Search - Gene :: Revelations

Trying to hard to move past The Smiths?

Amol Sarva | New York, NY United States | 05/06/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Amazon audiences don't like a negative review. Those are the ones that seem to pile up the 'not helpful' votes....but here goes:I *really* like Gene. Olympian, the rare EP that accompanied that album, and even Drawn to the Deep End were excellent CDs. I was of course turned on by the way Olympian resonated with the ethos of Morrissey's music--more Morrissey than Marr, really, since it updated the sound to a mid-90s British Pop sound that was clearly past the post-punk jangle of Marr's guitars with the Smiths. So I really like Gene. But I hate this album! It's really a let down and I just haven't bothered listening to it more than 2-3 times. The record company surely recognized this as they did not release the damn thing in the US! It's available only as an import and that hasn't helped their sales. Now, why did this happen? My guess is the constant, shallow, foolish comparisons to the Smiths. Huh? I mean, I like them because I'm a Smiths fan. If I hated the Smiths, I'm sure I'd find them a lot less appealing. That's true. But the fact that everyone said this--and the fact that much of the 'mainstream' press likes to wallow in words like 'moping', 'miserable', 'depressing' and 'Prozac'--probably started to get to Rossiter et al. That's understandable. But I guess they tried to change their sound to find a new different 'voice'. This is, of course, a classic error. For one hit wonder bands, this is called the sophomore syndrome, after which no future albums appear. Can Gene recover? Time's cruel march will tell."

Gene is always entertaining...

lenore531 | Wichita, KS United States | 11/02/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have read the reviews for all three of Gene's albums and I have to disagree with most, and say that I think "Drawn to the deep end" is their best album. It took me a while longer to appreciate "Revelations", but one rainy day I sat down and really listened to it, and I found that I like it quite a lot. What I really enjoyed about "Drawn to the deep end" was that each song takes you on such a journey musically, with various change-ups and different melodies that produce a sense of energy and passion that is really hard to resist. The songs on this album are much more simple and direct. The only song that was really able to produce the same feeling for me was "You'll never walk again", which is truly a masterpiece and evokes boatloads of emotion. If you are a fan of THE SMITHS and brit pop in general, you'll want to buy the album just to have "You'll never walk again", and you'll also enjoy the rest of the album as well. This is an album that you can play from start to finish!"