Gala - Lush

Gala isn't an original album as such its actually a compilation of several EP's Lush had already released which were the Sweetness & Light EP, the Mad Love EP and the Scar EP. It featured 1 totally new track, an ABBA cover and a track that had previously been available on an NME cover cd. As it predates all their other "official" albums by 2 years you can think of it as their "first" album.

Lush were around during ...
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So whats on Gala then?

01 - Sweetness & Light.
I really like this track as it is typical Lush, breathy layered vocals and jangly phased guitars with volume cranked up to the point where you can hardly hear the singing. Its a very indy sounding track that quite frankly I could play forever or at least until my neighbours decided to kill me. This one was penned by Emma Anderson, it seems that all the Lush songs I like were ... more

Gala isn't an original album as such its actually a compilation of several EP's Lush had already released which were the Sweetness & Light EP, the Mad Love EP and the Scar EP. It featured 1 totally new track, an ABBA cover and a track that had previously been available on an NME cover cd. As it predates all their other "official" albums by 2 years you can think of it as their "first" album.

Lush were around during the 1990s as part of the shoegazer movement & at the time of this "album" consisted of Emma Anderson & Miki Bereyni who both sang, played guitar and also wrote words and music. Standing behind and to the side of them were Steve Rippon who played bass (I guess Phil King hadn't replaced him yet?) and Chris Acland who played drums, his tragic death led to the eventual break up of the band.

So whats on Gala then?

01 - Sweetness & Light.
I really like this track as it is typical Lush, breathy layered vocals and jangly phased guitars with volume cranked up to the point where you can hardly hear the singing. Its a very indy sounding track that quite frankly I could play forever or at least until my neighbours decided to kill me. This one was penned by Emma Anderson, it seems that all the Lush songs I like were written by her.

02 - Sunbathing.

Lots of layered guitars kick this one off but no surprise as it was also written by Anderson, she certainly does like that jangly "wall of sound" effect. It'd make Phil Spector proud for sure! The vocals are way too quiet, the sound engineer was certainly napping when they recorded this one as you can hardly hear the singing at all.

03 - Breeze.
A nice upbeat tune penned as a joint effort between Emma & Miki, its like a more mellow version of Single Girl if I am honest. I do like those counterpointed guitar chords in the middle 8, they totally rock. All of these first 3 tracks originally featured on the Sweetness & Light EP release.

04 - Deluxe.
Another track I totally love, it fits right in with tracks like "Connection" by Elastica. Again coming from the pen of Emma Anderson its no shock I really like it. Bags of jangly guitar and a truly brilliant razor sharp drum line from the sadly deceased Acland. It is very Madchester baggy sounds too and would still do well even in todays charts I think. You can play this on Rock Band 2 if you own it apparently!

05 - Leaves Me Cold.
A very Punky heavy intro, slightly Gothic in the way the lyric is sung behind the heavy guitar line. A tad too dischordant for me, its one of Miki's songs. Miki seemed to like her Punk influences a lot (actually that dischordant middle 8 reminds me of "Beers, Steers & Queers" by The Revolting Cocks.)

06 - Downer.
Another heavy Punky guitar and drum intro, its actually like an angry version of Deluxe and was also written by Emma. The vocal style is probably the only thing about it that isnt angry, it'll be from their RiotGrrl period then. Quite Rezillos in its style circa "Somebodies Gonna To Get Their Head Kicked In".

07 - Thoughtforms (second version).
This is the fully formed and polished version of Thoughtforms, another one penned by Emma. Still really commercial, I'd happily put my own money behind releasing this as a single today. I'm THAT confident it'd sell well. The last 4 tracks were all previously available on the Mad Love EP.

08 - Baby Talk.
The intro to this really reminds me of The Jam circa "Eton Rifles" or "Going Underground", but it devolves into a Gothic style track. No shock that Miki wrote it, its very RiotGrrl. I wonder who she was annoyed at when she wrote this one then?

09 - Thoughtforms (original version).
Probably the original demo for the track, its all clear vocals and clear guitars. Totally sans effects in the main. It makes for quite interesting listening as to how a Lush track develops through its lifespan from demo to album release. This is just as good as the other version.

10 - Scarlet (original version).
Another one that is quite Gothic, I think its the verse then chorus structure that makes me say that. Its very like The Mission (circa "Severina" or "Butterfly On A Wheel" ).

11 - Bitter.
The intro of this has its roots in the Punk Oi movement its those short sharp chord refrains. More guitar than you can shake a stick at and its no surprise that Miki penned this one. You can tell she's not happy, you don't need the title of the song for that one.

12 - Second Sight.
Another tune from Miki, again very punky. Miki likes her Punky tracks but it does have Gothic overtones (its those early vocals), but the drums and guitars take over and it goes all Punk. I get the feeling Miki wanted to be Siouxsie Sioux but the job was already taken, no wonder shes angry.

13 - Etherial.
I really LOVE this track, both Emma & Miki wrote it. Its those great harmonised vocals against the guitars, really mellow and laid back. Probably why it earned a permanent place on my mp3 player. And yes, it really does remind me of "Waterfall" by The Stone Roses except this is about a million times better. The previous 6 tracks were all available on the Scar EP. You can read my review of it right here on Ciao. I wonder how different my opinion of the tracks was on that? ;-)

14 - Hey, Hey Helen.
An Abba cover? Really? I guess it takes all sorts. I'll try and and be impartial then. I don't know the Abba version, its not one of their well known tunes and if I was honest and didn't know Benny & Bjorn had written this I would have said it was a joint venture created by Miki & Emma unless they have really adapted this track to Lush's sound as it really sounds like something they would have written. Apart from the fact that you can hear the lyrics ;-)

15 - Scarlet (longer version).
This was previously available on a New Musical Express cover cd so it seems Lush were being held in quite high regard as you have to be pretty well respected to get on NME's cds.

So, 15 tracks but admittedly most of them had already been released. If you already owned the EPs was it worth buying this for the longer version of Scarlet and Hey, Hey Helen? I guess it depends how much you liked the band and how much money you had. If you don't own the EP's then it is certainly worth investing in. 

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