The Boo Radleys
Created | Updated Feb 18, 2002
The Boo Radleys were an outstandingly good band who fell victim to an unfortunate problem - they became too imaginative. The Liverpudlian boys made six albums before finally calling it a day in 1998, realising that they'd simply become too damn good to actually sell any records.
Their music is quite possibly what the word 'eclectic' was invented for. Endless styles swirl invitingly around their songs. Rock, indie, psychedelia, close harmony, three-minute pop - you name, they've probably either done it or toyed with the idea. Their lyrics run the gamut from obvious to superlative, and the production quality on the later albums on particular is a lesson in sheer density.
To briefly sum up the albums:
- Ichabod And I (1991) has been deleted and is impossible to find
even in space.
- Everything's Alright Forever (1992) is a drawn-out collection of
basically good ideas destroyed by a mixing style which obscures
the vocals underneath a mass of feedbacking guitars.
- Giant Steps (1993) is where the magic starts. Anyone wanting a
manual on how to write a 17-track album with no gaps between the
songs without being either pretentious or boring should hear
this. It includes their first properly famous song, 'Lazarus'.
- Wake Up! (1995) was released in the Summer of Britpop on the back
of the irritating single 'Wake Up Boo!'. However, this shouldn't
be taken as demonstrative of its quality. This is a largely
superb LP packed with beautiful songs, the best of which are the
massive 'Stuck On Amber' and the gently wonderful closer
'Wilder'.
- C'mon Kids (1996) is perhaps the band's 'difficult' album. With
few concessions to the buyer, it is on first lesson a raw,
undisciplined recording which jumps around wherever it feels
like, refusing to be pinned down. A few more listens, though,
and it emerges as the band's best album, with all-out rock like
the title track merging with the strange slowed-down trip hop of
'Fortunate Sons' and the frankly scary soul-searching of
'Everything Is Sorrow'.
- 'Kingsize' (1998) is perhaps the aspirin to the previous album's
headache. Full of simple beauty, it's typified in the
wonderfully uplifting title track - back-to-basics songwriting
which put the likes of Oasis to shame. A shame it had to be their
swansong, but at least the band bowed out on a high note.
For more information on the band, this website is a good one:
http://members.tripod.com/~workshy/index.htm
And here you can find some Boos lyrics:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/7341/wakeup.html
Their music is quite possibly what the word 'eclectic' was invented for. Endless styles swirl invitingly around their songs. Rock, indie, psychedelia, close harmony, three-minute pop - you name, they've probably either done it or toyed with the idea. Their lyrics run the gamut from obvious to superlative, and the production quality on the later albums on particular is a lesson in sheer density.
To briefly sum up the albums:
- Ichabod And I (1991) has been deleted and is impossible to find
even in space.
- Everything's Alright Forever (1992) is a drawn-out collection of
basically good ideas destroyed by a mixing style which obscures
the vocals underneath a mass of feedbacking guitars.
- Giant Steps (1993) is where the magic starts. Anyone wanting a
manual on how to write a 17-track album with no gaps between the
songs without being either pretentious or boring should hear
this. It includes their first properly famous song, 'Lazarus'.
- Wake Up! (1995) was released in the Summer of Britpop on the back
of the irritating single 'Wake Up Boo!'. However, this shouldn't
be taken as demonstrative of its quality. This is a largely
superb LP packed with beautiful songs, the best of which are the
massive 'Stuck On Amber' and the gently wonderful closer
'Wilder'.
- C'mon Kids (1996) is perhaps the band's 'difficult' album. With
few concessions to the buyer, it is on first lesson a raw,
undisciplined recording which jumps around wherever it feels
like, refusing to be pinned down. A few more listens, though,
and it emerges as the band's best album, with all-out rock like
the title track merging with the strange slowed-down trip hop of
'Fortunate Sons' and the frankly scary soul-searching of
'Everything Is Sorrow'.
- 'Kingsize' (1998) is perhaps the aspirin to the previous album's
headache. Full of simple beauty, it's typified in the
wonderfully uplifting title track - back-to-basics songwriting
which put the likes of Oasis to shame. A shame it had to be their
swansong, but at least the band bowed out on a high note.
For more information on the band, this website is a good one:
http://members.tripod.com/~workshy/index.htm
And here you can find some Boos lyrics:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/7341/wakeup.html
