Customer Reviews

Hate

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have never heard of the Scottish rock group The Delgados and are reading this, please STOP right now and just go and pick this up. A brilliant album, 'Hate' contains some of the groups most indelible melodies and hooks, and has a majestic sweep that is almost euphoric despite the fact that the album contains some truly dark lyrics. In fact, this contrast is what makes this such a great album. With each work, The Delgados have quickly burned themselves into my mind as my favorite group. They are definitely a band to watch in the future. Exciting stuff.

I fell in love with the first track (after hearing it as the OP for "Gunslinger Girl") and knew I had to have the rest of the album. That first track makes an unforgettable impression. The lush orchestration embellishes and clarifies the music. There's more going on here than mere clever songwriting and competant musicianship. I think that fans of the late Elliot Smith will get on well with this album; even though the styles differ, the sentiment and spirit much overlap.

The Great Eastern was a tough act to follow, and the Delgados quickly became one of my favorite bands after that album.My first reaction to "Hate" was that is had great songs, but lacked "punch." Soon however, the album starts getting into your very soul, with the emotional power of the music (I've always been someone who listens to the music more than the lyrics) more than making up for any loud guitars. Note: the distortion in track 1 is intentional, to add contrast to Emma's buitiful vocals. Listen to tracks 1,3, and 5. Heck, just BUY the album, and if you don't have The Great Eastern, buy that too. The Delgados play the kind of wonderful, creative stuff that represents Indie Rock at its best.

I learned of the Delgados from the somewhat unlikely source (though not uncommon) of their one anime open The Light before we Land for Gunslinger Girl season 1. Such a beautiful and complex song like much of their work. That's what surprised me the most, for me this is an obscure band, from Scottland, on their own label (mostly) put that with a musical depth and complexity and it just blew me away. Wow!

Now the title of this review is indicating the odd number songs on Hate - the ones sung by Emma Pollock (who is off now on a solo career) - I think are superior. She is quite a vocal talent. Can't say much more than what's already stated in the other reviews..enjoy!

I just keep coming back to this album over and over again. I don't know of anything that even vaguely resembles it in terms of mood and atmosphere. No other Delgados album draws it's inspiration from the same place as this. It truly is a singular vision with everybody in sync with that vision. The strings, the mellotron voices, the astonishing layered arrangements, the breathtakingly beautiful melodies, the sublimely pretty moments and the crunching dirty anguish all add up to something that, as far as I know, is genuinely a one of a kind.

An incredible fourth album by a truely incredible band. They seem to totally hit the nail on the head everytime when it comes to expressing everyday life in the UK through glazed eyes. You will not find a better album until they release their next! Trust us, you will love this band if you have an ounce of childhood and young adulthood memory left.

...The arrangements work amazingly well, the lyrics are amazing, insightful, and progress from the dichtomies of "The Light Before We Land" and "Hate" toward more balanced and sarcastic takes on loss such as "If This Is A Plan." There is genuine growth, beauty, and pain on this record. The previous album, The Great Eastern, was beautiful in how alive and surprising it was where as this album is a much more deliberate beauty. At first the more controlled sound took some getting used for me, since I enjoyed the nakedness of The Great Eastern so much, but after a few listens I find myself constantly amazed by how beautiful a work of art it is. There are very few bands in the world that do anything that even makes gestures at being significant, and this band has been one of the handful I've ever come across to make the leap. Everything they've done is amazing. It's a testament to the narrowness of the American mind that this is a band that is relatively obscure in the U.S. Rolling Stone gave this album three stars, then in the very next issue put it on the list of the Editor's Hot picks. Go figure. I guess it takes a little more sensitivity than most people are capable of to love delicate music.

The arrangements work amazingly well, the lyrics are amazing, insightful, and progress from the dichtomies of "The Light Before We Land" and "Hate" toward more balanced and sarcastic takes on loss such as "If This Is A Plan." There is genuine growth, beauty, and pain on this record. The previous album, The Great Eastern, was beautiful in how alive and surprising it was where as this album is a much more deliberate beauty. At first the more controlled sound took some getting used for me, since I enjoyed the nakedness of The Great Eastern so much, but after a few listens I find myself constantly amazed by how beautiful a work of art it is. There are very few bands in the world that do anything that even makes gestures at being significant, and this band has been one of the handful I've ever come across to make the leap. Everything they've done is amazing. It's a testament to the narrowness of the American mind that this is a band that is relatively obscure in the U.S. Rolling Stone gave this album three stars, then in the very next issue put it on the list of the Editor's Hot picks. Go figure. I guess it takes a little more sensitivity than most people are capable of to love delicate music.

Now I get the tie-in, why the makers of the Anime series "Gunslinger Girl" used The Light Before We Land as its theme song. Just like the Anime, this album is dark but impossible to resist.

These songs are simply amazing, grand sweeping orchestra-esque movements contained within a rock framework. Plus, any band that composes in 3/4 or 6/8 time gets my attention.

Check this one out.

The Delgados have quickly affirmed themselves as my favourite band of the moment - the last three albums (Universal Audio, Hate and The Great Eastern) have been absolutely astonishingly wonderful collections of the most perfect music you'll ever hear.

Although often compared to Belle and Sebastian, I feel these comparisons are unjust. B&S are a very good band, but The Delgados have a sound entirely of their own, and each release of theirs shows a diversity, and a complete willingness to try something new.

On Hate, we see them take a more layered approach, lavishing the music with sweeping orchestral beauty. However, where some bands over-produce (Phil Spector production being typically guilty of this - see Starsailor), this is done to perfection.

I won't go into every track, but if you're worried and want to "try before you buy" - although how anyone can be trepidacious with all these 5 star reviews is beyond me - I would suggest you listen to All You Need is Hate (a perfectly executed pop number, both upbeat and provoking) and All Rise (a song so good I defy anyone not to have the hairs stand up on the back of their neck).

The Delgados are definitely the best thing to come out of Glasgow's progressively more impressive scene in a long while.