Wishville

Catherine Wheel

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 23, 2000)
• Original Release Date: May 23, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00004TB84
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #167,791 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 2000
Continuing the emphasis on Rob Dickinson's ascendant presence as the Catherine Wheel's lead singer, Wishville is the sound of musicians accepting their band's essential nature: there is no longer any doubt, especially after the dazzling, pounding opener "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" rips through your speakers, that the Catherine Wheel are simply one hell of a pop band. --Matthew Cooke

Amazon.com
To clear up any confusion over whether Catherine Wheel is a person or a band, the group has added an article to the beginning of its name. Forevermore they are The Catherine Wheel. Now on to the album. The Catherine Wheel (used to it yet?) diligently migrated out of the early '90s shoe-gazing soup, dabbled in aggressive alt-rock, and have evolved into the clear-headed, tasteful band we find on Wishville. "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" kicks things off with the fist-pumping regalia of power pop propelled by a door-busting kick drum and gritty wah-wah guitar. "Sparks" uncorks Tim Friese-Greene's (Talk Talk) masterful production, which is as invaluable to Wishville as the songs themselves. Every track is fluidly distinguished from one another by the jazz-influenced production; instruments and vocals weigh in separately and cautiously, then dramatically merge. On "Gasoline" the open-ended kick and snare treatment allows for an empty-room reverberation, while such tracks as "Crème Caramel" and "All of That" emphasize lead singer Rob Dickinson's whisper-in-the-ear tone. Appeasing longtime fans, "Lifeline" and "What We Want to Believe in" nod to the (The) Catherine Wheel of yore with a wash of lushly distorted guitars. Wishville is the band at its sparest, but it still delivers high-voltage, smart alternative rock. Perfect rock posture with no posturing. --Beth Massa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That's THE Catherine Wheel to you!, May 23, 2000

By	David Parker (burlington, vermont United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A slightly new name (so people will no longer mistakenly find their albums under "female folk singers"), and a shorter, more concise version of the compelling songwriting and instrumentation always found on their albums. This is no masterpiece like 'Adam and Eve', as there is really nothing as compelling here as 'Ma Solituda' or as epic as "Phantom of the American Mother', but a great album after repeated listens nevertheless. One of the few bands who can still write complex, emotional songs in the usually-tiring 'guitar/bass/drums' motif. I'm a bit disappointed with only 9 songs clocking in at just 40 minutes, but 'Wishville' is still another great album by one of the best bands in the world. I just wish everybody else knew it! Hopefully Sony will work them like the Mercury label didn't, and the rest of the world will catch on!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars regression, bigtime, December 22, 2003

By	"accumbaldopamine" (iowa city, ia) - See all my reviews

Catherine wheel are/ were a pretty solid rock band. Started out shoegazey, got a little more aggressive along with the nirvana thing, and then hit an apparent peak with "Adam and Eve". I have no idea if they were forced to release this garbage, or if they really thought it was good or it was a contract-finishing record or what. There are 9 songs, and 9 songs only. Maybe 2 or 3 are worth hearing again. The album is made up of pretty straight forward and pretty awful rock songs. They last about 4 minutes each, they basically mesh into one another and sound really tired and uninspired. I'm probably digging too deep, but maybe the band just wanted to get this out so they could break up (haven't seen nor heard from them since)? If you are looking for quality "alternative" rock, look elsewhere. There are dozens of great bands making similar, sylistically speaking, music that do it a lot better than this. Actually go buy "Adam and Eve", "Chrome" or "Ferment" by this very band. They made those albums when they cared about making music. Clearly their passion is gone!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FOR YEARS I AVOIDED CAFFEINE, September 28, 2000

By	EriKa "E" (Iceland) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

It is time that Catherine Wheel are widely recognized for their consistently solid, brilliant records. Of course, that said, it will be a shame if Catherine Wheel were to become mainstream music heroes at this point, some ten years into their career. Not only would it be like people jumping onto a bandwagon but it would also mean that it would be much harder to get into their shows. (I need to convince them to come play in Iceland!)

Wishville is not the Catherine Wheel's best album to date, and I still find it perplexing that they changed their name from Catherine Wheel to The Catherine Wheel when fans have been trying to explain to non-fans (for years) that it is Catherine Wheel (so much for those efforts in vain!) I also don't know the story with them losing their longtime bassist Dave Hawes. Whatever the case, this album does not suffer any with these changes. There is the grinding guitar opening of the first single "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" and the vocals of Rob Dickinson, along with his believable lyrics (I have to admit that I am not as impressed with the lyrics here as in previous albums). There's the "blushing bride who loves an idle life..." and the "wedding night thighs, kept me alive..." in Crème Caramel and the "I slipped on truth the hard way... she preferred herself to me, so I said, We all believe what we want to believe in..." This album is like a hard-driven bargain, worth the wait for a new album, and the songs are stunning live. The only bad song here is "All of That" which disturbs the flow of the album and is narcissistically annoying.

The Catherine Wheel is a band which has been much overlooked and oft compared to lesser bands (the most common being Bush, which has to be the most ridiculous comparison I have heard of late). The Catherine Wheel are highly original, experimental, and so completely worth your time.