Customer Reviews

The Optimist

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this record after catching the band live earlier this year, and marvelling at the rich and deep sound the pair could make without need for electronics. I was expecting an fine album created out of acoustic guitars and an excellent voice. However, i wasn't expecting the sheer brilliance scaled by this record.

From the opening piano chord of Feeling Oblivion, the record contains that most important of ingredients, it really connects with you. In the same way that Jeff Buckley, New Order and Coldplay evoke a feeling of glory and optimism from a melancholy yet uplifting sound, Turin Brakes deliver heartbraking, yet positive songs.

The opening five numbers, must rank as one of the best starts to a guitar bands career in recent times. The magnificient Underdog(save me) which has recently gained plentiful radio exposure in the UK, and is perhaps the finest tune of the album, begs with a future lover to 'Save me from myself, I can't be the only one stuck on the shelf'. In Feeling oblivion, he pleads 'If things get real, promise to take me somewhere else'. However this seemingly helpless longing is served by a fantastic delivery in terms of voice and sublime songwriting mastery.

If you are looking for a record to carry on where Travis and Coldplay have previously stepped, this is the one to buy, and is personally my favourite of the three. To sum up in one sentence, The Optimist LP is a gently earthshattering experience, so kick back, don the headphones and connect with the glorious melancholy.

I have a habit of rabbiting on about music but I'm gonna make an exception here and keep this short and sweet for you guys out there. Basically, The Optimist LP is a stunning debut by a young british duo who really have hit the mark with this album. You can take your Coldplays and your Doves and do with them what you will. Although the aforementioned bands are good at what they do, Turin Brakes are simply great. From the stark opening piano of Feeling Oblivion to the closing bleak tenderness of The Optimist, not a song passes that doesn't leave you with some sense of emotion, be it sadness, warmth, or simple pleasure. The overall production sound on this album is full and glorious, utilising the exceptional talents of both these fine musicians to the utmost. Ollie Knights has been blessed with a voice that can seem searingly honest, tender, passionate, and downright cheeky. His partner in crime, Gale Paridjanian is clearly a talented guitarist who seems to slide effortlessly between...well...slide guitar, simple rhythmic strumming, and scorching solos. Favourite moment? About two minutes fifty into 'The Road' at the bridge when Ollie sings "In the darkness, lets them see all of the people they never knew, and the doorway, falling through puddles and places I've never been" OK so the lyrics aren't Bob Dylan, but check out the singing and harmonies in this song...unbelievable. So I rabbited on...whatcha gonna do...buy this album.

Curiousity killed this feline after reading a few glowing reviews about this fledgling duo. With bands like Coldplay, Doves, and Travis gaining larger audiences by the minute, Turin Brakes follows right behind in their footprints with their own blend of folk/pop/rock. I like this album a lot. It is more in the vein of Coldplay but better expressed lyrically. The tone of this album is quieter and more subdued, kinda like Badly Drawn Boy's "The Hour of the Bewilderbeast". The other difference between Turin Brakes and Coldplay is lyrically Turin brakes' music is more emotional and tugs at the heartstrings right away, for example "By TV Light". For anyone wanting to hear another song like "Yellow", you won't find it here on "The Optimist LP" or from Turin Brakes. The music is melodic but nothing that commercial radio will appreciate.

Turin Brakes is flagged as the next thing in the British invasion on the heels of Travis, Coldplay and the like. Turin Brakes is the duo of Olly Knights (vocals/gtrs) and Gale Paridjanian (gtrs), sprouting accoustic gtr-based songs telling tales on the walk of life.

"The Optimist LP" is an encouraging debut, with ups and downs. The sound is primarily an intimate one, with just accoustic guitars for the most part, and Olly's quivering vocals, occasionally embellished with drums and bass. The songs evolve around themes of not knowing where to belong ("Feeling Oblivion", the lead off track on the CD... with a great mandolin supplementing the accoustic gtrs; also "Starship" with lyrics like "Given the chance I would leave this place on a rocketship to Mars"), job stress ("Underdog (Save Me) which is also the 2nd single, making dents in the UK charts), and lost love ("State of Things", the 3rd single of the album).

On a couple of occasions, the songs reminded me of things heard before. Best example is "The Door", the 1st single of the album, with its blatant use of the riff found in the 1965 song of Dave Berry's "Strange Effect" (anyone remember that one?), but also in "Future Boy" (reminding me of George Michael's "Praying for Time") and "Emergency 72 (reminding me of America's "Horse with No Name").

The CD is best summed up in its last song, the title track: "The Optimist" track is very much like many tracks: musically it has accoustic gtrs starting, then joined eventually by some drums and bass, and lyrically it talks about "I'm Planning The Greatest of Escapes... Soon I'm Gonna Stand Up... yeah, I'm Gonna Rear Up and There's No Escape"

Electric gtrs show up for the first time in "Slack" (track 8), one of the better tunes, as well as in the "hidden" bonus track, which pops up some 2 min. after "The Optimist" ends, an instrumental which is really intruiging.

Overall, this is an interesting debut. No Coldplay-like quality in my opinion, but I'm sure looking forward to future releases of Turin Brakes.

This album is a collection of Turin Brakes EP's but works well as a whole album. I saw them performing Underdog live on VH1 and the guitar at the end is some of the best i have heard. The guitar throughout is simply fantastic but done so not to distract from the lyrics. The songs range from the quiet chilling Starship to them rocking on Mind Over Money. They have been compared to coldplay but this is not the case. Their style is different and in my opinion they are a better group. Im expecting big things from Turin Brakes in the future.

Turin Brakes ostensibly stick to the so-called N.M.A (new acoustic movement) canon. But unlikely other likeminded bands who tend to be slightly sophorifical (think about Kings of convenience for instance), TB throw something else in the mix resulting in a more uptempo and rocky version of the above mentioned band. I've recently read in a review that TB are to Kings of convenience as It's Jo and danny are to Belle & Sebastian. This might help you classify the band... All in all, while not being revolutionary, the record is definitely enjoyable and quite probably a must-have if you like British indie pop.

Sit down, light a cigarette, pour yourself a gin and tonic, and let this joy of an album wash over you. Relish the simplicity and raw beauty of this excessively talented young London duo. What a wonderful thing an almost entirely acoustic album is.

Honesty is the main thing that impresses me about this album. Not overly sentimental, not pretending to be cleverer than it is, just simple lyrics passionatley sung and laced with silky harmonies. Not the best album musically (you could find more guitar chords on a single Radiohead track) or lyrically ("hyper-real fragments disturbing the stagnance of almighty fear") but so completely charming. Beautiful songs beautifully sung, ideal to listen to while driving in a car on a warm night.

The Optimist is one of those cds that has the power to get under your skin, change your heart and wake you up to things going on in your life. I can't really put into words how wonderful this album is, but I promise after listening to their powerful harmonies, mind-blowing guitar and amazing lyrics, you'll tell everyone you know about these guys.

The whole CD is a masterpiece from start to finish. It has a perfect blend of chilled melodies, coupled with more assertive rock focussed tunes. Ollie and Gale have perfectly matched voices for each other, again adding to the perfectly formed selection of songs on the OLP. I have not heard the new second album yet, but am expecting another superb creation from the duo - I have and would recommend this album to any indie lovers out there, need i say more?

Some people compare this duo to Coldplay and other current bands, but I'd suggest their unique sound is more closely linked to the past. With strong harmonies reminiscent of Marc Bolan or even the Everly Bros., they are also capable of evoking the idiosyncratic vocal styles of David Surkamp (of Pavlov's Dog) and Jeff Buckley. Lyrically powerful and musically restrained, this album is a breath of fresh air, and is probably the best of the "new acoustica" movement (exemplified by bands such as Kings of Convenience and Starsailor). A generous swag of richly melodic, mainly acoustic songs is polished off with a very strange and compelling instrumental that sounds like Vini Reilly and the Durutti Column on mescalin. So forget any misleading Coldplay parallels - these gentlemen will never cause you 'Trouble' by sounding like Pink Floyd.