Customer Reviews

Peel Sessions

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

 

 

I had long ago left th' faith healers for dead. All of their original catalog is out of print in the US. No sordid tales of addiction or bad behavior have made it to VH-1 or People magazine. Depressing.

So, news of the release of Peel Sessions immediately caught my eye. Finally, some "new" material from one of the best bands of the early 90's! I think they got a little lost in all the hype surrounding their Too Pure labelmates PJ Harvey and Stereolab and never got the attention they deserved.

This album contains four sessions recorded during 1992-1994. The band is in fine form and the sound quality is excellent. Overall, it's a little less drony than the albums--but the vocals are much more edgy and in-your-face. You even get some cool band pix and witty liner notes, written by singer Roxanne Stephen, in the booklet.

If you're new to TFH, this disc provides a good overview of their career. Completists will dig this for the two covers (Abba and Nilsson/Badfinger) and a big helping of unreleased songs.

All in all, very much worth picking up if you have any interest in TFH. One star deducted for leaving off their first Peel Session (part of the Too Pure Peel Sessions album).

Back in 1993, I was introduced to th' Healers when they opened for the Breeders and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. I was immediately drawn to the teasing vocals by Roxanne and the crunchy, semi-drone, inverted bluesy guitar lines that would lull you into a fog before crashing over you in a wall of sound. I ran out and bought both Lido and Imaginary Friend, and spread them around my dorm like a rampant case of mono. The discs made their way gradually to the bottom of my stack, always eluding the "to sell" pile, when I'd flip them back into the CD rotation and realize how unique they still sounded 5 years, 10 years and now almost 15 years later. This collection puts together some of the best work and throws in a couple of excellent covers for good measure. I especially enjoy their version of (of all things!) ABBA's "S.O.S." It sounds like it was meant to rock.

not bad, but kinda grew out of this pretty quick. but definitely better than the studio stuff.