Shriekback - Big Night Music
|
Our Price: $84.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $44.95 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Big Night Music
Free Music Review: Still great after all these years
Hit: 5 Stars
If James Brown had been a reptile and one of his biggest influences had been the alien bar band in the first Star Wars movie, he might have sounded the way Shriekback sounds on this excellent album. BNM is the best record that Shriekback made and is easily one of the enduring highlights of 80's pop music. Every song on the disc is first rate. The funk is funkier, the melodies more melodic than on any other Shriekback effort. The Shrieks simply sound more confident and assured here than they ever did before or have since. What I especially like about the album is how warm and organic the band sounds having abandoned the drum machines and sequencers of their previous albums. This warmth balances the overall detached approach of the band to great effect. Hopefully, BNM will begin to reap the recognition it deserves and will be remastered and rereleased. Free Music Review: Shriekback a great flashback
Hit: 5 Stars
I wore the grooves out of the vinyl on this one twenty plus years ago. Have not heard it in years. A fair amount of stuff I listened to in the 80's I am happy never to hear again. This on the other hand was great to re-discover. In BNM, from start to finish Shriekback gives us great musicality, tight rythyms, clever lyrics and just plain fun. The only improvement on this recording would have been to include Hammerheads. From BNM, Running On The Rocks and Gunning For The Buddha were always my favorites, but there is a soft spot for Cradle Song. If you want a sense of where the excellent music was twenty years ago buy Big Night Music.Free Music Review: It's been much too long
Hit: 4 Stars
I used to listen to this a lot in the late 80's but for some reason put it on the shelf and forgot about it. What was I thinking? Released in 1986, "Big Night Music" is Shriekback's fifth album that is overflowing with catchy pop/rock/techno tunes and great production. Dave Allen (bass) and Martyn Barker (percussion) are so tight that you will shake your head in disbelief and Barry Andrews (lead vocals/keys) has such a warm voice, great tone. These three are Shriekback, and guest musicians fill in the missing links.
Not a dud on this disc but some standout tracks include... "Black Light Trap" grabs you immediately with a beefy trance-like groove accented by some nice horn arrangements; "Pretty Little Things" highlights multiple vocals backed only by percussion (skipping rimshots, bells, a milk bottle) and a jazzy keyboard lick, or "Sticky Jazz" with a sing-along R&B sounding chorus. This is such a fun record that should be remastered and brought back into circulation.
Free Music Review: A Wonderful, Under Appreciated CD
Hit: 5 Stars
Did you ever get the feeling some artists make a record, and then make something structurally similar the next time, only they get it right?
Similar to Oil and Gold, this record DOES get it right. The arrangements are light yet multi-layered, with dark and quirky lyrics. "The Underwater Boys" contains one of the most lyrical allusions to suicide I've ever heard! It contains none of weaker tracks of other Shreikback recordings, and was the perfect balance of accesibility and integrity. Without a doubt the one Shriek album you must own.
Listen to it by candle light.
Free Music Review: Might be their best CD
Hit: 4 Stars
This is Shriekback's 4th CD. It is their most popular and probably their best. It is certainly better than the inconsequential follow up, 32 minute, Go Bang.
If you have bothered to hunt down Shriekback, you probably know all about them. They are one of the British new wave/alternative bands of the 80's. They are a spin off from Gang of Four and XTC. They remind me of a cross between Talking Heads and INXS.
Mostly the songs are slow, haunting, but bouncy rhythms. The Shining Paths and Underwater Boys have nice deliberate lines, but they sound exactly alike. Which isn't a bad thing, since they are both very good songs. Many of the tracks start out very nice, but don't hold up through out the whole song. The Reptiles and I starts out with a very, cool, very spooky rhythm, but has a clunky chorus in the middle. There are also a couple of silly little ditties, like Pretty Little Things.
This and most of the other Shriekback CD's are out of print. They are hard to find and expensive to buy.