Tried to think of a title without the word scream, but failed. (Screamadelica - Primal Scream)

Member Name: shanecahill

Product:	Screamadelica - Primal Scream
Date:	12/12/01 (163 review reads)
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Winner of the first ever Mercury award way back in 1992, worthy of a place in my top 10 albums of all-time (go read it!) and possibly a contender for most stoned album of all time. Yes, you guessed it (well actually you already knew seeing as you clicked on it), it's Primal Scream's Screamadelica. Let's get straight on in with the bouncy first track...

Movin' On Up
Light drums in the background have a great beat going on in the background, but your attention is immediately drawn to the strong and sometimes slightly growly voice which belts out a chorus of
"I'm movin' on up now, yeah and out of the darkness
My light shines on, my light shines on" etc.
There is also some great guitar in places, and it makes you wonder why you don't hear more of it on the album. During the chorus and other points in the song there is a female choir adding a soul element to the song.

Slip Inside This House
Loud clashes and a collection of assorted noises backed by a constant drum beat start this extremely weird song. From here it gets, dare I say it, funkier with a distinct Eastern feel. I'm pretty sure there is a sitar playing in the background, along with piano, distorted vocals and God knows what else. Not my favourite song on the album but it's not half bad, especially the start.

Don't Fight It,Feel It
An outstanding track, it mixes a solid beat, some excellent vocals from Denise Johnson and the sound of some weird machine that sounds like a bird going on. I should probably make this clear, I have no idea what half of the instruments and machines used are, so excuse me for being a bit vague!
The lyrics in this aren't too bad either, such as:
"I'm going to live the life I love,
I'm going to love the life I live"
It wouldn't seem out of place in today's dance charts, besides the fact that it's really good and the dance
charts...well they aren't.

Higher Than The Sun
There are two tracks called Higher Than The Sun on this album, because it is (as the sleeve reliably informs me) a dub symphony in two parts. This is by far my favourite of the two, with it's ambient music swirling around with a relaxed vocalist that would put Metallica in a more soothing mood. The vocals are exceptional, and at times it is hard to tell which is the instrument and
which the voice! That's how well it blends. It obviously refers to drugs, that doesn't need explaining. But hey, whaddya gonna do?

Inner Flight
Strange whirring and a chorus of "Ahhhh"s greet us at the start of this song and this is followed by melodic clinking. This is soon backed by what I think is a flute. Again this songs main strong point is it's ultimately soothing air. If you don't have a CD to drift to sleep with (Leonard Cohen is always a good choice, works for me) then maybe you should consider picking this up,
it really does work wonders. The only flaw with this song is I feel it gets slightly repetitive near the end. However as it draws to a close there is a rather haunting voice calling "Woohoo woo woo" which scares the crap outta me! Not a bad track at all, and would get more praise if it wasn't followed by...

Come Together
This true classic is over 10 minutes long and it is a tribute to it that it doesn't drag at any point, it truly is a masterpiece. It has a preacher speaking to a congregation and giving his words of wisdom such as:
"Today on this fulcrum you will hear Gospel and Rythm and Blues AND Jazz. All those are just labels , we know that music is music."
This continues for a while before being interrupted by loud whirring which continues for a few minutes. Then the true high point of the song comes into effect: everything goes quiet bar drums, and a chorus of women sing "Coommmme Toget
her as one". The effect is breathtaking, and it continues for the rest of the song intercepted only by some guy cutting in every now and then to say
"The name of the game is power. If you ain't playing for power, you in the wrong place". I am pretty sure if I was making a list of my favourite songs it would be on it. It honestly is worth buying the album for.

Loaded
(In stuffy voice) "Just what is it that you want to do?"
(In teenager's voice) "Well, we wanna be free. We wanna be free to do what we wanna do. And we get loaded and we wanna have a good time. And that's what we're going to do"
This is the soundbyte that kicks off this excellent song. Another chorus of ladies (where do they get them?) sing either "I don't wanna lose your love" or "I don't wanna lose you, love" I'm not sure which. This is followed by some excellent trumpeting, and a pretty similar beat as Movin' On Up. This however, is far more laid back than Movin' Up. The highlight of this song however
is when a weird voice shouts "I'm gonna get deep down, deep down I say. I'm gonna get deep down, deep down, WOOO Hey!". Classic, this is followed by a few strong guitar strums before fading off into sameness. Not too shabby though, it's a top class song.


Damaged
Damaged is (besides Movin' On Up) the only track on the album that is not jam-packed with soundbytes, samples, weird noises and the like. It is plain and simply a tremendous song. Slow and soft, it has a mix of guitar and light piano before the strong voice kicks in. It is outrageously soothing, and the chorus is truly a work of art, as the singer croons
"Got damaged, I got damaged, I lost myself innn you"
Then the back-up singers sing their part which basically goes "Doo-Dooyoo"(well doo-doo-doo but shhh! (-; )
I love this song as with most s
ongs on the album. I cannot stress enough how good this album is. Anyway, three tracks left, better crack on...

I'm Comin' Down
A karate style gong goes off and a voice flows through it singin "Driftin', Driftin'". From her on I feel it takes on a sort of Oriental style, but to be perfectly honest there is very little to this song. The singer never strains himself and neither do we as we start "Driftin". Relaxing but dull, to be honest.

Higher Than The Sun
The second part of this symphony rears its head and steps into the fold. This is far less relaxing and a lot more intense than the first one. There is heavy breathing and clicking, which makes me feel really nervous! God help me. Anyway, In the background there is a constant stream of "Ahhhhhh" floating between the breathing. And that's about it really! It speeds up near the end
and goes a bit crazy before ending. Good, but doesn't compare to the first part. And so we near the end of our magical mystery tour...

Shine Like Stars
"I watch you sleep you seem so peaceful" this track starts and really you should be asleep by now, regardless of the time. If you're not this will put you straight into dreamland. It has an almost lullaby tone to it, and the chorus tells us we should all "shine like stars". Well good night, I guess.

And that's it. I nodded off a few times while listening to this it's unavoidable, so forgive any patches of grogginess. Before I go I'd like to do a survey to be answered in the comments section. What album do you listen to to put you to sleep? Ahh audience participation, there is nothing like it! Vote me for king, or at least for a crown.

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