Have You Fed the Fish? + 16 [Import]

Badly Drawn Boy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• ASIN: B00006J67B
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,540,052 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Coming In To Land

2. Have You Fed The Fish

3. Born Again

4. 40 Days 40 Fights

5. All Possibilities

6. I Was Wrong

7. You Were Right

8. Centrepeace

9. How

10. The Further I Slide

11. Imaginary Lines

12. Using Our Feet

13. Tickets To What You Need

14. What Is It Now

15. Bedside Story

16. Where Were You (Bonus CD)

17. Something To Talk About (Bonus CD)

18. A Minor Incident (Bonus CD)

19. River Sea Ocean (Bonus CD)

20. Sha La La (Bonus CD)

See all 31 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Have you fed them?, January 30, 2005

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Have You Fed The Fish? (Audio CD)

After his brilliant debut, "Hour of Bewilderbeast," Badly Drawn Boy (real name: Damon Gough) had a lot to live up to in his second (non-soundtrack) album. And he comes close to delivering in "Have You Fed the Fish?", a sparkling folky-pop album that displays his musical depth and complexity.

It opens with an announcer (like on a plane) informing us that outside the window is a cloud that looks just like Badly Drawn Boy. It's a pretentious moment that isn't too annoying -- especially when it dissolves into sparkling, layered pop. Gough relies on piano pop in songs like "40 Days 40 Fights," and the passionate ballad "How." It's his best area; he can really wring feeling from those keys.

But he also dips into the more acoustic sound, with the danceable "Born Again" and the low-key "I Was Wrong." And "Tickets To What You Need" is more acoustic than any other song -- stripped down, with Gough's vocals in the forefront, he sounds like he's standing on a table and joyously singing to the crowds. After a few more chillingly panoramic pop melodies and piano-led laments, he bows out in the soaring fuzz-guitar "Bedside Story."

It's all too easy to alienate someone you love, perhaps forever. Gough seems to be speaking through his songs to someone else, saying "I Was Wrong," "You Were Right" (two songs from the middle of this album). He retains the experimental edge, giving extra layers and sonic flourishes to what could have been an ordinary indie-folk-pop album.

If there's any flaw in "Have You Fed The Fish?", it's that it seems sometimes that Gough is trying a little too hard. Relax, mate. His acoustic guitar and exquisite piano playing are the middle of the album's sound, but he backs it up with horns, strings, sometimes thunderous percussion, and cymbals. Not to mention the smooth synthy sweeps in songs like "Centre Peace."

Gough's mellow voice is a bit like an instrument in itself -- he seems kind of timid about being in the forefront musically. He only breaks out in "Tickets To What You Need," sounding playful and charming. There are some lyrical stumbles ("And woman, I'll make you a girl"?), but most of the time he manages to wrap strangely sensitive words around the songs. "And you/were right to bide your time and not buy into my misery/Well the good things are never free..."

Gough doesn't reach the heights of his debut album, but taken alone "Have You Fed The Fish" is a beautiful little pop classic overshadowed by the bigger classic, "Bewilderbeast."