Timewatching: The Divine Comedy Album-by-album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by LivingForever, Nov 5, 2020.

  1. LivingForever

    LivingForever Forum Arachibutyrophobic Thread Starter

    May well be! There's a version of "Thinking the Unthinkable" on the new boxset which claims to be a home demo, but has what sounds like real drums and bass on it. So either it's mislabeled or Neil's one-man demos were starting to get really close to "the real thing" by this time...
     
  2. The Booklover

    The Booklover Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    My initial reaction to the laughter was not only being reminded of FGTH's "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" but also Michael Jackson's "Thriller", but then again, it doesn't sound evil enough. As I mentioned before, because of the "ho ho ho" it now makes me think of Father Christmas instead.
     
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  3. jon-senior

    jon-senior Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eastleigh
    That's not one I was thinking of, but I suspect they were getting close by now. He played bass on some earlier albums didn't he? And the drums on the Thinking The Unthinkable demo are, shall we say, a little inelegant!
     
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  4. LivingForever

    LivingForever Forum Arachibutyrophobic Thread Starter

    Yes, in fact probably on all of them up to this point (on at least some tracks anyway...)

    That's one of the reasons people have commented on the bass parts on the "Regeneration" album I think - this is most likely the first time we've heard Bryan Mills playing his own bass parts and not Neil, or Bryan playing what Neil played on the demo!
     
  5. ericthegardener

    ericthegardener Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Can you remind me what's in first place, please?
     
  6. ericthegardener

    ericthegardener Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Born with a Broken Heart

    I think I found this song a little annoying when I first heard it way back when, but it's grown on me quite a bit. Lyrics aren't great as others have noted, but I like the tune better than some of the other b-sides (and a couple of the album tracks). 3.4/5
     
  7. The Booklover

    The Booklover Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    The self-pitying lines "I'd like to tell you my story, but there's no story to tell. Till now my life has been boring" are not really peaking my interest to find out more.

    Near the end of the middle eight, Neil sings the line "You cannot break a broken heart" like Thom Yorke, so there you have another similarity to the album in addition to the recorders. I didn't have any problem with them on the album, but I agree with those that are not exactly enamoured by the sound of them here.

    It must have been nice to get an exclusive track like that at the time (and it's nice to have it more widely available through the box set), but I'm afraid I won't play this often. Musically, it's one of TDC's most twee songs and, though catchy, veers too close to pastiche.

    2
     
  8. The Booklover

    The Booklover Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    Yes! I forgot to mention that musically it also reminds me of The Magnetic Fields, especially the repetitive and hypnotic elements.
     
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  9. The Turning Year

    The Turning Year Lowering average scores since 2021

    Location:
    London, UK
    Born with a broken heart
    Yes I remember doing this too! Ah the simple excitement of being 17... :D
    I also found this refreshing - including the bit with the covid sticks!
    I liked it/them! :p
    I agree with all of this about the lyrics, in particular the opening few lines. Don't find much to interest me here.
    I agree. I don't like 'girl' or 'baby' in general in songs, and when it comes from an artist like Neil, who doesn't tend use these terms often (except perhaps ironically, as in The Frog Princess), hearing him use them 'straight up' is even more jarring.
    And when combined with this lovelorn teenager delivery, it doesn't make for a compelling song for me.
    Oddly, I felt the opposite; I think it sounds as though he's trying too hard to sound heartfelt and find it distracting.
    So I quite liked the refreshing spinning music, but not the lyrics or delivery of them.
    Score 2.0/5.0

    I've just realised the Magnetic Fields comparison above referred to Get Me To A Monastery, but I actually thought Born With A Broken Heart is quite TMF too - the self-pitying subject matter and simple-sounding arrangement could almost be one of the more filler-type songs on 69 Love Songs :D
     
  10. LivingForever

    LivingForever Forum Arachibutyrophobic Thread Starter

    Current B-side number 1 is “Birds of Paradise Farm”!

    Kind of hard to see anything dislodging it but there are a couple coming down the line that I can imagine might give it a good go.
     
  11. christian42

    christian42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lund, Sweden
    Re: Recorders
    I generally do as well, but I don't think they worked as well in "Born With a Broken Heart" as they do in some of these other tracks.
     
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  12. christian42

    christian42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lund, Sweden
    I think "One Ear Up, One Ear Down" might give it a run for its money! :)
     
  13. Linky53

    Linky53 Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Yorkshire UK
    You

    Never heard this one before as after the album I wasn’t about to try the offcuts.
    It’s underdeveloped and perhaps a bit twee but melodically I prefer it over a lot of the album which I found hard listening.
    I get the sense that some of the albums to come are going to get panned and I may have to swim against the tide?
    2.8/5
     
  14. Linky53

    Linky53 Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Yorkshire UK
    Get me to the Monastery

    First time again. A decent song but I can’t get past the vocal. I suppose a b side is where artists are allowed to experiment.

    2.5/5
     
  15. Linky53

    Linky53 Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Yorkshire UK
    Born with a broken heart

    A really nice little song. With a bit of polish and development this would be very good.

    3.5/5
     
  16. The Turning Year

    The Turning Year Lowering average scores since 2021

    Location:
    London, UK
    I can only speak for myself but, although I think of the albums to come as much more patchy than the 90s work, I've still found a lot to enjoy, particularly in the more recent albums.
    However, there is one album I (probably unfairly!) dismissed entirely years ago, and another which I think I dislike aside from 2.5 songs (one of which is, oddly, one of the DC songs I love most of all!), so I'm looking forward to re-evaluating these! Hopefully I'll find a lot more to like in them, and won't need to pan them, but I can think of one zero score to come... :sigh:
    Anyway, keep swimming! I'm sure you wont be alone :D
     
  17. LivingForever

    LivingForever Forum Arachibutyrophobic Thread Starter

    I don’t think that’s going to be the case - I don’t think Neil’s ever made a bad album and I’ve not heard anyone say they completely dislike the remaining albums (okay, maybe one attracts more criticism than others but there’s still plenty of good stuff on it to my mind!)

    I reckon the mix of people loving and hating different songs will be as bewildering as ever! ;)
     
  18. Hazey John II

    Hazey John II The lyrics are fine, there's no problem there

    The melody and feel of this one is winning me over, it's quite sweet, despite the mopey lyric. The electric piano's a nice touch.
    Agreed - there's a hint of A Lady of a Certain Age in the verse here, the continual harmonic shifting, drawing us into its world. It gives the whole thing a subtle weight. I like it. 3/5
    Funnily enough, I find the production more intrusive here than on some of the album tracks. This sounds like it should be round a campfire, the warmth of people playing together, enjoying themselves - it would be nice to hear an intimate live version with the current band.

    But instead it sounds like all the parts are recorded separately, there's echo on the vocal, the backing vocals pop in from nowhere... it's got no sense of place. It reminded me of Kaiser Chiefs struggling to record Getting Better live for a Sgt Pepper tribute because they'd only ever used ProTools. Maybe highlighting a difference in the writing - Neil's demos were always Paul Simon-style records, arrangement intact, fixed, rather than Dylan-style songs, fluid, live; but these acoustic guitar tracks written in the garden were free-range songs first, and some of them don't quite flourish in the studio environment.
    From the Foreverland notes (I swear I don't have these memorised, I was just listening to the album today and happened to read them): "I am not a good drummer, and have always relied on drum machines and samples in the past. However, if they're there, I'll happily give them a damn good thrashing. All the time I have wasted trying to record semi-passable drums on my demos." Though of course that's much later, and I bet Thinking The Unthinkable was mislabeled, it sounds much more like a band demo (and anyway, wasn't Neil writing songs out in the garden because the house was being renovated? Where would the drum kit go?).
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2021
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  19. ericthegardener

    ericthegardener Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    There is not any DC album in the latter portion of their career where I don't like or love at least half of it. Granted, there are a few songs that are complete stinkers scattered throughout. I'd say Neil has maintained higher quality control than most over a career as long as his.
     
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  20. Dalav

    Dalav Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Born with a Broken Heart

    Some things to like here, but I'm having trouble immersing in the song. Just when I begin to settle in the two recorders join (one in each ear) and break the spell. And then the odd late-game right turn with 40 seconds left, accompanied by a maybe-not-the-most-successful falsetto. Sounds like this one is juggling a few ideas but hasn't fully mapped them to song. The lyrics are a little mopey yes, but that's never bothered me before. Overall, it occupies a spot firmly in the middle of the road. Definitely some better Regeneration b-sides to come.

    2.5/5
     
  21. Dalav

    Dalav Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I think consistency becomes the issue as we look ahead. As others have alluded to, the future brings many tracks to like--some real gems, but maybe not at the pace we've been used to. Regeneration will be an interesting case as we begin to view it in hindsight. While it has a certain consistency, in my book no single track reaches the height of the gems found on the future albums.
     
  22. Radiophonic_

    Radiophonic_ Electrosonic

    Location:
    Royal Oak MI
    There will probably be a wider range of opinions than the early records, I imagine. As has been mentioned, there are some excellent tracks, but also more tracks that don't hit the mark than previous. Whether there's any general agreement on what those tracks are will be interesting to see.

    "Born With a Broken Heart": I don't mind this too much. Perfectly pleasant for a b-side, though those wishing for more experimental or unusual fare will find it lacking. 3/5
     
  23. LivingForever

    LivingForever Forum Arachibutyrophobic Thread Starter

    "Born with a Broken Heart" gets a 3.3 from me, it's another nice entry in the list of B-sides from this era that I wouldn't put on the album, but I'm happy to listen to separately!

    Anyway, that means that it scored 45 points from 15 votes, for a first-time perfect round number score of

    3.00
     
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  24. LivingForever

    LivingForever Forum Arachibutyrophobic Thread Starter

    Moving on to the "Bad Ambassdor" singles, which were released on the 14th of May 2001, and once again there were 2 CDs and this time a 7" single also.

    Going slightly out of order because of reasons, on CD1 as track 3, we can find today's song:

    U.S.E.

    Well, this is certainly not the same old “Regeneration”-era sound! :D

     
  25. christian42

    christian42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lund, Sweden
    U.S.E.

    I might well be alone in liking this. To me, it's a very amusing lyric with a ramshackle, shambolic backing arrangement. About the only thing that could have improved it is if each verse was played in the style of the country referenced! (And perhaps the outro could have been cut a bit shorter.)

    (Actually, this could definitely be categorised as rock music.)

    4.2
     
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