Customer Reviews

Like Swimming

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like Swimming is Morphine's best CD (I haven't heard The Night yet, though). It's hard to write about it since Mark Sandman's death, but I will try.

Like Swimming builds off the strengths of their previous album, Yes. Their unique sound created by a saxophone, two-string slide bass guitar, and drums is both suppressed at times by Sandman's halting vocals, and at others unleashed with amazing force and beauty. Take, for example, the difference between the hauntingly sublime "I Know You (Pt. 3)" and the chaotic "11 O'Clock". Only Morphine could deliver these two opposite styles of music with such perfection.

One of the best things about Morphine is that they cannot be pigeon-holed into a genre or a style of music. Are they rock, or jazz, or alternative, or what? You also cannot say, like so many other bands, they are "a cross between 'so-and so' and 'someone else'" because no one has ever played music like this. Have you ever heard of a two-string slide bass guitar? Or a Double-Saxophone? All this is just a part of the genius of Mark Sandman and Morphine.

I think PJ Harvey once said that Morphine is one of the sexiest bands ever. I agree with Harvey. Morphine's low, smoky sound is perfect mood music for, well, you know.

Being from Boston, and being friends with Mark, i can say that i thought he was a man with a vision...well...anyway... I loved this album, and actually found it to be my favorite. Yes I do like all of his albums, but i especially like Like Swimming, for his haunting lyrics and saxaphone sounds. I thought it was a brilliant balance of jazz and rock with poetic verse to bring this album to a life of its own. I love every song but my favorite is Empty Box for its words, they're very meaningful, and whatever one person thinks, another thinks something completely different which brings perspective, that is brilliant... I don't think i have anything more to say except for the people that found it monotonous and boring, or so drawn into the "Morphine Style" get a life, because you completely miss the point Mark wanted and so you just think about what sounds good rather than what's interesting and different and how it continues on as such....

Being a huge Morphine fan for years now, and having all of their albums I figured it was time for me to share my thoughts (finally!)

If I had to order the albums in terms of least to most favorite I'd go Good, Yes, Cure For Pain, The Night, & Like Swimming...Like Swimming is their best album in my opinion. Take for example the song Like a Curtain totaly symbolizes what Morphine was about. Drawing beauty from things that seem dark simplistic. The song only has one "riff", but as it progresses it seems to become more and more complex. It might be my favorite Morphine song...period.

I Know You (PartIII) strong enough to carry the album by itself. Billy Conway could not have added a more perfect drum beat during the Chorus ("I know you, you know me too, I know everything that you're gonna do")

French Fries w/ Pepper is another song that proves Mark to be an absolute genius. For those true music lovers (and even more so for bass players), the bass riff itself is amazing. The lyrics are also very good.

I have to end this review a little abruptly, but I definately recomend this album to everyone, as I'm sure you Morphine fans already own it. Bottom line, this is just a very cool album.

These guys are too "rock" to play jazz clubs and too "jazz" to play rock clubs. No matter; their deep, seductive sax is makes you want to start swaying with the music. Play this album on big speakers.

The lyrics are simple; they kind of remind me of some of Slim Gaillard's excellent Swing music, but Morphine has more edge.

Morphine are the kings of slow seductive music. Mark Sandman's vocals are at once haunting and hypnotic, while the music drips with...for lack of a better word, morphine. With Like Swimming Morphine aren't so much obsessed with one topic like their other albums seemed to be. Like Swimming appears to hav ethe feel of an album devoting to simply pleasureable listening. This album reeks of swank and swagger with tracks like "Early to Bed", "Potion", and "Eleven O'Clock" all give you the impression that these guys love themselves and theirs lives in a really bizarre way. Of course, the sombre love songs appear, but are they really "love songs"? "Swing it Low" and "Empty Box" appear to be more like songs that one sends to the one you're stalking. But one can't deny the groove of "Hanging on a Curtain" or the drive of "I know you, pt. III". Morphine aren't doing anything new on this album, they're simply letting their sound mature and their song writing skill go in whatever direction it wants. This album is aptly named, listening to it gives you the feeling of moving through water--at once slow, bizarre, exhilirating, and dreamlike.

it's sexy, it's soft, it's hard, it's jazzy, it's rock, it really is a complete package. however, i understand why a lot of people don't like it, it really isn't for everyone. morphine is a unique sound that incorporates a lot of different moods and music types into one album. give it a listen, or three, and it'll grow on you. i promise, you wont be disappointed.

LIKE SWIMMING find Morphine further exploring the territory of their low rock sound. Altough they pioneer no new territory here as in their first three albums, they are able to better articulate the styles of the first three albums... GOOD with it's low down seduction feel, CURE FOR PAIN with it's you-left-me-and-now-i'm-addicted-to-heroin style and YES with it's i-want-you-come-here-damnit attitude. Like Swimming combines these into a really enjoyable mix. Nothing new, but lots of fun.

I am still a huge fan of "Yes" but I do like this one too...Morphine's sound is bluesy and jazzy...cool and calming...you will love them...once you heard them you're hooked!! A great band from Boston!

While this album wasn't Morphine's best, it had all the sly wit and rumbling grooves we came to expect from one of Boston's best bands. Morphine was clearly primed and ready to give us more for years to come. With Mark Sandman's death, that isn't going to happen. Now this album is like a fascinating sentence left unfinished -- we'll never get to hear the rest of the story.

first of all, the only other morphine albums i've ever heard were the night and cure for pain. compaired to those two, this album is kind of dissapointing. i picked it up the other day because i absolutely love the night and cure fore pain, but i have to admit, this was somewhat of a letdown. i think it lacks there smooth, dark melodies and haunting vocals that i like so much and goes to a more easy rock style verging on elevator music that kills them. i can't really think of something in particular that i don't like, but the tone of the album as a whole kind of bugs me. i strongly recommend getting a morphine album, but not this one.