Search - Alpha :: Stargazing

Love and unrest

yoonr | seattle, washington | 05/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"another strong & emotional release from Alpha. fans of corin dingley & andy jenks' distinct downtempo grooves will, yet again, be pleasantly surprised by their familiar approach in creating a mood that is fueled by love and unrest. although this is a common thread that links all of Alpha's albums, this release is different. like the title, STARGAZING is playful, hopeful & energetic --- which may be indicative of their recent departure from Massive Attack's Melankolic label. the vocal team of martin barnard, helen white & wendy stubbs return; with a new addition of kelvin swaybe who makes a powerful contribution on "elvis." many tracks can stand alone ("lipstick from the asylum," "once round town," & "blue autumn"); however the relationship between each song is what makes this album poignantly beautiful."

Whew

Thomas Dean Nordlum | 08/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"ok, i own every cd ever released by this group, but this cd is by far the best to me. the orchestral arrangements are quite unbelievable. i mean, i just cannot put the greatness of this album and group into word. quite amazing. everyone should have a copy of this in their music collection. it's what good, strong, powerful, slow-loving sex feels like"

Alpha's best so far

Thomas Dean Nordlum | Montréal | 08/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I like their first two records a lot, but this is their best so far (why is it only available in France?). It is full of so many show-stopping tracks, especially "once around the town", "lipstick from the asylum", "portable living room" and "elvis". I always liked Martin Bernard the best as an Alpha singer, better than Wendy or Helen. The new vocalist, Kelvin sounds really good. Elvis is an excellent track. The improvement on this new album is that it sounds less groggy than "the impossible thrill" and the production is sharper, the beats finer, the vocals more emotional (especially Martin's wail of "summer soltice!" at the end of the final track). The sleeve is beautiful too, if you turn it upsidedown, you can see it is the ceiling of a metro tunnel, which I assume is Paris. It's worth the import price."