Ok, this is only my second review so don’t be to brutal but here goes. Longview are a Manchester band that have been on the verge for a while. They originally brought this album out in 2003 and it flopped, which was a major surprise to the band and the record label as their was a lot of time spent on production etc. Anyhow, the album got re-produced, re released and faired much better in the summer of 2005, and they even managed a world tour support slot with Embrace. Many critics compared this album to U2’s mighty Joshua Tree.
The album has a very relaxed feel to it, and on occasion becomes a little tedious as some of the songs are a little too quiet for too long. The best work on the album definitely comes from the singles, which isn’t really any surprise. The debut single, Further, is a catchy, simple song. The distortion sound of the guitars in this song, and all the album really, are quite unique and very well produced. The intro chord progression is pretty much the basis of the entire song, just using dynamics to build the song up and down in typical Coldplay sort of way. The vocal harmonies in this song are well executed and sound good, and this song pretty much sets the tone for album, although this is probably the best composition on the album. This theme continues through out the album, and there even some female vocals on the track falling for you, (By a female called Sarah Shawcross) which give this album that sometimes takes itself a little too seriously a bit of cheesiness. I Would really sounds impressive in the outro of the song, with that power tear-drenched indie once again reminiscent of Coldplay. Rob Mc Veys vocals by this point on the album start to sound a little dull. Nowhere was a single, and is one of the more energetic tracks on the album, and features a much, but still great chord progression. Not that they stole this chord progression off anyone, they just continue to over use it them selves! When You Sleep is easily the most high energy track on the album and probably show cases the bands talents more than any other song. It starts of with the sound of feedback and kicks in with a powerful power chord progression. After the second chorus, they mellow a little into nice vocal harmonies, but they don’t make the fatal flaw of keeping this up, and go back into the high energy chord progression with some really cool lead over it. This is probably my favourite song on the album, and the overall highpoint.
This album suffers a little bit for a few things. They are too mellow and chilled for the majority on this album, and although everything is fantastically played his voice becomes very boring after track 4. The actual lyrics in most of the songs are quite repetitive, and the majority of the songs stay round the same chord progression. However, there are some nice melodies and harmonies on here, and the simple lead guitar parts are quite refreshing but a little too sparing. More simple lead guitar could have made this album a little less tiresome on the ears. Not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, but for such a highly rated band, who play such expensive instruments, and claim to be influenced by the likes of My Bloody Valentine, U2 and Radiohead, there has been no evidence of that kind of comparison being credible.
Pros+
+Good vocal harmonies
+Simple lead guitar parts very effective
+Not over indulgent
+When you sleep
Cons-
-Hard to listen to start to finish without falling asleep
-The same chord progression used very often
-Very stereotypical of what an indie should ‘supposedly’ sound like these days
