Submarine Bells

The Chills | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 22, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Slash / Ada
• ASIN: B000005JAZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,042 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How do you live?, January 13, 2000

By 

Eoin O Suilleabhain (Galway, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Submarine Bells (Audio CD)

It is nearly two years since I bought this, and it is the only album I still must hear at least once a week. There is not once a faltering of quality, from the glorious sunburst that is the opening organ on "Heavenly Pop Hit" to the sublime fading chimes of the title track. It invigorates and captivates the soul, until one feels one is bleeding raw emotion and crying pure tears of 'joie de vivre'. The poetry and honesty of Martin Phillip's lyrics is unequalled. If everyone in the world listened to this, there'd be no more war or sadness, and we'd live for the dawning of the day.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my favorite album of 2003, regardless of when it came out, August 3, 2004

By 

Davy (Athens, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Submarine Bells (Audio CD)

the first of five chills albums i bought last summer, and easily the best. this is their masterpiece, and i've never in my life heard a better, more solid, more surprising synth-pop record. in fact, in light of this album, the rest of the chills' stuff is good, but not nearly good enough, if this is what they were capable of. every song crawls inside your head and camps out there, so by the time you're done listening, you've got 40 minutes of new-age kiwi pop bouncing around your skull. sadly, i don't listen to it much nowadays, but it speaks to the immediate and engaging accessibility of this record that it's the first one in maybe 6 years i've listened to frequently, repeatedly, to the point of complete saturation.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heavenly pop hits, March 2, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Submarine Bells (Audio CD)

The first track of "Submarine Bells" is definitely well named, and not just for the first song either -- the whole album is made of "heavenly pop hits." This New Zealand band produced some pretty darn charming pop-rock that melds near-orchestral music with catchy pop melodies and melancholy writing.

A majestive sweep of organ-like keyboard opens "Heavenly Pop Hit" and the harder, contemplative "Tied Up In Chain." Dali-esque love songs ("Oncoming Day") blossom into the strange and surreal ("I Soar") the slowly catchy ("Dead Web" and "Don't Be -- Memory") the searing whirlwind rock ("Familiarity Breeds Contempt") and ends by coming full circle to where it started -- catchy, chiming pop (the charming "Effloresce And Deliquesce" and delicate sea ode "Submarine Bells").

The Chills don't possess the musical brilliance of true geniuses, but their catchy, enticing alternative-pop songs are unforgettable. They swirl, they snap, they shimmer, they sparkle with irresistable melodies. The first two songs suck you in with their hooks and chiming keyboard pop, before shifting into the darker, stranger realms of songs like the eerie "I Soar" and the louder, rockier "Oncoming Day." By that time, you're already caught up in the music and won't want to turn it off.

Martin Phillips, without being whiny, uses these simple-seeming songs to bemoan death, love, and any combination of the above. (The love of death? The death of love? Both work...) Despite the cheery tone of the music, the songs themselves are hauntingly written: "I have to talk to someone/describe it all to someone/emotions are imploding/but there's nothing to say... they've all gone away..."

New Zealand has proved in the past few years that it can serve up top-notch stuff that the public devours with a passion. But the Chills' "Submarine Bells" shows that this is hardly a new development. Beautiful, haunting and quite enjoyable.