try to sell me on The Chameleons

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ok, i first heard of the chameleons a while back and for the most part i found their music to be uninspiring. but i just finished some downloads from their first album and i must say, i think i finally get it. its good stuff, esp "here today."

so, sell me the chameleons. where do i start? what is their best material? etc. etc.

― Grell (Grell), Friday, 16 January 2004 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)

I have a good idea of what might happen in this thread.

― Andy K (Andy K), Friday, 16 January 2004 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

'Nathan's Phase' and 'The Fan And The Bellows'

― Ferrrrrrg (Ferg), Friday, 16 January 2004 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I have a good idea of what might happen in this thread.

I do believe that you are right. < / Marvin the Martian >

If you go here:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDCASS70311061518411885&sql=Bbx3m963o3ep1

...and follow most of the review links, you'll deal with more of my writing than you want to know about.

First album Script of the Bridge. Get it. Then get the rest.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 16 January 2004 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

thanks.

― Grell (Grell), Friday, 16 January 2004 23:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Uninspiring is a feeling they can give you by the almost total lack of humor in the songs, they go for moody and poetic instead. If I do get sick of that after too much listening I just put it aside and it always sounds fresh again. Aside from that downfalll they are a totally wonderful band- really captivating like the old U2 sound but not histrionic- I like better than Echo, the Cure, etc. Wonderful lyrics! Great post punk sound with very good use of different cool guitar and keyboard effects. Every album is brilliant but actually Script of the Bridge is my least favorite- it has some great songs but overall it lacks polish of their later stuff and sort of blurs together for me. I first got into their 2nd "What does anything mean ? Basically" because of the incredible guitar sound- it's very processed with those sort of echoey or flange effects and sounds almost bell-like. Think "Unforgettable Fire" by U2 with even more swirling washy guitars. But they have a lot of variety too. The open track is an atmospheric synthy keyboard instrumental that is quite unlike most anything else they did and immediately tells you how successful the rest of their stuff will be for that epic feeling. After this album my favorite is "Strange Times" which I think is more mixed, it has more experiments, some stuff is kind of unsuccessful by being too singy-songy but the good stuff is their absolute best. So, it's harder to get into but much more rewarding. One of those albums you find new qualities in even after hundreds of listens. You might also want to search their Peel sessions CD. It has versions of stuff off Script of the Bridge and WDAMB I like better than the album versions, and though the two albums have a seperate sound from each other, this collection holds together cohesively which makes it stand alone as a distinct part of their work. That's the pre-87 stuff. I would start there and then get their 2000 album Why Call It Anything which is quite good but maybe gets a better appreciation from knowing where it came from.

― sucka (sucka), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 01:06 (twenty-two years ago)

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