 |
| Album
Review |
|
|
 
Scottish indie rockers Idlewild formed back in 1995 and have been through
their fair share of up's and down's with numerous different line up changes
due to members quitting and some being kicked out of the band. Idlewild
have toured all over Europe and also over America on a number of occasions
and have released six studio albums in their time. The band are now back
and are releasing their greatest Hits album or should I say Best Of as
that’s what it’s called.
'Scottish Fiction Best Of 1997-2007' features 17 tracks including pretty
much all the bands singles but missing out any material the band released
from 1995 - 1997 and also missing out anything from the bands mini album
'captain' which will annoy some of the bands hardcore fans. But you can
understand why this material wasn’t included, as the band didn’t
get signed with EMI until late 1997.
The Best Of starts off with 'You Held The World In Your Arms' which is
a song that the band released off their 2002 album 'The Remote Part' which
became the bands most successful album. The song is a pure catchy indie
song where Roddy Woomble's vocals were at their best.
The second track on the album is 'No Emotion' which was the first single
to be released from the bands sixth album 'Make Another World' which was
released earlier this year, the song is another catchy indie number that
proves the band can still produce songs as good as when they formed back
in 1995.
We are then taken back to the year 2000 with Idlewild's '100 Broken Widows'
album with the single 'Roseability'. The song is quite a rocking song
with Roddy Woomble's vocals sounding quite raw in places. Track 4 'When
I Argue I See Shapes' takes us back to the bands 1998 'Hope Is Important'
album release and is one of the best songs the band have released in my
opinion with a punk sound and Roddy Woomble's vocals being fast and sing
a long yet quite shouty in places.
Their are so many highlights on 'Scottish Fiction' such as 'American English',
'A Modern Way Of Letting Go' and 'Live In A Hiding Place' which were all
featured on the bands most successful album 'The Remote Part'. The later
of the three songs is quite a laid back song. 'A Modern Way Of Letting
Go' is a fast paced indie song with some cracking guitar playing and 'American
English' is a great piano driven song.
The only bad point of the album is the last track 'Make Another World'
which is the title track from the bands latest album release which was
released earlier this year, the song is pretty boring and one of the worst
Idlewild songs ever made leaving the album to finish on a low, but luckily
it’s the only “skipable” track on the album.
I like the way that the best of has been put together, when most bands
release a best of album all the songs are in order of when they were released
starting from the songs from the first album and finishing with songs
from the current album but Idlewild have taken a totally different approach
starting the album with their most successful song 'You held The World
In Your Arms' and then moving straight on to their last single 'No Emotion'
before going back to their older material, each song on the Best Of is
from one of the bands albums but no two songs from one album are played
in a row which adds more excitement to 'Scottish Fiction' and lets you
see how the band have changed over the years with each song sounding so
different.
If you are an Idlewild fan you are going to think you are in heaven with
the purchase of 'Scottish Fiction' as it has all the best Idlewild songs
in such a random order. If you are into indie but have never checked out
Idlewild, you seriously need to check out 'Scottish fiction' as it has
some of the finest indie songs ever written.
4/5
Review by Trigger |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Band
Members |
|
|
Roddy Woomble (vocals)
Rod Jones (guitar)
Allan Stewart (guitar)
Gareth Russell (bass)
Colin Newton (drums) |
|
|
|
|
|
| Track
Listing |
|
|
1. You Held The World In Your Arms
2. No Emotion
3. Roseability
4. When I Argue I See Shapes
5. Love Steals Us From Loneliness
6. American English
7. These Wooden Ideas
8. El Capitan
9. A Modern Way Of Letting Go
10. Let Me Sleep (Next To The Mirror)
11. I'm A Message
12. In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction
13. I Understand It
14. Little Discourage
15. As If I Hadn't Slept
16. Live In A Hiding Place
17. Make Another World |
|
|
|
|
|
| Band
Related Links |
|
|
| Review
Score Code |
|
|
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
