Somehow, Richard Butler (64) and Chrissie Hynde (68) both have voices that seem to defy aging. It's remarkable hearing their new albums and realizing that they haven't lost a step as singers or songwriters in all this time.
I’m sorry but I’m hearing a lot of droning mid-tempo sameness on this record. I’m hoping the songs will reveal themselves in time.
It could be...just finished listening to it for the first time. It's very grand, very big, and Richard Butler is in fantastic voice. The songs are in general more complex and more involving than we came to expect over the last few Furs albums - it sounds like an album to lose yourself in. A few more plays will be necessary to judge just how great it is, but it's very promising. A possible complaint will be that it's too long - 51 minutes and 12 songs is uncharted territory for the Furs, but on first listen I couldn't hear any obvious candidates to be dropped. A couple of songs perhaps have one verse too many.
Maybe it's because my expectations were excessively low, but I'm liking this record even more with every listen and not at all as an exercise in nostalgia.* I've heard it four times now, I guess, and find new things to enjoy each time. And mind you, this is just the (least lossy) Spotify stream since Bandcamp hasn't released the FLAC yet (grrrrrr, WTF, Bandcamp?!) and my CD and LP are still en route. Fortus did a fantastic job, once again demonstrating that he's the best thing that happened to the Butler bros. in recent decades. *Weirdly enough, the new Fontaines D.C. album, also released today, strikes me as more of a post-punk throwback or blast from the past than Made of Rain. That's the one that may need time to grow on me while, in contrast, these retirement-age relics the Furs just casually stroll onto the scene and drop one of the albums of the year without breaking a sweat. Yes, 2020 is a strange year.
"Casually" may be stretching it; this has been in the works on and off for what, 20 years? But I'm certainly glad it's finally here.
I haven't heard the whole Fontaines D.C. album yet. But the two tracks I've heard from it sound like UK punk circa 1977. Meanwhile, the Psych Furs sound both classic and bracingly modern at the same time. Neat trick. And so far, it is most certainly in the running for album of the year.
Got into these guys recently when I decided to explore all the genres of music I never listened to in the past (punk, post punk, new wave, alternative, etc). I was always a hard rock/classic rock/metal guy for years. Really enjoying it so far.
Stars dates from a while before the Bowie track, deriving some of the lyrics and bits of melody from the Richard Butler solo album track Second To Second, hence, presumably, the Jon Carin credit, as Carin did all of the music on that excellent album. Have only played Made Of Rain once so far but I’m very impressed. It’s a tremendously solid Furs album, 29 years after their last one!! Who’d have thought it?
Stars vocal melody is a dead-lift from Shineaway. No harm in stealing from yourself since barely anyone has heard Shineaway.
Carin's played with Pink Floyd and PF solo camps since the late 80's. He's also played with Kate Bush, The Who, and many others.
As someone who became a fan when "We Love You" was a 45, I am shocked at how good this is. Maybe not album of the year but certainly the big surprise of the year.
For whatever reason was never a Furs fan in the past, but Made of Rain has got its hooks in me. Each listen reveals some nuance I hadn’t noticed before- This is going to easily end up on my best of 2020 list.
Spinning the purple vinyl right now and it is blowing my mind...the Furs are back in true form. Highly recommended
Really good album! I requested the last song, Stars, on my local community radio station and they played it second song in on a program called Radio Reverb. 88.5 WMNF Tampa. The show is mostly new alternative music. They have an app with not only the show live but also track lists. Check out the playlist and if you dig the songs, listen in. No commercials. Most stuff is pretty obscure to me but it never gets boring for sure.
WPKN radio: PURE with Howard Thompson 7/31/20: "The Psychedelic Furs -- Love Their Way" 3-hour wide-ranging conversation and playing of songs with Richard Butler and the guy who signed the Furs to CBS. Just. completely. wonderful. Gone in 2 weeks, so don't dawdle.
This is getting better and better with every listen. I can't get over how great Butler's voice sounds and how great it is to hear it again after all this time. "Wrong Train" and "Ash Wednesday" are the outstanding tracks for me so far. Possibly the weakest tracks are "Hide The Medicine" and "Turn Your Back On Me", but even those are pretty good and only suffer from being at the back end of a long album.
I only learned about this release earlier today. I was a huge fan back in the day, and even saw them when they came through a few years ago. This sounds great. I can’t believe how good Richard Butler sounds.
Just curious if anyone has listened to the vinyl? Just got done. Man that is one huge sounding album! I really enjoyed it. Great pressing. Enjoy!
It really is rare for groups to release quality material like this many years after the so called “peak years” have ended. I’m loving this new album, it’s got some killer songs on it. Yes he sounds great, but it’s all about the material, and this album is as good as anything I’ve ever heard from them.
My thoughts two plays in. It is a bit one paced as others have said BUT there are some big almost epic choruses in there too, again as others have said. Butler Rep is in excellent voice too and his lyrics are up to standard so all in all, a pretty decent return to form, can’t really be knocked. Just wish they’d managed a couple of faster ones a la President Gas.
