Customer Reviews

Memory Man

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is Aqualung's best album. While Matt Hales' previous release Strange and Beautiful, had a few standout tracks, the album as a whole was lukewarm at best. On the other hand, Memory Man is filled with quality tracks and is one of the better releases from the first quarter of 2007. Fans of the Coldplay-Radiohead-Keane genre of music should be very pleased with this album.

"Pressure Suit" is the first single and likewise was the first track that really caught my attention. Hales' vocals sound more like Thom Yorke's than ever in this song, and the song's outstanding chorus and instrumentation make this arguably the best song on the CD.

"Something To Believe In" also features a memorable chorus like many of the songs on Memory Man. The production on this album is top-notch and really allows songs like these to shine in their luscious, atmospheric-glory. "Glimmer" is softer than the previous two tracks, sounding a little like another UK band, Athlete. The increased use of guitars on this album is evident in songs like "Vapour Trail," which has a slight Verve feel to it.

The sixth track, "Rolls So Deep" resembles Snow Patrol's hit "Chocolate" with its driving beat and power-pop melodies. This is easily the catchiest and most upbeat song on the album, acting as a great change of pace. The next track, "The Lake" is moody and Radiohead-esque with its unique piano riffs, and you could easily mistakenly believe that it was Thom Yorke singing both vocal parts in the chorus.

"Outside" features a great lead-in to the chorus and the delayed-guitars are used well in this song. The most beautiful track on the album is "Garden of Love." Matt Hales' vocals and lyrics in this song really match the sense of longing that this song was meant to portray.

This CD ends with "Broken Bones," a simple piano ballad with minimal production that finishes the album off in a sincere way. Fans of Aqualung should really appreciate this album, and there is no doubt that this record will generate some new fans as well.

Aqualung (a/k/a Matt Hales' one man band with help from his brother in the live setting and his wife co-writing) burst onto the scene with the song "Brighter Than Sunshine", used in a TV commercial, which lead to the US 2005 release of the "Strange and Beautiful" album, itself a compilation of 2 earlier UK albums. Now comes the eagerly awaited second US album, but really the third proper album from Aqualung.

"Memory Man" (11 tracks, 50 min.) starts off with a blast. After about 5 seconds of "Cinderella", guitars come crashing in, and you immediatly realize this is a new era for Aqualung, with a much more "in your face" sound. "Cinderella" and the next track, first single "Pressure Suit", remind of arena-sized Coldplay, and it sounds great. The first half of the album brings the "rockier" sound, including a great "Vapour Trail". The second half of the album finds Aqualung bringing quieter songs, reminiscent of the "Strange and Beautiful" album. Check out "The Lake" and in particular the gorgeous "Garden of Love" and the closer "Broken Bones". Incidentally, Matt Hales' wife Kim Oliver co-wrote half of the songs on the album. In all, this album takes Aqualung to the next level, a fantastic album overall.

I pre-ordered this album at Aqualung's show last week in Cincinnati, and just for doing that I also got "Aqualung Live & Rarities: With Apologies to Anyone Who Is Really Heartbroken" (13 tracks, 37 min.), a mix of spoken (and often funny) introductions by Matt Hales and 7 actual songs taken from concerts and in-radio sessions. In particular noteworthy is the cover of Queen's "Somebeody to Love", done beautifully. At Aqualung's set last week (opening for Pete Yorn), the set was mixed up between older and new (unheard) songs, and the band just shone. Watch them take on America....

like coldplay, but not annoying.

like keane, but not as earnest (and better melodies).

like thom york without the wonky eye and wobbly falsetto.

like chris paltrow, but with better hair.

will punch james blunt in the face.

top job, mr. hales! i like!

Like maybe some other people, I got tired of hearing "Brighter Than Sunshine" all over the radio. It was like Coldplay's "The Scientist" in terms of it just kept on being played and the video kept on being shown. But I still enjoyed Aqualung's music.

For some reason, the emotion just spills out on "Memory Man". Aqualung can go from soft to loud in a heartbeat. And this album definitely makes the heart beat. The lyrics are strong but take on a life of their own when being sung by Matt Hale's voice--- who is a less haunting Thom Yorke (which actually works for the music performed by Aqualung). "Pressure Suit" is what this album is all about. It carries the album.

Aqualung has been sort of dormant for the last few years. But now that Matt Hales has returned, his music has become even more strange and beautiful -- his fourth full-length album "Memory Man" is a beautiful swirl of wintry, misty Britpop, strung together on .

It opens with the trippy beats laid over plinky piano and gently cycling, fuzzy guitars. And sounding like he's singing through an old radio, Hales murmurs blearily, "I remember the night/No wet eyes, no crossroads/No mention of fate/Just a poor decision... Be careful what you hope and you pray for/You know you only get what you pay for."

It's followed by the softer, more mournful "Pressure Suit," which sounds like the Flaming Lips got drunk and depressed: "I'll be your four leaf clover/I'll be your pressure suit/I'll be your angel wings/I'll be your parachute." The songs that follow are similarly mournful and wintry, but different styles, like soaring pianopop, mellow guitar folk.

The second half is when the album really takes off, with heartbreaking little ballads and tightly-woven indiepop, though they both have the doleful lyrics and voicals. And it finishes where it began -- "Broken Bones" returns to Hales singing through static and fuzz, "Oh please, just a little more time with you..."

You can't really label "Memory Man" as either being happy or sad. Just like the experience of being in love, it's full of beauty laced with sadness, and the hope that it will last just a little longer. Even when the music is peppy and catchy, Hales still sounds like someone who loves love, but knows that it won't last.

The music itself is a beautiful, frosty swirl, which borders on psychedelic but never quite crosses the line. It's full of ringing, cycling guitars, solid drums, a rattly tambourine, and some piano that plinks through some songs instead of the guitar. And the delicate synth-- it shimmers, buzzes, chimes, and forms an ambient sweep over the delicate Britpop tunes.

Hales' smooth voice always sounds like he's singing out his woes to himself, about relationships that are gone, or about to vanish. But he doesn't exaggerate the importance of what he's singing, just dwells on how it felt: "There's only so much that our heart can grow/Then everything else starts to overflow/And you're young and in love/Back then there was no way of knowing..."

Mournful love is at the heart of "Memory Man," wrapped up in Hales' solid trip-Britpop. The first half is a bit weaker than the second, but it's still a lovely little album.

From a very simplistic point of view, Memory Man is different from the previous two albums (Still Life, and Strange Beautiful) in that there is less piano and more guitar, and it is somewhat more intense (perhaps due to more percussion than previous albums). Stand out tracks are Cinderella, Glimmer, Black Hole, and Pressure Suit. These four songs alone demonstrate the profound talent Matt Hales has in both writing of music and lyrics. The album as a whole is has fantastic production, using several layers to create a soundscape with aural depth.

It's a definately a great album, but I feel Hales and fellow Aquanauts have more in them. 'Four Stars' is representative of a great album, but Aqualung have the potential to create a genuine 'Five Star' album in the future. This is comforting, it gives us all something to look forward to.

Such a brilliant album, and a courageous departure from his other work--also great of course. How unfortunate that it was pulled from shelves a few months after its release due to a label conflict. (The tracks may be more available as singles--they're also great to hear live.)
A very different feel from earlier Aqualung releases, it hosts richly produced tracks that have more of an edge; there is a lot of energy on this album, and a complexity in the song-writing that is rare. The songs stand alone on their own strength, but nevertheless form a cohesive whole. People who have pronounced Aqualung as overly tranquil need to listen to this record.


I have the US version--if you get the import, you get the bonus tracks.

I know people's favorites for this CD tend to be Pressure Suit, but my favorite hands down is Cinderella. The continuous melody throughout the whole song and the haunting distance of the music made this whole album one of my favorites.

So, amidst the release of Arcade Fire's epic "Neon Bible," The National's mini-masterpiece "Boxer," Radiohead's sonic sweep "In Rainbows," and Kings of Leon's rock'n'roll rampage "Because of the Times," another fantastic indie-rock album came out that was all but equal to each of them.

Matt Hales's "Memory Man" is genuinely one of the best albums of the past five years, despite the lack of splash it made in the media waters upon its release. In fact, two or three days after it went on sale, Hales's record label informed him that, due to his lack of blockbuster sales, he was being dropped.

This is bizarre as all get out - "Memory Man" is an evocative, ear-massaging, staggering feat. Others have described it well enough.
I'm just going to say:
BUY IT.

And I can't believe record labels nowadays.

There's NO filler in this album, which is rare these days! This is the best album I've heard in a good while! I didn't think I would like it as well as Strange and Beautiful, but it's actually more solid, and it all fits together better than S&B. Take Keane's albums, for example, Keane albums have some beautiful songwriting, but the songs don't have a common theme, a common goal, they're all over the place emotionally. Alot of your one mand bands, like Aqualung more or less is, fail in this respect. However, this album is more like a Sargeant Peppers in that it pulls you in, and keeps you there, the whole lenght of the album! It doesn't drop you, or push you out of the mood, like so many albums do, but holds you in it's spell the entire length of the album. That is a really tricky thing to do, especially by a one man band, and is getting more rare. Radiohead did it with OK Computer, the Beatles did it with many of their albums, and the Who did it with Tommy. Those albums you come from feeling there was a theme, a common messaqe that was imprinted, not just a bunch of disjointed songs slapped together. With those kind of albums you feel like you get your money's worth. So it is with Memory Man.