Customer Reviews

Singles

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

 

 

This Oldham quintuplet have finally released a collection of their best efforts...and if you are/were a fan of the Madchester scene (who wasn't) then this is an essential purchase. As further incentive this album contains possibly the greatest song ever recorded...Two Worlds Collide...hauntingly operatic in its boldness. sorted.

Inspiral Carpets were one of the bands that distinguished (at least among my American circle of friends in Seattle, back in the pre-grunge days)whether you really knew the Madchester scene or not... or whether or not you were really a fan. Being so far removed from the scene itself, it was harder to hear about the more obscure acts (not that the Inspirals were obscure, but to teenagers in Seattle pre-Internet days they were more inaccessible than the Stone Roses). So those of us who did discover these acts, like the Inspirals, were the tried and true fans...

Ah, those were the days! Ha ha... and of course most of those bands faded away, just like the Inspirals. Inspirals were probably one of the least original groups, without much more than novelty to keep them afloat. After the initial love affair with the various (but still similar) sounds of early 1990s Brit music scene, most groups bowed out with no innovation left to them. I see the Inspirals as one of these.

However, the music they did make was entertaining and is now evocative of that time period. Of particular note "She Comes in the Fall", the crazy "Joe", "Commercial Rain", and other singles from that era.

This album will rate highly with you if you feel nostalgia for the early 1990s and want to remember this sound.

as far as introductions go this is a very strong collection of inspiral carpets works. it's a record one can listen to all the way through and despite being a compilation (and not a studio album) it is still sequenced very cohesively as a whole and is very generous in length. i would in fact suggest starting here if you're looking to get into the inspirals then venturing further out with them via the 'cool as' collection which is a mighty 37 tracks long and though without the mentioned cohesiveness of this compilation shows just how much ground this band covered. many personal favorites here but there isn't a single dud in the bunch and at 19 tracks strong that is saying quite a lot of this band.

Nothing like hitting the old life rewind button by plopping this CD into the player.

The Inspirals were a singles releasing machine. Pretty much every single on this one is high quality. Who can forget the swirling organ intro of "Commercial Reign". A song that sticks in the memory banks with The Charlatans "The Only One I Know".

I'm a big fan of their later stuff; hits like "Dragging Me Down", "Bitches Brew", "Two Worlds Collide" and "Saturn 5". Other terrific tracks are "Caravan", "Joe", "This is How It Feels" and "She Comes in the Fall". The simplicity that is "Please Be Cruel" is my favorite by the Inspirals, great harmonies.

A few selections are missing (they can be found on the 2003 UK release) notably "Keep the Circle Around" and "Butterfly". Also, inexplicably (or perhaps with some kind of hidden purpose) the track listing on the cover does not match the order of the songs on the CD. It's kind of unnecesarily challenging for the casual fan.

A fun listen; music that brings back Manchester madness without sounded dated.

Inspiral Carpets, Stone Roses, Charlatans, Happy Mondays, etc. Why these guys lost their recording contract I'll never know, but Inspiral Carpets was one of the great bands of the 80's/early 90's, and this album has it all.

Unlike most of their British counterparts in the early 90's, Inspiral Carpets seem to be more of a throwback to the 60's - most of their songs center around keyboard sounds which could've been from that era. Nevertheless, I found Singles to be an enjoyable album - maybe not as dancey like Happy Mondays or Blur, but still fun to listen to. They sound sort of like how the Jam would have sounded if they had played in the late 60's - the lead singer's voice is a dead ringer for Paul Weller. I would have given this album five stars (especially since they have some great singles in the first half of the album, most notably This Is How It Feels, She Comes In The Fall, Please Be Cruel, and Commercial Reign), however Inspiral Carpets seem to get a case of same-song-itis about 3/4 of the way through the album (you'll know when). Perhaps they should have shortened the album to its best 14 or 15 songs - it would've been an indispensable album. Still, it's definitely worth the price of admission. Check it out!

A fantastic collection of the inspirals singles. Kicking off with the punky live favourite of`Joe`the album then progresses to the pop greats of `this is how it feels` and `she comes in the fall`. The hits dont stop from `dragging me down through to the classic collaboration with mark e smith on ` i want you`. This album is a must and is sure to go down as one of the greatest albums ever to be released