Surprisingly Catchy (Ultimate Acoustic)

Member Name: Nolly

Product:	Ultimate Acoustic
Date:	11/08/04 (527 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Songs, Some great Songs, Chillin'

Disadvantages: Some names may not be recognisable, They may put you off buying

As I sit here stooping over my computer on this cloudy and very humid morning, I am suddenly struck by an irrational fear. It is not very often that I have panic attacks, so when they come they are all the more alarming to my sensibilities. You would probably laugh if I were to tell you upon what theme this disquiet in my mind centres. Promise you won?t? Okay, I?ll tell you. I am genuinely frightened that, one day, I will tire of the life of an international jetsetter. Hey! I though you said you wouldn?t laugh!

Due to the fact that I do really have a hectic life, the details of which I will expound in a moment, I do like it when I get the opportunity to chill a little. My day begins normally at six o?clock in the morning, when my eldest daughter rouses me from my dreams of tropical islands and Nicole Kidman by leaping on top of me. We then have the morning ritual, which at an unspecified time a little later is made even more exciting by the participation of wife and youngest daughter. In term time, my wife leaves for work at 7:15, and I get the girls ready for the childminder, who looks after youngest for a couple of hours and takes eldest to school ? God! That makes me feel old. I?m only thirty-five and my oldest little girl is now at school! I then proceed into school and do my bit. I teach the little angels of my parish all about French and German, deal with squabbles in the playground, supervise my form, and attend meetings. I then get home in the afternoon and then it?s tea, bath and bed ? for my girls, that is, and then after eight o?clock I?m eating my evening meal, enjoying a glass of wine and preparing for my next day at the chalk face. Bed by eleven-thirty and up again at six ? not including the disruption of youngest tap-dancing on my head in the wee small hours, just at the very moment when Elle McPherson joins Nicole and me. But that problem is mine and only I can get it sorted. Things that give me more of an opportunity to chill, therefore, ar
e appreciated more and more.

Last month I won a competition, a competition on an august and worthy opinion site. If I were to give you a clue as to which one it was, all I would say is ?the green one?. This very morning I received my prize, a double CD entitled ?Ultimate Acoustic?. I threw myself to the floor, ripped open the inviting, gum-flavoured envelope with my teeth and leapt like a veritable gazelle towards the CD player. Okay, I opened the envelope and sauntered towards the other side of the room.


Composition
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The disc is made up of 2 discs. One of these is white in colour, whereas the other is on the grey side of off-white. The label of the case displays a white leather suite with a dreadnought-style acoustic guitar sitting alone in the room on its stand. The whole idea conveys images of a calm, serene atmosphere where the emphasis is on mellow moods.

On these two discs there are a grand total of forty songs, with a total running time of around two and a half hours! The label on the front states ?The Definitive Collection ? 40 Laid Back Classics?. Well, some of these certainly are, but others I frankly hadn?t heard of. In addition, though, there are one or two that are destined to attain the ?classic tag?.

Disc One
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Now I have heard of some of these people, but you cannot exactly say that my finger is on the pulse of contemporary music. I have heard of some of these modern artistes, but may not have heard a lot of their repertoire. This applies to the very first song, which is ?Sunrise? by Norah Jones. It is a pleasant opener, but strangely unmoving.

I adore the second track. Katie Melua is not necessarily a household name, but her track ?The closest thing to crazy? will be instantly recognisable. It is quirky, catchy and very well written, and well sung. I like it.

Last year Michael Andrews and Gary Jules got the coveted Christmas Number One spot with ?Ma
d World?, which came from the soundtrack of the film ?Donnie Darko?. Am I the only one who hates this? I much preferred the original by Tears for Fears, which sets the song in its 1980s context and is much classier in my view.

I love Kate Bush. ?The Man with the Child in his eyes? is a wonderful haunting song, and fits in very well here. For the next track, I invariably skip. I dislike the music of George Michael with a strange intensity and, in my view, ?Jesus to a Child? is, at best, insipid.

Coldplay are a class act, and ?Trouble? is easily recognised. We then have Dido, of whom I have heard, and Damien Rice, who I don?t know from Adam, or Damien, for that matter.

For the next track, I know that I am about to commit the crime known as ?Easy Listening Heresy?. I don?t like Eva Cassidy, and never have done. She only achieved fame for having a passable voice and being dead. There are a lot of singers like that. My Nan had a passable voice in her youth and is also dead ? she does not feature on this disc. Anyway, ?Fields of Gold? is much better in the version by Sting. ?Kiss me? by Sixpence none the Richer is a nice and frilly song, and works well after the desperation of the previous track.

Paul Weller is underrated in some circles, but not in my house, and a live version of ?Wild Wood? is great, as is the live version of ?Yesterday? by Sir Paul on the next track. Then comes Simon and Fargunkel, sorry, Garfunkel with ?The Sound of Silence?, which was a nice song in ?The Graduate? and is okay here, if a little overdone nowadays.

Cat Stevens is one of the unsung heroes of the 1960s, with great songs like ?Matthew and Son?, ?Father and Son? and ?Morning has Broken? being very evocative of the era. Here we have ?Wild World?, which is a great song. Then we have that perennial rocker Rod Stewart with ?Mandolin Wind?, which I hadn?t heard of but which is fine.

Back to the summer of 1968 for the next track. Acid-fuelled
trips and love anyone you can lay your hands on. ?Woodstock? by Matthews Southern Comfort is gloriously mellow and is ideal for a glass of wine and a cigarette on a summer?s evening. But then again I have given up smoking. Oh sod!

The only thing I knew about Nick Drake is that his sister Gabrielle was an actress in the 1970s drama ?The Brothers? and my dad fancied the pants off her. Nick apparently killed himself and this song is a bit dull. Then comes Bob Dylan with ?She belongs to me?, a good, but not great, Dylan song.

The Coral were unknown to me, but my eldest likes ?Pass it on? and that is a good recommendation.

The final song is ?Everybody?s Talkin? by Nilsson, which is a great song from the soundtrack of the brilliant film ?Midnight Cowboy? (Nolly Trivia fact ? Midnight Cowboy was the first X Certificate film to win the Best Film Oscar!).

And thus ends Disc One. Good, and very good in parts.

Well, after Disc One we get?


Disc Two
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Now that was surprising, wasn?t it? We start off with John Lennon. I hadn?t heard ?Working Class Hero? before ? it?s okay but not a great song, and includes a rude word, which is shocking as there is no indication of explicit lyrics on the front of the disc.

Radiohead are a class act, and ?Street Spirit? is a really good track, especially after the muted innocuousness of the Lennon track. It builds up and features some really strong vocal performances.

I like Oasis, but I was surprised that ?Songbird? would be the song chosen by them. It features a gloriously old-fashioned piano track, but maybe one of their lesser-known songs.

Who on earth are The Thrills? ?Big Sur? opens with a synthesiser and a banjo-like instrument leading the tune. The song then moves on and becomes very recognisable. I tell you, I hadn?t recognised it by the track information on the back of the case, but once it started I said to myself, ?Oh, it?s that o
ne!? I like it. I really do.

The next song is ?Fell in Love with the Boy? by Joss Stone. It sounds more R&B than acoustic to me, though. Okay, but not a great song.

I do like Badly Drawn Boy, or the scribble lad as I refer to him. I like ?Silent Sigh? and it shows off his talents well.

?Alcoholic? by Starsailor is next, and I hadn?t heard it before. It?s okay, but fairly nondescript in my view.

I?ve heard that Turin Brakes are an up and coming band. I can see why. ?Painkiller? is a nice song, and features a good guitar rhythm and good vocals.

Finlay Quaye is next. ?Your Love gets Sweeter? is a nice song with a strong vocal, but it isn?t a brilliant song.

There are some silly names and silly songs. I have never heard of Bic Runga or Lene Marlin, but they fill up the next two slots on the disc with okayish songs. The Marlin song is recognisable if you listen to Radio Two like me. It sounds a bit country-ish, but that isn?t anything that should condemn it. And that takes us over half way on this disc.

I like Natalie Imbruglia. She is one of the soap exiles who is actually talented in the vocal department. She also regularly deputises for Elle McPherson in my dreams! I like ?Torn? and, after it was play to death a couple of years ago, it?s nice to hear it again.

Tasmin Archer has got a lovely voice, and it?s a shame that ?Sleeping Satellite? was her only hit. Good though, that it?s on this disc.

?Here?s where the story ends? by The Sundays is another song that you recognise the moment you hear it, even if you don?t recognise then name on the listing. I like it. I like it a lot.

Tracy Thorn of Everything but The Girl, has got a haunting, ethereal voice, and the song ?Missing? is very good. A bit strange the, as the version on this disc is a bit more upbeat!

Moloko is next with ?The Time is Now?. It?s good, and keeps the tempo going on this disc. Things seem to be building
up to a crescendo, rather than mellowing out and chilling.

A great guitar riff opens the next song. Jeff Buckley is very good and ?Grace? is a good acoustic track.

We now move into classic territory. I have always liked James Taylor. ?Your Smiling Face? is a good and famous track, and begins to reintroduce the mellow mood. Especially when it prepares us for the next track.

God! Leonard Cohen is a depressing singer. Don?t get me wrong. I like him, but he does appear a bit monotone. ?Suzanne? is a wonderful song with brilliant lyrics. I could listen to it again and again.

We now finish off with a real classic. The Byrds were a great band in the 1960s, and their cover of Bob Dylan?s ?Mr Tambourine Man? is a great song, evoking memories of peace and love, chilling with the one you love.


Conclusions
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To be honest, I didn?t hold out a lot of hope when I read the track listings on the back, but when I listened to the discs I noticed that some songs I thought I didn?t know were actually among the most recognisable. The discs display an excellent selection of songs. I will listen to them again and again, as I continue my quest to chill out. I will dive in and select a track here and there, but there are no tracks I will deliberately miss out.

Must go, all this mellow music has put me in the mood for a sleep.

I will not write out a complete track listing, as I have done so throughout the review. So read the darn thing rather than skipping it!

Neil
August 2004


Ultimate Acoustic
Sony Music
Catalogue Number moodcd82

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