Love Is Here (Wonderland - Charlatans)

Member Name: kfingleton

Product:	Wonderland - Charlatans
Date:	26/10/01 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funky

Disadvantages: Hmm

It’s hard to believe that the Charlatans have just produced their seventh album (compilations excluded). Not only have they survived baggy and Britpop but a series of personal tragedies that include line-up changes, jail sentences and death. But you can’t keep a good band down, or so it seems and no better proof of this is the polish and verve of their latest album, Wonderland.

The shiny laminated; deep-coloured sleeve says it all before you’ve even taken the CD out of the plastic case. Gone is the indie image of Tellin’ Stories and the cut-n-past look of the almost retrospect Us & Us Only. The Charlatans are brimming with swagger and confidence on Wonderland and the sleeve perfectly emphasises this.

The first song, You’re So Pretty / We’re so pretty is a strong opener, with it’s beginning almost Dr Dre-esque. The punching bass line is excellent and the funky riff is reminiscent of My Beautiful Friend.

If the album The Charlatans (1995) aped the Stones somewhat and Us & Us Only was a good impression of Dylan, Wonderland is like a Manchunian version of a Prince album. Judas, with Tim Burgess trying his best falsetto voice has all the electricity that the Artist had in his prime. The guitars on this song are particularly good, with hooks here and riffs there. The song is very…erm…sonic.

Love Is The Key was the first single to be taken off the album, so you should know it now. The introduction of a female backing vocalist (don’t ask me who she is I just have a CD-R version of the album) adds a new dimension to the band. This track is more kicking than a martial arts movie, it sticks in your head like a BMW sticks to the road. If it comes on at a club, you just have to dance to it.

A Man Needs To Be Told is a very strong song, without doubt, but is it a good single? Personally I think the second single should have been And If I Fall, but then I raised my e
yebrows when Travis released Why Does It Always Rain On Me? This song is mellow and quite wonderful. It’s almost got a country twang to it. Burgess continues to push his testies up as far as he can. The lyrics "A man needs to be told / There’s a war going on" seems to be in somewhat relevant to the news. Maybe that’s why it’s a single? The manic jungle finish is a nice touch.

I Just Can’t Get Over Losing You is back to the funky Charlatans sound. It lures you into a false sense of mellowness before exploding into something more wonderful. The band may have made a conscious decision to axe choruses from their previous album, but the chorus on this track is especially strong.

The Bell & The Butterfly is an instrumental, something unheard of on an album since Opportunity way back on Some Friendly. It begins like Mudslide by The Bluetones, but as no one seemed to buy that record the reference may be lost on you all. But check it out! It then shows its true colours as a dancey Chemical Brothers pastiche. This could have gone belly-up on a band whose main draw is surely the charisma of the voice of their vocalist, but it hasn’t. It’s a great track and should really be something the band tries more of in future.

"Yeah Craig David…uh…And If I Fall…Craig David". That’s what you’d nearly expect if you heard the "so polished you could use it as a mirror" sound of And If I Fall. But this is no bad thing at all. In fact with indie music in the horrible state it is now with the only new bands being of the smelly rubbish variety, it’s good to hear the band move away from their peers. This album was created in the band’s own studios and the over-all production is superb, but this track is the best showcase of this. The lyrics are also excellent on this track. "I want to change the world / Just for the hell of it". <
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That falsetto voice returns in Wake Up. So to does the resounding chorus and what a chorus it is. Juxtaposed with the sparse verse, the chorus is rousing and great for a sing along. This song actually uses a brass section. Who’d ‘a’ thunk it? It is nothing short of sublime. The line "You’d be a little quiet with a gun in your mouth" is a classic and all.

Is It In You is a song that drives along with good pace. The keyboard is the outstanding feature in this track, most notably in the chorus. The girl on Love Is The Key, who happens to have a strong and quite beautiful voice, also makes a welcome return to the band. This song is a little dark too. I like that!

Ballad Of The Band uses a sample of synth strings as its hook line. The girl is here again to lend Timmy some back up and again she is used to good effect. Besides the greatness of the duet, the bass is fantastic in this track. It’s a sprawling song, full of guitar effects and plenty of synth to add real depth and warmth. The vocal solo is also very strong.

Right On could easily have been chosen as the final song on this album. It reminds me of Watching You, but I suspect that it could easily have fitted onto The Charlatans album. This song is also notable because it is a good demonstration of how the band have picked up electric guitars again after nearly abandoning them on their last album. The finest example of this being the solo section, which also includes some fine drumming too.

Love You Too is not a Beatles cover version, before you run like the wind. In fact it’s an ever better closer than Right On would have been. It only serves to show how different this album is to its predecessor, because this is the only track that sounds remotely like the Us & Us Only sound. The track builds in a way most suited to closing tracks to give the album a more epic sound. The message "love is stron
g" isn’t too bad either.

So to conclude my little essay on Wonderland…Well it certainly is wonderful. Many people cite their debut album Some Friendly as their finest, but the band has been getting stronger with almost every album (excluding their second!) and this is certainly the peak of their powers in my view. It exudes more confidence than the powerful The Charlatans and the songs are better than those on Us & Us Only. It’s all delivered with power and more professionalism than ever before. The vocals are better, the lyrics are better and the instruments are played better. Is it the finest album of this year? At the moment it is vying with Radiohead and The Divine Comedy and despite getting the Pulp album this morning, I’ve yet to put it on.

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