From Severe to Serene [Import, Original recording remastered]

The Blue Orchids | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Ltm
• ASIN: B00007FZG3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,681 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

January 2003 sees the first release of two important milestones in the history of the feted Manchester band the Blue Orchids. The second is this their celebrated John Peel radio sessions compiled as From Severe to Serene\n\nFormed by creative lynchpin Martin Bramah & Una Baines after the pair left The Fall in 1979 the Blue Orchids released a string of classic singles on the Rough Trade label including Disney Boys Work & the Agents of Change ep as well as the classic album The Greatest

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Odds & ends from two ex-Fall members: early 80s, December 26, 2006

By 

John L Murphy "Fionnchú" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Severe to Serene (Audio CD)

Many enter the ranks of ex-members of The Fall, fifty more and counting at present. Fewer of them still make music that gets any sort of a hearing in the record world. This is the first such effort.

This spin-off of Fall keyboardist Una Baines and guitarist Martin Bramah, began, as here documented, seemingly barely able to play despite or maybe due to their tenure under the fearsome control of Mark E Smith as he took over what had been an actual band, The Fall. Now, they are one of my top-five favorite musicians, but any true fan will agree they've dredged up a lot of dreck along with the diamonds over the decades. For The Blue Orchids (named by John Cooper Clarke, who should bring a wry smile to those who know the post-punk Manchester scene), their incompetence continued the raison d'etre of The Fall and of the punk movement, even as they shared their peers' ambition to move into more diverse musical terrain, and even, as you begin to hear halfway through this odds-and-sods collection, command over their instruments and, thankfully for anyone who has to listen to Bramah's earlier songs here, a degree of vocal ability.
Let's just say few postpunk-era singers make you admire MES by comparison.

So, the mingled affection and bemusement that I feel for The Fall I also have for Blue Orchids. There is also an anthology of studio tracks, "A Darker Bloom," as well as other expanded versions of their small recorded legacy. This From S to S collection's very uneven, but there are three of the four songs from their rare side project in turn the Thirst ep that suddenly snap the band into shape wonderfully. These can stand against their peers. The Unknown, Let Go, and Riding the Times all are memorable, catchy, and well-arranged ditties. After that, Una drifts off, the band undergoes many changes in line-ups and seems to shrink, Fall-like, to its founding co-leader, and Bramah seeks to become akin to a softer pop sound, reminiscent of peers now like the Postcard label from Scotland, such as The Associates or Orange Juice.

3.0 out of 5 stars Three great songs, some ok, some dreadful: they're like The Fall after all!, December 26, 2006

By 

John L Murphy "Fionnchú" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Severe to Serene (Audio CD)

This spin-off of Fall keyboardist Una Baines and guitarist Martin Bramah, began, as here documented, seemingly barely able to play despite or maybe due to their tenure under the fearsome control of Mark E Smith as he took over what had been an actual band, The Fall. Now, they are one of my top-five favorite musicians, but any true fan will agree they've dredged up a lot of dreck along with the diamonds over the decades. For The Blue Orchids (named by John Cooper Clarke, who should bring a wry smile to those who know the post-punk Manchester scene), their incompetence continued the raison d'etre of The Fall and of the punk movement, even as they shared their peers' ambition to move into more diverse musical terrain, and even, as you begin to hear halfway through this odds-and-sods collection, command over their instruments and, thankfully for anyone who has to listen to Bramah's earlier songs here, a degree of vocal ability.
Let's just say few postpunk-era singers make you admire MES by comparison.

So, the mingled affection and bemusement that I feel for The Fall I also have for Blue Orchids. There is also an anthology of studio tracks, "A Darker Bloom," as well as other expanded versions of their small recorded legacy. This From S to S collection's very uneven, but there are three of the four songs from their rare side project in turn the Thirst ep that suddenly snap the band into shape wonderfully. These can stand against their peers. The Unknown, Let Go, and Riding the Times all are memorable, catchy, and well-arranged ditties. After that, Una drifts off, the band undergoes many changes in line-ups and seems to shrink, Fall-like, to its founding co-leader, and Bramah seeks to become akin to a softer pop sound, reminiscent of peers now like the Postcard label from Scotland, such as The Associates or Orange Juice.