Mike & the Mechanics [Import]

Mike & The Mechanics | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI/Virgin
• ASIN: B00000JOUZ
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,946 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Whenever I Stop

2. Now That You've Gone

3. Ordinary Girl

4. All The Light I Need

5. What Will You Do When I'm Gone

6. My Little Island

7. Open Up

8. When I Get Over You

9. If Only

10. Asking (For The Last Time)

11. Always Listen To Your Heart

12. Did You See Me Coming

13. Look Across At Dreamland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Remarkable Musical Experience, August 24, 2000

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mike & the Mechanics (Audio CD)

First of all, this review refers to the 1999 release, and not the great first effort, also called "Mike and the Mechanics." Now, with that out of the way, if you like Mike & the Mechanics, you need to get this CD. Order it from Amazon, it's probably not in any stores, and that is a shame!

As always, Mike Rutherford, the true soul behind Genesis, has come up with a collection of melodic and insightful songs, with understated but effective arrangements. Each song flows smoothly into the next, with just enough change in style to keep it from being too similar.

"Whenever I Stop" features the always reliable Paul Carrack in a bouncy up beat tune revolving around trying to understand a broken relationship.

A slight disco/dance groove permeates "Now That You're Gone," an infectious tune again about a broken relationship. Isn't it funny how that's what most writers find the most appealing---the end of, rather than the beginning, of a relationship. Oh, well, if it's this good, who cares?

With its faux chamber-orchestra opening, "Ordinary Girl" turns into one of those happy Billy Joel songs, upbeat and uplifting. How this man's ordinary girl doesn't need anything but his love. Now, we're moving in a positive direction. Tasty.

"All the Light I Need" is another love song, beautiful in its lyrical content and simplicity.

Carrack tells off his woman in the upbeat and edgy "What Will You Do?". The repetition of the title throughout the song gives it a quiet desperation that is quite effective.

"My Little Island" is one of those pleasant diversions that break away from the previous material, and kind of makes you want to grap a Margarita and go to Margaritaville or even Montego Bay. Pleasant.

"Open Up" is one of those "Living Years" types of anthems, that builds and builds into one of those soaring choruses at the end. Paul Carrack is in fine form on this one.

"When I Get Over You" is my favorite track. It has a driving pulse that accentuates Paul Young's desperation in trying to resolve the end of his affair. "When I get over you, I'll be who I want to be/I'll sleep where I want to sleep and laugh at your memory..." This is a great track.

"If Only" is reminiscent of "Taken In" with its laid-back, melodic paen of lost love.

The group even gets a little rhythm and blues/soul into "Asking" (for the Last Time); wherein the singer is giving his woman one last chance to reconsider "voting him off the island."

"Always Listen to Your Heart" has a seventies sound, reminding me of both the Hollies and Three Dog Night, but unique in its own right. This is a warning song, with a positive subtext.

"Did You See Me Coming" has a floating quality that is easy on the ears.

Paul Young's delivery of "Look Across at Dreamland" is even more touching and poignant, in light of his untimely passing away in July of this year. His vocals are understated, but emotional, and he doesn't have to resort to Boltonish vocal pyrotechnics to make us feel his passion. This is a beautiful closing to an all-around excellent CD.

In these days of teen music, rap, and alternative whatever, it's nice to hear a band that still cares about melody and substance. The string arrangements by Simon Hale are wonderful, as well as the backup vocals from Sharon Woolf.

This is a little sparser than some of Mike's earlier efforts, but it feels symphonic in its simplicity!

Michael Butts

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent M+M Album, And Farewell To Paul Young, June 7, 2004

By 

Alan Caylow (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mike & the Mechanics (Audio CD)

Mike & The Mechanics' 1999 studio album, either known as "Mike & The Mechanics" or "M6," is an excellent album from Mike Rutherford and company, with many catchy tunes. It is also a fond farewell (however unintentional) to singer Paul Young, who passed away from a heart attack a couple of years later. Young and co-lead singer Paul Carrack deliver the goods in the vocal department throughout, on such great songs as "Whenever I Stop," the pulsating "Now That You've Gone," the fun pop rock of "Ordinary Girl," the beautiful "My Little Island," the dramatic "When I Get Over You" (which sounds very similar to the Traffic classic, "Dream Gerrard"), "If Only," and the concluding "Look Across At Dreamland." The songwriting & performances are strong, the production clean, and the sound is superb.However, I'm profoundly disappointed that Mike Rutherford can no longer get any of his new Mechanics albums released in the States anymore, courtesy of the poor US sales of the previous two Mechanics discs, "Word Of Mouth" and "Beggar On A Beach Of Gold." "M6" did not receive a US release, and ditto for the brand-new Mechanics album, "Re-Wired," so the import route will have to do for us American fans. But Mike Rutherford's music is worth every single penny, and "M6" is a GREAT Mike & The Mechanics album. And so long, Paul Young, you are greatly missed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a bummer!! Just when they had it nailed..., August 16, 2001

By 

Leo Starr (Shoreview, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mike & the Mechanics (Audio CD)

What a total bummer! I think that this is if not their best CD to date, then it is just about a hair short of it. I was greatly saddened to hear of Paul's untimely death, and to hear his voice on the hauntingly appropriate "Dreamland," it is with a heavy heart that I contemplate the fact that we can't hear his voice anymore. Some might not be very happy with this CD because Paul Carrack carries the majority of the load as far as vocals are concerned, but I thought that it made the songs with Paul Young as lead the pearls to find. If you have not heard all of Mike and the Mechanic's previous work, I think that this would be a great introduction to a group that a lot of people have passed by.