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 ...

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 ...

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. ...