Customer Reviews

Heyday

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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!

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.

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).

While in College in 1988, I heard "Under The Milky Way" and purchased Starfish (an excellent CD). My 2nd Church purchase was Heyday. After hearing it, I went out and bought the rest of their CDs. Yes, this CD is that good. One of my all time favorites from the 80s. It stands out like the grand homes of 100 years ago. It is truly a musical monument. If you are thinking about getting it, get two and give one to a friend!

I first got hooked on this album when it came out in 1985. I was fifteen. It evoked a majestic, soaring landscape that I've never quite found in any other album. The sublimity of these melodies, lyrics, and guitar textures is unparalleled. I'd not be surprised if this band will be more legendary after its demise, like Big Star or The Velvet Underground. This is pure magic.

"Heyday" has been one of my favourite albums for at least seventeen years now. It's an album of rich, shimmering images, conveyed on music that is at once complex, elegant, and mesmerising. "Heyday" was also written and recorded in Australia and captures the feel of our warm, dreamy summers. Not for nothing are the tracks "Myrrh" and "Tantalised" so named. This is the aural equivalent of lying on your couch on a long summer evening watching the light fade, burning incense and imagining tales of far away.

I make the journey of listening to this album every six months ago and it is always fresh. I'm always dismayed that reviewers spend so much time talking about "Starfish". It may be better known, and possibly musically more advanced, but I find it colder and it doesn't draw me in the same way. "Heyday" is softer, richer, and more inspiring. If you were ever going to buy just one Church album, make it this one.

EMI recently re-released four Church cd's. Each one of them with b-sides and videos on the second cd. Unless you have a very well trained ear for such things you can't notice a difference in the "digitally remastered" recording as compared to the original cd. However, if you don't have this on cd now would be a good time to buy it. Even if you have it on cd already it is worth the purchase because the b-sides and videos cd is very cool. You need a plug-in for your computer in order to get the videos to work. Once they work though it is very cool to watch them again since they don't play them on T.V. anymore. The videos are not full-screen, but they are big enough on your monitor to enjoy them. Quality of the video is very good. A must purchase for The Church fan.

Anyway...

A definite keeper that I've often returned to over the years, The Church's HEYDAY is one of those rare albums that are pleasurable listening, from start to finish. The Church are an Australian group who were grossly underrated here in the United States. While the band did get some notice for 1988's STARFISH -and even made the Top 40 with "Under the Milky Way," it should have been 1986's HEYDAY which gave The Church the recognition and success they deserved. Produced by Peter Walsh (a major 80s producer who worked with everyone from Donovan and Stevie Wonder to The Simple Minds and Heaven 17), HEYDAY is a brilliant collection of songs, mixing the group's signature jangle-pop sound with horns, string arrangements, and Eastern themes.

"Myrrh" starts the CD off with guitarists Marty Wilson-Piper and Peter Koppes' steady build-up of an intro leading to a low-key chorus and surreal percussion. "Tristesse" is a dreamy effort of symbolist lyrics and crafty guitar lines, reminiscent of the early Byrds. Steve Kilby's accompanied-by-choir vocals of mythological and Byzantine imagery on "All Ready Yesterday" make it truly one of the most beautiful songs in pop music. Following the track "Columbus" is the Middle Eastern-tinged instrumentals "Happy Hunting Ground" and "As You Will." Then the instrumental-induced dreamy spell is suddenly broken by the aggressive bells and horns of "Tantalized."

After the sarcastic melancholy of "Disenchanted," the remaining songs ("Night of Light," "Youth Worshipper," "Roman," and "The View"), with their soaring horn and string arrangements in addition with The Church's trademark guitars and vocals, make HEYDAY an excellent album. One best listened to late at night, or while driving along lonely roads.

The Church, by the way, are still around. After 27 years and over 21 albums (their latest, EL MOMENTO SIGUIENTE, was released this year on Australia's Liberation label), the current lineup of Steve Kilby, Marty Wilson-Piper, Peter Koppes, and Tim Powles carry on.

I still remember buying this, my first Church recording, on vinyl. I listened to it for days from start to finish, taken with its great guitar cohesiveness and timeless melodies.

Twenty years later, it still sounds magical. Marty Wilson Piper and Peter Koppes are superb on guitar, Steven Kilbey's voice is fantastic, mellow and inviting.

"Disenchanted" is the highlight, meandering guitars, fluid bass, terrific vocals; a song that washes over you like a warm wave.

Of course the rest is brilliant too, hits like "Myrrh", the dreamy "Tristesse", the ever so wonderfully off "Already Yesterday", the great instrumental "Happy Hunting Ground", the punchy "Tantalized".

Peter Walsh guides perfectly in the production work.

One of the best CDs of the 80s, not to mention ever.

Fall of 1987 and I am a freshaman at Texas Tech University. In Lubbock, there used to be an independent record store called Ray's Records and Tapes. I went there to pick up another copy of the Cult's "Love" cassette. Located in the C section, the cover of Heyday stood out and so I picked it up. I thought to myself, cool band name, four dudes wearing the same kinds of shirts I was sporting, take a chance and pick it up. That is how it came to be that I began my musical relationship/journey with the Church. All I had been exposed to in high school was the typical hair band stuff and MTV pap. I was just beginning to learn about bands that operated outside the realm of popular music. I remember putting the cassette in and from the fading in intro to Myhrr to the closing notes of The View, I was hooked. Nothing that I was listening to at the time was as fresh, melodic, atmospheric or played so well. I wore out my cassette of Heyday and went back to Ray's to start picking up their back catalog. Unfortunately, there was nothing there, but only a few months after, Starfish was released. Many more were exposed to beautiful music of the Church. Unfortunately, many of those that jumped the band's bandwagon back in 88 fell off by 1990. Not me. I've still with them, and while they have released classic album, after classic album, I always come back to this one. The one that started it all. It worked for me, so I recommend it for you. If your interested in giving the band a chance (and I highly suggest you do) then this is a great jumping off point. (If not this one, try the Blurred Crusade) 1987, paisley shirts, pretty girls, great memories. My heyday. Fortunately for me, I have this album to transport me back anytime I feel like going back.