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Life Pursuit

Belle & Sebastian | Format: Audio CD
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
List Price: $11.98
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Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. Act Of The Apostle Part 1 2:55$0.99 Buy Track
listen  2. Another Sunny Day 4:04$0.99 Buy Track
listen  3. White Collar Boy 3:20$0.99 Buy Track
listen  4. The Blues Are Still Blue 4:08$0.99 Buy Track
listen  5. Dress Up In You 4:23$0.99 Buy Track
listen  6. Sukie In The Graveyard 3:00$0.99 Buy Track
listen  7. We Are The Sleepyheads 3:33$0.99 Buy Track
listen  8. Song For Sunshine 4:06$0.99 Buy Track
listen  9. Funny Little Frog 3:08$0.99 Buy Track
listen10. To Be Myself Completely 3:17$0.99 Buy Track
listen11. The Act Of The Apostle Part 2 4:20$0.99 Buy Track
listen12. For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea 3:19$0.99 Buy Track
listen13. Mornington Crescent 5:40$0.99 Buy Track

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Belle and Sebastian emerged from Glasgow, Scotland in 1996 as a sort-of-college project and won national fame with a shock Brit Award. Since that brief flirtation with mainstream success, they have produced several excellent EPs and albums that saw one magazine proclaim them Scotland's best ever band. Although they are often derided as 'twee', such prejudgement is short-sighted: within their group… Read more in Amazon's Belle & Sebastian Store

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Frequently Bought Together

Life Pursuit + Boy With the Arab Strap + If You're Feeling Sinister
Price For All Three: $33.96

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  • Boy With the Arab Strap ~ Belle & Sebastian Audio CD$11.98

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  • If You're Feeling Sinister ~ Belle & Sebastian Audio CD$10.99

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (February 7, 2006)
  • Original Release Date: 2006
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Matador Records
  • ASIN: B000E11568
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,986 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
    #15 in  Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Styles > Alternative Folk
    #11 in  Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Chamber Pop
    #3 in  Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Twee Pop

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Oh to be free and frivolous, like Stuart Murdoch and his extensive cast of players as they engage The Life Pursuit. There's no "Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It" or "Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dying" on this disc. Life has gotten easier, it seems, since Belle and Sebastian's early days. To boot, since 2003's Dear Catastrophe Waitress, the Belle cast has indulged a more 70s-era set of influences: Isn't that Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" beat on the funny "White Collar Boy," a near sequel to "Step Into My Office, Baby"? And how about the T-Rex touch on the opening of "The Blues Are Still Blue"? No worries, Belle and Sebastian retain their gleam flawlessly. A jaunty lift is still in their step, a carefree abandon that charms even as it also reaches to the 70s for the funk-meets-psychedelia, "Song for Sunshine." It's bright and breezy throughout (the titles tell some of the story: "Another Sunny Day" and "Funny Little Frog"), with memorably decorous, familiar bouncing rhythms marking much of the album. The downtone "Dress Up in You" and "Mornington Crescent" are spare and lovely, wide-open in their pacing. All the same, "For the Price of a Cup of Tea," almost triggers a sing-along with just its name. --Andrew Bartlett

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Product Description

Highly ancticipated new album from Belle & Sebastian features more of their simple, melodic, moody, and poetic songs. Advanced Japanese release. EMI. 2006. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

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Customer Reviews

111 Reviews
5 star:
 (73)
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 (26)
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 (4)
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (111 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
70 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Only Band I Still Get Excited About, February 19, 2006
By Trevor Seigler (South Carolina) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Life Pursuit (Audio CD)
Long after Radiohead decided that traditional rock songs were "beneath" them and started their weird sojurn into God-knows-what and the pop-punk exoplosion of the late Nineties wilted on the vine, very little about modern music gets me excited enough to buy an album totally cold with no advance listens. Apart from Weezer last year and Death Cab for Cutie recently, I really haven't purchased a new release by a current band in a long time. But that all changed last week when I got "The Life Pursuit".

If you have the 2003 "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" disc (or the harder-to-find "Books" single from the following year) the new direction of B&S probably won't be much of a shock for you. It's not that the band has "turned their back" on what got them the devoted cult following they earned with more laid-back releases like "Tigermilk" or "If You're Feeling Sinister", but simply that they've opened their musical pallette to include Seventies glam and pomp (well, their versions of the two). And the combination is infectious if you let it in.

Sure, fans of their more acoustic material will feel betrayed, and I can sympathize with them if they feel Stuart Murdoch and the band are forgetting their roots. But it's senseless to hold Belle and Sebastian to a fixed style, when there have been hints of this kind of musical direction in previous releases (anyone recall "Electronic Renaissance"'s odd position on the Tigermilk record?). What's more, like any good artists the group brings something unexpected and new to the styles they've embraced.

That's called true artistry, folks. If the record wasn't half as enjoyable as it is, you might have a point.

But songs like "The Blues are Still Blue", "We are The Sleeyheads", "Funny Little Frog", and "White Collar Boy" are immensely likable on repeat listens, and the gems that emerge like "Mornington Crescent" and "Act of the Apostles (Parts I and II)" roll around in your head long after you've removed the disc from your CD player (which won't be for a while, of course). This is good music from a great band who continue to defy the expectations that were placed upon them a decade ago and still retain that special something which makes them a force to be reckoned with.

So pick up "The Life Pursuit" and enjoy listening to it on repeat, as there isn't a bad track on the entire disc. Rock music rarely gets this enjoyable or listenable these days, so treasures like "Pursuit" should be acknowledged. Otherwise, it's just the same old crap but with a different album cover. And that's the artistic kiss of death.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars we are the sleepyheads!, February 9, 2006
This review is from: Life Pursuit (W/Dvd) (Audio CD)
Yay! I just received the limited edition of B&S's "Life Pursuit" LP. While the album might be disappointing at first, it really does grow on you. It's more singular in vision than the last LP, which makes it very consistent and just as lovely, and in the end one of the band's finest achievements.

The songs themselves are more overtly seventies rock-and-pop (and funk), with "The Blues are Still Blue" probably being the high point. Of course, several cuts are very reminiscent of old Belle & Sebsatian ("Dress Up in You," "Funny Little Frog," "Another Sunny Day" -- though "Frog" is steeped in rocking piano accents and hip, poppy guitar lines). You will be disappointed if you're only looking for something akin to "Sinister" or "Fold Your Hands," however.

The DVD in this limited edition package is a bit of a surprise, considering the current price on amazon is only a little more over the standard, comparatively average CD set. Six songs from the album are performed live, rather well, with Stuart Murdoch (the imitable and quite lovely band leader) showing some serious charm. I think I might be even more in love with him than I was before. (The songs are "Another Sunny Day," "Dress Up in You," "To Be Myself Completely," "Mornington Crescent," "Funny Little Frog," and "White Collar Boy.")

The packaging is exactly like the deluxe version of "Push Barman": hardcover mini-book, except way more pictures and linear notes. A lot of the Q&A from the band's official website is in here, which at first I found unimpressive, but I'm fine with it now. Richard's answers to most everything are hilarious, and the very notion of putting such a thing in the linear notes shows how well connected B&S is to its fans.

Surely worth the purchase for anyone who loves the band. It doesn't particularly matter if you're a casual fan or not -- the deluxe version honestly isn't much more than the regular one, and the music is catchy and friendly enough to guarantee new fans. Highly recommended.
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37 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars What are Belle and Sebatian Fans expecting?, February 9, 2006
By The Lunar Camel (Ligonier PA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Life Pursuit (Audio CD)
I find it quite odd that any Belle and Sebastian fan would come in here and give The Life Pursuit a one star. I truly can't figure out what fans expect of musicians. Some want an exact duplicate of previous efforts. Boring boring boring. Here Belle and Sebastian have released a great album of fresh and exciting new tunes. Admitingly, I raised an eyebrow at the first listen though now that I'm on my fourth listen, this stuff is great. It's uplifting and witty, as Belle and Sebastian have always been. It would seem to me that anybody complaining about this cd simply has a problem with change. Ironically, the cd really isn't much of a departure from their previous efforts. For those who want to complain, stick in 'If You're Feeling Sinister' and just listen to it over and over again. For those who are expecting Belle and Sebastian to grow musically with new fresh ideas, definitely get The Life Pursuit.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Whimsical and full of flavor
I have a few albums from Belle & Sebastian and this one is different. The quality and momentum of the music is nice on this album. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Katherine Vejchoda

5.0 out of 5 stars "Honey, Loving You Is the Greatest Thing..."
For some reason, I didn't listen much to Belle & Sebastian's "The Life Pursuit" back in the cold winter days of 2006 when it was released. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Richard Hine

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this Album
This is the 2nd Belle and Sebastien album I've purchased, with the first purchased in the 90's ("Boy with the Arab Strap"). Read more
Published 19 months ago by P. Myhre

4.0 out of 5 stars Smart pop, now with less artery-clogging filler
While not a complete reinvention (although a few tracks beg to differ), TLP came on strongly revitalized in pop assertiveness, managing to rework some of the same old formulas... Read more
Published 19 months ago by IRate

4.0 out of 5 stars I Recommend
I first came to know Belle & Sebastian when my pal Patrick put "Lazy Line Painter Jane" on for me. As I was preparing for a bus trip to Los Angeles, he said the song reminded him... Read more
Published on June 25, 2008 by Bradley Jacobson

5.0 out of 5 stars a perfect album
This is the type of album that you can play again & again without skipping songs. Probably the best of Belle & Sebastian.
Published on March 26, 2008 by visionary

5.0 out of 5 stars Their best yet
Quite simply, this is the best Belle and Sebastian yet. I like it even more than "Boy With The Arab Strap". Read more
Published on January 24, 2008 by Michael Topper

5.0 out of 5 stars The best UK album since "OK Computer"
This is quite simply one of the best albums of all time. I have a wide range of musical tastes, and I like most of B & S's stuff. Read more
Published on January 18, 2008 by Mark L. Pessoni

5.0 out of 5 stars Pursue this album!
This album made my "Best Albums of 2006" list (see http://www.amazon.com/Best-Albums-of-2006/lm/R3A0M7FT9VW902/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full). Read more
Published on December 28, 2007 by Scott Yanoff

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect album
Stuart Murdoch's ability to create complex and irresistible melodies is more evident in this album than any other B & S album to date. Read more
Published on December 28, 2007 by Kim Higginson

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Life Pursuit
68% buy the item featured on this page:
Life Pursuit ~ Belle & Sebastian Audio CD 4.4 out of 5 stars (111)
$10.99
Boy With the Arab Strap
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Tigermilk
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If You're Feeling Sinister
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If You're Feeling Sinister ~ Belle & Sebastian Audio CD 4.4 out of 5 stars (176)
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