You can preview five tracks from Spiritualized's "Amazing Grace" through the NME web site.
"This Little Life of Mine". A wild, chaotic sprawl of squealing guitars. If this is representative of the "garage" sound of the album that's been written about in all the press releases, then the album will be a revisitation of their "Electric Mainline e.p." period, with a bit of "White Light/White Heat" thrown in to bump up the psychotic edge.
"She Kissed Me". Yep. This album is "Electric Mainline" + "I Heard Her Call My Name" = "Spacemen 3 Presents Lo-Fi Versions of Hi-Fi Rock Classics". It's "The Twelve Steps" recorded on cheap equipment. This stuff is so far removed from the 492 piece choirs and orchestras of their last two albums. I doubt that anyone who joined on as a casual fan with "Ladies and Gentlemen" will be able to tolerate this stuff.
"Never Goin' Back". Spiritualized have made a career out of finding creative ways to perform their studio symphonies on a stage in a concert hall near you. That aspect of their career will take a hiatus with this album. Most aspiring garage bands could perform this stuff after an afternoon's rehearsal.
"Lord Let It Rain On Me". Because it wouldn't be a Jason-penned album without the religion/sex/drugs ambiguous triumvirate. "Finally" there's a proper singalong track on this album preview. I say "finally" because ten years and three Spritualized albums produced no true singalong material before breaking the streak with a full album of campfire blues classic done Wagner/Spector style ("Let it Come Down"). So I can hardly say the band was failing by not churning them out this time. Anyhow, this certainly seems like a straight gospel lyric, but don't be fooled, it normally takes a few weeks to figure out the drug references in a Jason (or Sonic!) song. Too busy listening to the music, you know, because the songs aren't usually singalongs and all that. By the way, this track is so awesome I have to listen to it twice in a row.
"Cheapster". Wait a minute, let me get back to you in a few minutes, I lost this Spiritualized link and put on "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" by mistake. Just hold on ... oh ... what? ... what do you mean there's no CD in the player ... this IS Spiritualized?? OK, back to the review then. Uh, the organ, the rockabilly flashbacks, the big big big chorus. You want this.
I can't finalise my opinions based on only five tracks, but thus far I'd say believe the hype -- it's a Spiritualized album that captures the energy of their live shows, was recorded simply and cheaply compared to their previous efforts, and ressembles a Spacemen 3 or Stooges record far more than it ressembles anything Jason's done in the last five years. But will you like it? Hmm ... do you like Spacemen 3 and the Stooges? Do you mind the lack of an orchestra with your rock and roll? Did you like "White Light/White Heat" better than "Coney Island Baby"? Do you prefer early 70's Bowie to early 80's Bowie? Did you prefer the acoustic version of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" (not Johnny Cash's version) to the second section of the Quad Mix of "Enjoy the Silence"? Do you feel that Ron Trent's "Altered States" is one of the finest pieces of electronic music ever to emerge from Chicago? If you answered "yes" to all these questions, then you will want to hear this album.
I guess the real fun will be predicting what the reviews will look like. Will it be ---
"Finally, at long last, Spiritualized have ditched the high fidelity prog rock pretentiousness of their last two records and have recorded a whackload of songs that really ROCK. Jason Pierce is talented enough to know when he's missing the boat and letting his bloated ELO tendencies overcome his garage rock origins. The primal rock and roll crunch of current UK media darlings The White Stripes just might be that boat, because in the two year interregnum between "Let it Come Down" and "Amazing Grace", underground garage rock went overground, the urban grit of New York and Detroit are once again the epicentres of pop music inspiration, and Spiritualized were left playing antiquated yuppie music. Miles from being another "Avalon" for the post-Britpop generation, "Amazing Grace" is a mighty return to form".
or
"Sometimes it's better to leave old hat alone. Like the car adverts depicting boring (and bored) adult working stiffs looking to rediscover their vibrant younger selves by driving a sleeker car, Spiritualized have fallen flat on their faces while trying to catch up with the new sounds of the MTV2 three chord rock generation. You'd think that a guy with the stoner rock credentials of a Jason Pierce would know that there's more to a White Stripes record than some simple chords and smattering of 'tude. The spark, the swagger, and the magic are all missing, and as much as Jason would like to try on a Jack White coat of many colours and transform himself and his band into underground hipsters, it just isn't happening here on "Amazing Grace". How our mighty former heroes fall! First it was Damon Albarn's sad attempt to revive Blur's credibility by swiping African grooves for "Think Tank". Dress it up however you like, Damon, but at the end of the day it's just the same snobby drunken upper-middle class Brits playing bongo drums to try to look cool and fit in with a younger crowd. "Amazing Grace" is a similar cry for attention from a fanbase that has already long packed up for the next Yeah Yeah Yeahs tour and doesn't care about Spiritualized anymore. Don't buy this record, just wait for the real thing when the new Strokes record comes out".
You decide.
