The La's-The La's: Classic or Dud>

Better than The Stone Roses by a light year, at least.

I hate the all, actually!

It's just that The La's album always seems to be compared, and compared unfavourably at that, to the Stone Roses seeing as they came from a similair time. Just putting the record straight

And even though I think the Roses as people are incredibly dull and stupid, and like every other good British band in the world, they're massively overhyped, (the liner notes to "The Complete Stone Roses" have to be the most sycophantic swill ever written about a band, surpassing even Dave Marsh's crap about Springsteen), their debut album is still one of my favorite albums of all time. It may be the most perfect album I've ever heard, actually.

(the sound you hear is the sound of two-thirds of the readers of ILM instantly losing all respect for Justyn)

I have just woken up, seen teo thread abt two rilly rilly great bands (skullflower and rallizes, of course!) and now this!!! Do you want spoil this beautiful canadian thursday morning, Justyn!

I mean, what HAVE YOU BEEN SOMKING MAN?!?!

Ian brown can't sing, and the whole is just suffocated by over- production and corny-'studio' effects (but of course it needs to be overproduced, otherwise everybody would know that Ian brown can't sing and its not the line 'he can't sing so its good' type thing that David Thomas does. It's the 'he can't sing because he's a tone deaf mule!' man).

which 'great' bands were supposedly influenced by the stone roses. Not Oasis surely? One good alb and then downhill they went.

Elbow= smiths and radiohead

Radiohead= king crimson/some stone roses/smiths/pixies

John esquire influenced by 70s rock guitar types and so is the verve's guitar player.

But yes I am not into any of these.

Maybe if I'd been there at the time, it'd be all tied up with a bunch of memories from that era and would be unlistenable. Bad E and dumb clothes and all that. But I wasn't there, didn't hear the album till a few years ago and I still love it.

if you mean something else then say that

The La's stole the 60s nostalgia baton from dreamy swirlers like the Rain Parade, excised all lightness of touch, panache or intelligence, and prepared the ground for square jawed throaty triumphalist Brit Pop. That's the story from one end of the continuum.

The other end is that I remember seeing Mavers and co on the Chart Show in 1986 or so playing Way Out and I thought how charming, it sounds like "Please Please Me", garage-y and down to earth.

As an aside I think that Primal Scream were a far worse band than the La's, especially in their Jangly period, when they sounded exactly like what the Stone Roses would become. None of this music has dated well though, has it? apart from the Rain Parade I mean.

Charming!

though i can be wrong I am not wrong on this one simona. Learn to live with it.

''julio if you mean "sounds like" then say it: "influenced by" means nothing as you well know''

'Sounds like' it is (I used the 'i' word a lot yeasterday, check my post on ascension on the skullflower thread as well mark) for today but tomorrow I'll get back to influence.

Your arguments are always logical mark. That's the problem! You're always tied to the rule book.

Short views, for god's sake, short views.

see, w/o really wanting to start a fight w.tim — esp. if he sort of means it as a joke — it's sentences like this make me want to just SQUEAK with BAFFLED RAGE!! "Influence" as mystico-magical force that's only apparent to ADEPTS? I think even astrology has a more coherent and plausible basis...

anyway to prove i'm wrong you actually have to say what it MEANS (which no one evah does i notice)

I trust we all own this now, after the HMV £2.99 sale?

Cheeky title, but probably the strongest song on the record. Nice guitar break too.

Anyone have the new "deluxe" version of the debut, with the Mike Hedges remixes? Worth buying?
http://www.thelasdeluxe.com/

I should probably go ahead and get this. I'm not really sure why I put it off.

Just picked it up - I like. Better sound and some of the different mixes are interesting. In particular I love "I.O.U," which is the lead-off track on the Mike Hedges version of the album — it's got a lot more energy than the original, the vocals are brighter, etc.

God this is so beautiful.

yeah, that's gorgeous.

Classic! One of the greatest records I've ever heard in my life. "There She Goes" is the WORST song on the album!!
― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Monday, 18 July 2005 13:31 (3 years ago)

Yes, by far. This is a great album!

gah this band always sounded like DMB with good tunes to me.. can't stand the vocals... love the story about the big takeover interview where lee is just lying in his bed in his underwear being a total dick haha

"There She Goes" is the WORST song on the album!!
Really, though? I've heard this song take a lot of knocks on ILM and frankly it puzzles me. Is it simply fashionable to trash the overplayed song because it's the only one most people have heard? Or do a lot of La's fans really think it's weak (fine if you do - just askin')? It's a pretty irresistible, perfectly constructed slice of pop heaven, IMO (yeah, I sound like Geir).
My fav is "Son of a Gun," followed by "IOU" (the different mix on the reissue) and then "There She Goes." But it's all good.

gah this band always sounded like DMB with good tunes to me
Oh c'mon!

I always thought The La's s/t sounded like R.E.M.'s Greatest Hits.

And yeah, I actually think "There She Goes" is the 2nd worst song on the record (after "Failure"). I love it, sure... but it's dwarfed by IOU, Son Of A Gun, Timeless Melody, Liberty Ship, Doldrum, etc.

I think its unpopularity with La's fans has less to do with the song's success and more to do with the fact that "There She Goes" sounds like a different band. It's closer to James than the Kinks, really.

I love "There She Goes", and probably would say it's the best song on the album, up there with "Timeless Melody" and "Feelin'".

Aww, I really like "Failure."

Haha this is not meant as a sly allusion to any other threads, but I have to say: this record's really rhythmically interesting!

I think its unpopularity with La's fans has less to do with the song's success and more to do with the fact that "There She Goes" sounds like a different band.
OK, I can see that. But judging by the alternate takes on the reissue, BBC in Session and other live tracks, one could argue that the entire debut doesn't sound like The La's. Performance-wise, anyway.

Looking Glass!

Hell, yeah, Looking Glass! God, I haven't heard that one in awhile. Wish I had it on my iPod right now.

LOOKING GLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

is fantastic

I know, but I blame my friend, because I really don't want to go apeshit over this band right now. It's all his fault. And I'm trying to stay calm. I want to listen to more goth things, you know? I can't afford things like "Who Knows" & "Man I'm Only Human" & "All By Myself". I can't afford these trips into musical oblivion right now, I'm trying to stay calm. I want to stay calm.

http://archivedmusicpress.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/the-las-interview-nme-20th-oct-1990.jpg

Anyone heard the box set? Worth getting or more of the same?

More of the same. Get the BBC In Session album in addition to the Go! Discs album and you've got plenty.

More of the same. Get the BBC In Session album in addition to the Go! Discs album and you've got plenty.

How many times have The La's released an album called Callin' All? Six?

More of the same. Get the BBC In Session album in addition to the Go! Discs album and you've got plenty.

syndication is terrible

Apols for double post above.

But you're dead on - the album and the BBC comp (which is shockingly great) is all you need.

From AMG's overview:
For most of 1991, the band was on tour. At the end of the year, they went back to the studio to record their follow-up. This time, Mavers was in complete control and he took his time to perfect the album, re-recording tracks and rewriting songs. The La's disappeared without a trace from the pop music scene.
So did these sessions actually take place?

About five years ago their was a book written by a fan, about tracking down Lee Mavers and jumping into the mysteries re: the band. When Mavers played the guy one of these lost songs the fan said it was the greatest thing he'd ever heard ever in his time.

but hasnt the band played some of those songs on their recent tours?

I disagree with the first 75 posts-- this La's album seems distinctly worse than the first Stone Roses album. I don't mind this album, but it doesn't really seem like the work of a genius at all to me. "There She Goes" is the obvious standout track, not just in terms of quality, but in terms of the production too. It has a timeless, shimmering jangly quality that the others simply don't have. Of course, I have listened to this album maybe 3 times now. Does it take more than that to 'get it'?

classic!

To me, "There She Goes" feels like the lone example of the sound Mavers was trying to pull off, but didn't. The whole album is great, though. The Stone Roses comparisons don't make a ton of sense to me. Two distinctly different sounding albums/bands.