Customer Reviews

Memories of Love

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my first FBH cd and believe me, I'm coming back for more. I am typically into heavy alternative sounds, but this band is totally addictive. Creepy yet realistic, emotional yet fresh, this cd is a very unique sound I thoroughly enjoy.

Unlike nearly everyone else who has reviewed this album, I had never heard of Stephen or Claudia. I had been a fan of a New Wave band called Figures On A Beach, whose keyboard player was Christopher Ewen. When I saw his name on Memories Of Love I decided to give it a listen. Glad I did! His instrumental and compositional prowess has only grown better with this new outing. Buy this album and listen to some amazing synth arrangements rarely heard in contemporary American pop music. Its a dark, atmospheric treat, this disc.

The Future Bible Heroes record Memories of Love was stuck in my CD player for nearly two months. No, not literally stuck, but I just couldn't seem to get enough of it. My favorite all time Merritt track is "Hopeless," a PERFECT pop song that will sound as good on the 1,000th listen as it did on the first. On this record, he trades vocals with Claudia Gonson, and they both sing briliantly. If you've never heard a Merritt record in any of his incarnations (6ths, Magnetic Fields, Gothic Archies), you're missing out on a true genius. Get MEMORIES OF LOVE, and if you like pop music, you'll thank me for my advice.

Having all of Merritt's full length albums, I have to admit that none of them have ever touched me so close or lasted as long as this one has. The album is a perfect variety of synths, and each song sound so amazingly different from the next.

My favorites off the album include "Real Summer" and "Memories Of Love", both are which are perfect pop songs. "Real Summer" demonstrates how good bubblegum pop music can be despite what mainstream artists deliver. "Memories Of Love" isn't a wet, poppy song like many found throughout the album. It's still full of wonderful synths, and it grabs anyone's attention at once with its non-sugar sound and its hilarious lyrics- "Some are like a sip of champagne, some are harder stuff. Some are advertising campaignes. Memories of love."

Other key highlights of the album include "She-Devils Of The Deep" (a sly, hypnotic song) and "Hopeless", which is too amazing to describe with words.

"But You're So Beautiful" is another song that shows how good pop music can be without the wet, sugary sound. Out of all the songs on this album, "But You're So Beautiful" is the one that gets stuck in my head the most. But hey, I'm not complaining.

As I said before, this album is simply wonderful. It can even stand up to "69 Love Songs" and sound perfect. In my opinion, "Memories Of Love" is Stephin Merritt's best album to date, though others may beg to differ. Either way, there's no doubt in my mind that you'll love this album!

Oh, and by the way, the lyric booklet is delightful! Enough said.

At first listen, every track on this album sounded exactly the same. I admire Stephin Merrit greatly, so I was eager to listen and listen. The songs all do tend to have a similar ring, but you just have to accept it as "the sound". I mean, when you buy some rock CD and every song has Guitar, Bass, Drums, and Vocals, you don't say "Every song sounds the same!" This album is so brilliant, and was quite refreshing in the time that I bought it. The unabashedly blissful melodies, the various squirts and pops, all of the Casio CZ-series keyboards! I love this album and highly recommend it to anyone into naive indie pop, or oldschool Depeche Mode and New Order. The songs "Hopeless" and "You're So Beautiful" will make their way on EVERY mix tape you make for your friends. Even Ace of Base fans will love this, if they're smart. If you have liked Magnetic Fields, but crave more synth-oriented stuff like on the 6ths' CD, you should really bu! y this.

What can I say? Every song on this album is interesting, amusing, witty, original, and makes you think. Memories of Love, #10 stands out, but I am hard pressed to say that one song is my favourite. Put in this CD and leave it on repeat, you'll need to!

Stephen Merritt never fails to impress--especially with his hilarious lyrics. With song titles like "Death Opened A Boutique," chorus lines like "Blond Adonis on the endless autobahn," and lyrics like "all of our dreams are dying--of overdoses/all of our plans are lying--in ten car road wrecks/there's no use even trying--becuase it's hopeless!" WHO COULD RESIST!

This is the pop album Stephin Merritt (of Magnetic Fields, Gothic Archies, et al) could never have made on his own. The truly pop sensibility of Merritt's co-writer Christopher Ewen has mollified Merritt's dour indie sensibilities and allowed his love of ABBA-inspired arrangements to flourish. The result is a peerless pop album - with intelligent lyrics! - that has always found its way back to my cd player. "Hopeless" is so gloriously uplifting it's amazing it didn't work as a single; then again, Merritt and Ewen are so far ahead of the game most people just don't get it. If you're smart, you will.

Memories of Love, by the Future Bible Heroes, is probably one of the best CD's I have ever bought. Every song was completely unique and pure genuis. The vocals differ greatly, and the beats range from mellow, to hyper-active. The lyrics are the best part, and each song is a complex poem. Memories of love is one of the best CD you can buy now a day.

I love my mom. I love my goldfish. This CD is great. Listen to it while eating chocolate cake. -Lorimer Kaplan