Marchin' Already - Ocean Colour Scene

This album had a hard act to follow in that Moseley Shoals was one of the most successful albums of 1995. OCS rose to the challenge and came up with Marchin Already. From the off, with 'Hundred Mile High City'(featured in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) you can hear that they have loosly stuck to the same formula as MS, but have improved on it and fiddled about with it culminating in a superb album by one of the most underrated musical acts today. Not too heavy and not too mellow, it is just right for those long road trips or that time when you juat want to relax. Sorted ...  Read the complete review

Marchin' Already, released in 1997, was the third album from Ocean Colour Scene, although their first - 1992's self-titled effort - was unsuccessful and is now rather obscure, and frankly not entirely unfairly either. Marchin' Already, which features a somewhat unmemorable cover photo of the band standing in some undergrowth for no apparent reason, can be seen as OCS's second "proper" album; it's the follow-up to 1996's Moseley Shoals, and in truth could easily have been called "Moseley Shoals, volume 2" without too many people objecting. That's no bad thing, however, as the earlier album was not at all a bad effort in itself. OCS are not a ...  Read the complete review

The moment Steve Cradock starts with the opening to Hundred Mile High City, to the crescendo finish of It's A Beautiful Thing, the music is ebgulfing. Not since the the late 70's era of Queen and the Sex Pistls could a frontman be so charismatic. Not since Clapton or Hendrix could guitar sound so emotive. Not since ever was a bassist so cool. Not since Keith Moon a drummer/percusionnist with as much raw talent. And it shows. 13 tunes, a range of styles; from the roar of hundred mile high city to the pure emotion of better day to the folky besides yourself on to the crashing all up. Ocean Colour Scene excelled in writing music for the time. Although Moseley Shoals ...  Read the complete review

Their third album and possibly their best. It is one of those albums you just can’t put down and you’ll continually find it sneaking back into your CD player, and in my case, even a good few years on after originally purchasing it. The songs are all indie in style, but they wear the indie label proudly, managing to flourish in the different aspects of that genre. They produce some great work, with drums and guitars seamlessly blending into each other to make each effort a masterpiece in its own right. There is the odd song or two that aren’t as noticeably brilliant as the majority, but in my experience nothing is ever absolutely perfect. ...  Read the complete review

For those of you who know my music tastes, you didn't expect me to write loads of album reviews without one from The Scene did you??? Out of all the albums I own (even though I tend to listen to others depending on what mood I am in) this one remains my most favouritist. It wasn't 1996, the year of the Riverboat Song and The Day We Caught The Train that really increased my interest in OCS, but the Hundred Mile High City, Better Day, It's A Beautiful Thing, Travellers Tune era - 1997. Marchin' Already contains those four tracks - released as singles, as well as 9 other crackers. But in order for me to reveal its greatness, ...  Read the complete review