Road to Rouen [IMPORT]

Supergrass

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 15, 2005)
• Original Release Date: September 27, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Europe Generic
• ASIN: B0009Y336A
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #320,603 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When Supergrass released its excitable debut, I Should Coco a decade ago, the British trio (now a quartet) sounded so young, dumb and full-of-fun that Steven Spielberg thought they would make suitable candidates for a Monkees-style television show pairing infectious rock tunes with hilarious hi-jinks. As it turns out, the British group has followed the Monkees career path thoroughly, growing unexpectedly more somber with each of its successive releases, trading in shouty pop hits for plaintive retro-rock triumphs like "Pumping On Your Stereo" and "Moving." True to form, Road To Rouen, the band's fifth album, opens with the gentle "Tales of Endurance (Parts 4, 5 & 6)" and keeps the easy pace through melodic, string-filled highpoints such as "St. Petersburg" and "Roxy" - songs that confirm they're no longer monkeying around. "We welcome commercial suicide," sings frontman Gaz Coombes. --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

UK pressing. The brand new sounds of Supergrass's fifth record might frighten the timid, unadventurous types who think Supergrass should still be doing buzzsaw pop, ten years after they (re)invented the form with I Should Coco. With their new album they have made a record that is utterly, intriguingly, brilliantly different. Road To Rouen is about a journey; going places, moving on and growing up, a new chapter for Supergrass. Ghosts of the past have been exorcised and (sort of) laid to rest: Supergrass are ready to face their future. Road to Rouen demonstrates an amazing development of their sound, firmly shaking off the old frivolous and cheeky image. The album is packed with ideas and there are surprises at every turn. In a very good way, it's all over the place. A zither, a ukulele, Led Zep-style psychedelic-folk, brass, strings, the model of drum machine used by Sly & The Family Stone - all these are on Road To Rouen. EMI. 2005. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing?? Not at all!!!, November 2, 2005

By	Mark Chambers "midwestern boy" (Cleveland, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Road to Rouen (Audio CD)

This is the best Supergrass album–heck, the best album I've listened to period–in a couple of years. The previous album that had this much of an impact on me (and my stereo which hasn't stopped spinning since) was The Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots". I don't know what these people are talking about calling this album "disappointing"! Far from it! This is simply good music. This is what rock should be. These songs try to take you back to a time when music was in fact music! I can't stop listening to it, whether I'm on the road or in bed. All the tracks are catchy and were instant favorites of mine. And as you keep listening, the songs just keep getting better. You start picking out a riff or a sound that you didn't notice before. "Road To Rouen" is a bit Beatlesque, but in a good way. The Beatles had good song structure, and I think Supergrass is tapping into that on this album. The first track, "Tales of Endurance" starts out like an album should; instrumentals building up to the vocals. This album isn't mellow, but it could be to some people. It's just a bit more relaxing than those prior. If their song "Late In The Day" were an album, this would be it.

Anyway, I highly recommend it. The fact that I'm on here writing a review for it is a testament to how awe-struck I am by "Road To Rouen". I've never had the motivation to write a music review before!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A full return to form (4.5 Stars), October 3, 2005

By	Brian Conway - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The last two Supergrass albums, Supergrass and Life On Other Planets, were both mixed affairs. While their sound, both mellow and energetic respectively, sounded like another step in the right direction, aside from the obvious singles there was a lack of sturdy songs on each disc. Some three years later Supergrass has returned with their fifth full-length and what a return it is. Easily their strongest and most consistent album since In It For The Money, Road To Rouen is worth the wait. This release finds Supergrass mellowing their sound without getting depressing or dull. The album still bounces around with a great, subtle energy finding all the songs brimming with a slowly growing beauty. The opening track "Tales of Endurance (Parts 4, 5 & 6)" starts out as a beautiful acoustic number which then transforms, with the help of some majestic horns ala Ennio Morricone, into a full out blues-stomp rocker. It's a great example of Supergrass' ability to twist their songs around while staying inside the same groove and now they show this great talent through the course of nine songs. Unlike prior releases, Road To Rouen stays in the same groove and never seems spastic or inconsistent, even on the hilarious intermission "Coffee In The Pot." Singles "St. Petersburg" and "Low C" find Supergrass in full acoustic mode, both songs being prime examples of just how beautiful music can be. The mini-epic "Roxy," the funky rock of the Curtis Mayfield-esque title track, and the shimmering, electric mod-rock of "Kick In The Teeth" show us that Supergrass can still rock, even if their sound is more sophisticated than the youthful punk of I Should Coco. Despite all these varying styles, none of the songs seem out of place here. Every track on Road To Rouen grows more and more classic with every listen, making it the most beautiful album of Supergrass' career and their best in the last eight years.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars, 1 caveat..., October 2, 2005

By	Max - See all my reviews

This review is from: Road to Rouen (Audio CD)

This is another fantastic album from Supergrass. Taken on its own I give it 5 stars. However, it's not quite the kind of album I look forward to from them so it's not my favorite. (My favorites are "I Should Coco," "In It For The Money," and "Life On Other Planets.") I prefer Supergrass' catchy fun pop songs, but this isn't that kind of album. It's a top-notch album, don't get me wrong, I just sorta wish they'd released it under a different band name and also released an album or EP of stuff along the lines of "Grace" and "Pumpin' On Your Stereo."

And by the way, if anyone from CAPITOL RECORDS is reading this: Please get off your butts and start publicizing these guys! It's criminal that they're not as huge in the U.S. as they are elsewhere and it's only because you're not doing anything with them. No one knows about them because they're not exposed to them; there's no media blitz like there is for your other acts. You can start by making them more prominent on your slowwww, awful web site!