Fin De Siecle - Divine Comedy

Some people felt that The Divine Comedy lost their way with this album. Some people don't. But what is absolutely certain is that they made one hell of a journey with it, trespassing on the classical music world and fusing a classical orchestra (The Brunel Ensemble) with their own band and superimposing Neil Hannon's baritone tones. Couple that with the acerbic irony and sarcasm that will have you rolling on the floor with sides totally split, and marvelling at the incredible lyrical ability of the man, and it's hard to be able to criticize this album for taking steps that other bands do not dare to take! True enough, the concept of fusing two styles ...  Read the complete review

I really hope this is not a taste of things to come.... This is probably the weakest of their albums so far. There are some corkers on this album - Commuter Love stands out particularly as a sweet and poignant love song, National Express is just all-round brilliant - but somehow the overall tone is just not up to the same standards as other albums. Sweden? What's that doing on here? Eric the Gardener? Come on Neil - what're you playing at lad? This is the only Divine Comedy album where I have ever found myself using my remote to skip tracks. The songs that work show flashes of genius, and are well worth the cost of ...  Read the complete review

An amazing album from 'The Divine Comedy' reflecting how much they have grown over the past couple of years. Tracks of intelligent lyrical phrases with ingeniously subtle meanings are common. Possibly influenced by 'The Doors', 'The Divine Comedy's style of music is both very rare and very special. 'Generation Sex' sets the tone for the album and is an appropriate first track. This album mellows out in the middle and culminates with the track 'Sunrise'. This album is may not suit everybody's taste but you have to listen to it to find out. ...  Read the complete review

Fin de Siecle is not praised by DivCom fans with as much enthusiasm as it should be. It does, I suppose, lacks the coherence of earlier albums. But the title should give us the clue to the nature of this album. Fin de Siecle- end of a century – is at once a mission statement and disclaimer. The album, to my mind, seeks to paint a portrait of modern living at the end of the twentieth century: life, sex, love, nature and war at the end of the 2nd millennium and yet in essence it is a dark album. Not pessimistic but cynical, doubting and critical of how we live. That is the disclaimer: don’t expect it to be as jolly as before. With this in mind you ...  Read the complete review

Fin de Siecle is The Divine Comedy's 6th album (5th if Neil is disowning "Fanfare for the Comic Muse") and it tends to split fans right down the middle. Besides the best of, Fin is probably the album you'll most likely find on eBay. Why? My theory is that people heard what is arguably Neil's most well known song "National Express" and bought the album expecting much of the same. Boy, were they in for a shock! "National Express" seems to sit oddly in the album that deals with chaos theory, the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the hideous media. People buying Fin expecting jolly japes were presented with a very thoughtful and intelligent ...  Read the complete review