Customer Reviews

Forever Now

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Initially, I was disappointed. I guess I was listening for some of the sound from my favorite CD "True Colors", which features the driving "Hot Water." Nothing grabbed me the first time through. The tempos of many songs seemed awfully slow to me, and the melodies uninspired. On the plus side, however, the famous Mark King bassline enjoys a richness that it has not had for many albums, although in most songs it still lacks the attack that converts a great bassline into a truly awesome riff. I decided to reserve judgement, however, until I had listened to it a few more times, many of my favorite albums being ones that didn't hit me quite right the first time I listened. Now after three listenings, the album has grown on me alot. The basslines on many of the songs are excellent, as is to be expected, and the melodies have grown on me too. I still find several of the songs to be mediocre, but I think this album parts with industry tradition by putting most of the good songs toward the end. There are several excellent songs with the classic Level 42 sound. If you are a die hard Level 42 fan, you'll relish the return of the prominent bass work. If you're new to Level 42, I'd recommend instead, "True Colors" and "World Machine" (the UK release) as primers to this great band.

While "All Over You" - a terrific dance track - is missing from this version of Level 42's funky, jazzy pop masterpiece, this Resurgence release has five additional tracks not on the original 1994 RCA release, plus an improved version of "Billy's Gone."

What must I say. The last album of my favourite group. With the help of drummer Phil Gould, Forever Now is a classic Level 42 album. It's better than the Guarenteed and Staring At The Sun album. Listen to songs as Past Lives, Time Will Heal and The Sunbed Song and you know what I mean. This album hits number 3 after World Machine and True Colours in my Level 42 album list.

It's hard not to think of the mid 90's music scene and not get a little mixed up. There was trance over here,high NRG over here,new jack swing over here and each seemed to be on these different,crazy collision courses. During the 80's Level 42 were one of the most durable and frankly consistant bands of the era,always based in it's jazz-funk roots but adding dashes of pop and even disco along the way. When their 90's debut Guaranteed came out.....things hadn't changed for them. A few years later when Level 42 went back into the studio to record their second album of the decade they decided that,for the first time since the mid 80's to mix it up a bit with some modern elements such as the fuzzy,droning hip-hop beats that pretty much dominated 90's funk as well as some elements of disco revival. But just because they changed their beats doesn't mean they changed their entire approch. Mark King's bass brilliance and Mike Lindup melodic keyboards still hold down the fort.Lyrically there is an interesting tendency here to speak a great deal of the transendant;"Past Lives" with it's quirky grooves actually deals with reincarnation wheras the likeminded "The Bends" even references Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.On "Don't Bother Me" there is some overdo cultural reference to the bands salad days referring to someone "spending the 80's in a trance" and having "led us all on a merry dance". There's still plenty of the bands breezy,humane'lovestruck and poetic mood to go around as "Romance,"Time Will Heal" and "The Sunbed Song" all reveal."Learn To Say No" was a a huge hit off the album and it's no wonder because it has the most strong resemblance to the bands classic sound. One interesting quality here is how much the band draw musically here from 70's R&B/funk. Yes it was the genre that inspired them in the first place but they were never a retro band. Despite the contemporary leanings, between Mike's heavy use of the fender rhodes and horns on a lot of songs this is definately the closest Level 42 ever came to 70's funk-soul revival. At the same time their own sound always came first. Even though it has fanfaring horns and this urban flavor the title song,also a hit maintains the magical musical quality that has sustained Level 42 over the years. Another "hit" song is "Love In A Peaceful World",which sums up perfectly the cultural atmospherics of the period-a need for carefree romance in a world based on paranoia and revisionist history. The album actually opens up with one of it's odder songs "Billy's Gone",a rather dark and mournful song that recalls some of Level 42's earlier instrumental pieces like "Dune Tune" only with that modern fuzzy beat. This album was originally released in 1994 but a couple years later was reissued with a different track listing.For some reason two excellent songs were removed and are on the second CD of this set. One is "Tired Of Waiting",a classic Level 42 jam in every sense of the word. "All Over You",also uptempo is a more "contempo" club track,at least as far as Level 42 could get at that time. In fact four of the remixes that fill out the second disk of this set are remixes of that song that are even more clubby. Ditto for the rest of the remixes here,save for two true-to-the-original mixes of "Love In A Peaceful World". During a time when generic sounds were accepted and even critically acclaimed during this era of pop music Level 42 were still remaining very true to themselves. And even if they weren't releasing albums at all consistantly during this time it was nice to hear them keeping true to the context of their own musical vision.

While not the best level 42, This is the most modern and a great albumn of bass riffs, drum loops, and an awesome funk feel. Some nice pop ballads also, my personal fav's include the Ballad, "Romance" and the very funky "Billy's gone". Billy will remind you another popular song! Also, a great flashback to "turn it on" during the jam session following one tracks body..see if you can find it!

Level 42's best album since the mid-80's heyday of "World Machine" and "Running in the Family." Drummer and lyricist Phil Gould returns to the band on what would become their final studio album. The upbeat title track is the highlight, but there are many strong tracks here, including "Learn to Say No," "The Bends" and the Hall & Oates-ish "Love in a Peaceful World." Incidentally, the track listing is considerably different from the version released overseas, but both are quite good.

Lindups voice has matured.. taking a slightly more risky path... great funky 80's drumming 'n bass has returned .. 'All Over You' is the best track. This albumn grows on you... dont take a long drive without this in your CD changer!!!

This CD is very easy to listen and relax to. Ranging from upbeat and slightly jazzy to romantic and moving, this music sounds better and better every time you listen to it. I found many of the songs running through my head at points during the day. I hadn't heard much from this group since the "World Machine" and "Running in the Family" days, until I recently bought this CD. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the changes in their style were slight, and an improvement, if anything. Well worth purchasing if you liked any of their previous work.

This is a deep and thoughtful swan song of Level 42. The music is rich and meaningful. A must for all intellectuals with taste out there.

When this was first released I bought this, mildly surprised that Level 42 had a new album and that it was actually in the local CD store. I thought it would be as lackluster as "Guaranteed", but I was proven far wrong. I really enjoyed the return of the overall techno-funkiness which had been missed after "World Machine". But here the problems began. The CD single of "All Over You" included an extra track called "Learn to Say No". Also, some months later there was ANOTHER release of the album with a different picture and different tracks. When I bought that as well, I realized the tracks on the newer release were of inferior sound quality, and some of them had been remixed.

Long story short, the only way I can play the album is on my iPod, starting with "Learn to Say No" from the single, then all of the tracks from both versions of the album, using original version when possible, finishing up with "Talking in Your Sleep", then ending it with a reprise of "Learn" which is the other mix from the single.

Played that way, the entire album is an incredible masterpiece. Broken up into three releases like it is, however, it won't be quite so much enjoyment to listen to. For example, people have touted "Billy's Gone" on the new version as an improvement, which I have disagreed about since it just feels right to have the verses together followed by the choruses. It makes the song build up as though it really meant something.

The caveat is that you must buy both versions of the album, AND somehow find the single of "All Over You" which is long out of print. But it's worth it.