The Amazing – In Transit – Album Review

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2018/04/08/the-amazing-in-transit-album-review/

A Look Ahead – Music in 2018

Article for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2018/01/01/a-look-ahead-music-in-2018/

The Amazing - Gentle Stream

The Amazing released their third album in 2011.  It's a highly melodic, proggy mess of a thing, full of well played instruments and soft vocals.  The title track feels a little like Led Zeppelin's softer moments mixed with Neil Young.  Flashlight follows, at once folkier with rolling acoustic guitars and woodwind.  The very soft-rock International Hair is naggingly catchy without being especially memorable.  The somewhat overblown six and a half minute Dogs attempts a rockier feel but doesn't quite pull it off.  The band sound better on closing track When The Colours Change, a relatively uncomplicated song, with female backing vocals and electric guitar fills rounding out the sound.  Some versions contain the 'bonus' track Ghosts, a simpler acoustic track that harks back to the Red House Painters.

It's kind of a glorious failure of an album, full of ambition and complicated songs.  They would refine this formula after this.

The Amazing - Wait For A Light To Come

This short EP from The Amazing, released in 2010, sees the band go a bit soft rock.  It opens with the busy folk of Evil, before leading into the sweet-sounding ballad And It Looks Like Today.  The track Islands is like a jazzy version of Nick Drake, with 10CC thrown in for good measure.  Languid electric guitar introduces Head Beaches, a kind of swooning, laid back song, and Defect sees them break out the guitars full throttle but makes little impression.

All in all, it's a bit too much on the soft side.  Pleasant, but little more.

Best Albums of 2016 – Killian Laher

Article for www.nomoreworkhorse.com https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2016/12/16/best-albums-of-2016-killian-laher/

The Amazing - The Amazing

Swedish band The Amazing released their debut album in 2009. It opens with The Kirwan Song, where the band take the melody of Fleetwood Mac's early 70s guitar instrumental Sunny Side of Heaven and add their own verses.  After this we get the lazy Nick Drake/RHP style strums Dragon and Beach House which is more typical of the album.  Most of the rest of the album consists of these watery strums.  Deportation Day is pacier, rattling along very pleasantly, Is It Likely could be one of the more upbeat tracks from Bryter Layter.  Romanian is a swooning, exquisite, glorious slice of what can only be called sadcore.  Dead livens things up with gauzy, distorted guitars before the long, proggy Had To Keep Walking.  It's a dense, complex album, full of melody, with lots of layers to be revealed on further listening.

The Amazing – Ambulance – Album Review

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2016/08/02/the-amazing-ambulance-album-review/