|
|
|
ALL SAINTS
SAINTS & SINNERS |
|
| |
|
| | Reviews: 10 |
|
| Average Rating: 8.20 |
| |
|
Pure Saints.
by Chris "Glitterama" Sydney, Australia
Reviewed on September 6th, 2003
After a short absence from the nasty world of pop, All Saints could well and truly have been over. The very nature of pop culture dictates that stay out of the spotlight too long, and it will blow out. Luckily, thanks to a delicious William Orbit-produced pop classic - namely the dreamy 'Pure Shores' - the girls were well and truly back on top, ready for stage no. 2 of the All Saints onslaught.'Saints & Sinners' is significantly different from the girls' 1998 debut. The album is breezier, easier to listen to, and not lost in thick, overly-chunky production. Add to that the roster of names they enlisted (do I need to mention William 'I saved Madonna's career' Orbit again?) is more impressive and the songs, for the most part, are more interesting and less generic than found on 'All Saints'. The schoolgirl lyric of 'Never Ever' is replaced by the dizzying euphoria of a relationship which is both exhilirating and mundane in the band's opus, 'Black Coffee'. 'All Hooked Up' follows the direction of the first record's R'n'B booty-shakers but with a more subtle approach that, minus the lyric 'I know that you want a piece of my *** / don't you know that a guy like you wouldn't last', is pure class. Likewise, the beautiful Mel Blatt-lead 'I Feel You' and lush 'Dreams' make for a record which sounds exactly like the cocktail of nightclubs, friends and relationships the cover suggests. The pounding 'Love Is Love' is another highlight, as is the melancholic mid-tempo 'Distance' which effortlessly fuses up-to-date R'n'B with a Latin vibe. The second half of the record gets bogged down by a few poor songs (the uninspired title track, 'Ha Ha' and 'Surrender'), but not enough to tarnish the overall effect of a surprisingly gorgeous record. It's a shame 'Saints & Sinners' became the band's swansong considering the increasing promise it showed in comparison to their first effort - but it's a pleasing legacy for one of the staples of 1990's UK pop music.
More "Saints & Sinners" reviews:
[2003-12-14] One Of The Greatest Albums Ever. . . (10)
[2003-09-07] Best Cd ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (10)
[2003-09-06] Pure Saints. (8)
[2002-10-05] Its OK (6)
[2002-08-22] A Nice Offering By The Saints... (8)
[2002-01-24] Ok, but not particularly good (4)
[2001-11-24] Are you a Saint or a Sinner? (10)
[2001-04-25] All Saints! (10)
[2001-04-16] it's tyte. (10)
[2001-01-02] Saintly or Sinning? (6)
Displaying reviews from 1 to 10
of 10
|
