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Just Like Blood (Audio CD),04 February, 2003
List price $20.99
A good album...allbeit a little short / 4
I brought this album having listened to a lot of his older stuff, and being heavily into acoustic based music by other artists (such as Damien Rice and Elliott Smith) I listened through the album, and at first was not particuarly impressed by the sometimes hesitant vocals and mellow acoustic guitar playing, not to mention the quite bizarre effects on certain songs. However, a further listen allowed me to understand the intricasies behing his writing and singing, and I became gradually more and more involved with what he sung. 1. Day Like Today - 4/5 An enjoyable opening song, with some interesting marimba work and an excellent rhythm and bouncy flow. Some good melody, vocal and lyrical work, but one almost felt it lacked the full emotion of his other songs. 2. You Only Disappear - 5/5 My personal favorite on the album; an excellent blend of beautiful lyrical and vocal work, with haunting piano and acoustic guitaring. A fantastic song 3. Ghost Of A Shark - 5/5 Another brilliant song, due to the sheer relaxed atmosphere created by a very well-played acoustic guitar riff and some lovely lyrical and vocal inter-weaving. 4. Stronger Than Dirt - 4/5 Another good song; more main-stream than quite a lot of his work, and again one almost feels that the personal level is removed slightly. An enjoyable song nevertheless 5. Overthrown - 5/5 A heart-stoppingly relaxing, haunting and beautiful song. Excellent electric guitaring with some lovely relaxed vocals (and lovely echo creation!) 6. Walking 2 Hawaii - 5/5 Another 5 out of 5; this time because of the change from depressing, mellow music to slightly more upbeat, mellow music! Here we can see his genius as a lyrisist and vocalist; a truely great song, one which really stands out on the album 7. Mermaid Blues - 3.5/5 Some excellent work with vocals, a nice mellow piece with some very strange effects (similar to those in Walking To Hawaii), but perhaps a little over-handed with the length. 8. Karaoke Soul - 4.5/5 A song which lets its lyrics do the talking. A bitter, heartfelt rock piece, with some aggressive vocals and electric guitar playing. A very good song, very moving. 9. Line Of Fire - 5/5 Another excellent song, very eerie creation of echoes and voice combining with the lines "I am watching you". A brilliant tune to hear 10. Human Remains - 5/5 A perfect tune to end the album with; relaxed and mellow, yet with some very upbeat moments and some nice (and rare) percussive work. So why not five stars? The only reason I refused to grant this CD 5 stars is because its lack of real breakaway experimentalism. In places, one almost feels Mcrae is going through the motions, especially when we hear some of the excellent work of his previous album. Furthermore, the album also falls a little short on its length. Nevertheless, his lyrical, vocal and guitar talents allow this album to be a truely excellent listen
Song "Overthrown"
We fall
Through water
Unsung unseen
And days
Thought endless
Lose more
Light and heat
So let the dead bury the dead
I should leave
For I am
For I am overhtrown
Confess to me now
Confess to me now
Half in sunlight
And half in shade
Words in collision
I bend to your shape
I see the skull beneath the skin
I see it all
For I am
For I am overhtrown
Confess to me now
Confess to me now
For I am
For I am overhtrown
Confess to me now
Confess to me now
Confess to me now
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