Customer Reviews

Pure Phase

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I love all of the Spiritualized albums; this is the first one I bought and the one that really turned me on to the band. This album probably has the most variety of any of their efforts, from the dreamy ("The Slide Song") to the cacaphonous and ironic ("Medication," which is their best overall song, in my opinion, with stunning guitar work and cool lyrics). It's a trip from start to finish--without ingesting a single illicit substance.

'Pure Phase' is a less tuneful, more minimalistic record than its predecessor 'Lazer Guided Melodies' but not yet as dark and introspective as its follow up 'Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space'. More than this though, 'Pure Phase' represents a unique musical accomplishment for Jason Pierce and his stargazing compatriots... The tracks are diverse and yet cohesive in approach and effect, they are carefully orchestrated soundscapes, as well as pop songs. 'All of My Tears' is a great example of Pierce's modern approach to songwriting. A refined version of 'So Hot' first released by Spacemen 3, the track is not so much a simple chord progression as it is a slow system of movement, aware of its own aural space. The lyrics are as stripped down as the melody itself, only hinting at and counterpointing the story told within the mix itself. The quivering violin which underlines the piece hangs on to two notes and struggles to become a cohesive melody line, it strikes as the sound of a tearful composure, an emotional concept realized through the simple physics of time and movement that are given such unprecedented authority here... Most importantly, though it seems to be a well integrated form of modernism, it does not project that foul stench of intellectualism. It is quite simply beautiful... A brilliant and vital record.

I'm still trying to figure this one out. This 1995 record by Spiritualized falls into a category which has become so convoluted by anal-retentive critics that I have decided to invent my own moniker for said music: Nyquil Rock. If you are unable to count sheep, just slip this disc into the changer and prepare to be lulled to sleep. Is that a good thing? Hell yes.

The reason I can't sum up what "Pure Phase" is all about is because it's so tangled and backass-wards that you can't go by what it conveys on a song-by-song basis. Instrumentation either comes out of nowhere or lingers for so long that you find yourself wobbling on your heels (warning: do not listen to this while standing up and most importantly not while driving. I nearly steered off the road and ran into a ditch because of "Pure Phase"). The lyrics are meant to delve into drug use and altered states of mind, but to be honest they don't matter when you first listen to the album. The vocals swoop in and out like mere whispers or low, harmonious chants, so you can barely hear what is being said. It's almost as if the voices themselves are instruments (a la "Loveless").

I must say that I like "Pure Phase" if only because it's so hard to place. As disjointed it may be, you can't say it doesn't hold surprises. It will have you drifting to sleep one minute and then BOOM!--some horrible racket of noise will jolt you from your coma. I suppose it's the composition that carries the record's concept more than its lyrics, because maybe that's what it's like to be addicted to a mind-altering substance. When you think about it it's frightening, because if the high felt as soothing as the tracks which spill from your speakers, could you imagine how hard it would be trying to quit? However, I still think "Thirteenth Step" by A Perfect Circle deals with this issue in a more coherent manner. If I haven't made it clear by this point I'll say it again: "Pure Phase" is not accesible.

I recommend this to you, the reader, if you want to solve the musical equivalent of a puzzle. You won't be able to dance, party, drive, have sex or bang your head to it, but if you lie down and put on "Pure Phase" by Spiritualized, you will either find yourself floating or waking up the next morning and thinking to yourself, "What the hell did I just hear? I want to hear it again!" It's one of those records that will redeem itself time and time again. For that it earns my praise.

There's not much that can be said about Pure Phase, except that you have to hear it. J. Spaceman spent years to follow up Spiritualized's debut with this album, and his time was well spent. The album manages to place steady rockers (Medication, These Blues) next to sweet ballads (Slide Song, Let it Flow, All of my Tears), but it never sounds forced or out of place. The second half of the album shows more diversity and songs like Feel like Goin Home evoke Jason Pierce's drone-centric days of Spacemen 3. Lay Back in the Sun is an all out, balls to the wall anthem to chemically induced space outs. Those crazy Brits are sometimes a quite pretentious bunch (see Oasis, the Verve), but Spiritualized manage to avoid those pitfalls and put out plain good music.

Sounding like the aural equivalent of a heavy narcotic rush, "The Slide Song", the second track from "Pure Phase", the second full-length release from Spiritualized, is all about levitational buoyancy and gossamer flight. Driven primarily by transcendent flutework, coupled with the bass and other percussive instruments moving in counterpoint with texturally-driven guitar work , and presented with the note-perfect depth that was a universal feature of their first release, it's probably my favorite of all their tracks, and a working blueprint for a nice portion of "Pure Phase".

"Pure Phase" shares similarities with "Lazer Guided Melodies", specifically in mining that note-perfect depth during their most deliberatively paced, heavily orchestrated songs ("All My Tears", "Let It Flow", "Spread Your Wings", and "Take Good Care Of It"), but it isn't as strongly cohesive as its predecessor. By no means does this render it inferior to "Lazer Guided Melodies", but it does make for a slightly more aggressive listening experience than those who have only heard their debut release might be used to, with "Medication", the opening track, presenting with a much heavier sense of dynamic tension than "You Know It's True", its counterpart from "Lazer Guided Melodies", while "Electric Phase" bristles with tuneful discordancy. "These Blues" unwinds with a slightly menacing fluidity, and at an atypically aggressive pace for the band, a motif repeated later on "Good Times".

It might also help to be aware that "Pure Phase" contains three instrumental tracks, "Born Never Asked" , note-perfect and moving through a constant level of ascension, though highly insistent; "Electric Mainline" , directly following that cut, in which the same bass, guitar texture, and percussive measures now swirl in an ourobouric fashion, and "Pure Phase", which is extremely minimalist in composition. If you're expecting an organically flowing refinement of "Lazer Guided Melodies" , then you might be disappointed with its successor.

Nevertheless, "Pure Phase" is a powerful release in its own right, and it's well worth grabbing. My own copy , purchased last year, is a replacement for another worn down by about 15 years of sliding in and out of CD players. While not quite approaching the brilliance of "Lazer Guided Melodies", it's a vital recording that should be on the bucket list of any fan of psychedelic music.

this album is complete and utter genius, and much better than floating in space. electric slide song sinks its dull teeth into your aural canals and gently shreds any hope you ever had of life being anything but false hope and numb regret. spiritualized is salacious solace; pure pain medication.

After the mild success of Spiritualized's 'Lazer Guided Melodies' debut, Jason Pierce went on a three year hiatus in which he wrote, composed, produced, arranged, re-produced, and re-re-produced Pure Phase. The fruits of his labor ended up being an album that adheres closely to the philosophy of the first album while expanding on the M.O. of the band. The sound of the album is diverse, placing anthemic rockers ("These Blues")next to soothing ballads ("Let it Flow") without sounding campy or pretensious. At a time when Britain was all about Bush and Oasis, Spiritualized quietly produced two albums of beautiful orchestral pop that stood out like a mountain over the bland musical landscape of the day.

Simply amazing, Pure Phase (along with Lazer Guided Melodies) is an absolute work of genius and remains one of my favorite albums. Jason's later stuff doesn't quite live up to the promise of this release (although there are a few gems out there that one should purchase as single downloads)

This is my favorite Spiritualized album. It is so soothing and inspiring at the same time: half the songs are ultra chill and the others are more rock-pop-blues (seriously, turn up the volume and rock!). Some of the songs are loud and vibrationy, all 'shoegaze' as they call that sound...if you like My Bloody Valentine, you probably will like Spiritualized. I lost this album once, and I missed the album awfully the whole time. It's good for your aura :) Astral medication. Slightly addicting.

I'm tired so I don't feel like typing alot but this cd is pretty much perfection. The best of this band for sure. These Blues, Electric Mainline... wow. Seriously.