(It's pronounced "fawl-cha" and means "welcome", which you're not
)
No, not albums IN Irish; that would be stupid and would bring back some very unpleasant memories of school, but albums by Irish artists. A short thread, you say? How dare you, sir? Or, to react in a more Irish way, c'm... c'm over here... n say... say that ye... ye bastard! I'll mallevogue ye! I'll stick this shillelagh up yer --
Wow! That got violent and aggressive pretty fast, didn't it? Better press on with the reviews. Well, as everyone knows, Ireland has produced some huge acts, from U2 to Thin Lizzy and Westlife to, um, Hozier, and great guitarists too, like Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore. And yes, for the purpose of this thread I am taking Northern Ireland as being part of Ireland. I'm a staunch Republican (not really) - and no, it means something entirely different over here, thanks very much! - so will consider the North part of the Republic, but only when it suits me of course.
Enough politics, as we say here,
ar aghaid leat! Let's crack on!
The Sea of Love - The Adventures - 1988 (Elektra)
A little-known Irish rock band, the second album from the Adventures is a joy to listen to. A seven-piece band from Belfast, they recorded a total of four albums, of which I have only heard this one and its follow-up,
Trading Secrets with the Moon, which is also an excellent album. It's a criminal shame these guys never made it, as in ways their sound is quite reminiscent of the Waterboys, and I would have thought that maybe they might have latched on to the success of the Scottish superstars, particularly around the
Fisherman's Blues era, which would have tied in with the release of this album. However it was not to be, and although they have reformed to play the odd gig here and there, with their last release being in 1993 it seems unlikely we will ever hear from them again on album.
Which makes listening to this album even more important. It's a real example of how a band can put together an almost flawless record, gain critical acclaim and yet not crack the big time. As our American cousins say, go figure.
The very first thing you hear when the laser hits the CD is a drawn-in breath, which is very real, not having been edited out of the production and therefore giving the feeling of a band who really care about and enjoy their music. The next thing you hear is the powerful voice of Terry Sharpe singing
“Oh I'm drowning in the sea of love!” before drums, guitar and keys crash together to get the title track underway. Backing vocals by Eileen Gribben meld with Terry's, while her brother Pat crashes out the power chords. It's a song of holding on, with a powerful beat and a great melody. Would have been a perfect single, you would think, and it was. But it never got into even the top 40! I blame the X-Factor. Yeah, I know it wasn't around in 1988, but hell, I blame the X-Factor for the decline of modern music, so I ain't going to let a little fact like that stand in the way!
Following on from “Drowning in the Sea of Love” is the song that ended up being their only top 20 single, the wonderful “Broken Land”. Opening with a tinkly little piano line from keyboardist Jonathan Whitehead, it's not long before the rest of the band crash in, Paul Crowder's drums in particular making their presence felt in no uncertain terms as they drive the song along.
”When did the boy become a man?” sings Terry,
”And lose his right to love?/ So much confusion to this plan/ These times are not changing.” “Broken Land” is more Celtic-sounding than the opener, having something like uileann pipes on it, and was in fact my introduction to the music of this band.
“You Don't Have to Cry Anymore” has another acapella introduction, like “Drowning in the Sea of Love”, but is a heavier track, while the standout track (after the first two) is “The Trip to Bountiful (When the Rain Comes Down)”, which seems to be based on the film of the same name, concerning an old woman who travels, against her family's wishes, back to her hometown in Bountiful, Texas. I haven't seen the film, but the song is immense, chock-full of emotion and a very catchy bassline from Tony Ayre, who sadly died just before Christmas 2009. It starts off with Eileen singing like a Siren, “Come home”, before the bassline takes command of the track, joined by Crowder's drums, a slowburner that soon gets underway with the piano and Gerry “Spud” Murphy on guitar joining in. There's also a sort of reprise within the song, an instrumental passage that contains a fine piano run and takes the track to its conclusion, amidst choral vocals to the end.
There's no denying the power and majesty of this album, but like many others it kind of peaks after the abovementioned. The rest of the tracks are great, but they're not the classics-that-should-have-been that form what I guess I would term the first part of the album. Surprisingly, with the title it has, the album has no actual ballads, certainly nothing that would be recognised as such. “Broken Land” is slow enough to be a ballad, but I wouldn't class it as one. Most of the other tracks are either too fast or have the wrong lyrics for a ballad. Some albums would suffer from such a deficiency, but that isn't the case with this opus. Every song is catchy, commercial, well-written and flawlessly played. Why they never made it is beyond me. Terry Sharpe's voice is clear, warm and rolls over the ears like a gentle river, “Spud” Murphy is a great guitarist, able to rip loose with a powerful solo or keep things ticking over in the way great axemen can without effort. The keyboards talents of Jonathan Whitehead are all over the album - in many ways he characterises the sound of the band. With support from the other four member of the band, it's truly a mystery why they never broke the market, and why more people didn't get into their sound.
I guess in the end, the Adventure was not to be.
TRACK LISTING
1. Drowning in the Sea of Love
2. Broken Land
3. You Don't Have to Cry Anymore
4. The Trip to Bountiful (When the Rain Comes Down)
5. Heaven Knows Which Way
6. Hold Me Now
7. The Sound of Summer
8. When Your Heart was Young
9. One Step from Heaven