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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the classics, February 10, 2001
Heyday, the fifth full length CD by the Church is a timeless classic. From beginning to end it is one of the Church's best efforts. Probably most similiar in sound to their early Blurred Crusade release. If you liked their early music or Starfish you will find your money well spent on this 12 song release. I have owned this CD for over 10 years and have never grown tired of it. A truly classic release!
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best Church albums in new two disc edition--you may want to go with the 1 disc edition, October 6, 2002
First, do you need this two disc edition? Not if you have the 1989 U.S. reissue or the 1999 UK reissue. The previous editions (both the US edition mastered by Bill Inglot and the 1999 edition done at Abbey Road) sound better than this one. It isn't quite as loud and the dynamic range isn't sqashed quite as much. The 1999 release has all three bonus tracks that are on the second disc of this one but none of the CD-ROM videos. If you need the CD-ROM videos, by all means invest in this otherwise you can pay less and get a better sounding edition.
Wilson-Piper and Koppes jangling guitars dominate much of the proceedings from the opening Myrrh to "Columbus" one of the best, most melodic bits of music that Kilbey had written to this point in time. "Tantilized" opens with a propulsive drum beat and guitars before into exploding into life with Kilbey's lead vocal. Add some horns for extra effect and you have a classic Church track that grabs you by the collar and doesn't let go.
Heyday finds The Church in top form. Every song and moment on the CD is flawless. Although frequently grouped with the Paisley bands, The Church show an appreciation for psychedelic music without sacrificing their own originality. Kilbey's often cryptic lyrics sound a little more straight foward here and the band adds horns and outside instrumentation for texture to the songs. My only complaint is that Kilbey's vocals are a bit buried in the mix when they should be a bit more forward but that's a band/producer's choice. Otherwise the production by Peter Walsh ("Peter Gabriel Plays Live") fits the muscular, melodic music they are playing here.
Personally, I'd go for the single disc edition (although you can't read the lyrics in the thin booklet unless you use a microscope)as it has all 2 of the 3 bonus tracks ("The View", "Trance Endings" but missing "As You Will") minus the videos (which some folks may not be able to play on their computer without the addition of plug-ins/software) as it sounds better to my ears. If you have the original version that Arista issued in the U.S. on CD mastered by Bill Inglot, it's still the best sounding of the lot to my ears so I would try and find that and pick up the b-sides somewhere else.
Heyday will brighten your collection.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"... throbs along quite nicely, I reckon." - S. Kilbey, May 22, 2000
This review is from: Heyday (Audio CD)
I was seventeen years old when I purchased this record, in late 1995. I remember vividly the first occasion on which I played it - it was late at night, in the company of my then partner (who hated it then and probably still does), in a house the name of whose owner I cannot recall and which I have never revisited. I recall my unfettered delight at hearing Myrrh announced by its shimmering opening guitar riff and I remember drifting around this cavernous house in a sort of trance as the record unfolded. I remember hearing As You Will for the first time and being highly amused at its discotheque-style kitsch. Personal recollections aside, Heyday is a record to which I have returned again and again over the years and which, though my musical tastes are, to borrow from Carmina Burana, velut luna statu variabilis, I have never since failed to enjoy. After Myrrh - which remains one of my favourite songs by The Church - the album doesn't falter (traversing a brace of splendid pop tunes) until Night of Light, at which point the record tapers into four songs that for me are The-Church-by-the-numbers, though songs that any lesser band would doubtless kill to have on one of its records. This album is not only a true musical archaeologist's treasure but is obscenely cheap (at least in Australia). Any young up-and-comer wishing to acquaint him- or herself with The Church's back catalogue would do well to purchase a copy of Heyday (a word to the wise: don't be put off by the band members' hilariously awful hairdos on the cover).
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