Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Have you fed them?, January 30, 2005
After his brilliant debut, "Hour of Bewilderbeast," Badly Drawn Boy (real name: Damon Gough) had a lot to live up to in his second (non-soundtrack) album. And he comes close to delivering in "Have You Fed the Fish?", a sparkling folky-pop album that displays his musical depth and complexity.
It opens with an announcer (like on a plane) informing us that outside the window is a cloud that looks just like Badly Drawn Boy. It's a pretentious moment that isn't too annoying -- especially when it dissolves into sparkling, layered pop. Gough relies on piano pop in songs like "40 Days 40 Fights," and the passionate ballad "How." It's his best area; he can really wring feeling from those keys.
But he also dips into the more acoustic sound, with the danceable "Born Again" and the low-key "I Was Wrong." And "Tickets To What You Need" is more acoustic than any other song -- stripped down, with Gough's vocals in the forefront, he sounds like he's standing on a table and joyously singing to the crowds. After a few more chillingly panoramic pop melodies and piano-led laments, he bows out in the soaring fuzz-guitar "Bedside Story."
It's all too easy to alienate someone you love, perhaps forever. Gough seems to be speaking through his songs to someone else, saying "I Was Wrong," "You Were Right" (two songs from the middle of this album). He retains the experimental edge, giving extra layers and sonic flourishes to what could have been an ordinary indie-folk-pop album.
If there's any flaw in "Have You Fed The Fish?", it's that it seems sometimes that Gough is trying a little too hard. Relax, mate. His acoustic guitar and exquisite piano playing are the middle of the album's sound, but he backs it up with horns, strings, sometimes thunderous percussion, and cymbals. Not to mention the smooth synthy sweeps in songs like "Centre Peace."
Gough's mellow voice is a bit like an instrument in itself -- he seems kind of timid about being in the forefront musically. He only breaks out in "Tickets To What You Need," sounding playful and charming. There are some lyrical stumbles ("And woman, I'll make you a girl"?), but most of the time he manages to wrap strangely sensitive words around the songs. "And you/were right to bide your time and not buy into my misery/Well the good things are never free..."
Gough doesn't reach the heights of his debut album, but taken alone "Have You Fed The Fish" is a beautiful little pop classic overshadowed by the bigger classic, "Bewilderbeast."
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Badly Drawn from Khanoda's earlier catalogue?, October 19, 2006
I've been hooked on BDB since "...Bewilderbeast" and this album definitely did not fail in continuing to raise my expectations on what a fine songwriter Damon Gough is, but I couldn't help but hearing some similarities between the track "All Possibilities" to that of a song by Khanoda called "That's My Desire" from his album "Klosure" released in 1998 originally (according to Amazon). Same guitar strumming kind of jaunt with a trumpet break. Now mind you, this hadn't occured to me until recently when I went back to hear "All Posibilities" after hearing it in a Target commercial (oddly enough, I often overlooked the track since it felt like I heard it before, and now I know where). It also made me wonder if "Something To Talk About", from the "About A Boy" soundtrack by BDB released in 2002, is a response, or tribute, or whatever, to Khanoda's song "Something To Shout About", also from his album "Klosure". Is there a connection?
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by Badly Drawn Boy 
