Customer Reviews

A Secret History

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

On a friend's recommendation, I picked up "A Secret History" blindly, not realizing The Divine Comedy would affect me like few bands ever have, and leading me to seek their entire back catalogue on the strength of this collection. From Neil Hannon's supersharp/observant/heartfelt lyrics to the top-notch arrangements, this is music to make your soul soar, have an unexpected laugh, and at the right times, reduce you to tears. Few artists convey such an unmistakable love of pop music, and it's evident through all 70 minutes here. It's impossible to pick best tracks - superior songwriting start to finish. But I'll go out on a limb: my three favorites: "Generation Sex", "In Pursuit Of Happiness" (both with mind-boggling orchestration, both so uplifting and strong you can't stop the chills), and "Tonight We Fly", easily one of my ten favorites ever, touching beyond words. "A Secret History" is one of those to spend your last dollar on in order to have, and enjoy for years. It is that good. A classic.

First of all, this is an awkward release just because Neil Hannon's The Divine Comedy is still a vibrant, active, and important band, and "Best Of" collections usually come at the end of a career and not in the middle--but once you realize that "A Secret History" is one of those records, like REM's "Eponymous," which exists solely to fulfil a contract rather than a need, you'll be able to get past the semi-absurdity of the idea and enjoy this record for what it is: a brilliant 17 song retrospective of The Divine Comedy's career. While any hardcore fan (which I consider myself) will always quibble here and there over certain selections (such as, why isn't "Middle Class Heroes" included?), this is still a nearly perfect cross-section of the last five Divine Comedy CDs. I still prefer the old version of "The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count" (with that great guitar line during the second verse!) but the remix of "Your Daddy's Car" as well as the new song (and next single) "Gin Soaked Boy" are totally fantastic. While waiting for Neil's major label debut, "A Secret History" is an excellent package to listen to, and anyone who's unfamiliar with this great band should pick this up; there's not a bad track on it.

Technically a band, "The Divine Comedy" is centred around singer-songwriter Neil Hannon. Hannon was born in Northern Ireland in 1970 and models his singing style on Scott Walker. Aptly enough for the son of a Bishop, his band provided the theme tune for the classic sitcom "Father Ted". They also recorded a version of "My Lovely Horse", the song Ted and Dougal entered into the Eurosong Contest. (Unfortunately, it isn't included on the album !!). "A Secret History" is the band's greatest hits package, was released in 1999 and covers the band's time on the Setanta label. Two of the tracks had been previously unreleased - "Gin Soaked Boy" and "Too Young to Die".

One of my favourite tracks - "National Express" opens the album. Mocking a British coach firm, it's Neil and the band at their best. A very catchy tune, the witty lyrics and Neil's crooning all add up perfectly. (The song's video was also very funny.) "The Pop Star's Fear of the Pollen Count" is another excellent tune. It's an up-tempo number, with the brass section really adding to the mood of the song. It's immediately followed by "The Frog Princess", apparently about a French ex-girlfriend. Containing snippets of the French National Anthem, the stinging lyrics are so at odds with the gentle tune, I can't help laughing at it. "Everybody Knows (Except You)" and "Gin Soaked Boy" - one of the album's "new" tracks - also deserve special mentions.

Sometimes you find an album so good, it would be easier just to list the occasional 'bad' or slightly average track. While the tracks I've listed above are my favourites, there just aren't any bad tracks here to list. It's an excellent album from start to finish - with a runing time of seventy minutes, it's filled with catchy tunes, very cleverly written lyrics and it will prove to be money very well spent.

Okay, I admit it. I'm biased. The Divine Comedy is by far my favourite band, so I'm going to rave. However, they're not my favourite band because of any kind of partisan feelings, or because I have any particular attachment to Neil Hannon - they're my favourite because their music is born of absolute genius. Touching, inspiring lyrics, masterful humour, commanding instrumental arrangement... make no mistake, the Divine Comedy is like no other band on earth. Okay, they won't to be everyone's taste; no band could be. But they're more worth trying out that anyone else I could imagine, and this album gives you a wonderful selection. Worth it for any one of the 17 songs on CD1, and the oddities on CD2 and amusing essays and photos in the accompanying book are a bonus. Buy it; you will be a better person for it!

Neil Hannon and co have done it again,consistently producing fun, quirky songs, here they are with a best of album. A Secret History proves to be a great introduction for casual or new fans, however if you are a long term and hard core fan then you will have most of this material already. Its worth noting that there are some new tracks, a revised version of the Pop singers fear of the pollen count, good but nowhere as good as the original version, and Gin Soaked boy- a classic, catchy fun song.

The running order of the CD is bizarre, the first song is National Express, DCs biggest hit, then the songs are mied up instead of running in a chronological order which allows the fan to hear how they have developed. Overall a great album by an even greater band, and guaranteed to cheer you up at any time!

This is a stunning introduction to the world of the Divine Comedy. Its full of catchy hooks, delightful lyrics, stunning arrangement, full of pop splendour and performance. I normally listen to metal, but was introduced to this band at a late night party. And oh how I was converted! This is pop music at its finest, beautiful and melodic, unlike the cynical and bland muck that fill's today's charts. Revel in every moment of this epic album, and then buy the back catalogue, each filled with beautiful songs of love, loss and laughter. Quirky and irrelevent, it amazes me that this Irish group remains relatively unknown while bands from the same country such as U2, The Corrs et.al can continue to produce album after album of patronising crap, which is then gladly lapped up by their guillible fans.

"a secret history: best of the divine comedy" is one super cool album. the choices of songs included is good, not one song sounds like another, never is it boring. lots of brass, lots of strings, guitar and drums, clever clever lyrics and neil hannon's intriguing voice. no matter how many times you say "no way! i'm not listening to 'a secret history' one more time!", you will. and you will be drawn back to it again and again and again.

do you have any guilty pleasures in life? perhaps you find yourself singing along a little too loudly when that particular Barry Manilow songs comes on the radio. or perhaps you're just helpless when it comes to a genuine pop hook no matter how cheesy or uncool the person who's singing the song can be. well...let me introduce you to Neil Hannon, the songwriting genius behind The Divine Comedy. now, the term "songwriting genius" should probably be used very carefully when describing someone. because basically, almost anyone who writes songs can write a fairly okay song that will find it's place in someone's heart one way or another. that's a pretty safe bet. but what of those singer songwriters who are obsessed with a perfect vision of not just how their songs sound, but of how those songs and their sound affect every visual perception of the band down to the record sleeves and the band's wardrobe. in other words, their songs and their sound become an identity, a personality, and a way of life. Neil Hannon had his vision; armed with a fierce lyrical cleverness, and a gift to write inescapeably perfect pop songs, he managed to release a slew of amazing records whose songs gather the influence from some of those "guilty pleasures" that we all have, and adds a pompous smug and a smooth European smirk to the proceedings (not to mention a snappy collection of designer suits). A Secret History collects many of those best songs from his past albums (up to Fin de Siecle) and for those who have yet to discover The Divine Comedy, this compilation serves as a gateway to a wonderful world. it should me mentioned that if you like kitsch pop music, you are going to love this band. especially tracks like the irresistable "National Express" and "Generation Sex". but there's plenty of good old fashioned lovesongs like "Everybody Knows", "The Frog Princess" and "Songs Of Love." ahh---so heart meltingly beautiful and unashamedly romantic that it hurts. then there's the late night drinking-yourself-into-depression cuts like "Too Young To Die" which has a solemn, reflective tone. but my two favorite cuts are "The Certainty of Chance" with it's lazy rolling bassline and breezy drums that just swoop and glide along with one of the most enchanting melodies that Neil's ever put to tape. the other personal favorite from this collection is the closing number "Tonite We Fly" which just soars with a lovely feeling that makes you think (for a moment) that everything is right in the pop music world. i feel lucky to have discovered the Divine Comedy, therefore rendering their history not so secret; because with talent this pure, the music needs to be heard. Recommended!
*see if you can track down the gorgeously packaged 2 disc version of this album which comes in a hardcover book casing and contains some writings, a Divine Comedy timeline and amazing photographs. the second disc contains wonderful rareties and some demo stuff that is also equally essential as the main disc.

Neil Hannon seems to have taken upon himself the task of becoming the Scott Walker of the twenty-first century.In the process he swapped the ex-Walker Brother's brooding melancholia for deliberately foolish party anthems.Yet he shares with Walker the same kind of vocalization and the knack for choosing the most lush,baroque and utterly adequate arrangement for each song.

Still,Divine Comedy's overt campiness doesn't marr their musical content,any slip towards easy listening is widely compensated by the many touches of genius."A Secret History" is the possible Best Of,since albums like"Promenade","Casanova"or"Fin De Siècle"challenge song selection by means of their cohesiveness.The tracks chosen for the compilation show almost exclusively Divine Comedy's sunny and bright side leaving aside most of their darker compositions(which are rare in any of their albums for that matter)

Great Songs appear here on a regular basis-"National Express"' cheerfulness sets the perfect tone for the record.

"Something for the Weekend"is bouncy and medievalesque.

Who doesn't know"Everybody Knows(Except You)"?I've seen this song played everywhere from discos to weddings(even a portuguese singer translated the song and recorded it under the name"Toda a gente sabe que te amo").

"Generation Sex" showcases some of Hannon's finest embelishments but "Becoming more like Alfie" is simply one of the best songs of the last decade.

"The Pop Singer's fear of the Pollen Count"is as festive as usual in them;the previously unreleased"Gin Soaked Boy"is amusing in its cross rhyming("I'm the catcher in the Rye/I'm Jeff Goldblum in the Fly")and"Songs of Love" has one of those choruses that leaves no one indifferent."Tonight We Fly"sends us soaring in its gorgeous melody and closes the album in a trully inspired manner.

17 tracks of pure poppy fun with seriousness being as far from Neil Hannon's pen as humanly possible(his lyrics are ,if not thoroughly funny ,at least laughable).

... well, I hope not.

I've been a fan of the "band" for quite a while, but "A Secret History" is the first DC album I bought (because brilliant records such as this are really hard to come by, sadly). Their songs always make me smile and laugh, make me cry, make me think, or sometimes maybe make me dance though I don't have terpsichorean ability to do so (but I don't have to, really!). No other band or artist could ever move me so much as the Divine Comedy does.

"A Secret History" (best-of) is really intelligent, charming, funny, introspective, sometimes a bit odd (hear the album's only techno track "I've Been To A Marvellous Party"), poignant, whimsical and inspiring all around. Unlike songs from other bands that tend to sound like they're being recycled (again & again & again to the point of being irritating), happily there's no such problem here on this album (though you can't mistake that Divine Comedy flair in every song). Gorgeous orchestral-pop music, Neil Hannon's still-unmatched lyrical genius and his winningly versatile baritone-tenor voice... what more can music lovers ask for?

This is truly a classic from start to finish... from DC's first-ever Top 10 hit "National Express" to my all-time favorite "Tonight We Fly", a life-affirming song that nevertheless destroys my composure everytime I listen to it.

Buy this album... it will change your life, mark my words!