They Died for Beauty

Ilya | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B0002IQGVC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,279 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bellissimo is a Revlon Commercial song!, April 24, 2004

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Reza Badei "Reza" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: They Died for Beauty (Audio CD)

It's a pretty cool Album in general. I like the sexy European twist to it as well.If you want to hear the sample songs you can go to Amazon.fr & listen to few songs in this Album especially the "Bellissimo" which deserves the five star rating!
Reza Badei

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Belissimo, July 27, 2004

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E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: They Died for Beauty (Audio CD)

San Ilya's "They Died For Beauty" is a seductively languorous listen, filled with sadness and husky vocals. Imagine Portishead on heavy tranquilizers, and you have San Ilya's debut LP. While at times the sleepy tone can make you drift off, blend of jazz, trip-hop and occasionally funk are ingenious and entrancing.

It starts off with the wistfully romantic "Bellissimo," followed by the sultry (and retro) "Quattra Neon" and piano-led ballad "Bliss." A dark, funky feel permeates "Heavenly," while a trip-hop wispiness fills "Soleil Soleil." "Pretty Baby" takes San Ilya into darker, menacing territory with the uncertain-sounding vocals and clashing light-and-dark melodies. But a lighter tone comes back into the last two tracks, rounding off with the dreamy, spacey "Happy and Weak" and powerful title track.

While "They Died for Beauty" is a short listen -- only nine songs long -- San Ilya make their mark by constantly tinkering with their styles. There are moments that are reminiscent of bands like Air and Goldfrapp, but the jazzy and Euro-pop moments keep it fresh-sounding and original.

Piano is the core of many of these songs, backed up by guitar, trumpets, faded percussion and stretches of electronic twizzling. The resulting sound is alternately heavy and sensuous, and light and sweet, and it has a retro flavor that recalls jazz, torch songs, James Bond and the best of 90s trip-hop.

Joanna Swan's deep vocals add to the smoky club atmosphere of the jazzier numbers, but she can sound gentler and sweeter for songs like "Soleil Soleil." Occasionally her vocals get a little melodramatic, her trembly delivery in the title track. But the feeling her voice gives is one of muted sensuality and romanticism. "And I believe in love/I believe in love/Bellisimo - mon amour," she sings wistfully in the first song.

Lush trip-hop, Europop and lounge jazz are mixed together in the beautiful, eclectic debut by San Ilya. Like a more exotic version of Portishead, "They Died For Beauty" is a unique experience.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another crown jewel, May 29, 2004

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W. Y. Yang "yalee2" (New Haven CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: They Died for Beauty (Audio CD)

From where does Ilya hail? Where else but Bristol. Who knows what is in the water there, but 'They Died For Beauty' more than just updates that city's trippy vibes for a new generation --- it sounds more like Ilya scattered the seeds of the first flowering of trip hop across the world, left them for five years then went back to see what had grown. Each song is like a little theatre production that is played out on the sprawling 007 soundstage, drawing together the cinematic threads of John Barry and Jacques Brel, fused with the languorous class of Chet Baker and the murky atmospherics of Portishead and Massive Attack. The results are mesmerizing: 'Bliss' integrates James Bond elements with smoky basement jazz and a sax that honks like a mutant seal, while 'Happy And Weak' sees Mariachis serenading day-trippers before opening their guitar cases to reveal machine guns. The title track sprawls in all the right places while it stirs and comforts at the same time; and you probably have seen or heard about that phenomenal 'Bellissimo' from the seductive Revlon ad. This is one of the releases this year that is truly worth treasuring, and love at first sight never came more intense than this.