Lets Talk About Spiritualized

clewsr · Post by **clewsr** » Fri May 31, 2013 4:42 pm

Really good article attempting to rate the spiritualized albums - http://www.stereogum.com/1368561/spirit ... best/list/

I think the reviewer is much too down on the first two albums - I think LGM would have to top my own poll and I'm not sure about Songs in A + E being so high.

I think I'm going to play Pure Phase. Quite Loud.

toomilk · Post by **toomilk** » Fri May 31, 2013 5:00 pm

I didn't read the article, but looked at the slideshow. My list has LAG at the top, but a complete inverse of stereogum for the rest.

How would you add SHSL to this? I'd put it between PP and LGM.

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Fri May 31, 2013 5:49 pm

my list goes like this (best to worst)

Ladies and gentlemen
Lazer Guided
LICD
A&E
Pure Phase
SHSL
AG

clewsr · Post by **clewsr** » Fri May 31, 2013 5:56 pm

toomilk wrote:I didn't read the article, but looked at the slideshow. My list has LAG at the top, but a complete inverse of stereogum for the rest.

How would you add SHSL to this? I'd put it between PP and LGM.

that's the question isn't it. for me there's 4 songs on SHSL that I love and are right up there with my favourite songs, but the rest I have some mixed feelings about. I would put it fifth, closely behind let it come down

my list goes today -

LGM
Ladies and Gents
Pure Phase (not sure whether this shouldn't be second)
Let it come down
SHSL
A&E
Amazing Grace

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Fri May 31, 2013 7:02 pm

I find it impossible to rank them in an order, but I group them as such:

Classics - near perfect records:
LGM
PP
LICD
L&G

Excellent - not quite as good as those listed above:
A&E
SHSL

Disappointing:
Amazing Grace

I hope he does wind up recording a new album with Visconti and the new, U.S.-based band.

Kurious Oranj · Post by **Kurious Oranj** » Fri May 31, 2013 7:15 pm

LAGWAFIS
PP
LGM
LICD
S A&E
AG
SHSL

Post by **spzretent** » Fri May 31, 2013 8:18 pm

LGM
PP
AG
LAGWAFIS
SHSL
A&E
LICD

Minky · Post by **Minky** » Fri May 31, 2013 8:38 pm

Pure Phase
Lazer Guided Melodies
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Let It Come Down
Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Amazing Grace
Songs In A&E

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Sat Jun 01, 2013 2:40 am

Great article by the way - the writer has actually listened deep into this stuff...

01 Sweet Light, Sweet Heart
02 Let It Come Down/Songs in A&E
04 Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
05 Pure Phase
05 Amazing Grace
06 Lazer Guided Melodies

Really they all bubble around near the top. I'd also include the Complete Works volumes in there, as well as the two official live albums, and definitely a stack of bootlegs.

shalloboi · Post by **shalloboi** » Sat Jun 01, 2013 4:23 pm

it depends on the day. i don't really think of the albums in terms of which one is better than the other- to me they just serve different purposes.
today's ranking would be-

1. ladies and gentlemen...
2. lazer guided melodies
3. pure phase
4. amazing grace
5. let it come down
6. sweet heart sweet light
7. songs in a&e

SpacemanRob · Post by **SpacemanRob** » Sat Jun 01, 2013 7:52 pm

Great thread. As per everyone else the list changes all the time, every week, but for now:

LAGWAFIS
PP
LGM
SHSL
LICD
A&E
AG

Top 3 can change positions all the time but remain the same choices. Sadly I think AG remains at the bottom. Love them all though!

spzranger · Post by **spzranger** » Sat Jun 01, 2013 9:51 pm

LGM
PP
LAGWAFIS
A&E
SHSL
AG
LICD

But love them all!

Post by **spzretent** » Sun Jun 02, 2013 2:48 am

Today i tried an experiment thanks to this thread.
I played LICD, AG, A&E & SHSL in order.
I know how I feel about the first three records so I just played these 4.
This was what I realized today.
Each record, to me, takes on a different musical genre.
LICD is very layered and orchestral.
AG is garagey and urgent.
A&E is almost blues based. Influenced by early blues and gospel.
SHSL is more pop oriented as Jason mentioned in interviews.
The beauty of this is its all done within the context of Spiritualized.
These may seem like obvious observations but until today I just took each record at face value. When playing them next to each other you can really hear the difference.
I have a new found appreciation for AG. It sounds much better today then when it came out. Again, to me.

The Dr · Post by **The Dr** » Sun Jun 02, 2013 3:15 pm

top

lagwafis
ag
sae
shsl
licd
lgm
pp

One Asian Under A Groove · Sun Jun 02, 2013 11:15 pm

A really enjoyable article. I don't agree with all of it, but I do absolutely agree with his opening paragraph of the LAG entry. It is perfect. And surely one of the great things about Spiritualized is that you could take a random sample of fans from here and the results of preference would be different, all justifiably so.

Incidentally, the opening paragraph to the whole article, where his friend says: "One of the hardest stories to sell is one about a consistently excellent band releasing another strong album. It’s not a comeback, it’s not a severe stylistic left turn, it’s just an artist continuing to refine their sound after many years in the game, and therefore there’s no narrative to be ascribed." ... I'd always put the Super Furry Animals in that category. I'd never thought of Spiritualized in that way before, but I think it's a very valid point.

For what it's worth, my ranking would be:

Ladies And Gentlemen...
Let It Come Down (partly because it was the first Spiritualized album that I eagerly (understatement) anticipated, having fallen for them thanks to LAGWAFIS)
Lazer Guided Melodies / Pure Phase (cannot pick between the two, again maybe because I got them both together after LAGWAFIS)
Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
Songs In A+E
Amazing Grace

I can really only pick Amazing Grace as a disappointing album to me, and even then it's all relative. A+E is probably only that low down because of I Gotta Fire, my least favourite Spiritualized song.

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:24 am

This really stood out for me:

It's not all sunshine, though. Before stumbling a bit in the second half, Sweet Heart Sweet Light peaks early with the monolithic "Headin' For the Top Now," a churning, unrelenting charge of a song that should be counted amongst the top ten, maybe even top five, Spiritualized songs ever. It seems to look back to the more nihilistic moments in the Spiritualized catalogue. Like "Out of Sight" or "Lay Back in the Sun" before it, there's something about "Headin' For the Top Now" that feels like the perfect soundtrack to jumping off of very, very high things — the sort of things you don't survive jumping off of. Or, maybe not. "Headin' For the Top Now" is noisy and maybe shambolic, but builds to a sense of resolution rather than dissolving into rampant guitar and horn squeals, and might result in the template for a new sort of Spiritualized classic.

Absolutely, definitely, completely agree - it's like the writer lives in my own head with these words. And among the many views and reviews of this album, probably the first time I've seen anybody truly comprehending this song in its real significance. It definitely exists in my own "top five" that's for sure - but more.
Listening to this song fresh through first play of the album remains the most visceral, emotional & cathartic experience I've ever felt whilst listening to recorded music.
It totally fucking slayed me and I didn't or couldn't play the rest of the record until the next day.
As well as the beautifully ragged guitar part(s) I love how the best part of an orchestra joins in beneath the main tracks and carry on until the electric frenzy ebbs away at the end. And how this deadpan voice recites these lines amongst a (Heavy) Wall of Sound. When played at the RAH in 2011 this song sounded amazing but it surpassed this on the recorded take for sure. I really hope the US version of the band rip into this song...

jack white · Post by **jack white** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:43 pm

it needs to be played loud for full effect.
like all the best songs really, of course.
it is a little bleak tho lyrically. cracking tune tho.

re: i gotta fire
good number that one too. real cool funhouse frenzy.
do i recall mention on here about an 18min version of it? maybe even j said so himself?
that'd be so sweet.

sunray · Post by **sunray** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 2:42 pm

My preferences never change. Maybe that says something about me, I dunno. Anyways,

LGM
L&G
PP
SHSL

I have very little interest in the other three albums. I usually give them a go every year to see if maybe this time they'll do it for me, but alas it never happens. All of the three have some songs I like but overall they just bore me.

mojo filters · Post by **mojo filters** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 11:38 pm

Without thinking too much and over complicating matters:

Let it come down
Pure phase
Laser guided melodies

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space
Sweet heart sweet light

Songs in A&E
Amazing grace

natty · Post by **natty** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 9:53 pm

Lazer Guided Melodies
Pure Phase
Ladies & Gentlemen
Fucked Up Inside
Amazing Grace
Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
Songs in A&E
Live at the RAH
Let It Come Down.

mc · Post by mc » Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:34 pm

Mine are pretty set in stone:

1. Lazer Guided Melodies
2. Pure Phase
3. Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
4. Let It Come Down
5. Songs In A&E
6. Amazing Grace
7. Sweet Heart Sweet Light

The first four count as all time classics in my collection, and the last three are merely "good albums".

plastic37 · Post by **plastic37** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:28 pm

Ryan suggests that SP "dabbled in the Britpop craze that dominated the mid-’90s,"
errr...
Can anyone identify the point, the track, on which SP dabbled in Britpop?

Am amazed that so many of you put Let It Come Down anywhere other than the undisputed bottom of the stack.

My list...
Well i wouldn't do it as a list. I'd be at bit more creative and do it as a diagram. A round table affair - except for Let In Come Down which I'd leave under the table.
Maybe i will one day.

Post by **runcible** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:17 pm

plastic37 wrote:Ryan suggests that SP "dabbled in the Britpop craze that dominated the mid-’90s,"
errr...
Can anyone identify the point, the track, on which SP dabbled in Britpop?

Am amazed that so many of you put Let It Come Down anywhere other than the undisputed bottom of the stack.

I agree on the Britpop thing. No evidence at all.

But Let It Come Down at the bottom? Really? That album is well worth revisiting in my opinion. It felt below par at the time but is anything but now.

Can't be bothered with those full lists. I just choose LGM as my favourite and leave it at that.

olan · Post by **olan** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 8:25 pm

runcible wrote:
plastic37 wrote:Ryan suggests that SP "dabbled in the Britpop craze that dominated the mid-’90s,"
errr...
Can anyone identify the point, the track, on which SP dabbled in Britpop?

Am amazed that so many of you put Let It Come Down anywhere other than the undisputed bottom of the stack.
I agree on the Britpop thing. No evidence at all.

But Let It Come Down at the bottom? Really? That album is well worth revisiting in my opinion. It felt below par at the time but is anything but now.

Can't be bothered with those full lists. I just choose LGM as my favourite and leave it at that.

I'm worried about agreeing with Mark given the recent "Cliff incident" (ahem) but the view that the Spiritualized back catalog is all good with LGM dominating is spot on.

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 10:08 pm

c'mon Olan let 'Cliff-gate' be!

I must also say that dismissing LICD like that is crazy. I can understand fans not liking some of their later work, the band have made some musical changes after all. but why choose Amazing Grace over LICD? and it's such a singular, epic, ambitious album in it's own way.

Astrometry · Post by **Astrometry** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 12:24 am

1. Ladies and Gentlemen...
2. Sweet Heart Sweet Light
3. Let It Come Down
4. Songs in A&E
5. Lazer Guided Melodies
6. Pure Phase
7. Amazing Grace

I'm incredibly fond of them all, though - save for Amazing Grace (too uneven, too patchy, although there's a good tune or two on it).

Post by **runcible** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 11:38 am

olan wrote:I'm worried about agreeing with Mark given the recent "Cliff incident" (ahem) but the view that the Spiritualized back catalog is all good with LGM dominating is spot on.

Ha ha! I would challenge anyone here not to have had a good time at the Cliff show I saw! It was great fun!

suskind · Post by **suskind** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:42 pm

TheWarmth wrote:I find it impossible to rank them in an order, but I group them as such:

Classics - near perfect records:
LGM
PP
LICD
L&G

Excellent - not quite as good as those listed above:
A&E
SHSL

Disappointing:
Amazing Grace

I hope he does wind up recording a new album with Visconti and the new, U.S.-based band.

My list looks exactly the same

olan · Post by **olan** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:20 pm

runcible wrote:
olan wrote:I'm worried about agreeing with Mark given the recent "Cliff incident" (ahem) but the view that the Spiritualized back catalog is all good with LGM dominating is spot on.
Ha ha! I would challenge anyone here not to have had a good time at the Cliff show I saw! It was great fun!

Challenge all you want!! Only a general anesthetic would get me to a Cliff Show......

Post by **runcible** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:48 pm

olan wrote:Challenge all you want!! Only a general anesthetic would get me to a Cliff Show......

Well, there was a form of that going on if I'm honest.

olan · Post by **olan** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 8:45 pm

:

runcible wrote:
olan wrote:Challenge all you want!! Only a general anesthetic would get me to a Cliff Show......
Well, there was a form of that going on if I'm honest.

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:58 am

runcible wrote:
olan wrote:I'm worried about agreeing with Mark given the recent "Cliff incident" (ahem) but the view that the Spiritualized back catalog is all good with LGM dominating is spot on.
Ha ha! I would challenge anyone here not to have had a good time at the Cliff show I saw! It was great fun!

Challenge gladly accepted...

jack white · Post by **jack white** » Tue Aug 20, 2013 2:07 pm

bump. i'm ready to talk about spz some more if anyone wants to listen & join in.

just coming off the dublin lagwfis show a few weeks back.
it has re-energised my love of the band, has me revisiting the material for the first time in a few yrs, it's bringing back it all back home, bring the love so to speak. been doing the complete works & LGM & Electricity EP & Royal Albert Hall.

the live show itself is something that's always been special to me. i touched upon it in the dublin thread but may expound upon the notion here.
for me it's nearly a different experience from whatever else is out there, being at a spz show. it's a weird feeling. it's kinda like comfortable but not that, or belonging but not exactly that either. it's just somewhere where y'know other people 'get it'.
at the best times it really is like a community of like minded individuals & there's a warmth & a love & an appreciation in the room that i don't really ever feel anywhere else, about anything else really. it's like a living wake in a sense. it's a celebration of some pretty grim realities & people do come together for it, in a spirit that i find absent or unavailable/unattainable elsewhere. it's like one of the few things that means something & i get to share it. & when i get it i want it every night & whatever i fall back on after the high of a show just has never measured up. i'd go every night to a spz show if i could.

maybe i invest too much in it. but the thing is, i didn't that first time, or i didn't even the most recent time. i just let it come down w/no expectations & it worked, just as it worked when i was really excited & hyped up for a show. it isn't just me, there is a power there. a spz gig is somewhere to be.

yea. good band. it gets me off.
more please.

ro · Post by ro » Tue Aug 20, 2013 4:48 pm

beautifully said, jack.

stayed up till 5am last night, listening to music, doing this and that, getting a bit too deep into rumination about my own past/present/future... at one point shine a light--->electric mainline (from CN tower gig) came on.

everything stopped

and that energy just kicked in

infused with crazy ineffable force...

jack white wrote: for me it's nearly a different experience from whatever else is out there, being at a spz show. ... at the best times it really is like a community of like minded individuals & there's a warmth & a love & an appreciation in the room

sadly i missed out on this feeling at july's gig, for various reasons.
but your post has got me even more psyched for september.

thanks!

semisynthetic · Post by **semisynthetic** » Wed Aug 21, 2013 4:33 am

spzretent wrote:Today i tried an experiment thanks to this thread.
I played LICD, AG, A&E & SHSL in order.
I know how I feel about the first three records so I just played these 4.
This was what I realized today.
Each record, to me, takes on a different musical genre.
LICD is very layered and orchestral.
AG is garagey and urgent.
A&E is almost blues based. Influenced by early blues and gospel.
SHSL is more pop oriented as Jason mentioned in interviews.
The beauty of this is its all done within the context of Spiritualized.
These may seem like obvious observations but until today I just took each record at face value. When playing them next to each other you can really hear the difference.
I have a new found appreciation for AG. It sounds much better today then when it came out. Again, to me.

I agree with you. Spiritualized has managed to do what GREAT bands do, have a variety of "different types of genre", while keeping that UNIQUE and "Obvious" sound of, "Spiritualized". I enjoy all of these LPs; they may be unlike one another in presentation, but are undoubtably from the mind and talent of one "band". When I hear any of them, I hear "Spiritualized", and I enjoy that VERY MUCH!

semisynthetic · Post by **semisynthetic** » Wed Aug 21, 2013 4:39 am

Although it is difficult to pick A SINGLE FAVORITE LP or single, I do enjoy the "Electric Mainline" and "LAGWAFIS" LPs very much; and have played the 12" singles of songs I like to take advantage of the sound quality, say of a Test Pressing of "Medication", and others.

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Sun Aug 25, 2013 2:00 am

jack white wrote: ...for me it's nearly a different experience from whatever else is out there, being at a spz show. it's a weird feeling. it's kinda like comfortable but not that, or belonging but not exactly that either. it's just somewhere where y'know other people 'get it'.
at the best times it really is like a community of like minded individuals & there's a warmth & a love & an appreciation in the room that i don't really ever feel anywhere else, about anything else really. it's like a living wake in a sense. it's a celebration of some pretty grim realities & people do come together for it, in a spirit that i find absent or unavailable/unattainable elsewhere. it's like one of the few things that means something & i get to share it. & when i get it i want it every night & whatever i fall back on after the high of a show just has never measured up. i'd go every night to a spz show if i could.

maybe i invest too much in it. but the thing is, i didn't that first time, or i didn't even the most recent time. i just let it come down w/no expectations & it worked, just as it worked when i was really excited & hyped up for a show. it isn't just me, there is a power there. a spz gig is somewhere to be...

Beautiful post and writing. Couldn't agree more or put it better myself.

There's some weird higher magic at work when they play live, an absolute sense of living in the moment with this crazy/tender/beautiful/mindcrushing audio and visual and sensory overload goin' on: remember that interview with Jason where he said the live show was full of "electricity and acid"?
Exactly that. And this is surprisingly enough the one band I've seen over the years where I've been reasonably straight, as the live show is mindbending and life-changing just by itself. I walk out of those gigs with literally a hurricane inside my veins and it's a high like nothing else in the world. I'm well overdue a repeat prescription with them (SCOTTISH DATES SOON PLEASE!) but even the last show at the beginning of the SH/SL tour in Glasgow was astonishing. I remember after a blizzard of feedback they kicked off with 'Come Together' (which I believe was unique for that entire year-long tour) and at the time thinking this was something for the Glaswegian faithful, and what a way to set out your stall early...

semisynthetic · Post by **semisynthetic** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 7:36 am

For me, my early listenings to SPZ was a wondrous release of tensions, followed by something akin to Morphea; dreamlike and thundering, rumbling my home (and vibrating light bulbs away), until by the end of LGM, I was almost completely surrounded by dark, save for the small lamp I keep by my sound system!

I had purchased that 2LP set along with as much SPZ as I could find a day or two before, and this Saturday was MINE! And Music and refreshments were on the menu. I was VERY VERY pleased with "Electric Mainline", which at the time, I had only the "glow in the dark" CD, but it was sufficient! There were 2 of my closest friends who very much enjoy music, and they sat silently, as did I, and at the end of the recording, we very happily compared what we liked and how "Medication" somehow hit "to close to home" for one fellow. Great Music; I have enjoyed every piece; and J.Pierce and "SPZ" remain with my very favorite music; I think it Brilliant!

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Wed Aug 28, 2013 4:29 am

completely agree with jack. I can listen to spiritualized all night and day from simply zoning out to even working out. while I am nt seeing them every day, I do get to see them 3 straight nights starting in Raleigh nc then in DC then in Philly. I might head up to NYC as well. spiritualized had molded the person I am today and I believe that's a good thing. they are the best all time band. I once dreamed I could just tour with them and see every show. unfortunately I need to support myself and family but grandiose idea at one point in my life. now it's just working for the man wishing you could just enjoy life and listen to spiritualized all day and every day.

clewsr · Post by **clewsr** » Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:06 am

Diesel wrote:spiritualized had molded the person I am today and I believe that's a good thing.

With you on that one Diesel. I can't quite imagine my life without them

'Spiritualized - religion for the non believers'

clewsr · Post by **clewsr** » Mon Dec 02, 2013 2:34 pm

This is worth a read http://britpopnews.com/letter-mr-j-spac ... d-concert/

I'm so pleased I got to see the Holmeforth show as I think there were only maybe that the the Truck festival show in the UK this year?

It would be nice to hear even a teaser of news....wonder if there is any chance of an album in 2014? Unlikely I know, but there seemed to be a bit of urgency with all the new songs appearing in the setlist this year, I wonder if any recording has been done?