All About Eve
Like most people, as a youth I had some pretty suspect musical preferences which I would most likely not play today. I'm not, of course, referring to perennial favourites like the sublime Marillion or the genius of The Sisters. Oh no. I'm talking about the embarrassing stuff. I have some Jethro Tull albums which should never have been released and The Enid is frankly unlistenable. How did I ever think King Crimson was any good and as for Kingmaker! (Notice I'm not putting in links to prevent an awful aural accident).
Anyway, a guilty pleasure from my past has just popped up again. I first got into All About Eve in 1987 when I bought their outrageously hippy "Flowers in our hair". However, they toned down the hippyness a bit as they went on, ultimately being classified as a bit too poppy to be alternative and a bit too alternative to be poppy. But this just goes to show how meaningless classifications are. A 2 CD + 1 DVD retrospective of all their work has just been released and is called Keepsakes. What is amazing is that you get all 40 songs and 20 videos for £12.99. It is packed with great tracks, best known probably being the beautiful Martha's Harbour. However, there is also the dramatic "Are You Lonely" featuring the little known guitar wannabe David Gilmour. There are too many top tunes to keep picking them out but if you remember and liked All About Eve then you could be far worse that spend a couple of quid on this. I'm sure you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
Anyway, a guilty pleasure from my past has just popped up again. I first got into All About Eve in 1987 when I bought their outrageously hippy "Flowers in our hair". However, they toned down the hippyness a bit as they went on, ultimately being classified as a bit too poppy to be alternative and a bit too alternative to be poppy. But this just goes to show how meaningless classifications are. A 2 CD + 1 DVD retrospective of all their work has just been released and is called Keepsakes. What is amazing is that you get all 40 songs and 20 videos for £12.99. It is packed with great tracks, best known probably being the beautiful Martha's Harbour. However, there is also the dramatic "Are You Lonely" featuring the little known guitar wannabe David Gilmour. There are too many top tunes to keep picking them out but if you remember and liked All About Eve then you could be far worse that spend a couple of quid on this. I'm sure you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
Comments
And how about Ultravox... a band that my brother got into early when John Foxx fronted them. 'Systems of Romance' was a post-punk classic, and then Foxx left... Midge Ure joined, 'Vienna' was okay, and then it all went downhill.
On the subject of King Crimson, I rather liked the stuff they made when Adrian Belew joined - 'Beat' and 'Discipline' were both pretty good.
Will I NEVER be able to get to the good stuff before the evil one?!
The Cocteaus have an excellent collection out too... try singing along to the 'lyrics' after a glass of alco-pop! (All the better when not listened to on a John Peel sessiion on a dodgy old radio)
Aaaah the 80s... aaaah Vienna!
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