Customer Reviews

north of a miracle LP

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'North Of A Miracle' is an exceptional album that captures Nick Heyward at his talented best.

Recent offerings ('The Apple Bed', 'Tangled' and the brilliantly melodic 'From Monday To Sunday') have all seen Nick Heyward communicate via a more guitar-based, and sometimes second division, Britpop sound. Were it not for the fondly-remembered Haircut 100 days, it would be difficult to believe that Nick Heyward was once an out and out pop artist.

Soulful pop is Nick Heyward's specialility, so why did he leave it all behind? His 1990s albums may have given him credibility amongst fans of a certain genre, but somewhere along the way the music has become stereotypical, a parody of itself. The latter three albums are not bad by any means; the melodic magic remains, but the strummy guitar effect and Britpop yesteryear references are beginning to wear a bit thin to this reviewer.

'North Of A Miracle' was Heyward's only solo commercial success. Albums such as the flawed 'Postcards From Home' (1986) and the likeable 'I Love You Avenue' (1989) maintained Heyward's pop sensibilities but shifted fewer units. This, I suggest, was just part of a phase all artists go through following mid-range commercial success. Had Heyward persevered with pop in his subsequent three albums, further UK (and possibly US chart) hits would undoubtedly have followed.

'North Of A Miracle' sees Heyward tackle new musical arrangements that evolved from the Haircut 100 sound. Like a previous reviewer mentioned, half of this album would have appeared on the next Haircut 100 offering had the band not sadly split up. But certainly not as arranged on 'North Of A Miracle'.

The Haircut 100 re-recordings and the new solo Heyward songs all combine to create an evocative musical experience. The soulful, melodic pop groove of 'North Of A Miracle' hit me on vinyl all those years ago and it reaches me now.

The album is still my favourite after all these years. Hopefully Nick's next work of art will see more strings, more beats, more brass, more keyboards, less guitar and more public acclaim.

'North Of A Miracle'. Music to dance to. Music to get lost in. Music to remember by. Music to cherish.

Nick Heyward's North of a Miracle was originally released in 1983 following his success with Haircut 100. It epitomized the resurgence of that time using real orchestral instruments instead of synthesizers, so prevalent in previous years.
The album was produced by Heyward and Geoff Emerick of Beatles fame as George Martin's engineer on the later albums. The production quality is brilliant with a full orchestra on every track and a good deal of percussion. The vocal harmonies, guitars, bass, drums, piano, organ and other instruments jump out of the speakers with crisp sonic precision to be appreciated across the audio spectrum.
Most importantly, the songs are great. The CD version includes a few extra tracks as noted and as usual, the extra tracks are forgettable with the exception of Stolen Tears, a bright tune with fine acoustic guitar work.
Listeners of college radio or English radio in the early 80s may have heard When It Started to Begin, Atlantic Monday or other tracks but American pop radio listeners surely heard Whistle Down the Wind, which cracked Billboard's top 20 in late 1983. Opening with piano and a droning fretless bass (Pino Palladino), this breezy tune grows in energy with each measure and finishes with a beautiful orchestral climax. A pop tune with class.
Every other one of the 10 original songs are exceptional although The Day It Rained Forever, the last song on the original album, always made me hit the stop button on my turntable.
Speaking of which, I still have the original vinyl LP in mint condition and a good turntable with an Ortofon cartridge and it sounds much better than the CD, which sounds fine. I realize not everyone wants to bother with all the old stuff but the LP does sound better. That's another story for another day.
As for the songs, Atlantic Monday and When It Started To Begin are so good and so high energy that one could only wish they were playing in that band, if only as a percussionist or background vocalist.
Blue Hat For a Blue Day has a wonderful organ part providing the base for a lead vocal with one of the sweetest refrains imaginable. Mandolin and accordion are featured with a sentimental violin, marimba, saxophones and the fretless bass carrying the rhythm. It doesn't get much better than this. As with many of the albums' tracks, guitar virtuoso Tim Renwick plays guitar (and mandolin on this one.) As for the words, I guess one could decipher the meaning of the song by the title but I've always been too consumed with the sounds to bother. Doesn't sound like it was recorded on a blue day.
Club Boy At Sea is spectacular in its subtle build to a climax with an irresistible rhythm guitar throughout backed by an aggressive orchestral arrangement and yet another outstanding lead vocal performance. What club he's talking about, who the boy is or what sea he is sailing I don't care. I'm too consumed with the performances. Just listen to the last two minutes of the song and you won't care either.
Two Make It True and On a Sunday are classics themselves - Sunday for the great spoken verse-in-rhythm at the end and True for quality guitar tracks and a fine bass/guitar/percussion break near the end. The Kick of Love is a jazz tune featuring a Spanish guitar solo with piano. It faces stiff competition with the rest of the tracks on the album, which means it's only a very good song.
Heyward plays guitars on most if not all of the tracks but Renwick takes ordinary parts and makes them spectacular, as he's always done. (See Al Stewart, Allan Parsons and Gilbert O'Sullivan among others)
Atlantic Monday and The Day it Rained Forever were recorded live. The album was recorded and mixed at Air Studios and Abbey Road Studios in London and the album is undeniably English. Orchestral arrangements are credited to Andrew Powell and Paul Buckmaster and Heyward is credited with the brass arrangements. He wrote all of the songs.
Nothing about this album seems contrived other than creating great tracks. Nick Heyward, Geoff Emerick and everyone else involved should be as proud of making it as I am for having found it so long ago. One of my top ten albums of the last 25 years. If you like the Style Council or XTC you will like this. Spend the money for the album.

P.S. I reserve five stars for Abbey Road, Pet Sounds, Dark Side of the Moon and others in that stratosphere.
[...]

This a gemm of the '80s. Got fab UK hits like Take that Situation, Whistle Down the Wind, Blue Hat for a Blue Day. Some songs come from the second lost album from Haircut 100 like When it started to begin who was call Coming Home before, Club boy at the sea. I think Atlantic Monday is a song really perfect that you want to listen through the years. About the bonus tracks you got here for the first time on CD the "12 version of Whistle Down the Wind (probably do it with the Haircut boys) and the non album single Laura only get it on compilations plus a couple of b-sides. A really great album with all the songs put in his right place.

From cookin' "live off the floor" takes ("Atlantic Monday") to tasty horn charts to remarkably nonsticky pop sentimentality, this record stands as an example of how good pop music not written and performed by the Beatles or Burt Bacharach can be. Overlook the fey style of singer-songwriter-guitarist Heyward and his Haircut 100 past and don't let the meticulous production put you off - if you like well-crafted pop music,this album will never be too far from your CD player.

Nick's first album from back in 1983 gets a lovingly restored reissue. Despite Amazon's tracklisting, it should be noted that the CD includes the 7 bonus tracks from the Camden release.

The album was a big hit for Mr Heyward, just coming off his break up with Haircut 100, and featured 3 top 20 UK singles. It's a very 'musical' album seemingly made by someone far more mature than Nick's 22 years. It's a wonder he never really followed it up as he was obviously really talented.

The edition I'm reviewing is the 2008 Japanese MLPS remaster and I have to say it's an unqualified success. I have the other CD versions and it's never sounded better than this. Much fuller and warmer than you're used to, the intricate production comes to life on this new remaster. Also, the original LP gatefold sleeve is beautifully reproduced (at last!) and includes an additional lyric booklet.

It's expensive (especially here on Amazon!) but is well worth seeking out, keeping in mind Japanese titles don't stay in print long. I remember this album fondly and it's great to see it get such a thorough overhaul. Definitely recommeded for fans of quality pop music.

What happened to Nick Heyward? Or a better question: why didn't this gifted, brilliant pop songwriter become a cult favorite and not recognized in the same breath as elvis costello and paul mc cartney? Simply put, North Of A Miracle is a miracle of a record. Heyward made an album in 1983 that Paul Mc Cartney SHOULD have been making instead of singing songs with Michael Jackson. Like the band xtc and british powerhouse Kate bush,his songs were just a little too English for his own good. You need to listen to the brilliant lyrics to see what i mean. All of the songs have a tenderness and vulnerability of a high school kid trying to make sense of the world, writing poems during his lunch break. This album got buried by the top British imports of 1983: Culture Club and Duran Duran. And yet, it was quite possibly one of the best and better than anything those bands ever put out. If you appreciate the Beatles, Elvis Costello or today's Heyward influenced band Keane...buy this record.

This is the version of Nick Heyward's solo debut that you want to get. The Japanese import with nine - count 'em - nine bonus tracks.

"North of a Miracle" is a delicate and beautiful bit of sophisticated adult contemporary pop from the former frontman for Haircut One Hundred. It is a timeless collection of should've-been standards that has held up remarkably well 25 years after its release. It's not dated a bit.

"Whistle Down the Wind" is a wonderful bit of pop craftsmanship, effortlessly building toward the climactic chorus, showing a nice bit of growth and maturity from his Haircut days. So too does the wistful "Club Boy at Sea." Of course, "Atlantic Monday" and "Take That Situation" would've sounded right at home on H100's "Pelican West." They sound great on this one too.

But get this version for the bonus tracks. The instrumental version of "Whistle Down the Wind" sounds sublime. "Laura" is simply extraordinary, possibly the best song of his remarkable career. This is the version to get. The Australian import has seven bonus tracks, but I think it might be lacking the instrumental "Whistle Down the Wind." Since that's an essential, go for the Japanese. You won't regret it.

This is a very good version of Nick Heyward's solo debut. However, even though the price is a little steeper, you may want to opt for the Japanese import with nine - count 'em - nine bonus tracks.

"North of a Miracle" is a delicate and beautiful bit of sophisticated adult contemporary pop from the former frontman for Haircut One Hundred. It is a timeless collection of should've-been standards that has held up remarkably well 25 years after its release. It's not dated a bit.

"Whistle Down the Wind" is a wonderful bit of pop craftsmanship, effortlessly building toward the climactic chorus, showing a nice bit of growth and maturity from his Haircut days. So too does the wistful "Club Boy at Sea." Of course, "Atlantic Monday" and "Take That Situation" would've sounded right at home on H100's "Pelican West." They sound great on this one too.

The bonus tracks are great. "Laura" is simply extraordinary, possibly the best song of his remarkable career. "Stolen Tears" is great. However, this one, I believe, is missing the beautiful, sublime instrumental version of "Whistle Down the Wind." That's the sole reason for knocking one star off this great record. Go for the Japanese import for the complete version.

After Nick Heyward split from Haircut 100 he released "North of A Miracle." The album is very mature to have been recorded by someone in their early twenties. The album opens with the highly charged "When It Started To Begin." The album spawned 4 video singles two ballads-"Whistle Down The Wind," "Blue Hat For A Blue Day," and two mid-tempo songs "On Sunday" and the bonus track "Laura." Also featured on the set is the widely popular "Take That Situation." One song on the set, "Kick of Love," is a very jazz influenced song. I really love this CD and the bonus songs are great. It truly is timeless.

(NOTE: This review posted October 19, 2011.)

By my reckoning, this is the sixth edition of Nick Heyward's solo debut, North of a Miracle. This double-disc edition, packed with bonus tracks, comes from the fine folks at Cherry Red.

As often seems to be the case these days, this latest remaster is something of a mixed bag. Let's begin...

GOOD: LOTS of extra tracks. This has everything the 2001 remaster had--except for the song "Laura", which is not included here---PLUS the two extra tracks from the Japanese edition of that edition, PLUS rough versions of "On a Sunday" and "Atlantic Monday", PLUS nine live songs (half from the LP, half Haircut 100, and a Stevie Wonder song) that appear to have been previously unreleased.

GOOD: The booklet. It contains lyrics, a foreword by Nick Heyward himself, and full credits, along with a few photos I hadn't seen before.

GOOD: North of a Miracle is one of those LPs that stand the test of time. Over the years, I've owned seven different copies; it has been several years since I was last without a copy of one sort or another in my collection.

BAD: The mastering. I swear, this must have been mastered specifically with playback on MP3 players and crappy laptop speakers in mind (it sounds great on my MacBook, but horrible everywhere else), because it is waaaaay too bass-heavy. When I put the first disc in my car's CD player, I felt as though my eardrums were being pummeled--and the album tracks do *not* otherwise show signs of having been subjected to excessive amounts of compression and limiting. Unless you plan to be listening to this on an MP3 player or computer speakers, you'll probably want to open up the tracks in audio editing software and adjust the EQ on the low end and burn to CD-R as a backup copy. (I've done this myself, and the result is a thoroughly listenable copy.)

MIXED: Most of disc 2 appears to have been given the limiting-and-compression treatment. BUT, they're not as bass-heavy as the tracks on disc 1. So, oddly enough, disc 2 is a bit easier on the ears than disc 1.

BAD: The Lyrics Have All Been Printed Just Like This. I Don't Know How You Feel About This, But I Find It Rather Annoying. (That Said, I Have Never Been Able To Decipher All The Lyrics To These Songs, Despite Having Bought This Album When It First Came Out On CD Back In 1983, So I Am Happy To Finally Have Lyrics To Look At After All This Time.)

MIXED: The original cover art is not reproduced at all, even though the front- and back-cover photographs are used. Personally, I've always liked the original cover art; I'm not sure why they didn't use it for this edition.

In short: For amount of material and selection of bonus tracks, this is the edition to get--no question about it. For sound quality, you'd need to go back to the original CD or the 2001 remaster, because the bass-heavy sound of this edition sounds good only if you're listening on an MP3 player or laptop.