release date: Sep. 1986
format: cd (CRECD 011)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: John A. Rivers
label: Creation Records - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: 1. "Rain of Crystal Spires" (4 / 5) - 2. "Down But Not Yet Out" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "September Lady" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Grey Streets" (4 / 5) - 5. "All the People I Like Are Those That Are Dead" (4 / 5) - 6. "Gather Up Your Wings and Fly" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "A Wave Crashed on Rocks" - 8. "Hours of Darkness Have Changed My Mind"
6th studio album by Felt re-introduce John A. Rivers, and this time he is credited as producer. The album is released only three months after Let the Snakes Crinkle, which was the band's first with keyboardist Martin Duffy (who feature on the album cover). In hindsight it makes perfect sense. Where Let the Snakes Crinkle... was like a first draft, yet exclusively instrumental, with Duffy adding a new sound to the band, this is the fulfilment of that experiment or reorganisation within a band going from guitar-driven jangle-pop to a more complex style. This is the first Felt album without a single instrumental only, and to me, the album showcases everything good about Felt: the sparse instrumentation, yet wide simple sound, Duffy's beautiful Hammond Organ and on top of it all, the signature of Lawrence's guitar and voice. This is not over-produced, like I feel Ignite the Seven Cannons tends to be - this is so much more genuine. This is the band's finest hour, imho.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Record Mirror 5 / 5 stars ]
