Customer Reviews

Luminous Basement

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first bought this record when I was a wee lad, blowing a weeks worth of lunch money on an unknown band whose album had somehow found its way to the local, small-town five-and-dime. From the moment I dropped the needle on this platter, I was transfixed. The songs were all laced with sublime guitars, with hooks that have a way of sneaking up on you, and a trade-off of male/female vocals that kept things interestingly intriguing. I pictured a white blues/rock combo in 1960's Britain playing a smoky club filled with hipsters of the day, dressed in mini skirts and Beatle boots, dancing their collective {behinds} off, like a scene out of "Blow Up".

My particular favorites were then and, to this day, still are "Week Days", "Walls And Foundations" and "Let's Take A Walk", which is the best song the Yardbirds never wrote. Of course, Annie's vocal turn on "One Step Nearer The Edge" is a great display of her vocal talents at the time.

Pop music this intelligent and well-crafted often goes unnoticed by the masses, but the fact that Dave and Annie went on to worldwide success with Eurythmics is at least proof that not all worthy artists go unnoticed. Coombes may have lacked the egotistical bravado and showmanship of most pop stars of the day, but his talent was undeniable.

Do yourself a favor and drop the {money} necessary to own this album. You'll thank me later.

The only reason I gave this album 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the male vocalist. While Coombs (who passed away in 1997, R.I.P.) was a brilliant songwriter and guitarist, he should have left all the lead vocals to Annie Lennox. Can you imagine having the young Lennox in your band and relegating her to harmony vocals??!!!!

The songs on "Luminous Basement" are upbeat, energetic, guitar-driven rock... somewhere between classic rock, psychedelia, and new wave waiting to happen. Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart didn't recapture this hard-driving, guitar-fused energy until their 1985 and 1986 albums "Be Yourself Tonight" and "Revenge," respectively. If you like the "Would I Lie To You"-era Eurythmics, then you will love their work in The Tourists. Standout tracks here are "Angels and Demons" (Annie really kicks butt on this one!) and "Walls and Foundations," "Round Round Blues," "Let's Take A Walk," and "Time Drags So Slow." "Angels" and "Time" give Annie solo lead vocals, and as you listen to the rest of the album, hers is the voice you want to hear. There is a really catchy song on here called "Weekdays" that gives Annie a chance to shine on an irresistible go-go dance-groovin' keyboard solo... if only that same song had let her do the lead vocals instead of him! (sigh)

This album is fun, raunchy rawk 'n' roll. (The Tourists R.I.P.)

An excellent and necessary addition for the die hard Eurythmics fan. I esp. enjoy Walls & Foundations, Round Round Blues, and I'm Going to Change My Mind (NONE of which are on the "Greatest Hits" albums). BUY IT B4 IT'S TOO LATE!

I was into the Tourists before the Eurythmics came about. But this LP and the OOP Reality Effect made me sure Annie Lennox was going to be a major star. My favorite is "One step over the edge"

If you like itelligent psychedelic pop played with upbeat enthusiasm. then get this album!

If you like classy pop music with intelligent lyrics and strong melodies, The Tourists will be an answer to prayer. Sometimes they sound like the 60s pop of Marianne Faithfull, sometimes like an edgy, psychedelic Blondie, and other times like a more contemporary Byrds. The band was underestimated but their lack of success led to the formation of Eurythmics.

Walls & Foundations is a fast-paced, psychedelic tour de force, Don't Say I Told You So with its killer hook has a sadness just under the surface, Week Days is a wonderful humming tune, One Step Nearer The Edge has brilliant bittersweet lyrics, the emotional Talk To Me won't fail to move you and Round & Round Blues has a hypnotic, trancelike effect.

Throughout, their trademark chiming guitar wall-of-sound gels perfectly with the vocals of Annie Lennox and the male vocalist. It's not synth-pop, but fans of Eurythmics will love this if they take the trouble to investigate. In mood & feel, Luminous Basement probably comes closest to that band's debut album, In the Garden.

The album Reality Effect is also recommended but to experience the Tourists in all their glory, I recommend the Greatest Hits album with 20 tracks. There is also Should Have Been Greatest Hits but it's a bit skimpy with only 10 tracks. Dave Stewart' 1990 album Dave Stewart & Spiritual Cowboys is quite brilliant.

Length:: 1:01 Mins

If you like classy pop music with intelligent lyrics and strong melodies, The Tourists will be an answer to prayer. Sometimes they sound like the 60s pop of Marianne Faithfull, sometimes like an edgy, psychedelic Blondie, and other times like a more contemporary Byrds. The band was underestimated but their lack of success led to the formation of Eurythmics.

Walls & Foundations is a fast-paced, psychedelic tour de force, Don't Say I Told You So with its killer hook has a sadness just under the surface, Week Days is a wonderful humming tune, One Step Nearer The Edge has brilliant bittersweet lyrics, the emotional Talk To Me won't fail to move you and Round & Round Blues has a hypnotic, trancelike effect.

Throughout, their trademark chiming guitar wall-of-sound gels perfectly with the vocals of Annie Lennox and the male vocalist. It's not synth-pop, but fans of Eurythmics will love this if they take the trouble to investigate. In mood & feel, Luminous Basement probably comes closest to that band's debut album, In the Garden.

The album Reality Effect is also recommended but to experience the Tourists in all their glory, I recommend the Greatest Hits album with 20 tracks. There is also Should Have Been Greatest Hits but it's a bit skimpy with only 10 tracks. Dave Stewart' 1990 album Dave Stewart & Spiritual Cowboys is quite brilliant.

This record is so vital to those of us that heard it when it came out that Eurythmics was never more than a trendy synth-pop bandwagon jump that got Annie & Dave on the map when immediate $$$ Didn't swallow them in the early 80s. If you can find this, buy it. If you have the power to get it released on CD, DO IT!!