Spiritualized - Amazing Grace

  by Mark Rowland

published: 6 / 12 / 2003

---

Bands occasionally make records that are so achingly perfect that they can never do anything or go anywhere without getting out of its shadow. Spiritualized are one of those bands. Since making ''Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space' in 1997, Spiritualized were a transformed from an accomplished space rock band into a sweeping, soulful and genuinely unique band, mixing soul, gospel, garage rock and psychedelia in exactly the right way. Since then however, their recorded efforts have been very good, but basically lesser versions of 'Ladies and Gentlemen...' Their new album, 'Amazing Grace', however, has been sold as a return to front-man Jason Pierce's roots in the raw psychedelic garage band Spacemen 3, which was exciting news for big fans of the band like myself, who were expecting a much rougher, punkier effort that would re-invent Spiritualized yet again. Unfortunately, that isn't quite what you get from 'Amazing Grace'. Yes, it does rock harder than the last couple of albums, which is great when it works, but most of the rockier songs on the album are quite same-y, and with the exception of 'Cheapster' and first single 'She Kissed me (it felt like a hit)' they aren't really up to Spiritualized's usually high standards. The best moments on the album come from the slower, more soulful tracks, which in their rawest forms are given a strong blues-y, emotional quality. This is especially true of 'The Ballad of Richie Lee', about the loss of a close friend of Pierce's. For dedicated fans of the band, this is definitely worth getting for the album's more soulful gems. For more casual listeners, however, you're better off sticking with 'Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space'.

Track Listing:-

1 This Little Life Of Mine
2 She Kissed Me (It Felt Like A Hit)
3 Hold On
4 Oh Baby
5 Never Goin' Back
6 The Power And The Glory
7 Lord Let It Rain On Me
8 The Ballad Of Richie Lee
9 Cheapster
10 Rated X
11 Lay It Down Slow

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/spiritualizedofficial/
https://twitter.com/officialspzd

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Adrian P
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Carl Bookstein
Chris O'Toole
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston

Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank

Keith How
Kimberly Bright
L. Paul Mann
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart
Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Owen Peters
Richard Lewis

Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steve Kinrade
Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg