Fishing With Charlie - Jim Dickinson

Advantages: Textured songs with a groove.
Disadvantages: Sounds dated.

...Described as "aural wallpaper" when it was released, this L.P. is much more than just musical textures. Lyrically, Jim Kerr was maturing since the early days of "Empires And Dance", and the songs show the majestic sweep of Charlie Burchill's guitar, especially on the single "Promised You A Miracle". Other tracks, such as "Hunter And The Hunted", "King Is White And In The Crowd", and "Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel" show a band on the cusp between early experimental work and international stardom. Later works would be more successful, but rarely did they capture this level of innovativeness coupled with killer songs.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Excellent production for a live album, great atmosphere
Disadvantages: Tracks lose some polish.

...made the studio albums real classics. You always lose the multi-tracking live, which gives the songs a slightly less 'full' feeling. Nevertheless, massive volume and distortion means that the incredible heaviness is not lost in the live situation. Another problem many people have noticed is the absurd cover, which seems to be a fish saying Scream for Me Brazil, on a greenish background. Hmmm...not brilliantly thought out I think. The atmosphere on the album is very good - these Brazilians are obviously fanatical about their heavy metal, and they really go mental at some point during the album. I'm happy to say that production keeps the crowd noise down to acceptable levels without eliminating it, which is the perfect way to do a live album. Finally, there is little crowd banter recorded here (although what there is inimitably Bruce... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: How can this one man conjure up such good music?
Disadvantages: None

...Fatboy Slim has an accentric musical style, which is evident on this CD. The only flaw is that some of the songs are both repetitive and long, which is great for a party but kind of annoying if your listening by yourself. The real highlights (And I hate to say this) are the two songs featuring Macy Gray. Love Life is nice and funky, and Demons is a gospel styled song that is very interesting. More highlights included Sunset (Bird Of Prey) which has vocals by Jim Morrison, Ya Mama which was also on the Charlie's Angels soundtrack, and Weapon Of Choice, the new single which is getting large airplay on MTV. Although there are probably going to be no mainstream breakthroughs like the Rockafeller Skank, it's OK because Fatboy Slim is not a mainstream artist. This CD is a blast to listen to. The songs are fun and full of energy. I'd suggest... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful