Customer Reviews

Ferment

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I fell in love with these guys in high school. While the rest of my suburban classmates were listening to either The Fugees or Hootie and the Blowfish (oh how fun it was being an outcast in that school) - I lucked out and thankfully stumbled upon Catherine Wheel.

I remember taking guitar lessons when I was 15, and when I got decent enough my instructor said if I wanted to learn how to play a song, he'd teach me. So, I brought my copy of Ferment in and told him he had to teach me how to play Black Metallic. To my novice glee, it was quite easy to play. This is what I found so wonderful about it. A song with just a few chords that ended up being THAT timeless and brilliant, on a band's first album, made me love the song even more than I already did. Recently I saw Rob play on his solo tour... After playing an acoustic Black Metallic, he laughed and said something along the lines of "ah, Thank God for Black Metallic... things would've been a lot different if that one had never been made!" ;)

I Want To Touch You, Indigo Is Blue and She's My Friend are my other favorites... And Ferment isn't even one of my favorite CW albums.

It is such a crime that they never got the recognition they deserved... Rob may be thankful for Black Mettalic - I'm just thankful for discovering Catherine Wheel when I did. How different things would've been had I become a Hootie and the Blowfish fan ;)

Imagine a band with all the melodicism of The Stone Roses debut album mixed with guitar flourishes reminiscent of Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation." That's what this album sounds like to me. Catherine Wheel often bombard the listener with walls of guitar bombast that threaten to drown out the rhythm section but somehow, through excellent production techniques no doubt, the drums hold their own and the bass is actually as memorable in moments as the lead guitar work. Thanks to the bass playing, in fact, the songs never lose direction with all the lead guitar theatrics creatively washing over the listener in waves of crashing guitar-pedal mayhem. Standout tracks are everywhere, so it is really a pointless exercise on my part to point them out. For what it's worth, "I Want To Touch You" and "Bill and Ben" are magnificent concoctions that explode through my brain with every spin of this CD. But there is not a weak track on the album, and the depth of the songwriting is both emotionally and instrumentally rewarding. Pick up this CD, turn the volume way up, and bathe yourself in the rich guitar-wash of Catherine Wheel's "Ferment." Highly recommended.

As soon as I saw the music video for "Black Metallic" on MTV's 120 Minutes back in my high school days, I knew I had to have this album. Ferment is unbelievable and Catherine Wheel instantly became one of my favorite bands of the 1990s. Ferment was their debut album and has a more raw, stuffy sound than their next recordings. It has very loud guitars and drums but the songs are also very melodic and catchy. "Texture" really rocks and is an excellent opening track, hooking the listener right away. "I Want To Touch You" is very catchy and is perhaps, next to "Balloon," the most accessible track on Ferment. It was also released as a single. "Black Metallic" is heavy but is also one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard and the album version clocks in at over 7 minutes. It is amazing, especially when the guitars kick in again after the quiet interlude towards the end. Other favorites of mine include the rocking "Shallow," "Tumbledown" which has a beautiful melodic guitar that turns into a blazing riff, "Bill and Ben," the catchy "Salt" with the kickin' drums, and the fun Ba-B-Ba-Ba-"Balloon." The title track is interesting. It is very quiet and soothing and just explodes with headbangin' guitar. Catherine Wheel's later albums may be better produced with crisper sound, but Ferment is, perhaps, their most solid release. No weak tracks here at all. One final note: the lead singer is Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson's cousin! How cool is that?!

although i hesitate to refer to catherine wheel as ever qualifying as "shoegazers" ('loveless' and 'souvlaki' are the best examples of that genre) due to CW's more up-front songwriting tendencies, i do think that this excellent LP evokes similar feelings in the (lucky) listener...rob dickinson's extraordinary voice (one of the loveliest male voices in all of rock music) is prominently featured over the depth charges of guitar, rather than the reverse (Shoegazing 101)...

anyway, this is a truly wonderful album, with nary a single track being forgettable...CW has since faltered album after album, trying to be more "rock" and/or "pop" really has never suited them, and all of their albums after 'chrome' are not very good, in spite of what hardcore fans may attest...

'ferment' features a few standout tracks and a wealth of lovely "supporting cast members"...the title track and 'black metallic' are both stunning, as if the band had tapped into the emotional heart of what the real shoegazers were missing...regardless of the lyrics, dickinson's vox and the shimmering, hissing, soaring guitar torrents make for beautiful stuff...'indigo is blue' has a perfectly timed pause before its guitar solo (don't let the phrase "guitar solo" scare you off), and also makes gorgeous use of dickinson's uniquely "hollow" vocal style...the words to "salt" are mostly unintelligible (perhaps CW were gazing shoeward on occasion), yet the song gallops along gracefully, with peals of feedback buried behind the wall of guitars in its fadeout...like slowdive's 'machine gun', the song manages to be moving without any sort of decipherable lyrical hook...

anyone interested in the kind of lush rock music that doesn't seem to get made anymore as frequently as it did during the early 90's (nowadays we get tweeness, soulless post-rock, over-earnest emo schmaltz, and so forth) should absolutely seek out 'ferment'...

the follow-up, 'chrome', is structured in a very similar way ('texture' is to 'kill rhythm' as 'black metallic' is to 'pain') and is also worthwhile...

the shivers that raced up my spine years ago during 'black metallic's quiet bridge are easily brought back on every listen...this record should be cherished...

Catherine Wheel is (was) one of my favorite bands, so I'd like to guide new listeners toward what I consider to be their greatest album (despite the opinions of certain FERMENT fans on this forum) -- CHROME. The best songs on CHROME (in particular, "Broken Head" and "Pain") reach the absolute pinnacle of "shoegazer," known for its sensuous walls of atmosphere derived primarily from mutated guitar textures.

FERMENT does contain CW's signature song and blueprint of things to come, "Black Metallic," a worthy underground hit and still one of their best songs ever. But most of the other songs on this CD do not represent their best songwriting, to be perfectly honest. While "I Want to Touch You" and "She's My Friend" are good songs, the "shoegaze" sound is underdeveloped on these tracks as it is on most of FERMENT.

I consider FERMENT to be an evolutionary step toward the majestic brilliance of CHROME (see my review, if you so choose), not as good but still a worthy addition to my CD collection and, considered as a whole, a more consistent album than CHROME. However, you should note that my opinion may be rather unorthodox according to your typical CW acolyte. Another unorthodox view: I like the actual songs on HAPPY DAYS more than the ones on FERMENT (overall) even though they largely abandoned the shoegazer sound on HAPPY DAYS. Therefore, you might want to take my opinion with a grain of salt (as you should with all opinions, really) . . .

I am completely and hopelessly addicted to Catherine Wheel's "Ferment". It is difficult to imagine that a hard rock album can be beautiful, but this album truly is. The brilliant vocals, guitar work, and drumming all fuse to form an almost hypnotic masterpiece. The album starts off with the fantastic trio of "Texture", "I Want to Touch You", and "Black Metallic" and from then on you will be hooked. Just go along for the ride! Every single track is better than most singles that are played on the radio! In particular, the songs "Indigo is Blue", "Ferment", and "Tumbledown" are so incredible that I simply can't get the music out of my head!! This may sound like a bad thing, but believe me it isn't. Catherine Wheel is one of those bands that simply did everything right and yet failed to be commercially successful. For the life of me I can't understand why! As a band they are so incredibly talented and sophisticated that it makes the stuff on MTV and MuchMusic look like it it was written by third-graders on a PC music program! Unfortunately, the damage to this band is already done. They are nowhere to be found nowadays, and every true fan of rock music should feel a great sadness because of it. If you are a rock music fan, I beg you to give Catherine Wheel a listen! "Ferment" is one of the best albums of the 1990's bar none, and I simply can't recommend this album enough!

It's the weirdest thing. Basically I was given this album as a gift because the person who gave it to me, felt bad that she recommended this band, instead of another one she was thinking of. She didn't like CW but found out that I really did after hearing "Happy Days".
My first impression was that it was louder but slower. Different but actually very very monumental and just had moments that perplexed me that it was old and buried away in the past of early nineties, shoegazery stuff like MBV and Mineral. I loved it and loved it more. Over time it kept falling through the cracks of my cd collection as I went deeper and deeper into the abyss that is indie rock music. Basically to this day I'm barely ever satisfied with anything. And I've heard a lot. Slowly but surely I find this album creeping around the corners of my consciousness.

So now I find it yet again. Listening to it and being stunned at how well "Black Metallic" transcends over time. As well as just the near perfect grace these guys demonstrate with a sound of Depeche Mode singing intermingling playfully with a driving wall of My Bloody Valentine-like quiet louditude.

I remember hearing Catherine Wheel's "Ferment" on an alternative radio station in the early 90s... I was blown away then. Recently, I saw the video for "I Want to Touch You" and it all came flooding back. I bought the album the next day and can't stop playing it. This album is addictive, the sound gets into your bones and sends chills down your spine. In "Black Metallic" his voice is like liquid velvet. Gorgeous sensations, raw and beautiful. It feels new and so original with every song leaving you in euphoria. The best part is, it sounds even better today then it did when I first heard it!!! This one goes into my 20 of the best albums I've ever heard, period.

For starters, Black Metallic is one of the most overlooked songs of the last 15 years. This CD is worth buying just for that song alone.

This album itself phenomenal. As noted below, it's similar to Ride's Nowhere, the main difference being that Ferment has aged far better than that time-capsuled album. There are moments where it sounds dated, but overall Ferment is still better than Nowhere - and the vocals aren't as annoying.

Ferment is solid all the way through. High points include the above mentioned Black Metallic, I Want to Touch You, Texture, Ferment, Indigo is Blue and Balloon.

The only drawback with this CD is that it is in chronic need of re-mastering. The entire CW catalogue could use a good re-issue, but this album and it's b-sides alone would blow away any 90's re-issue put out to date - as the b-sides were just as good as the material on this CD.

A forgotten 90's classic that deserves another look.

This album shaped my entire life as a musician and as a music follower. It trancends sound and was the soundtrack to my life for many years. The soft, haunting vocals mixed with the guitars just blew me away. Overlooked by Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and even My Bloody Valentine. Do not miss a chance of hearing this album. Their best to date. Chrome is great too.