Rings Around The World - Super Furry Animals

I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Super Furry Animal's fifth album, "Rings Around The World", since I saw their mature and introspective set at the Leeds Carling Festival in 2000 (OK, doing your encore in "Furry Animal" outfits might not be your idea of mature or introspective but, hey, humour me for a while!). I have held a soft spot for The Super Furry Animals, since the all action punk harmony of 1994's album release, "Fuzzy Logic", these Welsh lads to me almost epitimise Wales in the modern age - heritage (the Welsh choral society teaching them everything they know about harmony?), blended with ...  Read the complete review

I would never really describe myself as a fan of The Super Furry Animals, but I have enjoyed a few of their single releases. The proudly patriotic Welsh band have just never managed to tempt me enough to buy a full album, but when I came across this on an MP3 disc, I thought it would be worth a listen. I will say now, that my opinion is a total contrast on the other opinions I have read about this album, but each to their own I say. The fifth album'Alternate Route To Vulcan St' is a strange choice as the opening track, and is very reminiscent of early Pulp material with a sprinkling of ELO for good measure, with it's electro pop revisit and ...  Read the complete review

So onto the Super Furries fifth main album (bsides album notwithstanding). As usual, it's regular SFA territory. Madness interspersed with great beauty. Opening song on the album Alternative Route.... is a downbeat semi electro start to the album with maudlin vocals. Sidewalk Serfer Girl is a metaphorical slap in the face and sounds like it escaped from Fuzzy Logic and has just returned. Guitars crash in and out of more electronic effects. Drawing Rings.... starts off sounding like a theme to a computer game and bounces around happily and then ends all frazzled out and scorched with loads of phone rings and mad samples. Classic ...  Read the complete review

From the first listen it is quite conspicious that this was clearly intended as a pop record,this was supposed to be part of Gruff Rhys' masterplan to subvert the whole music industry. By releasing the first single from the album Juxtaposed With U (the U inferrs that Rhys' is still street-texting culture) it is evident that the idea is to crack the mainstream slowley,and before they know it the previous adoration of middle of the road bands such as the Stereophonics will be eating from the SFA hand!You may be waiting for a while boys.The question being is the mainstream ready for the Super Furry Animals?Or are the SFA ready for the mainstream? Rings Around the ...  Read the complete review