Customer Reviews

Sometime Anywhere

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Every time I see this album in the used section, I feel this urge to buy it again. I don't understand why so many people don't appreciate this album for what it is. Don't compare it with the other ones; this one has a light of its own. It starts where P=A left with the dark and haunting "Day of the Dead" (try to listen this one under the light of the stars, mmm), followed by one of the most cruelly over looked and ignored Church songs, "Lost My Touch". This one is a gem, kind of electronic with a melancholic and dark melody that it's hard to get out of your head. "Loveblind " goes in the same direction as "Lost My Touch" but with more acoustic guitars and dreamlike female choruses, nice story. My Little Problem is a nice melancholic song that grows on you after a few listens. The Maven is the hard rocking song of the album, then comes an almost dance song, Angelica, with a very interesting blend of guitar feedback with electronic beats and a little oriental feel. "Two Places At Once" is a mellow kind of romantic song, but not with a common story, do you believe in reincarnation? "Business Woman" and "Authority" are two songs that weren't suppose to be in the album, but I find them exquisite. If only pop would always sound like this. "Fly Home" and "The Dead Man's Dream" are two hypnotizing psychedelic peaces that will make you want to laid back and relax. If you're new to The Church and want to get a classic, may be this one isn't the right start, but never the less this is a hell of a good Church album. Don't hesitate in buying it.

This has been a controversial album. Some dedicated Church fans consider it a low point, some, like myself, find it penetrates the bone and mystifies the marrow. My Little Problem and Two Places at Once are mysterious in their power; they will penetrate your being and haunt you with melody.

Business Woman and Authority are tossed from review to review like an indian rubber ball; some praise them to the sky while the next reviewer calls them a mistake. I find them a treat, light and airy, but catchy with a hook that draws you in. Others find them too light for late Church, but that's why they make vanilla and chocolate.

The bonus album has a quality of its own; the Church is one of those groups that cares more for the listening experience than the commercial success of the venture. It's this quality that has perpetuated the unique sound coming from these guys for so long; we can thank them for their dedication to their passion, and thank the stars that their passion has not been sucked up into a quest for money. The bonus album could have fed the develpment of another release, but new releases are not the bottom line for the band.

Buy the album. You only live once.

My only Church is this one. If song "Fly home" is a sin, I'd rather end up in hell. Listen... detuned at beggining, driven by 5 repetitives bass notes (georgous!), the blue sheen sky dazzles yours eyes (perfect intonation for perfect lyrics), shamefully enjoying that delicate guitar part at 3:45 minutes.

Blinded about "Loveblind", they kept music simple except for the nice middle east touch. Their smartest choice was "the Maven", nice tuna surf type sound on guitar, really like the end of it. I'll move to "Eastern", their melodies are too nice (banjo-violin). Our best day so far is the "Day of the dead" with it's gothic percussion to die for. Then comes my trip to hell ... "Angelica" a highly danceable verbal caress.

Lucifer will have to wait too because I am not finnished listening!

When I purchased the Church's "Sometime Anywhere," what first struck me was the incredible art work on the cover of the CD. What a dramatic LP cover it would have made, rivaling, perhaps, The Beatle's Sgt. Pepper. The cover includes an Asian palace, Alice In Wonderland type characters dancing, a stodgy bunch of British looking gentlemen posing for a picture a century ago, a flying angel, the sun, ocean waves, a palm tree, Steven Kilbey, Marty Willson-Piper, and other disparate items, all bordered by over 50 different strange symbols.

What struck me second about "Sometime Anywhere" was the fact that The Church seemed to now consist of only two members: Steven Kilbey and Marty Willson-Piper. No drummer, but far more surprisingly, no Peter Koppes (who, thankfully, would soon return).

Then, of course, the third aspect was the shear length of the album, and many of the songs on it. Disc One consisting of 13 songs, is almost 77 minutes long (which means that the average song length is six and a half minutes). Disc Two adds another 30 minutes to the album as a whole. Now I'm one of those diehard Church fans that liked their first four albums a great deal, loved "Heyday," and "Starfish," but then found a majority of the tracks on "Gold Afternoon Fix," and "Priest=Aura," quite tedious. Therefore, I approached the mega-long "Sometime Anywhere" with a certain amount of trepidation.

However, after listening to the album a few times, I realized that all my concerns were unwarranted. "Sometime Anywhere," contains a suprise at every turn. As never before, the band created a stunningly eclectic work. The album keeps the listener off balance, and one can't predict where it's going from track to track.

The first three tracks, "Day of the Dead, "Lost my Touch," and "Loveblind" are among my favorites on the album. One can obviously see right away that the band is relying more on synthesizers, but to great effect. As with many of their longer songs, The Church excel at conjuring up a mood with their atmospheric textured music.

Some of my other favorite songs on CD One are the instrumental "Eastern" and "The Dead Man's Dream," but to me the best song is "Authority," which is subtle and just perfect. (I know that if I think this way about "Authority," I'm also supposed to love "Business Woman," but I've found the chorus in the latter to wear somewhat thin after repeated listenings). As for CD Two, I can't get enough of the first two songs, namely "Drought" and the "Time Being." I would be surprised if any Church fan felt differently. I also think ""Freeze to Burn" (sort of in the same style as "Angelica" on CD One) is alot of fun.

I guees the reason I didn't give "Sometime Anywhere" a fifth star, is because I think some of the songs do indeed run on too long. Also, there are better Church albums. However, I highly recommend this sprawing, adventurous album, which remains The Church's hardest to pin down.

The Britney and Aguilera fan from Berkeley obviously knows not good, well crafted music. Once again, just as Priest=Aura surprised us with uncharted beats and melodies, 'Sometime Anywhere' continues down this path with more psychedelia, mediterranean, and trip hop twists. As a whole, it works well, and the listener is rewarded with some clockwork compositions. The Church really know how to write great songs. They are masters.

This was the first album I heard by the Church. I listened to it once, then forgot about it for a year or so. But after I gave it a few listens, I found I couldn't get it out of my head. Having become a devoted fan of the band, I still consider "Two Places At Once" my favorite song of theirs. This album is very different from many others, but is still haunting and fascinating. If you can, find a copy of the original 2-CD version, as the second CD has some great songs on it, as well ("The Myths You Made" is good enough to have been on the first CD, I think).

The Church keep a low profile, but they deserve a prominent place in the guitar pop pantheon. Their songs are brief adventures into subconscious landscapes, served forth on a bed of shimmering guitars.

Like other albums by the Church, this is an intriguing mix of rather dark, soothing melodies and guitar lines that really cause the lyrics and ideas to seep into your brain. The themes and words of these songs are quirky, but not really strange or too far beyond believability. "Two Places at Once," for example, is a love song that weaves speculations about multiple lives and the reality of deja vu with the simple sincerity of the chorus' "I've been waiting/Seems like eternity/I've been waiting/Waiting for you." "Sometime Anywhere" further explores the Church's ability to keep a sort-of-1980s pop style alive through creative writing and composition techniques--this album will still be great ten years from now.

work of just 2 church members:
Steve Kilbey and Marty Willson-Piper

yeah a different album in 1994, when grunge are popular, this is soft album, great songs; the true is I never hear a bad album of the church.

I always have loved the beautiful melodies, and psychedelic songs of this band. This LP takes the Church into new instrumentation, with loops, samples, and more "synthesizers" . Steve Kilbey, as always , has great lyrics, and Marty Wilson Piper even chimes in vocal duties on at least 1 song ( I forgot!). If you like the Church, youll love it, if you are new to this band, you may want to start out with "Starfish" , a more accesible LP. This album, like most of their albums, goes from poppier songs ( Loveblind) , to stranger psychedelic inturludes/frekouts (Angelica). I strongly recommend it to Church fans, and new fans alike, you may also want to check out my favorite LP by this band 'Seance" .