The Vines - Highly Evolved
Our Price: $17.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $0.01 (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
Music CD Cover
Artist: The VinesEdition: Music CD
Published: 2002
CD Release Date: 2002-07-16
Music Label: Capitol
Soundtracks:
- Highly Evolved
- Autumn Shade
- Outtathaway!
- Sunshinin'
- Homesick
- Get Free
- Country Yard
- Factory
- In the Jungle
- Mary Jane
- Ain't No Room
- 1969
Free Music Notes for Highly Evolved
Free Music Review: Back to the future!
Hit: 4 Stars
It looks like some of the things I wanted to say about this album have been pre-empted by the official Amazon review here. I think I can bring something new to these comments though.
Firstly, I bought this album as part of a two cd collection which cost around $15 here in Australia-Highly Evolved & Winning Days. Both albums featured songs that I knew and liked-Get Free for the first album, and Ride With Me for the second. At this price, I took a chance by buying this double pack.
I have heard that this band, along with The Strokes, were labelled "The future of rock" by some apparently influential British magazine. Having bought The Stroke's "Is this it?" because it was dirt cheap and I loved the song "Last night", I have to say that I do find The Vines' debut album the superior of the two [Is This It? seems to get mentioned as a great album-perhaps specifically a great debut album].
Anyway, Get Free is THE stand out track on this album. It's one of those instantly likable high energy rock songs-think along the lines of Blur's classic "Song 2". It's not quite in the same league as Song 2, but it is a very 'wild as' rock song in any case. Now, to the reason I called this review "Back to the future!": Get Free MOST reminds me of The Easybeats' song "I'll make you happy". The Easybeats were a very successful band in Australia in the 60's and had a one hit wonder worldwide, which was covered by the likes of David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen, in "Friday on my mind" [a true pop classic]. Recently, an industry panel here in Australia has voted the meeting of two of this bands members as the most significant moment in Australian music history. This claim does not strike me as manifestly absurd. "Get Free" SOUNDS like The Easybeats at their best, but with a more modern rock aesthetic-the lyrical structure is similar to the Easybeats, as well as the backing vocals too. Seeing as The Easybeats featured the elder brother of AC/DC founders Angus and Malcolm Young, one could perhaps assert that The Easybeats also influenced AC/DC with regards to backing vocals.
Now, for other reasons I called this review "Back to the future!": in various songs, you can hear a hint of Nirvana, or The Kinks, or The Beatles or Pink Floyd. Perhaps The Beatles & John Lennon are the strongest influence on this album and that's perhaps why that British magazine took so well to The Vines.
Perhaps the best songs after Get Free are:
Highly Evolved-has a hint of Nirvana to it, grungy guitars and shrieking vocals at times.
Outtathaway-this has a nice clean riff to it and, as for many songs on this album, the lead singer having doubled up vocals on the track, or backing singers. This song has a grungy/garage band sound at times.
Country Yard-again, a touch of Nirvana to this song, with Beatle-esque/Lennonesque vocals, perhaps a touch of The Kinks, lyrics or topic wise, and the introductory riff from Pink Floyd's classic "Wish you were here". This is the kind of song that could grow on you-it's sort of a ballad, with sedate vocals and a very nice almost falsetto vocalisation at times, which is quite catchy. Very dreamy/trippy song.
Some other notes I made on this album-mainly to do with similarities I noticed with other music:
In The Jungle-has what sounds like Metallica's bass line from "Enter Sandman", which may also have borrowed that from a Deep Purple song.
Autumn Shade-features accoustic guitar, piano. A ballad that has a hint of The Beatles/Oasis [which themselves often homage The Beatles] and Pink Floyd. Has distortion at the end which bleeds nicely into the next track.
Homesick-Beatle-esque/Lennon-ish, reminescent of the latter Australian band Jet, which often seem to pay homage to The Beatles [and which is probably why Oasis helped them with their second album]. The vocals are overlayed, again, and there are nice piano and bass melodies in this song. The outro is Beatle-esque...sounds like backwards noises.
Ain't No Room-this song had a touch of The Strokes to it, but I don't know which band could lay claim to that sound first, The Strokes or The Vines.
Lastly, I have to say that this album is an album album for me [i.e.the whole album is very listenable and it could reward further listens, beyond just the 'hit' of this album, "Get Free". Like I say, a song like Country Yard is a real 'grower' of a song-rewarding repeated listens.
The album moves from dreamy ballads to punk rock type of stuff. It does this in an engaging way. Personally, I think that this album is more interesting than Is This It?, even though Last Night is an original song with lots of melodically interesting things happening in it.
P.S.
I've reviewed the following Australian artists at this site:
Midnight Oil
INXS
Johnny O'Keefe
The Saints
Rogue Traders
John Farnham
Skyhooks
Alex Lloyd
Highly Evolved Poster
Hailed by a growing number as "the future of rock," the Vines are more a conglomeration of the best of the past. The Sydney, Australia, quartet sounds alternately like Nirvana, the Beatles, T. Rex, and even the Beach Boys (and, at times, all of those blended together). On Highly Evolved they present 12 flawlessly crafted songs, each one living up to the title of the album and first song. The wistful yearning of "Homesick," the breakneck force of "Get Free," and the gritty party of "Sunshinin" are proof alone of their deserved success. Sonically more complex than their stripped-down contemporaries White Stripes and the Strokes, the Vines write songs worthy of orchestration. But unlike White Blood Cells or Is This It, this album lacks cohesion. Each song is a world to itself, never quite uniting with the others. But such a critique, normally reserved for more established bands, shows the extent of the Vines' accomplishments--getting compared to the greats your first time out isn't too bad. --Laura EtlingAlternative Rock Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Best Albums of 2002
Eminem - 8 MileRelease date: 2002-10-29; Music CD
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Nas - God's SonRelease date: 2002-12-13; Music CD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Christina Aguilera - StrippedRelease date: 2002-10-29; Music CD
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops:
The Vines - Highly EvolvedRelease date: 2002-07-16; Published: 2002; Music CD
Best price: $1.79
Price in other shops:
Norah Jones - Come Away with MeRelease date: 2002-02-26; Music CD
Best price: $6.74
Price in other shops:
Justin Timberlake - JustifiedRelease date: 2002-11-05; Music CD
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Nelly - NellyvilleRelease date: 2002-06-25; Music CD
Best price: $3.15
Price in other shops:
Bruce Springsteen - The RisingRelease date: 2002-07-30; Music CD
Best price: $1.87
Price in other shops:
Avril Lavigne - Let GoRelease date: 2002-06-04; Music CD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Eminem - The Eminem ShowRelease date: 2002-05-26; Published: 2002; Music CD
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Jet - Get BornRelease date: 2003-10-07; Music CD
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
Wolfmother - WolfmotherRelease date: 2006-05-02; Music CD
Best price: $6.19
Price in other shops:
The White Stripes - Icky ThumpRelease date: 2007-06-19; Music CD
Best price: $6.69
Price in other shops:
The Strokes - Room On FireRelease date: 2003-10-28; Music CD
Best price: $6.52
Price in other shops:
The Hives - Black And White AlbumRelease date: 2007-11-13; Music CD
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
The Hives - Tyrannosaurus HivesRelease date: 2004-07-20; Published: 2004; Music CD
Best price: $7.03
Price in other shops:
The Strokes - Is This ItRelease date: 2001-10-09; Published: 2001; Music CD
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops:
The Hives - Veni Vidi ViciousRelease date: 2002-04-30; Music CD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops:
The Vines - Vision ValleyRelease date: 2006-04-04; Music CD
Best price: $4.89
Price in other shops:
The Vines - Winning DaysRelease date: 2004-03-23; Music CD
Best price: $2.69
Price in other shops: