Change Everything

Great bands seem to revolve around excellent lyrics and storytelling complemented by brilliant musicianship. Del Amitri's heart and soul has always been Currie's songwriting perfectly paired by guitarist Iain Harvie's stunning instrumentation. Justin steadfastly refuses to acknowledge any deep meaning in his writing but, he is a natural born poet. The lyrics thinly belie a likely checkered and rocky road in a few past romances. Suffering is the germ of brilliance according to many pundits and Justin has apparently traversed that road with his sense of humor and self intact while developing keen insight and observational skills. Most all of the stories throughout this album are fraught with love gone wrong and/or astray but, the final cut "Sometimes I Just Have to Say Your Name" ends it on an uplifting and hopeful chord. The melodic half of the Dels brilliance throughout "Change Everything" is literally in the remarkably capable hands of Harvie. His guitar work and razor sharp timing provides perfect musical counterpart to Currie's words. Listen to the riff Iain launches into on "When You Were Young" after Justin sings "Sometimes your lack of sympathy gets hard to explain, so on your mask of make up you just paint a little parody of pain" and try and tell me the hair on the nape of your neck doesn't stand on end in stunned, giddy amazement! Feel the guitar chords rumble like emotional thunder in the background of "To Last A Lifetime" or the strumming intensity throughout "The Ones That You Love Lead You Nowhere" that could rouse even the long-dead to joyful fits of dancing! Much of the radio airplay this album got (and still occasionally gets) is deservedly from the single "Always The Last To Know". Catchy harmony and riffs abound on this cut which still sounds just as fresh today as it did in the Summer of 1992. The brooding side of the Dels permeate the "Surface of the Moon" with the words and feel of "From the well-swept streets of Jackson Heights to the dockside drudgery, everything's now a replica of what it used to be, and since they tarted up the trenches and painted the bridges blue, it seems less like a home to me than just a place they bury you". The album leads off with almost a warning in "Be My Downfall" admonishing "The bus is pulling out and I guess I'd better go before I make a grave mistake and let my feelings show, and twenty miles away she waits alone for me, but when I try to picture her, you're the one I see, and in another situation I could put up a fight, but you will be my downfall tonight". Double-entendre? You bet! Similar examples are rampant.

Del Amitri has never quite taken off the way they deserve to. Justin, Iain, and the ever changing other members of the band have never been much for conformity. This is often one of the very reasons why the rabidly loyal fan base (myself included) love them so. One can identify with the events powerfully in many (most) of their songs. They are human, like us. And very real. Promoters and elite producers often don't care for those immutable qualities, hence their relative obscurity in my opinion. But, if you are a fan of SUBSTANCE, DO NOT PASS UP ON THIS ALBUM!!! It will grow on you and, you may even find yourself quoting a line or two!

Simply the BEST ALBUM of the 90's, and the most played and well- liked CD/album/Cassette out of my collection of 2500

"Change Everything" delivered on that promise. The double edged "Just Like a Man" and the hopeless realization in "Surface of The Moon" just make the spiral more enticing. That the Del's folkish rock accompaniment is on a par with Tom Petty's Heartbreakers made the listening experience worth every second. And as with Petty, they understand the strength of both rocking hard (the Stonesy "The Ones That You Love Lead You Nowhere") and using restraint (the fantastic "Behind The Fool"). Even with all the sorry sad state of emotional affairs going on here, the disc ends on a hopeful note with "Sometimes I Just Have to Say Your Name," which is just dying to be a hit for a country singer somewhere.

If you decide that there is only one Del Amitri album you want to own, this is probably the one to get. Overall, "Change Everything" has the most consistancy of any of their four albums. "Waking Hours" is a close second, it includes the breakthrough single "Kiss This Thing Goodbye." The "Hatful Of Rain" best of is also a worthy addition. An underapprecaited group!!!!