White Ladder by David Gray is one of my favourite albums of all time.
DAVID GRAY – WHITE LADDER
RELEASE DATE – 24TH APRIL 2000
LABEL - EASTWEST
The first time the album was released, it was released in Ireland in November 1998. It did so well it was later released in the ... Read review
throughout the rest of the world. Since his 1994 debut albumA Century Ends, he has consistently produced quality, folk-tinged songs that showcase his one major talent--a r...
throughout the rest of the world. Since his 1994 debut album A Century Ends, he has consistently produced quality, folk-tinged songs that showcase his one major talent--a ...
throughout the rest of the world. Since his 1994 debut albumA Century Ends, he has consistently produced quality, folk-tinged songs that showcase his one major talent--a raw yet melodic voice.White Laddermarks something of a departure from his usual fare, as it sees him embracing a more modern sound, adding interesting beats and electronic sounds to the more traditional acoustic guitar and piano. In trying to widen his appeal, he risks alienating his fan base, but tracks like "This Year's Love" and "My Oh My" should keep everybody happy.--Helen Marquis
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A review by MurkyDismal on White Ladder - David Gray March 26th, 2003
Author's product rating:
Originality
Groundbreaking
Lyrics
Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks
Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Outstanding
Value for Money
Advantages:
Calm, relaxing, great album
Disadvantages:
Nothing .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
White Ladder by David Gray is one of my favourite albums of all time.
DAVID GRAY – WHITE LADDER RELEASE DATE – 24TH APRIL 2000 LABEL - EASTWEST
The first time the album was released, it was released in Ireland in November 1998. It did so well it was later released in the UK, and did amazingly well. There are actually 4 different versions of White Ladder, although there isn’t a lot of difference between them, some are much harder to come across. I think the album that I have is the one released in 1998. I paid £6.99 for the album in the sale in HMV, but I will point out it’s the second CD of the same album that I have bought, as my first one broke from being over played! This is the forth album from David Gray, although it’s his most famous. He is supposed to have recorded White Ladder in a London flat.
The front of the album has a blue background, with the album name, and the artists name written quite small in the middle. The CD box also contains a thin pull out booklet, with the song lyrics and some information about the writer of each song.
The album consists of 10 songs in total, David Gray has released quite a few songs off the album as singles, and they have all done well.
1. Please Forgive Me 5:35 ************************** This is a great way to start off the album. It starts off quite catchy, and happy, although the song actually ends up sounding quite sad. I think the song may be about cheating, and the regrets and then asking for forgiveness. It appears to be a song about guilt. The song is quite long, and at one point you think the song is coming to a close, and it doesn’t, it builds back up, and lasts a bit longer. This was the first song released from the album.
“Please forgive me If I act a little strange For I know not what I do. Feels like lightning running through my veins”
I think this is a great track, definately worth a 9/10.
2. Babylon 4:25 **************************** This is the second song that was released as a single from the album. I’m sure everyone remembers this song. You will have heard it on the radio. It was forever being played. It was released in June 2000, and was a great hit. Although it was a popular song, it isn’t particularly one of my favourites. This track is again quite catchy, and David Gray’s voice really shines. I love the lyrics in this song. 8/10.
“Friday night I'm going nowhere All the lights are changing green to red Turning over TV stations Situations running through my head”
3. My oh My 4:37 ****************************** I love this song, it’s one of my favourites from the album. The lyrics are really deep and melancholy. It’s quite a sad sounding song. David Gray’s makes it sound amazing. It is a calm and withdrawn song. 9/10
“My oh my you know it just don't stop It's in my mind I wanna tear it up I've tried to fight it tried to turn it off But it's not enough It takes a lotta love It takes a lotta love my friend”
4. We’re not right 3:03 ****************************** This is quite a short track. I think it’s about the temptation of alcohol, and not being able to say no. I quite like the song, and it’s quite deep and meaningful. 8/10
“I see this world but I can't relate Hey that everything must accelerate Betty Ford oh won't you be my valentine Can't tell the bottle from the mountain top No, we're not right”
5. Nightblindness 4:23 ******************************* This song has quite an unusual title. It’s about worrying about the future, and not knowing what’s to come. I like the song. It’s quite slow, and simple, and doesn’t have much to it. It isn’t a favourite, but anything David Gray sings is great for me! 7/10
“What we gonna do When the money runs out I wish that there was something left to say Where we going to find the eyes to see The bright of day”
6. Silver Lining 5:59 ****************************** Again, this is a long track, and another of my favourites. It’s a slow track, but then again, so are most of the tracks on this album! It’s very calm and collected, and the lyrics go great with the melody of the song. I love the last two lines of the extract from the sing below. 9/10 from me!
“We were born with our eyes wide open So alive with wild hope now Can you tell me why Time after time they drag you down Down in the darkest deep”
7. White Ladder 4:14 ******************************** This is the album title track. My favourite part of this song, is part that’s written below. It’s a good song, and has quite an unusual name. Te lyrics are well written and the voice of David Gray makes them even better. 8/10.
“To the night another body To the night another name To the night another valentine A burning flame To the night another body To the night another name To the night another valentine A burning flame”
8. This Years Love 4:05 ******************************** This songs title is used as the name of a film that it appears in. It’s in ‘This Year’s Love’, which stars Kathy Burke. The film was released in 1999. It’s a film set in Camden, I quite actually enjoyed it. It’s worth a watch, and David Gray even makes a small appearance. This song is good, and I love listening to. It’s about a new relationship, and how much it needs to work. It’s about new chances and not being used. It has to be real! 10/10.
“This years love had better last Heaven knows it's high time And I've been waiting on my own too long But when you hold me like you do It feels so right I start to forget”
9. Sail Away 5:15 ********************************** This is the one that constantly gets put on repeat for me! I love it. The lyrics and simple and easy to understand. David Gray’s voice is at pure perfection in this track. The song is about commitment, making sure you’re together properly. I love the song. I wish I’d written this song! I love just sitting listening to this song. It’s perfect in everyway (for me anyway). 11/10!!
“Sail away with me honey I put my heart in your hands Sail away with me honey now, now, now Sail away with me What will be will be I wanna hold you now”
10. Say Hello Wave Goodbye 8:58 ********************************** A very long song! It’s good though, and doesn’t drag. The lyrics are unusual and quite catchy. I love the sound of this song, and find it great to listen to. It’s a great song to end the album.
“Standing at the door of the Pink Flamingo crying in the rain Here was a kind of so-so love And I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again You and I had to be, the standing joke of the year You were the owner of the lost and found And not for me, I feel”
I honestly love this album. I never get tired of listening to the songs, I never skip any of the tracks as I enjoy listening to them all!! This album won’t be for you if you’re into fast or dancey tracks, it’s slow and great to chill out too. Nearly everyone that I know owns this album.
I would describe David Gray as indie/folk, and a lot of his albums can go either way. It’s acoustic folk – found a perfect description for a perfect blokes. It helps, that I wouldn’t kick him out of bed!!
Advantages: Great music that is relaxing Disadvantages: Nothing!
...to success, climbed the ladder!? WHITE LADDER!? Don't worry, this op is gonna be one of those ones, silly pathetic jokes that no one laughs at! (SORRY!) I haven't written a music opinion for a while now so I thought I'd see if I could still write in words my loves and hates towards certain music. This CD that I'm writing on now features the artist, David Gray who certainly follows the same love of music as me. I now have his latest album, White Ladder ... ...case is mainly blue and white with a tree on the right and some object on the left.
Now thats over and done with I can talk about the album itself though consists of 10 songs which I think is a relatively small album, all of which are brilliant, David Gray released many of them as singles, all of which were very sucesful, I believe he is going to release one last one too very soon, 'This Years Love' (Correct me if he already has released it, I don't ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Great lyrics, great melodies Disadvantages: None whatsoever
...usual acoustic guitar sounding albums, White Ladder has gone for the acoustic guitar and married the keyboards, which blend together to give beautiful pieces of music and lyrics. This marrying up of the guitar and keyboards is also due to the collaboration of Gray and Clune. His songwriting ability was never in doubt so 'Please forgive me' if I say that the first track is a trance dance number which is melodic, and lyrical. If you're going to 'Babylon' ... ...song with a blend of keyboard and guitar to get your juices flowing. 'This years love' has got to be one of the best tracks on the album along with the rehashed 'Say hello wave goodbye' (originally sung by Soft Cell in 1982). David Grays voice is also brilliant and has been compared to a young Van Morrison (something, I imagine, he will be sick of now). It has that certain something, but you can't quite put your finger on what it is. No matter, he ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Talented artist, inspirational lyrics Disadvantages: Many radio stations are not playlisting his songs
...distinctive in recent years.
White ladder starts with the familiar ‘Please Forgive Me’, which, being a very easy going, yet uplifting tune eases you into the album itself
The more familiar ‘Babylon’ follows, which follows the trend of the previous track, both feeling very chilled, whilst his distinctive voice continues to lift the mood.
The album ten moves into the more obscure tracks, which, although relatively unknown, ... ...next installment
To conclude, White Ladder’s re-release is highlighting David Gray’s musical popularity in the UK, however many radio stations prefer not to play his songs in preference of manufactured bands, which, in my opinion is a pity as this artist has a great talent and I am sure will stand the test of time.
Recommendation – I would recommend this CD to anyone who appreciates true laid back music, which is both thought ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Thoughtful, gentle and above all, British. Disadvantages: Depressing, sullen and not good listening for a bad day....
...It was with the extraordinary, White Ladder in 1998 that he found himself a house hold name on the release of the single, 'Babylon' (reached number 5 in June 2000.) Now on a par with Domestos and Kellogg's, Gray was thrown into stardom and many awards followed for this sullen album. This, his fourth album ran straight to the hills of the number one slot in the UK album charts and awards followed.
What probably struck us most about this man who on ... ...guitar (we've had Bob Dylan, we had seen it all by now) was his gentleness within his capabilities as a songwriter. Yet, strangely, the referrals to Dylan came in thick and fast. His uncanny sound was said to be unmatched since the days of Dylan. An incredible compliment it would seem, but Gray didn't want to walk in someone else's shadow. Unassuming and strictly down to Earth, he never once throws caution to the wind and hits us with something controversial, ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...course talking about the amazing white ladder. For years David Grey has been part of the music industry in America, even though he is a native of our own sunny shores. So just like the British colonials of yester year that they sent back, he returned to our lives, and started to immediately spread some sunshine into our otherwise, dull lives.
I can still remember the first time I heard one of his songs. It was while I was shopping, and amongst the ... ...5. Nightblindness 6. Silver Lining
7. White Ladder 8. This Years Love
9. Sail Away 10. Say Hello Wave Goodbye
The latest song to be released from the album is ‘This years love’, which is in a very similar style to ‘Babylon’, and demands the same response. In recent months David Grey has received much deserved coverage on national radio stations, and TV programmes such as Radio 1 and Top Of The Pops. He has also received ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: More great songs from Gray Disadvantages: Not a great deal of diversity throughout the album
...For all the comparisons with 'WhiteLadder' that DavidGray's new album will no doubt meet, 'A New Day At Midnight is far from simply 'WhiteLadder Pt2'. Recorded intermittently between spring 2001 and August 2002 in Iht's Clapham studio (all 20 x 10 ft of it), the results are certain to defy expectations. Here is a record that plays and was built by its own rules, an event and piece of work in its own right. "After the huge success of 'WhiteLadder' there was a certain amount of psychology involved in making this record", says David. "The task I faced was to get past all that, and get on with the job of writing and recording some music that articulated how I was thinking and feeling in the here and now". There is an undoubtable shift of tone between the two records, whilst the simplicity of sound and structure remains unadulterated. "I...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Some good tracks, smooth easy listening. Disadvantages: Slightly one dimensional. A few weak links.
...A couple of years back, i bought DavidGray's 'WhiteLadder', despite a couple of disappointing tracks, i then bought 'A new day at midnight' upon its release.
On the whole, its is a good album, not exceptional, but good and a wlecome change from all the pop, r 'n' b and rap. Gray has a silky smooth voice, and is backed by some excellent musical structure.
However, in all honesty, i was slightly disappointed with this album. There are a couple of outstanding songs on it, but the rest of the tracks are mediocre.
The album both opens and ends with beatifully structured songs, 'Dead in the water' and 'The other side'. The other tracks that impressed me were 'Caroline', 'Kangaroo' and 'Be Mine'. The writing is original and sung beatifully, but some tracks lack invention, and are too similar to previous songs by Gray.
Definitely...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Wide range of music; some truly great tracks; consistently high quality Disadvantages: Very few, perhaps only that it is very slighty shorter than previous albums
...After a somewhat shaky start with his first three albums, DavidGray Finally hit it big with the self financed WhiteLadder in '98, but many were asking whether he could ever emulate such a performance again. A New Day at Midnight, David's follow up album certainly made a good attempt, but it is only with the release of Life In Slow Motion that DavidGray has truly cemented his 8 year move from acoustic obscurity to a true musical star.
From the moment Life in Slow Motion begins, you know that the album's going to be a good'un - the opening, faint, tinkling notes of the first track 'Alibi' slowly fade to silence before an explosion of the unique vocal stylings of Gray. This is followed by 'The One I Love', the first single released from the album and by far one of David's best ever songs. Its catchy tune, powerful voice...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Label / Distributor: East West / Cinram Logistics, IHT / 3mv/Pinnacle
Engineer: Lestyn; Jon Bailey
Producer: Gray; McClune; Polson
Pieces in Set: 1
Studio / Live: Studio
Stereo: Stereo
Format: Performer
EAN: 685738298327, 5033826001925
Catalogue Number: 8573829832
Additional notes
Album Notes: This is an Enhanced audio CD which contains regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Personnel: David Gray (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); Clune (vocals, keyboards, bass, drums); Colm Mac Con Iomaire (violin); Tim Bradshaw (keyboards); Simon Edwards (bass); Lestyn, Steve Sydelnyk, Marius De Vries (programming). David Gray began his career utilizing bare-bones folk-rock arrangements that left plenty of room for his Dylan/Van Morrison-inspired vocals and lyrics to weave their spell. Subsequently, he submerged his unique qualities somewhat in thick production. WHITE LADDER finds a workable balance between these two extremes. Some of the tracks are little more than Gray plus rhythm section, recalling the simplistic grace of his debut A CENTURY ENDS; on other cuts, synthesizers and electronic rhythms are incorporated in a tasteful, organic way that lends modernity to the proceedings without imposing upon the spirit of the songs. As always, the most important thing is Gray's lyrical and vocal skill, which remain pleasingly intact. He leavens his simple, heartfelt observations with just the right amount of poetic imagery, much in the same manner that the electronic touches are added to spice up WHITE LADDER's neo-folk arrangements.
Album Reviews: Q (1/01, p.92) - Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000". Rolling Stone (10/12/00, p.89) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Sleek modern folk....Gray proves that great songs sometimes require quiet acts of irreverence." Q (8/00, p.118) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A triumph of songcraft, with a huge emotive tug following from the spare acoustic textures. Gray's crusty, Dylan-esque voice shines throughout..." Entertainment Weekly (1/19/01, p.85) - "...A restorative for those hungry for intimacy....an heir to Van Morrison..." - Rating: B Mojo (7/00, p.124) - "...Mega-platinum in Ireland....Dominated by understated acoustic strumming and his warbling tenor, opener 'Please Forgive Me' is a dead ringer for mid-'70s Dylan..." NME (7/15/00, p.34) - 6 out of 10 - "...Given the decent songwriting showcased here, you suspect it couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke..." CMJ (5/00, p.24) - "...A stately, sophisticated album...Gray combines gentle guitar hooks and effusive string washes with warm, fluent beats on memorable songs....[A] magnificent accomplishment..."
Titles on disc 1
1.: Please Forgive Me
2.: Babylon
3.: My Oh My
4.: We're Not Right
5.: Nightblindness
6.: Silver Lining
7.: White Ladder
8.: This Year's Love
9.: Sail Away
10.: Say Hello Wave Goodbye
11.: Through To Myself
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