Customer Reviews

Change Everything

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The greatest hits package from Del Amitri is appropriately named "Lousy With Love". Surely that title was the brainchild of the Dels voice and bassist Justin Currie, who also wrote all the lyrics to 1992's "Change Everything". If you were to read all the enclosed lyrics before listening to even the first note of this album, you would very likely expect to be bombarded by musical melancholia. Somehow, this is NOT at all the case here. "Change Everything" is arguably the BEST full album Del Amitri has done up through 2001.

Great bands seem to revolve around excellent lyrics and storytelling complemented by brilliant musicianship. Del Amitri's heart and soul has always been Currie's songwriting perfectly paired by guitarist Iain Harvie's stunning instrumentation. Justin steadfastly refuses to acknowledge any deep meaning in his writing but, he is a natural born poet. The lyrics thinly belie a likely checkered and rocky road in a few past romances. Suffering is the germ of brilliance according to many pundits and Justin has apparently traversed that road with his sense of humor and self intact while developing keen insight and observational skills. Most all of the stories throughout this album are fraught with love gone wrong and/or astray but, the final cut "Sometimes I Just Have to Say Your Name" ends it on an uplifting and hopeful chord. The melodic half of the Dels brilliance throughout "Change Everything" is literally in the remarkably capable hands of Harvie. His guitar work and razor sharp timing provides perfect musical counterpart to Currie's words. Listen to the riff Iain launches into on "When You Were Young" after Justin sings "Sometimes your lack of sympathy gets hard to explain, so on your mask of make up you just paint a little parody of pain" and try and tell me the hair on the nape of your neck doesn't stand on end in stunned, giddy amazement! Feel the guitar chords rumble like emotional thunder in the background of "To Last A Lifetime" or the strumming intensity throughout "The Ones That You Love Lead You Nowhere" that could rouse even the long-dead to joyful fits of dancing! Much of the radio airplay this album got (and still occasionally gets) is deservedly from the single "Always The Last To Know". Catchy harmony and riffs abound on this cut which still sounds just as fresh today as it did in the Summer of 1992. The brooding side of the Dels permeate the "Surface of the Moon" with the words and feel of "From the well-swept streets of Jackson Heights to the dockside drudgery, everything's now a replica of what it used to be, and since they tarted up the trenches and painted the bridges blue, it seems less like a home to me than just a place they bury you". The album leads off with almost a warning in "Be My Downfall" admonishing "The bus is pulling out and I guess I'd better go before I make a grave mistake and let my feelings show, and twenty miles away she waits alone for me, but when I try to picture her, you're the one I see, and in another situation I could put up a fight, but you will be my downfall tonight". Double-entendre? You bet! Similar examples are rampant.

Del Amitri has never quite taken off the way they deserve to. Justin, Iain, and the ever changing other members of the band have never been much for conformity. This is often one of the very reasons why the rabidly loyal fan base (myself included) love them so. One can identify with the events powerfully in many (most) of their songs. They are human, like us. And very real. Promoters and elite producers often don't care for those immutable qualities, hence their relative obscurity in my opinion. But, if you are a fan of SUBSTANCE, DO NOT PASS UP ON THIS ALBUM!!! It will grow on you and, you may even find yourself quoting a line or two!

I stumbled across this CD while I was living on the island of Guam and now (10 years later) own a cd copy for my car, a cd for my house and a cassette for times where there may not be a cd available.

Simply the BEST ALBUM of the 90's, and the most played and well- liked CD/album/Cassette out of my collection of 2500

Del Amitri's "Change Everything" was a musical highlight for me in 1992. A near brilliant song cycle about love spinning out of control, it fell into a place next to the likes of Counting Crows, Jude Cole, R.E.M. and Sting albums from the same period. Over ten years since I first received a copy, I still pull it out and feel that lift. Lead singer Justin Currie was able to capture that everyman pathos of being stuck between doing what you know is right and doing what you think you want for the duration of the disc. As soon as he reached the end of "Be My Downfall," and the bus is pulling away, you know you're in for a bittersweet ride.

"Change Everything" delivered on that promise. The double edged "Just Like a Man" and the hopeless realization in "Surface of The Moon" just make the spiral more enticing. That the Del's folkish rock accompaniment is on a par with Tom Petty's Heartbreakers made the listening experience worth every second. And as with Petty, they understand the strength of both rocking hard (the Stonesy "The Ones That You Love Lead You Nowhere") and using restraint (the fantastic "Behind The Fool"). Even with all the sorry sad state of emotional affairs going on here, the disc ends on a hopeful note with "Sometimes I Just Have to Say Your Name," which is just dying to be a hit for a country singer somewhere.

If you decide that there is only one Del Amitri album you want to own, this is probably the one to get. Overall, "Change Everything" has the most consistancy of any of their four albums. "Waking Hours" is a close second, it includes the breakthrough single "Kiss This Thing Goodbye." The "Hatful Of Rain" best of is also a worthy addition. An underapprecaited group!!!!

This is an album bursting with an enthusiasum for American music that was present to a lesser degree in Del Amitri's previous release, Waking Hours, but the sound was perfected for this album (sadly it is lacking nearly altogether from Del Amitri's later, more pop-orientated albums). Change Everything plays like a mixture of Counting Crows-style rock and roll, which alternated between brooding and layed back, and Stax/Volt era American R&B. Justin Currie, the band's songwriter and lead vocalist manages to keep the album balnced between wistful pop grooves ("Behind the Fool," "To Last a Lifetime"), mournful ballads (Surface of the Moon"), and poignant rockers ("Just Like a Man," "The Ones that You Love. . .," and the marginal hit "Always the Last to Know), while remaining true to the albums central theme--the condition of the human heart. All of the songs here are love songs of one kind or another, whether it be new love, old love, broken love, or stolen love. This is one of the best and least appreciated mainstream rock albums of the last decade.

There are plenty of songs about good relationships (many of which are unrealistic). Del Amitri writes songs about hard times in love. I bought this as soon as I heard "The Last to Know". Unfortunately, when they toured with the Gin Blossoms, I was away at college. Oh well, my congratulations to the lucky ones!

There are plenty of breakup songs like "The Ones that You Love..." (more wry advice from Justin Currie with a Stones-like guitar lick), "Just Like a Man" (so many times I wanted to sing that to someone who treated me like trash!), the accusatory "I Won't Take the Blame", and the confessional "The Last to Know". There are also songs about infatuation predicting the worst before it comes like "Be My Downfall", "1st Rule of Love", and "Behind the Fool". But this is slightly more hopeful than Waking Hours, as on "To Last a Lifetime" (which begs the adoree not treat the adorer the same way as has been done many times before) and "Sometimes I Just Have to Say Your Name" (here, the hero is at his most hopeful). And on "...The Tide Comes In" (this one has a nice country feel), Currie writes about a guy (or girl) who has accepted the fact that the love of his/her life is never coming back (I could relate to this one, when in 1994, I was invited to 9 weddings!).

This is the album I chose to listened to in 1996 as I was putting on my tuxedo awaiting my wedding. I found this to be ironic since Jusin Currie's lyrics perfectly capture heartbreak and loneliness. I think this is the best albums from one of the best bands you will ever hear. They are CRIMINALLY underrated and what a travesty that they were not appreciated by the masses and could not continue. At least we can feel special for appreciating their immense talent. This disc will possess a special place in your record collection from the first time it is played. It's that good.

This definately Del's best album.

Contains a couple of marginal radio hits, "Always the last to know" and "be my downfall". Great songs, both, but the real beauty of this album is listening to it from beginning to end. In a time when putting out a catchy single has become more important than developing a cohesive 70 minutes of music, Del Amitri flies in the face of everyone with "Change everything".

Lyrically, this album is intense and moody. The melodies are brooding. Justin Currie has one of the greatest voices around, and has definately had the worst love life of anyone alive, if his lyrics are even 10% autobiographical.

This is a truely enjoyable album, you will not be dissapointed

Del Amitri is hands down the best group out there. Intelligent lyrics, beautiful music. This CD more than any, showcases what is great about Del Amitri. From the opening song to the last, this album hits every emotion. From the rocking Ones that You Love and Just Like a Man to the beautiful ballads like Be my Downfall this album never lets up. Just listen to the lyrics of Surface of the Moon. Del Amitri rules!

Del Amitri may well drown in their collective pints o' ale before they realize the superstar status to which they are long overdue. But rest assured anyone giving them half a listen will forever be indebted. For they have already left behind a sack full of quality tunes far too heavy for any of their modern day counterparts to carry. You won't see these lads on MTV (I haven't figured out what that 'M' stands for these days) but your CD player will open it's jaws with glee at the sight of ANY recording from this underrated outfit. Frontman and head songsmith Justin Currie may quite possibly be the finest songwriter alive (sorry, Mr. Towshend), and collaborater / lead guitarist Ian Harvie is no slouch. So turn off you T.V., crank up the volume, and try not to kick yourself for not coming to your senses sooner. "Be My Downfall," "When You Were Young," "Sometimes I Just Have To Say Your Name." Every song here is a gem, and with five studio discs available stateside, there's plenty more where "Change Everything" came from. Cheers!

A question to those of you who have a couple thousand or more cds: Aren't there 50 or so that you simply can't leave alone? If you're reading this and wondering which of the Del Amitri releases to purchase, don't look any further. This record is a masterpiece of songwriting and production. Everything came together for the band with this release: layered lyrics filled with stories and insight, and wonderful music beautifully and powerfully performed. When you get this, sit down and give it the attention it deserves. I guarantee you'll come back to it again and again.