The Church - any of the congregation here?

I got into this Aussie band right back at the first album, became hooked, and bought everything they put out for many years. They've now been going for something like a quarter-century, with a pretty stable line-up, but I stopped trying to keep up with their massive output for two reasons - at some point, it seemed the melodies became monotonous, and the sound harsher. Those early albums (from Skins and Heart to Heyday) are beautiful.

Anybody else care to pull up a pew and drop a coin into the plate?

 

We had a "thread or few" going on the band a while back. I will see if I can dig them up for you.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=103691&highlight=church+heyday


http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=88255&highlight=church+starfish


http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=89833&highlight=church+starfish

 

Mmmm I got on board with the U.S. "Remote Luxury" compilation album. My fav is still "Hey Day".

I still consider the best versions on CD to be Bill Inglot and Dan Hersh's remastering for CD.

 

eelkiller, thanks for the links! I'm sure pretty much everything has been discussed here, but I was hoping for a general thread on anything (including solo projects - and there are a sh**load of those) in the band's massive back catalog.

I'm listening to the download-only Back With Two Beasts right now - it's okay, but seems to suffer from the lack of melody I referred to. The melodic muse seems to have left them after Starfish.

Of the solo output, I love Steve Kilbey's Remindlessness, a massive sprawl of a double album.

 

Been a big Church fan since "The Blurred Crusade". I didn't know "Remote Luxury" was any kind of comp. I bought it in Europe in 1984 on the Carrere label (Made in West Germany). They really rocked live when I saw them in 1986; not at all what I expected after listening to their albums.

 

The Remote Luxury album combines two EP releases, Remote Luxury and Persia. It's one of my favorite albums, too. Lovely shimmering sound.

 

I got onboard with them when "Starfish" was released and bought most of the back catalog. Glad to see Marty Wison-Piper was a Ricky fan. Bought the next few Cds, but became dissatisfied when "Priest = Aura" came out.

Was listening to "Seance" the other day...great CD.

 

Yeah! I hated Seance when it came out - I think a lot of fans did - but it's a favorite now. Took a long time to get used to the sound.

 

It was actually Bill Inglot and Ken Perry for the awesome Arista CD's . I do agree that they are the ones to own.

 

I joined the bandwagon with Starfish and agree that Priest=Aura (and to a lesser extent Gold Afternoon Fix) disappointed.

Sometime Anywhere is great IMO and I also like After Everything Now This

 

I also LOVE the Church. I have Of Skin and Heart / Remote Luxury / Seance / The Blurred Crusade and Heyday, but...

If you really like the Church you really need to hear their 1999 release A Box of Birds. It's a wonderful covers disc. Maybe my fav (sorry bowie)!

Here is the track list:

The Faith Healer
It's All too much
Hiroshima Mon Amour
The Porpoise Song
Decadence
The Endless Sea (Love it!)
Friction
All the Young Dudes
Silver Machine
Cortez the Killer

 

You are right regarding the Bill Inglot/Ken Perry remasters being the ones to own, Barry.

The Australian remasters of those albums by Don Bartley are just loud, in my opinion.

 

I love the Church, and it's nice to see people talking about their earlier albums, as it seems whenever I do stumble into the odd Church fan, they almost always prefer the Church's later work (which I'm less into, personally).

Seance is a definite favorite (and yes, I, too, took a little while to warm up to it), along with Remote Luxury. The debut is wonderful, but I have to admit I always preferred the eponymously titled US version. Love Heyday, too.

 

another band from home that I've never investigated properly. I love "Starfish". I really need to hear more. Steve Kilbey is a legend.

 

I got into them via the "hit" (Under The Milky Way) and Starfish quickly became one of my all time favorite albums during the late 80s. Next up was Gold Afternoon Fix, which was an awesome tour by the way! One of the best live shows I have ever seen.

Eventually I snagged all the Arista cds, and a few stray cd singles such as the 3" US release "Destination", along with an import cd single for Milky Way and the promo only "Sum of The Parts" cd from the same era. I also have most if not all of the Aussie compilation cds, including the newer double cd comp from about 3 years ago.

My interest generally stops with Priest = Aura, with the exception of the fantastic 2002 comeback release (sorry, forgetting the name of the album since I'm not near my collection right now).

 

Good idea. I reckon you can't go wrong with The Blurred Crusade. It really rocks.

 

The Australian remasters are loud and maximized. Avoid them

PS: original 'Starfish' CD sounds just wonderful!

 

One of my favorites from way back. Like many in the US, I got into them via Under the Milky Way and Starfish, and eventually got the whole catalog.

Blurred Crusade is a psychedelic pop classic

After Everything Now This is just a fantastic album that blows away the likes of Coldplay IMO, just for example. Great for Sunday morning or late night grooving. Sounds great too. One of their best.

I really like Forget Yourself as well, which rocks a little harder. The sound might be an issue for some on here, since it seems like there is some sort of purposeful haze (which does sound sort of like like maximization) over the album. I love it though. Great songs on there.

 

Started listening after I came across this CD of "Remote Luxury"....

 

A few years ago the three early eps were finally collected together on one CD (Sing-Songs, Remote Luxury, and Persia), the letter two of which were originally combined for the "Remote Luxury" album. Sing-Songs was not previously available on CD

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gvfpxq90ldte

Don't remember what the consensus was on the sound (haven't listened to it in ages).

 

I have "Of Skins and Hearts" and "Remote Luxury". I have always been been a big fan of "Unguarded Moment" and "For A Moment We're Strangers" (oh and "Fighter Pilot, Korean War").

 

I jumped on the bandwagon for Starfish and bought Gold Afternoon Fix the day it came out. If even bought the CD5 of Russian Autumn Heart. The best part was seeing them play at the intimate Chestnut Cabaret in Philadelphia. The band kept me interested for almost 2.5 hours. The show ran past the 2:00 a.m. curfew and was amazing. Dare I say they were a bit jammy on that tour. Steve Kilby commented that the club was so small he could see everybody in the back compared to the night before at the New Ritz/Studio 54 in NYC. I still enjoy the three album run of Starfish through Priest=Aura.

Cheers, Michael

 

I second this recommendation - not just a great covers album, but an overall great album! I think I've recommended it in past Church threads, as well as a few cover song threads.

 

Yes they are loud but the bonus material is excellent. I got them just for those tracks.

My least favorite Church CD is the Raven compilation. It is absolutely lifeless, terrible sound.

 

Eelkiller is correct. Even if you retain the original Arista CDs of the band's albums, you need all the remasters for the bonus tracks on each.

I was introduced to the Church with "Under the Milky Way" and am still most fond of Starfish. I think some of Marty Wilsson Piper's solo stuff, especially the Ryko CDs, are as good as anything done by the Church.