 | Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
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Average user rating:  | |
| Timeless, effortless, brilliant ...neglected | |
| As a teenager growing up in Cardiff in the 1970's I was privileged enough to see YMG performing live on several occasions. They were extremely important to all of us then and they have remained so for me ever since. Apart from the music, which has never been bettered by a Welsh band (including Super Furry Animals), it was their politics and what they 'stood for' that really mattered to us. At the time when Britain voted Thatcher in and took delivery of cruise missiles, we needed YMG. Their power of delivery belied their understated music. Incredibly (and tragically) they are now virtually forgotten in their home town. This CD is not on sale in any of the major music outlets and when I have asked about it in Cardiff music stores it is quite obvious that the assistants have never heard of them. This is a disgrace. It would also appear that the CD is now either deleted or being produced in very low numbers: Virgin Records only had 2 copies available in all their stores in the UK in August! The time has come to speak out. With the rise of Welsh bands in popular music during the 1990's, these people and their unique contribution to the genre has become completely forgotten. Even the best efforts of various members of REM, Nirvana, Hole etc. have gone unnoticed. Certainly their influence is more widely acknowledged in the US - well done! I am about to start a one-person crusade - this music must be heard again and especially by the youth of their home town. After all, there's only so many times you can listen to Stereophonics without barfing! | |
| BEAUTIFUL AND SWEET. | |
| I believe....actualy I KNOW this album is one of the BEST albums ever recorded!!!!!! It is extremely addicting, but that is a good thing. Thick, chunky guitar sounds but,quiet and soft sounding at the same time. Allison's vocals are extrordinary......... peaceful, energetic,happy, sad, clever, melodic, harmonic.........blah blah blah............THE'RE GOOD!The songwriting is so so so so good!!!!! The bass fits in there too.......like a glove. The lack of drums means nothing and it just goes to show you the power in the natural beat and groove in the songs and the way they are played. Colossal Youth is a very rich album with much to offer, that never gets boring.I love Colossal Youth with my whole heart and I respect and admire the people who made it. So if you are thinking of buying this album, and I hope that you will,than take my word for it (I'm just a music fan with nothing better to do.)So buy this album put it on, turn it up and take it for a walk with you.thank you. | |
| A Jewel of Immeasurable Value | |
| "Colossal Youth" may well be the finest album of the 1970's and the progenitor of legions postmodern electronic groups like Portishead, Everything But The Girl, St. Etienne and Stereolab. This album was orginally released in 1979 when the punk music movement began it's tailspin and morphed into the commercially viable and often insipid New Wave music. "Colossal Youth" has minimalist production values, Eno-like electronic ambience, and dark lyrical grace framed by deceptively sunny melodies. The group represented a 3rd stream that was neither punk or new wave. Allison Statton's cooly detached waif-like vocals provided a exotic counterpoint to Stuart Moxham's cynical, world weary lyrics. Musically, Stuart Moxham alternated between playing a power chorded guitar and a keyboard which sounded like a parody of the inane pipe organ player at a sporting event or a church social. Stuart's brother, Phillip added simple and percussive bass lines which often carried most of the melodic content of the song. There were no drums, except the insistent beat of a drum machine ticking time like a metronome. The songs like, "Searching For Mr. Right" and "Man Amplifier" contain clever subtexts that expose the transparency of modern sexual relations. "Getting Credit In The Straight World" is a skillful subversion of our conventional understanding of success and warns of the pitfalls our acheivement oriented culture. "The Final Day" may be the most eloquent statement on disarmament ever recorded. Many of the songs capture the banality of modern living and veneer of artifice we maintain to function in a cruel and uncaring world. The Young Marble Giants played a short tour of east coast, headed back to England and unceremoniously disbanded having produced only one album, an E.P. length record and tantalizing VHS tape of a performance it New York (which remains out of print). "Colossal Youth" is the story of a band who came into our lives, and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a tiny jewel of immeasurable value. (Allison Statton's vocals can be heard on 3 CDs by Allison Statton and Spike. My favorite is "The Shady Tree"). |
