DEFINETELY not The Wedding Present
After listening (and loving) to The Wedding Present's "Sea Monsters" and "Bizarro" I thought I'd check out Gedge's latest material. Big mistake. To be honest I didn't even give the CD a full listen. I ALWAYS give a CD at least two listens before passing judgement. But this was so bad, that I only got to track five or six before I had to turn it off. If you like syrup dipped in honey you might enjoy Cinerama. If you are expecting the frenetic, impassioned, rockin guitar driven pop of TWP then don't touch this album.Maybe Gedge should drop the girlfriend, the keyboard and the drum machine and pick up a guitar again.
If You Already Own Va Va Voom ....
Despite being a big Cinerama fan, and loving everything they've done, I was hesitant to purchase "This is Cinerama." I already owned the U.S. release of "Va Va Voom," and there appeared to be quite a bit of overlap (around 6 songs) between the two CD's.
As it turned out, there's plenty of original, superb, material on "This is Cinerama," making it absolutely worth the separate purchase. The CD even contains an interesting cover of the Smith's "London."
By the way, the converse hold's true. If you already own "This is Cinerama," and have been hesitant to purchase "Va Va Voom," well .... again, plenty of great stuff on "Va Va Voom," making it worth the separate purchase.
The only thing that I don't love about the CD--yet--is a couple of the re-mixes of Cinerama songs. However, they do seem to be slowly growing on me.
For completists--but also a very good starting point
30% of this CD is on Va Va Voom, but the other B-Sides and unreleased tracks are a treat for fans and those unfamiliar with Cinerama's majestic sound. This is pop bliss--much as I like the Wedding Present, there is simply a better variety of songs and melodies on Cinerama's (now 3) CDs. And don't buy the reviews that compare Cinerama exclusively with John Barry and Burt Bacharach. At times they're closer to the more sophisticated (but delightful) Squeeze, Costello, songs from the 70s/early 80s, but with Gedge's more earthy vocals. When listening, I also have flashbacks of the Field Mice, early Morrissey, Shane MacGowan's more lush direction--hell I'd even throw in a nod to some of the more British sounding Paul McCartney recordings from the 70s. If you love wonderfully melodic Wedding Present songs such as "Spangle" off of Watusi, remove the subtle but annoying 78 RPM sound and add wonderful pop production techniques--that should get you in Cinerama's ballpark. Terry Hall used to make pop music this perfect...Cinerama's got the hot hand as we turn this new decade.
brit pop galore
if you love brit pop and mod styles, then this is the album for you. the first bands that i thought of when i first heard cinerama was the smiths with a little bit of jarvis cocker-inspired attitude. very poppy! hearing it makes me want to go out to a nice, smokey, dim-lighted club and dance till my heart melts away...
