Neither this band, nor this album received a mention from me when I completed my most recent Ciao Challenge about the music in my life. I’m not sure why that was really. I may have simply forgotten, or indeed at the time found other tunes and artistes to write about which meant more to me (that is such a hard challenge to complete with so much great music out there!). But more likely it is because, subconsciously I still find listening to and talking about this band and their music hard.

****BAND HISTORY & DESCRIPTION - WHO & WHAT ARE THEY?****

Del Amitri was formed by Justin Currie in Glasgow in 1981. Currently a five piece band with Mr Currie on Lead Vocals, their formation has changed somewhat in the past 22 years with another 8 members being in the band separately at one time or another.

Hmmmm – a description of their type of music. If I was hard-pressed I would say that its typically Scottish Rock Pop – to give you an idea listening to Deacon Blue, The Proclaimers or The River Detectives would give you a similar sound. Lots of guitars and simple instruments to give a very acoustic sound to their songs. Unlike Deacon Blue or The Proclaimers, their songs are mostly very sad, thought provoking songs of loves and opportunities lost and won and so as a result not many could you get up and dance aimlessly around your handbag to. That’s not what the band is about. In my experience they are there to make you think, to make you view your own life against those described in their songs. And believe me I’ve done a lot of that in the past 10 years or so!

This album was released in 1998 on A&M Records as a compilation of their best work from their first five albums (Del Amitri, Waking Hours, Change Everything, Twisted and Some Other Sucker’s Parade). Since then they have gone on to release a further three albums as well as re-releasing their first self titled “Del Amitri”.

*****MY HISTORY & DESCRIPTION - WHAT THIS ALBUM MEANS TO ME*****

You don’t want a full account of my disturbed past, but I loved this band. I saw them twice in concert – just small University Gigs in my city which were great, and I enjoyed listening to their music for what it was to me then – just well written tunes. However in the Spring of 1994 I met a chap who also liked Del Amitri and so my association with the Band became one of listening to them along with Rob (His name has not been changed, as you only protect the innocent!!). Our relationship was a very fraught, very short affair in which I was bombarded with bad stories about him almost from the very start. So then Del Amitri became the band that reminded me of him and the way I had been treated. I then found the sad truth in all of their songs and I could no longer listen to them.

It wasn’t until I met my husband that I felt I needed to put my old feelings to bed and start to listen to the music again. Even now those memories are still painful with each song – but I won’t let him win, as I enjoy the music too much.

*****THE ALBUM, THE SONGS - WHAT IS THE LISTEN LIKE?*****

So what does the album offer? Well 17 of their finest songs, so let me tell you a little about each of them, along with my rating and a little taster of their excellent lyrics: -

**1 CRY TO BE FOUND 7/10**

“If you think your mind is ready
Then open your heart and let it fall
If you keep on hiding from me
You're not gonna' live your life at all”

A song about the risk of love – a real case of better to have loved and lost than never loved before. This is one of Del Amitri’s happier rock ballads in that the theme is that of trying to let love into someone’s life.

**2 ROLL TO ME 8/10**

“Look around your world pretty baby
Is it everything you hoped it'd be
The wrong guy, the wrong situation
The right time to roll to me”

A short and sweet up beat song, with the message that if all around you is wrong, don’t stick around – move on to something and/or someone else.

**3 KISS THIS THING GOODBYE 9/10**

“I sometimes feel when we're together baby,
everything has turned out wrong
and I know you feel exactly the same way
but still we carry on.”

A catchy, upbeat song, with the theme of a relationship which has gone down hill, but rather than bailing out while the feelings are still of friendship, both parties continue with the same routine until the relationship “turns sour”.

**4 NOT WHERE ITS AT 8/10**

“With some girls it don't matter where you're aiming
With some girls it don't matter how you act
And some girls they don't care what car you came in
But the one girl that I want, she wants that one bit of geography I lack.”

A fairly upbeat song, this speaks of unrequited love. Of a man who wants a woman, but she wants more than he is able to offer.

**5 NOTHING EVER HAPPENS 9/10**

“Telephone exchanges click while there's nobody there
The Martians could land in the car park and no one would care
Close-circuit cameras shoot the same video every day
And the stars of these films neither die nor get killed
Just survive constant action replay.”

A slow, very depressing song, of a life which is the same day-in, day-out, the same everything always happening.

**6 ALWAYS THE LAST TO KNOW 10/10**

“We spent summers up beyond the bay
And you said these are such perfect days
That if the bomb drops baby, I want to be the last to know
But now you're living up behind the hill
And though we share the same city and feel the same sun
When your winter comes
I'll be the last to know”

Of all the Del Amitri songs, this is the hardest for me to listen to and yet is the very best of all that they have to offer. An upbeat song of an ex-lover realising that the girl he’s lost will have a life without him, which he’ll know nothing about until everyone already knows.

**7 HERE AND NOW 8/10**

“'Cos you turn traitor
You can turn on your heels
But you can't change lady
Here and now just how good we can feel”

Another slowish ballad, of the knowledge that a relationship could all end in tears tomorrow for whatever reason, but it just feels so right at this exact moment in time.

**8 JUST LIKE A MAN 7/10**

“But I wanna die, I wanna cry, I wanna tell you I was wrong
Yeh I wanna die, I wanna cry but it's too late
So I soldier on just like a man”

An upbeat serious song, telling of a man who is crushed by the affair that the woman in his life is having, but who feels that he must not show these feelings as that’s (supposedly) not very manly.

**9 SPIT IN THE RAIN 9/10**

“Without doubt it is true
She was the only love you knew
Now she's gone it fades away
Like spit in the rain.”

Another upbeat song, this one tries to teach the “There’s plenty more fish in the sea”, and “You’ll soon get over her” advice which comes from those around us at the end of a relationship.

**10 WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG 8/10**

“The disappointment of success
Hangs from your shoulders like a hand-me down dress
And down nostalgia's rocky road
You watch your former lovers growing old”

A fairly upbeat tune, this tells of someone looking back on their dreams of success when they were younger, only to realise that the reality was much different, and not so nice as the dream.

**11 DRIVING WITH THE BRAKES ON 7/10**

“When you're driving with the brakes on
When you're swimming with your boots on,
It's hard to say you love someone
And it's hard to say you don't.”

In a similar vein to “Cry to be Found”, this slow ballad speaks of a relationship where one party is holding back on giving the relationship his all, instead letting his partner do all of the leading.

**12 STONE COLD SOBER 7/10**

“When you're footloose but you just feel limbless
Life gets in the way
So we get loaded or totally legless
But stay the same
Stone cold sober, looking for bottles of love.”

This is another relatively slow song, telling of a life which is helpless without the love of another, and so a life which just ambles on with no meaning.

**13 TELL HER THIS 8/10**

“Tell her what was wrong
I sometimes think too much
But say nothing at all
And tell her from this high terrain, I am ready now to fall.”

A fairly upbeat, happy tune which tells of a partner, or maybe friend, who had found it hard to stand by their loved one, but on realising the error of their ways tries to make amends to be there for that person.

**14 MOVE AWAY JIMMY BLUE 8/10**

“Wet feet visit the same old places
Finding nothing new
It's a binful of tissues from made-up faces
In a townful of nothing to do.”

Another upbeat tempo on this song which sings to encourage “Jimmy Blue” to leave behind all that he knows in his home town, so that he doesn’t make the same mistake as his elders by living in the memories that surround him.

**15 BE MY DOWNFALL 10/10**

“So the night is coming down, drowning us in blue
And it all points towards the things we know we shouldn't do
And as I look at you and I fall under your spell
Well I know I should be thinking of her lying there herself
And when faced with temptation you know a man should stand and fight
But you will be my downfall tonight.”

A slow memorable ballad, this simply tells of someone in a relationship drawn to someone else and letting those feelings get the better of him. Another of their songs which I both love and hate listening to!

**16 SOME OTHER SUCKER'S PARADE 9/10**

“I've had my share of heartaches, let downs and tricks
But the everyday blues is the one thing I can fix
I've heard those holy brethren muttering my name
But it ain't no sin to drink when you're suffering.”

An upbeat song which tells of someone going through a rough time, who feels that drowning their sorrows in drink will chase away their woes until times get better for them.

**17 DON'T COME HOME TOO SOON 8/10**

“So go then, out into history,
And show them how easy it can be,
You might not believe it yet but pretty soon you'll see,
Even long shots make it.”

Another slow ballad, this song is encouraging someone to chase his or her dream, even if it does seem like a lost cause, and not to give up on that dream too early.

*****AND FINALLY - MY OVERALL THOUGHTS*****

Wow that was hard. Listening to the album to give my personal opinion has really brought those memories flooding back again – but I’m always happy when it does, as it makes me grateful for the life that I now have.

Overall, the music of the band has not changed that much within the albums from which these tracks were drawn, and as a result the same type of excellent music comes across with each song. If I had one criticism it would be that their music can be just too depressing at times – and so they have obviously written it from personal experiences, as most writers do. The album title is therefore ingenious – “Hatful of Rain” as in not just a drop of unhappiness, but a whole torrent together!!

*****AVAILABILITY & PRICE - WHERE & HOW MUCH?*****

This album is available in all good music stores both on your high street, or on-line. Prices I have found range from £7.99 (Amazon.Co.UK) to £10.99 (HMV). This review is of the single CD Album, although a special edition Double CD version was also released in 1998 which includes some extra tracks and reworks of original songs.

*****MORE ON THE BAND - WHAT/WHY/WHERE/WHO/HOW*****

To find out more about Del Amitri, you could do worse than take a look at their websites www.delamitri.co.uk and www.delamitri.com - both have loads of information.

Thanks for still being awake at the end of this epic – all comments and criticisms gratefully received on this, my first attempt at a proper music review!!

Tina xx