Sitting between 3 and a 3.5 star rating their self-titled debut album has been all but forgotten by the music buying public as an early 90's Stone Roses rip-off... it is far from that. During the start of the 90's Ocean Colour Scene were the hottest band in England according to the music press, sadly the album took too long to record and the press died down as they holed up to record their first release.
Once it finally hit shelves it was reviewed as bloated and nothing like the Ocean Colour Scene that were so talked about only a year or more before. It was deemed an over-produced album (4 songs produced by The Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller). Now with all this history behind them and 7 albums down the road how does this album fare on its own... without all the hype and just for what it is. It is a decent album, compared to everything else by the band it stands out on its own and has its own unique sound and feel... which is just so cool.
The first song ("Talk On") has only 4 lines of lyrics in it that are repeated over again (almost like the first song from the self-titled Stone Roses album... but that's all in terms of similarity). It has some great guitar playing going on all through it, feedback and wah-wah abound all over it with some almost indian style guitar melodies as the bass plays the vocal melody in a hypnotic way.
"How About You" is an up-beat song that features some little castanets rolling each verse, it also has a very catchy chorus too and sounds like the early stages of what Ocean Colour Scene eventually would turn into. Followed on by "Giving It All Away" driven by a sharp acoustic strum with layers of electric guitars and organs adding texture onto the strong lyrics with some high falsettos by a young Simon Fowler.
"Justine" has got to be one of the real highlights on this album, and also a style that they would never drop over the next 13 years. A sublime acoustic song that has a complimentary string section which just adds even more emotion to the song, especially when the strings play the solo. What a song!!!! I can see why it featured on a "Moseley Shoals" b-side. The album is worth parting with a few bucks for just because of this song as well as "Talk On", "Do Yourself A Favour" and "Sway".
So we have the albums only cover and a real great take on a Stevie Wonder song. "Do Yourself A Favour" rocks and boogaloos for 4 full minutes and they turn into something of their own. It blends in with the next song that just builds up from a semi-psychedelic haze into a huge sounding early epic, this is "Third Shade Of Green" with a big ending that drops off to the dreamscape of the start.
"Sway" was the big song from the album and used a lot to push it into the medias attention. It bears similar sounds to "Do Yourself A Favour" but just is better. Great feel good and positive lyrics with a huge guitar sound and cool little quiet break towards the middle, a perfectly crafted early 90's indie single.
We're taken through the reggae inspired "Penny Pinching Rainy Heaven Days" which is the song that could possibly be the most forgettable on this album. But "One Of Those Days" has a large sounding guitar riff and has only 2 verses of lyrics, but it takes nothing from the song as it has everything necessary to make a great album track that you actually don't mind hearing instead of all the big ones.
"Is She Coming Home" is an odd song by Ocean Colour Scene, the lyrical content is nothing like what Simon has wrote before or since, even the music is on the strange side for the band. One of those songs that in the big picture doesn't quite seem to fit, but has you thinking.
"Blue Deep Ocean" begins with soothing water and synth sounds then suddenly a cool bass guitar and percussion intro kicks in joined by guitar and then hypnotic multi vocals that you just want to lie back and relax to this lovely little song. Great bass groove and beats too with the again repetitive lyrical content. I actually really like this song and would call it the albums jewel. The final track simply titled "Reprise" is an instrumental, with flute and eastern flavoured guitar playing throughout that speeds up slowly and then fades.
Something worth getting for a take on early 90's British "baggy" music scene or even to hear a different sounding Ocean Colour Scene. But to those that haven't heard this, be warned... it is nothing like everything else by the band that came after this!!
Way Back When...
Forgotten debut album from the UK band Ocean Colour Scene
12 tracks
