| The Church - Forget Yourself |
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| Monday, 23 May 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||
The Church, self-proclaimed art-rockers from Australia, have been
around for about 25 years, and while they have had their hits and
misses, it’s too bad Forget Yourself, originally released in July of
2003, is the album they chose to release as a dual disc. Though it is
not bad musically, it seems flatter than past albums and this in itself
hampers the ability of the 5.1 mix to blow anyone away.
Of course, it’s easy to understand why they chose a more recent album to mix down, because the quality of the recording was obviously better. It would for the most part seem slightly silly to provide a 5.1 mix to something that was recorded on analog 20 years ago, but I’d love to have someone try. As with other The Church albums, Forget Yourself tends to slide from song to song in such a way that if you’re not watching the player, it’s difficult to tell that the tracks have changed. Employing the proverbial sonic wall, The Church come at you with lots of overlapping sounds that don’t really stick out as individual instruments but rather hit the ears as one solid pulse that has various components to it. “Song in Space” and “The Theatre and Its Double” are two of the better examples of this. Songs like “Sealine” and “Telepath” reflect more of a traditional rock sound, though one that is clearly influenced by a U.K. mentality. Due in large part to their longevity, The Church have made quite an impact on other bands and many a listener, though in many circles they remain somewhat anonymous. Though it is safe to say that most people, who might claim not to have heard The Church, will immediately say, “Oh, this is them? I know this song,” when played some of their more famous numbers. Steve Kilbey’s vocals are of the husky though not overtly emotional variety, something that has been copied many a time, though mostly without success. (It is slightly unusual for a bassist to also be the lead vocalist.) Guitarists Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes are talented, but this album, due to its somewhat complacent nature, tends to throw them more into backing roles rather than exhibiting their true talents for coming up with some gorgeously thick sounds. Even Tim Powles’ percussion seems a bit flatter than usual, especially on the almost interesting “See Your Lights.” “Lay Low” brings things around again, sliding the listener up and down many sound peaks and valleys, seducing you to pull up a comfy chair in the middle of your speakers and get lost in the music. Generally, The Church is best as mood-enhancing or -defying music. Their sound is mellow and intense at the same time, thick with individual sounds with other noise thrown in. They were best in the early 1990s, but they still can bowl you over with some extremely moving rock. Sound As with most 5.1 mixes, this one is well done and dutifully surrounds and ensconces the listener in music. The Church is a particularly good band to have in 5.1, because they have so many overlapping and intersecting sounds. They are one of those groups that has been referred to as providing a wall of sound, so it’s nice to have that wall all around you. The tweaking necessary to convert to 5.1 has the effect of breaking up some of the bass in this case, so that it seems to warble slightly between the subwoofer and the rear speakers more than it should. This might be intentional, but it is so noticeable at times, and disconcerting, that I doubt it. It was probably just a result of pulling apart the tracks and sticking them into the six channels. This is somewhat nitpicking; due to the quality of The Church music, the result here is a fine dual disc. I managed to listen to the original CD, and the CD side of the dual-disc sounds exactly the same. Like this article? Bookmark and share with any of the sites below.        |
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