The Church - any of the congregation here?

No sax. But you can hear it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrY7zIRueI

 

Good for the B-sides only, IMO.

 

If I have Hindsight (which I do), how much of the extra material on those remasters am I missing?


http://www.amazon.com/Hindsight-Church/dp/samples/B000006XLI/ref=dp_tracks_all_1#disc_1

 

Hi TMan,

I feel that you have the best/bulk of the B-sides with Hindsight and it is better SQ than the Don Bartley remastered 2-Disc versions.
Save your money...but obviously, if you are a 'completist' then...

Regards,

David

 

Thanks. (Nope, thankfully I don't have the completist affliction - just want the best-sounding versions of the songs to listen to.)

 

Priest=Aura has one of their best songs "Dome".

That one should have been a big hit.

 

I loved P=A when it came out. Great spooky vibe, and sounds good.

I thought Feel seemed the most likely to have been a hit. Admittedly it's a little U2ish, but that song had major crossover potential. Definite shoulda-been. Lustre is a great rock song. Loved the The Disillutionist too!

 

It's a toss up--loud, compressed vs. No Noised, muffled transfers...MMmmmm

 

Under the Milky Way is my fav. Church song. The lead singer has a great voice IMHO...

 

The Church is one of those groups that slipped my radar and now I absolutely love them and have been buying up the back catalogue. Loved UTMW back in the day but not enough to part with my money back in the college days. Saw Donnie Darko movie and was reminded how much I liked that song. Went to make myself a Donnie Darko soundtrack cdr so I bought "UTWM - the best of the Church" and other than the title track, still tended to ignore this group (inexplicably). One day a couple years ago I put compilation on, and was stunned how great songs like Myrrh, Ripple and others were. Now I'm probably an "8 cd member" of the congregration and I want more!

Downloaded the Pangea EP over the weekend and I really like it.

 

I guess I missed that thread from 7 months ago.

I will start a Beatles Remaster thread instead.

 

I know most people know them for their 1988 hit "Under The Milky Way", and I was pretty much the same way. I bought their Greatest Hits CD of the same name about 10 years ago, and that was about it....until recently.

I stumbled upon their page on Amazon last week, and was surprised to see all the great reviews for most of their albums of the last 20 years or so. I didn't even know they were still a functioning band. Turns out they've been together almost 30 years with the same front line in tact for the most part. That would be: Steve Kilbey (Lead Vocals/Bass), Marty Willson-Piper (Guitar), & Steve Koppes (Guitar). Koppes left for a few years in the mid 90's, but the band never broke up. There have been 3 or 4 drummers over the years, but their current one (Tim Powles) has been with the band a good 15 years now.

Anyway, I had a bunch of Emusic credits, and luckily, most of their albums from Starfish on are available on the Emusic site. I started sampling & cherry picking songs. These guys are great! From Kilbey's surreal lyrics & narcotic-like vocals, to the incredible interplay of the guitarists who create shimmering soundscapes, The Church come up with with some amazing songs & melodies. Influences fly in from all over they place, a bit of Byrds here, a bit of Floyd there (and a bunch of others), but the band has a sound that is all their own IMO.

The most amazing thing I discovered is their latter day material is pretty much as good as anything they have put out. Rare for a band 30 years into their careers. Albums like Halogram Of Baal, Forget Yourself, Uninvited, Like The Clouds, and their latest album, Untitled #23, have some great tracks on them. I have 4 CDR's now of Church music from all their eras. I play them on random, and I notice no dip in quality. Definitely a positive thing with downloading that you can just pick out your favorite tracks, but I think I might be ready to load up a 5th CDR soon.

If you missed out on these guys the first time around, check 'em out again. Great stuff.

 

FWIW, the song "Anchorage" from their latest album Untitled #23 is available as a free download on Amazon.com. Cool tune.

 

I really liked Steve Kilbey's new solo, so you may want to hunt around for that. I thought it was a bit more rocking than the stuff he does with the band.

 

Church threads periodically appear hereabouts, but I missed this one.

Wonderwall, I'm glad to see that you've discovered what rare company these guys are in. Personally, I like the work from the second half of their career more than the first... and how many bands with a 30-year track record can you say that about? There was a more focused pop sensibility on some of the earlier albums when Kilbey was writing songs by himself, but I really love the group dynamic and Tim Powles is THE drummer for The Church.

The only thing I haven't been able to find by them (at a reasonable price) is Besides Yourself - a collection of b-sides and outtakes. Anyone hear that one?

 

Back With Two Beasts is an album of "outtakes" from the Uninvited, Like The Clouds sessions - it was not given a general commercial release and probably shouldn't be judged against their "real" albums. But it was available on CD for a while and I have a copy. I can't remember now if I ordered it from their website or bought it at their acoustic tour show at Irving Plaza in 2006.

 

I'm pretty familiar with all their work and rate Blurred Crusade as one of the greatest Aussie albums made.

Chris

 

Yes, it is good.
It's called 'Painkiller' (KHO41).

 

...and followed closely by 'Heyday'!

 

I haven't explored any solo work yet, but thanks for the tip. I'm still absorbing the group work. I now have 5 CDR's worth of Church music. Not a duff track in the bunch IMO. Kilbey's voice is just perfect with Willson-Piper's & Koppes guitars. I really like Kilbey's understated bass playing too. He has a great tone as well. I also agree that Tim Powles seems like the best fit as drummer who has been in the band. Is he the primary producer in the band now too? I noticed that he is up for producer of the year in Australia. Most of their records have sounded great since he has been in the band. I know the latter day records have been produced by "The Church", I'm just curious if he is the prime force. I'm pretty sure I read that Steve said they now record in Tim's studio.

 

Thanks to you mentioning it was out on CD I kept checking the web page and they listed it again last year.

Thanks

 

It seems like Tim Powles has been the prime production force since joining the band and I think he worked with them before becoming a member. But everything is collaborative in The Church, all the songs are credited to the full group, etc.

They have a great work ethic. I wasn't expecting to like their acoustic re-recordings albums - the "unplugged" gambit has been played out - but I thought both of them were terrific. They included some new songs, they covered the Triffids' Wide Open Road on El Mommento Siguiente. Those are both very satisfying albums.

They are underappreciated (the show this summer at Irving Plaza wasn't sold out) and I trumpet my praises whenever the opportunity arises.

 

How did you miss it, it was always on page one

 

That was just a joke in response to the fact that the thread I started a few days ago was closed.

 

I know, I was just adding a touch of sarcasm. The original thread was buried so deep it is a wonder anyone found it amongst the 9-9-9 threads.