Primal Scream - Screamadelica

  by Olga Sladeckova

published: 13 / 1 / 2002

Label: Select Label
Format: N/A

intro

CRE 076 - Primal Scream - Screamadelica - A yellow and blue sun on a red cover and an innocent looking CD inside its box. It looks and sounds simple enough, but when I put this CD on, it completely

CRE 076 - Primal Scream - Screamadelica - A yellow and blue sun on a red cover and an innocent looking CD inside its box. It looks and sounds simple enough, but when I put this CD on, it completely dissolves my belief in reality. 'Screamadelica' came out in the early nineties when psychedelia and dance, alongside of course E culture, had a tight rein over the music scene. Very much influenced by these factors,there could not have have been a better time for Primal Scream to record this, their "drifting off" album. Primal Scream's roots begin in Glasgow where in 1983 vocalist Bobby Gillespie, a man who could literally only scream at the beginning of it all,got together with Jim Beattie (guitar) and Robert Young (bass) and spiritually driven by punk, and the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Jam in particular, started making music. Other bands that influenced "The Screams" on the road to their evolution were the Byrds, the Stylistics, the Rolling Stones and Sly And The Family Stone. By September 1991, when 'Screamadelica' saw the daylight for the first time, the Screams had released two other albums 'Sonic Flower Groove"(1987) and 'Primal Scream'(1989) and moved to London. They had as well been through some line-up changes with Jim Beattie leaving the group in 1988 and guitarist Andrew Innes, Martin Duffy, who used to play piano with Felt, and singers Denise Johnson and Jah Wobble all joining the band. With producer Andrew Weatherall also being added, the result of their collaboration sounds brilliant. Every single time I put 'Screamadelica' on, I am instantly impatient to hear the first song 'Movin' On Up'. A dynamic guitar sound comes out first,then Duffy's piano powerfully washes across the tune and drums liven it up. With Bobby's voice joining in, the whole song starts you dancing and feeling amazingly free 'Slip Inside This House', the second number, starts assertively and builds up vigorously. The lyric is whispered with a fire burning dignity that perfectly matches the music. All of the sudden the song breaks up and you are thrown into the waves of the next song, 'Don't Fight It Feel It' which features Denise Johnson on main vocals. Its rich instrumentation leads you to the fourth number, the dangerously affective 'Higher Than The Sun', which is a carefree flight through a sinful heaven, and which leaves you, as its title suggests, higher than the sun. The next two songs 'Inner Flight', an instrumental, and 'Come Together' are left a little bit in the shadow by the album's masterpiece, 'Loaded', which with its determined dialogue reveals its intentions right at the beginning: "We wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time". The music was artfully remixed by Andrew Weatherall (In fact, Loaded' was remixed from 'I'm Losing more than I'll Ever Have' - a track off 'Primal Scream') and has a splendid instrumental texture. To absorb every tiny piece of it is a shattering experience, and sounding incredible, ihas an explosive individuality. The seductive guitar twangs of the next track ‘Damage’ always put me down on my knees. Merged together with piano and Bobby’s heart-broken voice, their destiny is tragic and the lyric describes a devastating disappointment. The slowly rhythmic ninth track 'I'm Coming Down' seems to be a confession of a life curse that has gone too far for redemption, while 'Higher Than The Sun' is back on track 10, this time in a shape of a dub symphony in two parts featuring Jah Wobble on vocals. 'Shine Like Stars', the last track, comes from a far distance, but with an accordion and Bobby's soothing voice suddenly appearing, steps into your heart and brings the album to an amazingly overwhelming close. Someone said that music can be affective, healing, tragic and beautiful. 'Screamadelica' is all that and much more for me. I will never forget the first time I heard 'Loaded' on a radio. I had no idea who the band was then but even then it sounded astonishing. Mentioning it to a friend, he told me it came from 'Screamadelica' and lent me the record. When I put it on, it not only took me higher than the sun, but it also broke my heart forever. Great job, guys ! I'm stoned with my love for you!

Track Listing:-

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