Ciao (The Best Of Lush) - Lush > Reviews > I've turned a corner, boy, my life is ecstasy

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Not applicable
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Fun, Girl Powerish
Disadvantages:	They spilt up

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Years and years and years ago a radio station in Sydney used to play this great song called "Ciao" which featured a guy and a girl singing to each other after a break-up and how much better they are off without each other "Do you think I care" in that fun game of one up-manship that tends to be played in many a break up. I really liked this song and hunted it down and found it it was by Lush and featured Jarvis Cocker, the CD was hard to find and I eventually ordered it from America though considering they are English they shouldn't be so hard to find here..

A group of four formed originally by London girls Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson who are just those kind of people who are crazy in love with music. They say they were influenced by music they heard growing up Beatles to Carly Simon to pop music. The band started with riot grrl anthems, which they now dismiss as not so good (OK they used a harsher word) and then as time went on started to pay more attention to their lyrics. The sound to me though is still a bit riot grrl, indie anthem girl style music with a definite pop slant. Think of the Clouds and they are very similar.

In 1992 they released an LP "Spooky" which went top ten in the UK and a high scorer on the indie charts. With a few more singles and releases following that in March of 2001 The best of was released.. (i should point out for date counters that it was released after the split)

In the end though they spilt after 8 years due to rumoured band in fighting, and sometime after the spilt one of the band members (Chris Acland) hung himself.

Ladykillers
Oh ladykillers is a great fun faced paced song. It's about guys in bars and sometimes the ego maniacs you come across, the eponymous "Ladykillers" and the "charm" they lay on. "But we know where he's coming from and we know the score". It also includes the line "I'm hanging out in Camden" which I used to do all the time, so when im home singing along to this song I can hold onto the connection - Hey Camden - I used to hang out there too!

Single Girl
Starts off with the line "Single girl, I don't want to be a single girl" she doesn't want to be on her own again.. and as we go through the song (with they rather catchy line above repeated often) she comes to the realisation that hey, you know that guy wasn't perfect and now she's single she can do whatever she wants! A feel good Go Girl song though it does feature a few "ohhohhhohss" sung.

Ciao!
Ciao is the song mentioned above that caught my attention. Its sung by Miki in a duet with Jarvis Cocker. Full of angry rants at the ex and how they have both got on with life, the male (typically!) already is seeing someone new and the girl states "I've got a million guys just lining up for me". Fun, fast paced and angry yet you know underneath it that anger isn't there if you really don't care.. Great for ranting along with.

500 (Shake Baby Shake)
Shake baby shake is a bit of a slower paced song, which ive never quite been able to figure out. From my point of view its a song about a crush on someone, at one point it seems to be an old famous figure. Odd little lyrics "Brake, baby, brake, how I wish you were my car" cute though. It also started out as being called 500 but picked up the Shake baby Shake a bit later on.

Love At First Sight
Not to be confused with the Kylie song of the same name, this one contains the interesting line "There's nothing I adore,
More than a fake ugly day"

Other songs:
Light From A Dead Star, Hypocrite, Desire Lines, Lovelife, When I Die, Nothing Natural, Untogether, For Love, Monochrome, De-Luxe, Sweetness And Light, Thoughtforms, Etheriel

The cover is an odd photograph which i have never been able to quite figure out, its either a lot of boxes or a lot of tickets. Interesting though and a big circle with the bands name written in it and the album title in small white writing.

Now if you haven't guessed Lush does seem to be a girl focused band, Romance, scorned love, longing for love, getting over a man.. love in all its forms really is the main focus of song topics. A lot of it is great girl stuff, but anyone can rant along with Ciao. Aside from one or two fluff songs its an album I really enjoy - a great Best Of. And if you have read my recent review on member advice on breakups well then you might guess that this has been playing a bit on my ipod of late! Yea "good luck mister do you think i care"!

Its selling on Amazon from £5.29

PS the title is a lyric from Ciao