It's the last of the Madchester requests today, and next week I'll be moving on to some remastered reissue stuff. The House Of Love were a Creation Records band. They never did the "baggy" dance thing - they were always a rock band, part of the Britpop side of the equation that was simultaneously blowing up. I remember loving their sound, all lush and psychedelic. They were not a hugely popular act, and in fact I seem to recall that they were kind of maligned in the music press. I couldn't understand it because their blend of classic Brit rock and indie rock worked for me. Sure, they were a bit pompous at times, but that was part of what I liked about 'em. Their biggest commercial success came with their second self titled LP. It's a more polished sounding album, with no less than 4 producers involved (Dave Meegan, Paul Staveley O'Duffy, Stephen Hague, Tim Palmer) and smack dab in the middle of all of the big riffs is this delicate ballad called Beatles And The Stones. It's a lovely, dreamy tune that speaks to the power of music, something we can all relate to.
Loud as thunder out at sea
He wants a bomb
So do we
A bomb from the sky
Is the perfect crime
Shoulder on shoulder and heat
The Beatles and the Stones
Sucked the marrow out of bone
Put the V in Vietnam
The Beatles and the Stones
Made it good to be alone
To be alone
Look at me, proud of being
Proud of being seventeen
Locking in the pocket a smile
Soft from the school
Cut by the rule
Oh I'm dazed and I'm dazed and I'm dazed
The Beatles and the Stones
Sucked the marrow out of bone
Put the V in Vietnam
The Beatles and the Stones
Made it good to be alone
To be alone
The Beatles and the Stones
Sucked the marrow out of bone
Put the V in Vietnam
The Beatles and the Stones
Made it good to be alone
To be alone
To be alone
To be alone
(Alone, alone, alone)
7 comments:
Good lyric! I was always distracted by their UBER hit "I Don't Know Why I Love You"
That "Butterfly" album is classic, but over the years I've foud that Babe Rainbow is my favorite HoL album, even though Bickers isn't on it. Which is funny, since I didn't actually like Babe Rainbow when I first heard it. Too bad their new one was a bit of a letdown.
I always thought HoL were more in the vein of The Smiths and the Bunnymen, not really the Madchester thing. I think they suffered, at elast in part, from poor timing. Their type of guitar rock was waning. Interestingly, dreamy Brit-rock guitar music is popular again...
i never understood why they didn't make it. if i remember well in the french press (inrockuptibles) they were seen as the band which should have been the next smiths. the lyrics weren't as witty but the music was even more romantic. i don't think in record labels but their first album was on fontana and i an still not sure which one i prefer. both self-titleds are absoutely essential.
bickers isn't on the butterfly album neither, angryrobot. and babe rainbow was on fontana as well. and i got it wrong, only the first one was on creation. the second one was on fontana. i am mixed up.
I fell in love with HoL when I listened to their first album when it was released here in Brazil at the time. "Christine" is still one of my favorite tracks.
I like the "Fontana" album too, but the standout track, in my opinion, is "In a Room"... I don't know, but the lyrics "When I'm drunk in a room / Is when I think of you" sum up many a relationship for me.
They weren't really baggy at all, but I also lumped them in with the Madchester stuff in my mind, too. They weren't a million miles removed from the Stone Roses. All they needed was an Andy Weatherall overhaul on one of their tracks, like MBV got with "Soon." I've always loved that nonsensical but perfect line, "put the V in Vietnam."
Aaaaah lovely....you made my weekend!
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