Pray For That Feeling Of Grace (Regeneration - Divine Comedy)

Member Name: kfingleton

Product:	Regeneration - Divine Comedy
Date:	04/05/01 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Astoundingly beautiful

Disadvantages: Not to be bettered?

Some people may disagree with me, but I felt that The Divine Comedy lost their way a little with Fin De Siecle, their last proper album in 1998, but instead of being the beginning of their decline, this album seems to suggests that it was only a glitch in the grand scheme to make supreme music.

Before I got this a couple of months ago the media was constantly going on about how DC had stripped the sound down, taking away the string sections and the grandiose sound. Upon listening to this album, I think that this is a pile of tosh because the strings remain. They’re more subtle certainly, but this is no massive change in direction that some had predicted. In fact, it reminds me of the sound of their third album Promenade because there is a bigger emphasis on conventional ‘rock’ instruments.

Therefore I think it is fair to say that this album is not a change of direction, but more of a shift in focus. The picture of the band in the sleeve, looking all indie and scruffy like the cast of Lock, Stock…suggests that the foppery of before has been cast off. Indeed the novelty sound of hits like …Alfie and National Express has been cast off. This is a more introspective Neil Hannon at work, he still has the power to deliver a cleverly funny line like "Weeks go by quicker than drunks knock back liquor".

But what are the songs like you may wonder? Well, first thing to be said is that upon the first listen they sound like pure class song writing. This is the first album from 2001 that I have bought and it will be very hard to beat it, so Radiohead et al have a lot to live up to. Speaking of Radiohead, their producer Nigel Godrich is at the controls here and he certainly adds a little something to the sound. I think this is most evident in the synth strings and sparseness of Not To Self.

But the sound of this album leaves you in no doubt that this is a DC album. Lost Property sounds most like
their early work, but again the background noises could have come straight out of OK Computer. This is a wonderful blend of the organic and the technological, the ‘science and nature’ mix as the Bluetones would phrase it. The drums and base sound most like Radiohead, best demonstrated in Lost Property and Mastermind.

The lyrics are certainly more personal, often dealing with Hannon’s song writing itself like when he sings "Give me your love and I’ll give you the perfect lovesong" in Perfect Lovesong, (surprisingly). But lyrics are nothing without divine music and the perfect blend of this is seen in track six.

Eye Of The Needle is probably the most personal song that I have known Hannon to write. It has a strange link with the earlier DC song Don’t Look Down with the "Atheistic tosh I’m spouting off", but this song really pulls at the heart stings. It is just as tender as Tender, by Blur. If you didn’t know that Neil’s father was a church minister, you do now. Eye Of The Needle deals with Hannon’s ambiguity on Christianity head on. The title itself, I presume comes from when Jesus said that it was easier for a camel to enter the eye of the needle (that’s a gate in Israeli-speak) for a rich man to enter the gates of Heaven. Therefore it links perfectly with the line "The cars in the churchyard are shiny and German" and Hannon’s own riches.

This track is followed by the track you may have heard by now. Love What You Do may not be a potential number one, but it is an early slice of summer pop, as bouncy and wonderful as The Pop Singers Fear Of The Pollen Count. It is the poppiest track on the album, just ahead of Bad Ambassador. The line "If you need it, go and get" is an excellently uplifting line.

One interesting theme in this album is that it contains real social commentary. Eye Of The Needle is certainly an examp
le of this, but another is Dumb It Down, a song that sounds a little like Eric The Gardiner on their last album, but less ‘epic’. "No one’s saying anything out there / Is their anybody out there?" is Hannon’s cry in seeming desperation. Obviously, as I agree with Hannon on this point I quite like his preaching on this subject. He’s right when he says "You just don’t see the beauty all around / Dumb it down".

In Mastermind, Hannon comes over all Burt Bacharach. The strings are back for a track that is nothing short of pure and beautiful. But again it has a faint air of Radiohead, this time the tempo and drums remind me of The Tourist. Godrich has certainly stamped his influence, but very much for the good. The line "You don’t need an indie song to tell you what’s going on" is also a little nugget. This track is definitely another highlight on an album that soars.

The title track with its weird guitar chords could have come straight out of the band’s first album proper Liberation, but again the Radiohead influence is clear, it has an air of Let Down to it. This is no bad thing, but with the addition of bolstered guitars and effects this is DC with a fresh sound, but with their clear trademark style all mixed together. With the distorted double-tracked guitars in the chorus, this is DC at their loudest. The refrain "We don’t care" echoes In And Out Of Paris And London.

The Beauty Regime is another social study, a sort of anti-capitalist warning and an inspiration to the masses. "Don’t let them sell you impossible dreams / Don’t be a slave to the beauty regime". This track lacks the epic sound of Tonight We Fly or The Dogs And The Horses, but it is most beautiful for its understated sound. This track is a warning to ignore the glossy magazines and the way they dictate society.

This is the closest you
can get to purely beautiful music. Maybe I’m just being swept away at the moment, but The Divine Comedy’s finest album is sounding at the moment close to the genius of Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. I don’t’ think it’s the greatest album in my collection, I’m just firmly stating that it’s a classic.

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