Customer Reviews

Gaze

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

 

 

While Gaze has a similar quality to many previous releases from this unique band, it also goes further in many respects. First, we have a new female vocalist in Alison "Lady" Wheeler. At first listen I could have sworn I was hearing Jaqui. Listen closely though and on a track like Get Here you can hear a distinct similarity to Briana as well.

As for some of the other tracks, I dare anyone to try to get Let Go With The Flow out of their head after just two or three listens. It has a hook that goes beyond any other Beautiful South tune. On Life Vs. The Lifeless we hear an almost reggae approach that is most refreshing.

There are, of course, other tracks that are 100% Beautiful South. Just a Few Things That I Ain't, Sailing Solo, and Angels and Devils are quintessential Heaton/Rotheray songs, with the rhyme and melody that can only be penned by such tunesmiths. Not a weak track on the entire disc.

It is virtually criminal that "critics" are allowed to pen the vile driven seen on this page. So what are we to make of a review that BEGINS with "the world doesn't need..." -- any axes to grind here? Well, fans of great music, you don't need to worry: Beautiful South are quite alive and doing very well. "Painting It Red" was not an easy album, and left many folks scratching their heads because it didn't quite fit with their "happy-go-lucky cynics" image; for me, it is their grotesquely underrated, rather intensely melancholy masterpiece. A few years later, without North American distribution, "Gaze" follows it up with one of their most acoustic and sharply percussive albums. Just listen to the production of the guitar and cymbals! "Critics" are clearly so ill at ease with B. South because P.D. Heaton and company are so unconcerned with what it takes to keep a band at the edge of coolness and they do such odd things: this musical partnership revels in the power of the human voice, then spin it in all directions with such intense and tense lyrics -- followed up by a passionate or tender song, enough to keep us thinking and laughing. "Gaze" is fresh and passionate and new, and the Heaton/ Rotheray partnership is as sparkling as ever.

Overall a very good disk with some very snappy, poppy tunes with the acerbic wit and observation that the Beautiful South are known for. In part, I think their inclusion of POP rather than purely CEREBRAL tunes is part of the reason that some don't like this record. If you are one who's looking for something profound, there are other places you should look. However, if you are looking for a very listenable continuation of what first drew you to the Beautiful South I don't think you'll be disappointed. They continue to present the ironic and sometimes-too-close-to-the-truth in well-written and clever ways.

It's always exciting to get the latest Beautiful South album and bury yourself in their little catchy tunes and incredibly poignant and imaginative lyrics.

The tracks on Gaze are lyrically dominating, each with hooks that only singers Paul Heaton (get his Biscuit Boy CD if you can - it's well worth it), Dave Hemingway, and newcomer Alison Wheeler (replacing Jacqueline Abbott) can pull off.

One of the many things I've enjoyed about BS throughout the years is their incredibly broad instrumentation - even when performing live (Painting It Red tour, San Francisco, 2000, Fillmore).

Gaze fits quite well with the rest of the Beautiful South albums. Stand-out tracks are the single "Just a Few Things I Ain't" and the addictive "Pretty".

Their SF show a few years ago left me stunned (though I was a big Housemartins fan in the 80's and have been a BS fan since the beginning) that a band that gets absolutely no airplay (at least in the SF Bay area, including Sacramento) can have such a loyal following. However, this is just evidence of the fact that BS continually cranks out high-quality music that leaves your feet tapping and you wishing for more and more.

I love the Beautiful South, I do, but Gaze is the work of a band in stasis. There are wonderful songs here, full of their trademark sarcasm and gentleness, such as "Pretty" and "101% Man". But there's also routine in it. "Just a Few Things That I Ain't" marries its wicked lyric to the melody of "Cool Jerk". And none of the others tracks have impressed themselves on my mind after months of listening.

I'm going to keep this brief but I have been a diehard Beautiful South fan since 89, and the Housemartins before that as well. I think this new cd is BY FAR the best whole crafted cd they have done since the release of their debut. The melodies are unbelievably catchy. I'm so addicted to it, non stop playing of this cd. I can't get the songs out of my head. Not sure how someone could find this cd as sounding 'tired'. It's truly full of magic, a HUGE improvement over Painting it Red which I found completely bland! Really though, go buy Gaze, truly a gem.

I respect everyone's opinion here....but, I wonder if they are BS fans or someone who just picked up the album. Beautiful South of course never had great popularity in America; they sometimes could be too witty and cute. But this cd is their best effort if you are looking for thoughtful, clever lyrics and harmonies and musicianship. OK, I admit the first time I heard "Pretty" with it's slightly country feel, I thought uh-oh. But I'm not sure what the fans are longing for, another "Old Red Eyes is Back"?? They have moved forward into middle age, some of the songs reflect this. "The Gates" is a great example of the male/female back and forth we've loved in the past; "Angels and Devils" another classic Paul/Dave masterpiece; "Just a Few Things that I Ain't" another witty play by Paul about things he's not going to be. I suspect that if you go back and give this cd another few listens, you'll see the subtle beautiful songwriting and great songs. Yes, there were not hits here, but that was not always what BS was about. For me, since they were not played in America, I never knew which songs were hits or not....it's not something you should be concerned about unless you work in top 40 radio.

It is virtually criminal that "critics" are allowed to pen the vile driven seen on this page. So what are we to make of a review that BEGINS with "the world doesn't need..." -- any axes to grind here? Well, fans of great music, you don't need to worry: Beautiful South are quite alive and doing very well. "Painting It Red" was not an easy album, and left many folks scratching their heads because it didn't quite fit with their "happy-go-lucky cynics" image; for me, it is their grotesquely underrated, rather intensely melancholy masterpiece. A few years later, without North American distribution, "Gaze" follows it up with one of their most acoustic and sharply percussive albums. Just listen to the production of the guitar and cymbals! "Critics" are clearly so ill at ease with B. South because P.D. Heaton and company are so unconcerned with what it takes to keep a band at the edge of coolness and they do such odd things: this musical partnership revels in the power of the human voice, then spin it in all directions with such intense and tense lyrics -- followed up by a passionate or tender song, enough to keep us thinking and laughing. "Gaze" is fresh and passionate and new, and the Heaton/ Rotheray partnership is as sparkling as ever.

If you already know The Beautiful South, there's not much new here. Which could be a good thing, cause I never understood the desire for change. But I don't get the feeling they really worked on improving what they had.
Apparently TBS has always had interesting lyrics, but I never really hear them, it's all about the music and melody to me. And those are good. All songs swing at some level, nice and relax.
I still prefer Brianna's voice though.

Best songs: Live vs The Lifeless, Sailing Solo and Half of Him.
[edit:] Let Go With the Flow's getting catchy.

Altogether, it's nice, but I'm missing the melodies they had on the first 3 albums, and Blue... Doubtful if there'll be hits off this one.

Heaton is coming off terrible sales on the solo Lp "Biscuit Boy". Key songwriter, Rotheray, threatens to quit for lack of attention. Sole vocal female does quit. Result....find a chick who sounds just like the previous two (done), Give a full half the writting credits to Rotheray to keep him here (done). Dave and Paul go to Europe to write lyrics. Dave and Paul go somewhere else in Europe to write music. Dave and Paul return to their band in England and expect the band to be excited about all the stuff they did without them. (mojo not accopmlished). Just as on previous albums, you, the listener, get light Lightfoot and simple Simon. There is no rock. There is no connection between musicians and lyricist. You have an overly rhyming lyricist being accomodated by a dull band who wishes they were elsewhere. A big dud of an album because Paul Heaton is big headed, and thinks he's a popstar that can sell anything he can rhyme. Another bad albumn from a man who could do so much, but still tries to get you to pay for him taking the easy way out. Paul...try writing a song while you're with a band....remember Pollard.