Customer Reviews

Guerrilla

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Welsh popsters dispense their third album with relative ease. Once again they bridge new creative gaps and create one of the best albums of 1999.

The Super Furry Animals real talent lies in their ability to combine upbeat pop elements with the avant garde. This album lies creatively somewhere between "Parklife" period Blur and Mogwai. For an "arty" group however the Super Furry Animals remain a lot of fun and are anything but unlistenable like some of their peers.

Take album opener, Check it Out, a one and a half minute ditty that continues accelerating the same sample over an odd bass groove. Then "Do or Die" kicks in and we are in pop/punk heaven for another two minutes before we reach the first of the albums many highpoints. This being the lovely "The Turning Tide."

Northern Lites, first single, is a wonderful slice of Beach Boys pop with a tropical flavorings and steel drumming. The album then begins to experiment for a few tracks. "Wherever I Lay My Phone That's My Home" is repellant at first but after several listens its genius will shine through.

Second single "Fire in my Heart" is a triumph and closer "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" is the catchiest thing here and wouldn't be out of place if it were recorded in the Brit explosion of 1995.

SFA are undoubtedly the most constantly creative group working in music today. (Mansun are up there) They combine the catchy with the avante garde in a way that no other group do and each of their albums gets better perhaps international success lay on the horizon.

At the height of the Furries innovation came 1999's Guerrilla, a chaotic clash of styles which somehow moulded itself into their best work. Similar to Rings Around The World but without the trappings of major label backing, this is a stunning collection which goes at breakneck speed.

From punk-pop (Do Or Die) to calypso (Northern Lites, surely the best opening single ever released off an album) to novelty techno (the utterly bonkers and utterly wonderful Wherever I Lay My Phone That's My Phone), Guerrilla somehow retains a focus despite it's eclecticism, with the band's genius knack for melody never faltering no matter what genre is attempted.

The centrepiece is Something's Come From Nothing, a 6 minute work of pure majesty. For all the intricacies on the other tracks, Somethings... is beautifully simple, straight-forward bass, guitar and drums providing the backbone. But this is Cian Ciaran's finest hour, delivering an absolute knock-out of a spaced-out melody that is undoubtedly the most staggeringly, heartbreakingly wondrous electronic piece of music ever released this side of Boards Of Canada.

"Something's come from nothing, nothing seems to come from something", is the songs key repeatedly line, Gruff barely singing, barely registering above the backing. It's fitting that SFA's best song (which is some compliment) also sadly sums up their UK career today. For all the pop gems that have loitered around the Top 20 for a week or so, it is absolutely criminal that Britain's best pop band have yet to have a Top 5 album or a Top 10 single. So while Keane, Stereophonics and the rest can have their now guaranteed success from next to nothing, the band creating most defintely something, heck, EVERYTHING, are left as a relatively popular cult band. And that is heartbreaking.

I love getting new cd's, especially when they're as good as this one. Just when I thought I knew this cd like the back of my hand I found out about a hidden track called 'Citizen's Band.' Just put the cd in and play it like normal, then hit the rewind or review button and you can rewind for 5 minutes before 'Check It Out' to the hidden track. It's like getting a new single only it's been on your shelf for ages!

Wow. The variation of the tracks on this album are astounding. From the quirky techno of "Check it Out" and "The door to This House...." to the psycadelic rock of "Do or Die" and "Nightvision". How many other bands (Beasties apart) could use steel drums without making them sound awful? In fact, they make "Northern Lites" single of the year 1999. There are few records for which you have high expectations that still astound you. This is one of them. It sounded stunning the day I bought it, and sounds even better with time. This album doesn't just blow other things out of the water, it blows the water and the earth beneath it aswell. The last truely great album of the 20th century. You must buy this.

The Super Furries have yet to dissapoint me. Every album to this point (including Phantom power) has been an incredible platter of outstanding songs, thoughtful lyrics and ingenious sound construction, but Guerrilla really stands head and shoulders above the rest.

SFA have an unparrelled ability to incorporate disparate genres, styles and sounds into hyper-charged modern rock tunes, and this album sees them assimilating island rythms, steel drums, wistful electronic flourishes, spazzy fuzz guitar freakouts and general playfulness with such a focused drive that you find it hard to believe that no one has ever thought of this before.

SFA's ability to blend innovation and familiarity reaches its zenith on the album's centerpiece song suite, which includes "Wherever I Lay My Phone", "Specific Ocean" and the gorgeous "Some Things Come from Nothing." Electronica blends seemlessly with rock, and that hyperactive playfullness rears its addled head.
Overall, SFA's best album (so far), and an excellent introduction to the band.

The best albums, they say, grow on you. This one certainly does. I was unsure about the musical wizardry and electronic gizmos on this album at first. Why bother with all that fluff when you have a damm fine band writing splendid songs? But, having seen the band live, and listened to the whole thing I realised that the album was more than just a collection of songs strung together with bleeps and stuff. This is a complete experience. I you like any of the Furry's stuff then you'll love this album. I can't listen to it enough at the moment.

No matter what anyone says, this was the best album released in 1999. Just the way the songs are structured, it's so incredibley unique. Just listen to 'Northern Lites' and 'Mobile Phone' which pretty much represent the diversity on this album and you'll understand just how great of an album this is. And it's light years ahead of its time, people will look back at Guerilla and realise how great of a band SFA are.

I am so glad to be Welsh, with the music our country is making, Super Furry Animals, Stereophonics, Catatonia, and of course The mighty Manic Street Preachers. Guerilla is such a good album, different in every respect, do or die is a class song, but northern lights is the best, completly brilliant.

The valleys can sometimes obscure the stars depending on where you are SFA seem to have their heads in the clouds permanently!This is a great mixture of everything good about SFA,a calypso(Northern Lites) and their stab at Cotton eyed Joe(Wherever I lay my phone) even manage to sound like they are recorded on Mars they are that different to the usual indie barf(Stereophonics take note).The lyrics remain full of twisted wisdom and Turning Tide and Fire in my heart are both incredibly beautiful,the only downer really is that Night Vision should be two minutes shorter and Do or Die two minutes longer,the lyrics on Cewing Chewing gum really say little to me about my life. But may they keep on breaking down barriers for a while to come.Top Stuff P.S. I have not got a mobile phone

What to say of SFA? That they're brilliant? OK. They're (let's face it) a little "off"? Umm, yeah. But what strikes me most about this amazing band is that they're totally fearless, the way all great artists are fearless. The way Bob Dylan's fearless. Or the way the Beatles were. I think you get the idea....