TOGETHER WE'RE STRANGER

It took me a long time (too long) for me to appreciate this album. It was hard to get past how slow moving and ambient it is.The atmosphere is so thick, and the lyrics so well done that when I finally came around I was left in awe of what they've done.

The title track has so much atmosphere as Tim sings slowly. "All The Blue Changes" has a little more life instrumentally but not not vocally. Incredible sound 3 1/2 minutes in that doesn't start to let up until around the 6 minute mark. "The City In A Hundred Ways" is a short track with horns and again lots of atmosphere. It blends into "Things I Want To Tell You". Acoustic guitar comes in and then the vocals. So much spacey atmosphere here as well.

"Photographs In Black And White" opens with strummed guitar and spacey sounds as vocals come in. Emotional lyrics. And talking about emotion check out my favourite track "Back When You Were Beautiful". It's cool that Stephen Bennett is playing organ on this one. He is an important part of the HENRY FOOL band that Tim Bowness sings on. "The Break-Up For Real" could be on a PORCUPINE TREE album. Strummed guitar and vocals lead the way. Steven's backup vocals are great. Piano is a nice touch too. Again the lyrics are moving.

A solid 4 stars and no doubt one of their best yet.

Edit 10/29/10 Wow it's been over 4 years since I reviewed this album. I originally gave it 3 stars but bumped it up to 4 stars and here I am giving it the full blown stars ! It's almost shocking how much atmosphere is on this disc. It overwhelmes me and the emotion is right at the surface when listening to this album. Wondrous simply wondrous.