderful contrasts: from the album cover with its drifting dunes and rigid fossils to `Lovely' the last song - a gentle credo, devoid of irony, that by its very simplicity and poverty provides yet another delightful contrast with the richness and variety of the preceding songs.

If you don't own this album, then stop reading this review and go and buy it now. Seriously, it is awesome. I don't know what to compare it to, they have a really unique sound. This is alternative rock at its best. Great rhythms, awesome guitar, soulful singing, explosive power, catchy riffs, it has everything.

The highlight is 'Deliverance' which is an absolute epic. But really, it's all great.

The Mission U.K.'s shining moment. Had this been released 3-4 years later, it would have been huge in America and these guys would have been superstars. Definitelty one of the best "alternative" albums of the decade. An absolute must-have.

I just bought a used version of this cd on record.. and let me tell you.. it is so magnificent. My favorite song would have to be "Belief" Trust me.. you will like this.

Carved in Sand was their best album in the 90s but 2001 proved that they still do wonderful music
Aura is released and great reviews where written in many key magazines but lets go back to carved in Sand which is a master piece and when you listen to it from the first time you can feel that this is what we call music "sound of music" wayne hussy knows very well how to write songs and the rest of the band knows very well how to use their tools.....
so the mission is a combination of talents and their outcome is "pure art"
people should know the mission more and they should try to give them a chance specially radio stations and MTV!!!
To tell you the truth i have never felt sorry for the mission but i have always felt sorry for the media and their taste

Absolute classic from The Mission. I have all their studio albums and I rate this right up there with Children. I'm not sure what the reviewer who gave it 1 star was thinking, this is a terrific album. Songs like Butterfly on a Wheel and Amelia are among some of my favourite songs from any artist. If you have never listened to The Mission this is a good album to buy followed by Children.

I had a tape of this ten years ago, but thought that I had lost it. When I moved house I found it again and cursed myself for ever neglecting it. The lyrics have been fashioned with great care, they tell a powerful tale, and are enhanced by the music. Anybody aught to be able to enjoy this.