Consider the evidence - Afro Lover is a bouncy track with cutting lyrics, just perfect for lazy summer afternoons, while the aptly-named Crash positively explodes from the speakers. However, the true highlights are the anthemic We're Going to Miss You (it makes you want to head down the pub, sink a few pints, and sing the chorus with your mates at the top of your lungs) and the gorgeous Just Like Fred Astaire, the most exquisite song The Waterboys never did.

Which is not to say that the rest of the album doesn't have its moments, but the fact remains that these four songs are so good you can justify the price of the CD on their name alone. Definitely worth a look.

One of Their Best
Ah, James! Poor misunderstood, underappreciated James! After their excellent 1998 Greatest Hits package (be sure to read my review for that!), their label decided not to release their records in the states. What a shame, because, as Murphy's Law would have it, in 1999, they released "Millionaires," one of their finest works. Well, let's at least praise Amazon for making it so easily available and at a relatively decent price.
The disc opens with the frantic, chaotic, "Crash." With it's cryptic lyrics and Queen-like, choral, vocal affects, it's a terrific opening. That segues into the opening chords of one of their finest tracks to date, "Just Like Fred Astaire." This song finds singer Tim Booth at his most endearing and passionate as he belts out lines like, "Doctor, what is happening to me, palpitations, my minds diseased.."
The rest of album finds James sampling a potpourri of different styles. Another highlight is definitely "We're Going to Miss You," an eery, creepy, but very catchy sing-a-long.
Also of interest is the last track, "Vervaceous." Here, James offers out a bizarre, electronic, ballad, a la "OK Computer"-era Radiohead. What's even better, they seem to beat Radiohead at their own game. Do they get much credit for it? Of course not, they're James!
Some day, all of us American's will know what we missed with James!

More for Eno fans than James fans
I had read several reviews saying that "Millionaires" was James' best album to date. I had no problem paying the import price, but I admit that I was very disappointed when I heard the album. It was produced by Brian Eno, and as much as I like Brian Eno's music, I feel that this album is way to "Enoesque". This album sounds more like Eno's "Another Green World" circa 1999 than a follow up to Whiplash. (By the way, "Another Green World" is excellent--find it and listen to it.) Unfortunately, the Eno sound completely dwarfs the band's; it's not quite an Eno album, and not really a James album either.

I'm gonna miss them when they're gone...
I agree with the majority of reviewers. This is right in there with Seven. I mean you could spend 40 bucks on other CDs but this is what you really want. It's haunting and uplifting all at the same time. Eno's atmospheric production and Booths strong soaring, aching lyric are sublime. Strong from front to back. My favorites are the slower creepy numbers that cut right through you with depth and rolling/swirling power. Maybe it's good that most folks don't realize that James has continued to produce such solid tracks. How many in the world eat caviar on Wednesday nights?. The best things are always the most uncommon. The world is asleep. Hearing James' Millionaires is being awake.

The album that never made it
Everyone knows James for one reason: Laid. Tim Booth will most likely go to his grave known as "that guy who sang 'Laid.'" And for anyone who has heard Millionaires, they know full well that it's a crime to treat James with such a one-sided view.

After the Laid album broke the bank in the early-mid nineties, James had to follow up with something just a good. And they did! The album was Whiplash. Unfortunately, whoever was in charge of distributing the album in America didn't lift a finger to promote it. It sank without a trace. Hence, that is why you need to pay an import price for Millionaires, the 1999 album from a band that just couldn't get attention from America any longer.

Download the song Just Like Fred Astaire and listen to it. Listen to it numberous times you will wonder why such poor acts as Matchbox 20 and 3 Doors Down hog all of the attention and critical praise while James got the shaft. It is the romantic song to end all romantic songs with its dense instruments, pinch-me-I'm-dreaming lyrics, and musical climaxes.

But James can be your party band too, as they prove with Afro Lover and I Know What I'm Here For, two highly dancable tunes that can rival most synth-pop acts. But most memorable is the song Crash, the CD opener. You are literally jolted awake with the guitars and the falsetto voices that do no less than to lift your spirits.

In all honesty, all of Millionaires is good. James can boast more than any other post-Smiths band out of Manchester in terms of blending pop sensibilities, a polished sound, and high emotion. So get ahold of this CD somehow. You are getting gouged with the import price, but you might as well get gouged with style.
Tenth studio album, originally issued in 1999, from this great English alternative rock/indie pop act who was deemed 'the next Smiths' back in the '80s. Brian Eno produced the record, which features the singles, 'I Know What I'm Here For' & 'Just Like Fred Astaire'. 12 tracks. Mercury.
James released this album in October 1999 to near unanimous rave reviews. Features the single 'Just Like Fred Astaire', plus 'We're Going to Miss You', 'Shooting My Mouth Off', 'Afro Lover' and more.