Fireworks (Singles 1997 - 2002)

Beschreibung

Singles compilation from the Huddersfield post-Brit Pop band who became a chart act in 1997. Their sound has often been compared to their predecessors Oasis and The Verve. The singles 'All You Good Good People', 'Come Back To What You Know', and 'My Weakness Is None Of Your Business' were all top ten singles in the UK.

Bewertung der Redaktion

The good thing about Embrace is that they make some really top notch tracks. The bad thing about the band is that they make some distinctly average ones too. So with a prudent selection of tunes, they make an ideal candidate band for a greatest hits collection ?which this is. It’s a moot point whether additional new tracks are a good or bad thing on a collection - is it just a cynical ploy to get fans to buy a new album? But there is no such judgment call here as there is no new content at all, although 3 Is A Magic Number is a different version. But by and large the right tracks have been plucked from their catalogue for this set, and so if you have been tempted but never quite convinced by an Embrace album, then this is the ideal companion.

There were always unavoidable comparisons to Oasis. Two brothers, one of them the singer, northern English upbringing, guitar laden rock and both bands claiming to be the best thing since bread came sliced. For the Noel and Liam Gallagher, read Danny and Richard McNamara. To be fair, Embrace will never have a Wonderwall, but they have come close in the stadium anthem stakes. Maybe Oasis rocked harder, but Embrace showed a heightened sensitivity. My Weakness Is None Of Your Business did expose vocal weaknesses when comparing Danny with Liam, but still remains a fine achievement.

Fireworks was always a top track, and The Good Will Out even more anthemic. Come Back To What You Know was as instantly catchy as a ballad could be. So it’s quite right that those are included from the first album, along with their earliest single All You Good Good People which is still a cracker. The pickings from their Drawn From Memory second CD are choice. You’re Not Alone stands up with their best, and I Wouldn’t Wanna Happen To You gave the standard Embrace ballad a different twist, whilst just staying on the acceptable side of saccharine. Save Me and Hooligan were the singles, and are justifiably included too.

There are just two tracks from last year’s good but almost forgotten album If You’ve Never Been (Make It Last and Wonder) which probably sums up where the band stand at the moment. The crossroads has been reached, and there needs to be some degree of re-invention if they are to move on musically and compete with the ever growing range of young upstarts like The Electric Soft Parade or Haven.

Three albums in a little over 4 years is no mean feat, and so this pause for breath is well justified. If they go away and surprise us with something scintillating and new in the years ahead, then they will have proved to the still-present doubters, that they can compete with the best, but if they do wither, then this is a fine testament to a band who were always a lot better than most critics would admit.

Weitere Informationen

• Label: Hut
• Anzahl Disks: 1
• Recording: STEREO
• Format: Single Case

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