The Church
 

...are an Australian 80s band responsible for this little ditty:



They're much better than their name implies (har har), with a few genuinely good albums hidden up their sleeves:

Of Skins and Heart (1981)
The Blurred Crusade (1982)
Heyday (1986)
Starfish (1988)

Any other fans out there?

NOTE: I wasn't really sure what forum to put this in. They have elements of jangle pop, progressive and neo-psychedelic music, but they've also been tagged as alternative, whatever that means.

Great band, I've only got the one album by them though (unfortunately). They're definitely responsible for some very memorable tunes. Albums-wise, Starfish is a very good album indeed, my personal highlights (aside from the mighty Under the Milky Way) being...

...Antenna...


...and Lost.


As I say, great band, though not quite my favourite Australian band of the era (judging from Starfish alone of course, so that could be subject to change). If you like the Church I reckon Stoneage Romeos by the Hoodoo Gurus and Born Sandy Devotional by the Triffids are well worth a listen (just drop me a PM if you want any links).

Christ. Why can't I just be a dumb metal head and ignore these bands. Jackhammer likeys but they will have to wait. I have so much stuff to get through.

The Church are one of my all time favorite bands. Though apparently I'm of the rare breed that thinks the 90s was their best era. I actually posted their track "The Maven" in the Best Guitar Solos thread earlier today.

YES! The Maven has an excellent guitar solo! Anjd I agree with you 100% about the Church's nineties stuff, and their recent work is no slouch either...


I'll tell no lies, they are possibly the top of my top three favorite bands right now... I have every album the band has put out, plus a few rarities, with signitures, etc... I have basically put their music into three fairly disntinct eras, the early albums (very jangle - pop, with dreamy, more sentimental lyrics) the 90's stuff, which is fairly psychedelic, less conventional, more centred around spacey, abstract themes.... and the modern (00's) stuff, which sees a bit of a return of the jangly sound, some more earthly lyrics and themes, but with a focus on higher more spacey concepts, a bit of a regret for a life lived indulgently - drug habits, etc) and outstanding production with some electronic / ambient elements.

I've seen them play live twice and I just missed seeing them here in Milwaukee by a whisker. Both times i saw them the band absolutely blew me away. Marty Wilson - Piper is a severely underrated guitarist - I saw him jam the hell out of "Tantalized" from the "Heyday" album - the band extended some of the solo parts to suit and it was possibly the very best moment I've enjoyed at any rock music performance.


I've had friends who've met the band and find them very personable, if a little shy - Wilson - Piper seems to be the most outgoing individual - Steve Kilbey can be standoff - ish, especially if you start getting all fanboy drooly... the others are just kinda quiet, unassuming.


Most of their newer material is written as long full band jam sessions from which they pick parts and weave them into full songs with lyrics. This approach has yeilded some really great compositions, for example, "Cantilever" from the outtakes collection "Beside Yourself"... would be in my top ten long / complex / songs... again, another live highlight.

So I guess this post, and probably my whole profile kinda gives away the fact I love the band dearly...

The Church are actually the one of the loudest band I have ever seen live. Well for the first three songs at least. I caught them on 10/10/92 at a long gone venue called The Metropolis. There is now one of those cheap food franchises in it's place sadly. It was a good venue. After the third song Steve Kilbey asked the crowd if they thought it was too loud and got a resounding yes. The volume was turned down to a level that allowed the songs to shine as oppose to sounding like an unintelligible racket.

Top band by the way.

Yes. A lady friend from my past was romantically involved with him and said as much in that he was a nice bloke but very "deep". Her word.

It's funny, "The Maven" isn't really one of my favorite songs of theirs otherwise, but man that solo is so good it makes the whole song worthwhile.

Yeah, I definitely like all their eras (though I don't own anything more recent than Forget Yourself, but to me Sometime Anywhere, Priest=Aura and to a slightly lesser extent Magician Among the Spirits are the high points of their career.


I totally agree with this. Well, not literally the loudest I've seen live, Lords of Acid holds that distinction, but when I saw the Church back in 1998 I remember being shocked at how noisy they were live. It was almost like they were a different band from the one I knew on their albums, still fantastic though.

Janszoon, if you have some spare cash to throw down on some great music, the Church have had three pretty impressive albums since Forget Yourself - one full studio release, "Uninvited Like the Clouds", which is as best a melding of all their styles as I have ever heard...


And their series of two accoustic albums, which include accoustic re - takes of some of their classic songs from throughout their history, as well as a smattering of new, previously unheard of tracks... if you're searching, try finding, "El Momento Descuidado" and "El Momento Siguente"... both are darn solid albums, and the coolest thing about the live performances around these two accoustic albums is they all swith and change instruments and even vocalists sometimes. Really cool.

They are working on an all new studio album which I believe is due for release in 2009. Can't Wait to hear it.

Its truly odd to me that they aren't exactly well known outside of Australia... Very harsh on a supreme talent.

My favourite album by far would have to be Priest = Aura. I agree Janz, the 90's were a better period, though you can't exactly fault the other ones too much :p: Priest would be near the top in Zarko top 100.

Ripple and The Disillusionist the best from the album.


Ripple

Can't find The Disillusionist :(

Janszoon sent me Priest = Aura and I really liked it. Definitely a Velvet Underground influence in there, which is a good thing.

Definitely two great songs. I'm a big fan of "Swan Lake", "Dome" and "Kings" as well.

And I totally agree about the other eras. I like the 90s stuff the best but really I don't think they've ever released a bad album.

I'm glad to hear you liked it! They have tons of other good stuff too if you're ever interested in checking it out.

Ahhh, good ol Priest = Aura, one of the church's best albums, everm and, I hasten to add one great Australian undiscovered beauty... :-)

Awesome cover too

http://a7.vox.com/6a00cdf39c957dcb8f...1d170002-500pi

I agree. I've always thought that photo suited the feel of the album very well.

Definitely. I honestly don't think any other Church album comes close, despite how good their other albums are. Was never huge on Starfish...

Yeah, Starfish is really uneven. But I think Sometime Anywhere is a great album. IMHO it's equal to or nearly equal to the quality of Priest=Aura.

Priest + Aura is one heck of a good album, as is Sometime Anywhere - good, great Mid career, post success albums, when they are starting to not give a crap about image and just go for broke musically...

Chaos is one of my all time favorite songs by the band!

I found it interesting you placed this in the Pop board ...glad I peaked in here- The Church are amazing. Steven Killbey is an amazing baritone singer. Thanks for posting the video to Under The Milky Way I loved seeing it again. I remember when I first saw the video in the 80s I finally realized the song's title wasn't 'wish I knew what I was looking for' LOL. I like Starfish the best but they have a huge discography that many are not familiar with. I think Starfish was their first album produced in America.

been getting into this band more and more lately. Kilbey's got a damn good flourish for songwriting. still say that Starfish is their best but considering i'm only halfway through their extensive library i won't hold it there.

and for you kiddos who love the Smiths...they don't hold a candle to this band.

New album, Untitled # 23 released in may... can't wait! I have copy pre - ordered! What I have read about it seems to be indicating an atmospheric, After Everything Now This sorta fweel... which would be great since that's one of my favorite Church albums...but this band is always so full of musical suprises... you can never tell...

I'm seeing them June 26 :)

I only have Heyday, it's okay. I would rather listen to The Charlatans or The Ocean Blue though.

Heyday isn't one of their better albums IMHO. Trying checking out Priest=Aura.

They're going through Cali soonish aren't they? Get on it Jans, for all of us :D :p:

i'm trying to get my brother to go but i'll definitely be there as well.

the show in Pittsburgh is a 21 and over. :(

I'd like to go but I may be out of town for a wedding when they come here unfortunately. Also, I have to admit, the last time I saw them live I was a little disappointed. They were good but not nearly as good as I thought they'd be.

Ah that sucks. The Cleveland show costs two dollars more for anyone under 21... kinda weird but w/e.

it's the same ****ing venue that all these bands play at and i can't go to any of them. i missed Bon Iver & about four others over last summer because of them.

honestly, i haven't really cared much about not being 21 besides this stupid venue that can't figure out how to buy a permanent marker.

/vent.

When are you 21?

One of the few bands where I pretty much like everything they did. Very underrated
outside of Australia in comparison to other bands in the same genre at that time. "Almost with you" is a gem of a tune by them (actually quite modern sounding considering the year it was released).

Reptile.. best church song!!!

It's one of their best, that's for sure! They have a whole range of amazing songs that are equally impressive too!

I love it too!

http://youtu.be/uCPC_5j1Few

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that Priest = Aura is a magnificant album.

You are not. Classic.

x2. It's possibly my favorite Church album.

The Church are awesome. Criminally overlooked in modern rock circles ( :tramp: ).