Life in Slow Motion

by

David Gray

Edit

"David Gray knows what makes a singer stand out. "They can put a lifetime in a line," he says. "Singers like Nina Simone or Van Morrison or Tim Buckley have voices that tell a story. But it's one that works on a different level. It's never literal. The realm of what's possible expands when you listen to them." "Life In Slow Motion "is the consummate product of two years of near-constant evolution, described by David as 'the tip of an iceberg' of new material generated along the way."

Born in Manchester, UK, in 1968, Gray grew up in Wales before attending the University of Liverpool. While in school, he played in a few punk bands, and then began exploring new styles of writing. He took his cue from The Sigur Ros records, Sparklehorse's It's A Wonderful Life, Lucinda Williams' World Without Tears and albums like Deserter's Songs, where things are a bit more structured. He hired producer Marius De Vries (whose previous clients include U2, David Bowie and Madonna) to oversee a far more complex sound.

The first song, "Alibi' may be the biggest hit. It starts off very sparse with David's acoustic guitar and then builds into the greatness of song.

"The One I Love"- a beautiful a song about bleeding to death and it takes a few listens to fully understand. The single that came out first; it is the quintessential David Gray.

"Lately"- This is a song that tells us what is going on, a little too much.

"Nos Da Cariad"-The inspirational song `Nos Da Cariad' It means `Goodnight Sweetheart,' in Welsh.

"Slow Motion" -the song from the cd's title- not autobiographical, Gray insists, but somehow it fits in with the image of this CD,.

"From Here You Can Almost See." David Gray thinks "it's one of the best things I've ever written by a mile, lyrically."

"Ain't No Love"- This is my favorite part of the record. I think the lyrics and the imagery are the best.

"Hospital Food"- David Gray says, "Hospital food is what we all eat everyday. The nanny state, TV-gobbling idiocy that we call passing time, is basically hospital food, you get a lot of s**t thrown on your plate, and you eat."

"Now and Always"-It's almost like a blues song, it goes along in a strange kind of lilting way.

"Disappearing World"-Marius De Vries, the producer came up with the Bowie-esque `Na-na-na-na-na." A lovely, lyrical ending.

The seventh album from David Gray has his stamp all over it, with the addition of a full orchestra, and the genius of a producer who can put all of the parts together. This is a winner and the CD I have been waiting for. Recommended. prisrob

With all due respect to the reviewers who don't think that the copy protection is an issue, they are missing the point.

For the record, I have no problem with artists and record companies who wish to protect their intellectual property. At issue here is the technological means employed by Sony.

When you play Sony's CDs on your computer, "rootkit" software is installed. It enforces the copy protection by intercepting all communication to and from the CD drive. Although not a virus in itself (it won't attempt to spread itself to other machines), it employs many of the same techniques used by viruses, to make it next to impossible to detect and remove. This software has many unfortunate side effects, including the potential to crash your computer, the creation of a backdoor for other viruses (any file or registry key beginning with certain characters is hidden from the operating system), and a small but continuous drain on your computer's processing power - even when you aren't listening to music.

In response to criticism, Sony has released a patch. But this patch only mitigates the problem of the virus-hiding potential. The software remains nearly impossible to remove. Incorrect attempts to remove it can render your CD drive unusable.

If you like Gray's music, and if the CD will play on your home stereo, then have at it. But if your intention is to play it on your computer, then I'm afraid that the only safe way to do so is to create or obtain a copy that illegally circumvents the copy protection.

for further information, search for "sory rootkit" on the sysinternals website.