Pale Saints - The Comforts of Madness poll

Four of four in a shoegazer band series. I have been teasing this album for a few mounts now, hove no idea how many fans this has on ILM.

This is simply one of my all-time favorite albums, it's magnificent.

“language of flowers”

I have probably said something like this before and the Pale Saints are all about that guitar tone. But I have listened to this album so many times that the drumming is transfixing.

I can't wait to hear this remastered version as I skipped it in 2020. One of the reasons why is because I knew I was going to do this poll one day, today happened to be that day.

My only rub with this otherwise impeccable album is that the version of "Sight of You" here isn't as good as the single version, which had rougher edges that I miss.

Anyway, my vote is for "Deep Sleep...", for which I have a vivid memory of blaring it in my car on a day in which it was snowing heavily while the sun was out.

thx again for these bee. like with lush, another band i've only heard mentioned, not actually heard. the prompt is definitely appreciated.

(so yeah: first ever listen right now. "sea of sound" is neat.)

welp, "insubstantial" is gonna be hard to beat.

+upon halfway through my first listen, this is rather dense music, isn't it? i mean, even for this kind of thing. i feel like i might fall in, y'know?

Austin, you should definitely check out the follow up album In Ribbons as well, not to take anything away from this album, which I recognize is well loved but sadly has never moved me on the level of IR.

I am such a huge fan of this album. I have wanted to try covering it all the way through someday. I love everything on it, but it'll probably come down to Insubstantial or Time Thief. In addition to everything else this one has one of the all time great closing acts, starting with Language of Flowers. It's a little like the Church's Heyday where each song feels like the last one, but then there's one more great one that tops it.

> another band i've only heard mentioned, not actually heard

* mind blown *

have loved this stuff since the first ep but did find myself thinking, when listening to the reissue, if i'd like it if i was hearing it new in 2020.

that said, the quietness of the (cd) pressing and the way all the tracks are merged together* makes it an incovenient listen

(* saw the ULU gig with the pastels just after the ep and they did the bridges live as well. one of which had ian frantically turning one of the tuning nobs on his bass)

the second side is a ski-slope of a thing, just builds and builds and then...

def will! +after reading about their trajectory, i am very interested to get to their third album. i love "mess" albums, so yeah.

first impression: this album starts decent and ascends. brimstead otm: "language of flowers" is so of its time, but also immediate. instant love.

Oh I meant "True Coming Dream" and "Time Thief" ....

Comforts is wall to wall astonishing for me, Ribbons is partly decent, partly anodyne. Buildings lacks any Masters involvement and it’s anonymous, pleasant generic indie rock.

I'd go for the Spoonfed Hybrid self-titled over Slow Buildings

I really need to hear that Spoonfed Hybrid album. Someone mentioned the recent ESP Summer album on the in ribbons thread (Ian + Warren defever) and that is some cool stuff, grabbed me more than the first record they made together.

The remastered version is heavenly but I tried to turn it way up and didn't go up that much. It's not brickwalled that's for sure.

Can't wait to hear this again tonight, fucking love this album.

Can’t recommend the Kingdom of Heaven EP by Spoonfed Hybrid enough

The one two punch that starts off this album is so much fun because yes , the drumming. Then the next few dream pop songs take you on that trip and stretches into "Insubstantial" and "A Deep Sleep for Steven." But yeah to prove that this is a second side album, the run from "Language of Flowers" to "Time Thief" is one of my favorites from the shoegaze era. It's as good as Loveless, Giant Steps and Whirlpool. Better than Souvlaki, Fremont ect.

I really need to run that Shoegaze Albums and EPs poll. Boo Up for the win. If i ever do run another artist poll, next will be the Super Furry Animals as promised. I got promoted this year and have no time to run polls.

Four of four in a shoegazer band series.

I'm not on here so much now, so I've missed all of these. Will have a little look in a minute.

I bought this the day it came out and love it (apart from possibly Sea of Sound, which is a little bit boring). It's very difficult to pick out individual songs, partly because so many of them run into each other, but also because they all feel part of a set. You can't really listen to Way The World Is without listening to You Tear The World In Two. Similarly, you have to listen to Sight Of You immediately after Fell From The Sun otherwise it doesn't feel complete. Weirdly, the one that probably does stand alone best, and sounds quite different to anything else, is Little Hammer, which I do really like, but it would feel a bit contrarian to vote for that. Got to mull this one over...

I have wanted to try covering it all the way through someday

If you can work out how to play some of the guitar solos, please share!

Comforts is wall to wall astonishing for me, Ribbons is partly decent, partly anodyne.

100% agree

I really need to run that Shoegaze Albums and EPs poll. Boo Up for the win.

It must be 12 or 13 years since we suggested that now? Part of the reason for having it was that to do albums or EPs like this justice, where the whole thing is great, but if people have to pick out a favourite track the votes get dissipated. Boo Up also one of the great EPs of the genre (though I'd probably pick the Ride EP over it).

Ha, I would place Nowhere over Loveless, not that it's a better album but it just means more to me overall.

Ride EP over most EPs tbh. except Play EP. Play EP > Ride EP.

Nowhere over Loveless no way tho. Ride weren't that good at albums.

Today Forever > all other Ride releases

well, not really, but sometimes

I'm American so the first two EPs are called Smile and I the third one was on my Nowhere CD. So my first Ride EP was Today Forever, tho I know I shouldn't look at it that way for those first two EPs.

tbf that's how I first got all that stuff.

the first 2 EPs were way out of print when I first heard of them, the 3rd was on Nowhere CDs here too. at some point they put Smile out in the UK and I bought that.

I knew older songs like Drive Blind from the Live at Brixton VHS I had first

To bring this back on topic, Mrs. Dolphin is also great. Which itself are the first two Pale Saints EPs.

That Shoegazer poll sure would be fun.

nothing to add to current discussion, just wanted to say hi NBS! good to see you back around.

Seconding Mrs Dolphin which also has that lovely otherwise unavailable bonus track.

Though maybe the Comforts reissue has that too? I should finally get it.

Mrs Dolphin is a great companion piece to Comforts (there was a reissue for record store day a few years ago).

And the Ride at Brixton video is really great!

Never really listened to this album much, so can't remember an awful lot about it. But 'little hammer' is the one tune that's stayed with me, feel like they found their own unique voice with that

Seconding Mrs Dolphin which also has that lovely otherwise unavailable bonus track.

I've just investigated Mrs Dolphin. It's basically the first EP and the Half-Life EP but with a couple of tracks in the middle that I don't know anything about. A Deeper Sleep For Steven seems to be a version of A Deep Sleep For Steven which is *very* similar to the original, presumably from the same recording sessions. What's the story with Colours And Shapes? I've never heard it before or even heard of it. It doesn't seem to fit in with the other tracks and I can't say I like it. Ned - is the bonus track you're talking about 'The Colour of the Sky'? That was on my vinyl copy of the Half-Life EP, possibly behind a locked groove. Creepy. "Why doesn't it HURT?"

Though maybe the Comforts reissue has that too? I should finally get it.

Don't think so. I got the reissue at the start of 2020 (just before the world turned upside down) and in terms of bonus tracks I think it was just demo versions of each of the songs on Comforts of Madness.

just wanted to say hi NBS! good to see you back around.

Cheers. Hi!

And the Ride at Brixton video is really great!

I was at that gig, near enough to the front to have some dick stage dive onto my head, so I could possibly be a blur in the video.

i had a demo of colours and shapes on an indiepop mix tape - https://www.discogs.com/release/2443306-Various-Are-You-Ready

and also a track called 'children break' on a Flexi

both from before the first ep. and there was a tape that was sent around with another track on it. is on YouTube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMdpFmKowyc

and i hear they used to cover the primitives' crash in early gigs

Thanks, Koogs, never heard Children Break before either.

Re-listening to the album earlier, I realised that a track I made about 5 years ago was unconsciously influenced by A Deep Sleep For Steven (in the unlikely event anyone wants to verify this, it's here.

"A Deeper Sleep for Stephen" first appeared on a Melody Maker compilation, released spring 1990-ish. I got it on cassette, and I'm not sure I still have it...

https://www.discogs.com/release/929912-Various-Gigantic-2

(That Cocteau Twins track was quite the coup at the time; showed up on the fancy EP box set in late '91 (along with one other unreleased 1987-ish track) and never anywhere else, I think?)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

xp I bought that one on CD for the CTs and Lush tracks I think, plus a Breeders exclusive version of”I Just Wanna Get Along” from the Pod sessions, also introduced me to Mazzy Star, so well worth it!
Back in those days I had to buy an International Money Order in pounds, and mail it from Tasmania to London, then wait about 2 months.

Four of four in the shoegaze band series, but only the first and this one was a shoegaze album:

Lush - Gala poll
The Boo Radleys - Kingsize poll
Catherine Wheel - Happy Days poll

I actually had a bonus 90s album:

Dinosaur Jr. - Where You Been poll

Was going to end with one more, maybe Sebadoh, but this will be it for this year. It's time for the ILM 2023 polls to take over...

This was hard but in the end I voted for Sight of You over Time Thief.

I’m with brimstead

Sight Of You is a good choice, I could easily have gone for that, but ultimately chose You Tear The World In Two.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Time will get you in the end
And take away the things
The things you thought you had
Time will take away your friends
And leave you all alone
Alone until the end

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji6seeIaJuY