Giant Steps [Digipak] by The Boo Radleys (CD, 1993)

Cherry Red

5013929144729

23050146197

The Boo Radleys

CD

1993

Giant Steps [Digipak]

187 mins 18 seconds

Rock

Personnel: Martin Carr (vocals, guitars, keyboards); Sice, Meriel Barham (vocals); Lindsay Johnston, Margaret Fiedler (cello); Jackie Toy (clarinet); Steve Kitchen (trumpet, flugelhorn); Chris Moore (trumpet); Tim Brown (bass, keyboards); Rob Cieka (drums, percussion); Moose (handclaps, background vocals); Russell (handclaps); Keith Cameron, Yvette Lacey, Kle, Laurence, Nick Addison, Guy Fixsen (background vocals). Recorded at First Protocol Studios, London, England between February and March, 1993. Audio Mixer: Anjali Dutt. Liner Note Authors: Alistair Fitchett; Belvedere Sacramento. Recording information: First Protocol Studios, London (1993). The Boo Radleys were never comfortable fitting into any of the easily defined categories that pigeonholed so many British bands in the early 1990s. Arriving on the scene as shoegazing My Bloody Valentine wannabes, they signed to Alan McGee's hip-to-the-times Creation Records, and after a pair of unremarkable albums, they surprised everyone by releasing GIANT STEPS in early '93. Living up to its title, the album is indeed a step above and away both from what their peers were doing and what was expected of the band themselves. A reference to John Coltrane's second album, the album is a mishmash of varying influences, from the Smiths-y jangle of "Wish I Was Skinny" to the lovely brass arrangement in "Lazarus." The album anticipates the Britpop of a year or two later, when the Boo Radleys would again intentionally challenge their audience and fly in the face of overt commercialism. GIANT STEPS is a mouthful, containing 17 songs, but it's also their definitive album. It gives much credence to the argument that Oasis maybe had a few Boo Radleys albums amongst their Beatles records. Its influence cannot be denied.

Spin (9/93, p.123) - Highly Recommended - "...a great pop record...sets [the band] off on their own ambitious path of discovery..." Q (12/99, p.76) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s." Q (1/94, p.85) - Included in Q's list of `The 50 Best Albums Of 1993' - "...Fiercely inventive...the music demands, and repays, close attention...." Q (11/93, p.114) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...GIANT STEPS contains a foolishly generous 17 tracks--and none of them boring....A triumph of nerve..." Alternative Press (11/93, p.65) - "...GIANT STEPS is an intriguing lush soundgarden overrun with exotic flora. There's a multi-layered, idiosyncratic creativity here that is leagues above most of the Boo Radleys' soul-searching contemporaries..." Melody Maker (1/1/94, p.77) - Ranked #30 in Melody Maker's list of the `Albums Of The Year' for 1993 - "...Absurdly, outrageously ambitious...." Melody Maker (8/14/93, p.30) - "...As a role model for British guitar bands, you will hear none better this year...." Mojo (Publisher) (p.117) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[GIANT STEPS] is really about exploratory glee, leavening FX-pedals with Love brass, PET SOUNDS harmonies/arrangements and, on 'Upon 9th And Fairchild,' dub reggae..." NME (Magazine) (12/25/93, p.66) - Ranked #2 in New Musical Express' list of `The 50 Best LPs Of 1993' - "...An intense trawl through his personal photo album, set to a mish mash of every great record you've ever heard. Play it loudest when disillusioned by anything and everything...." NME (Magazine) (8/14/93, p.26) - Excellent Plus - "...The Boo Radleys are on their way to making a classic album..."

Phantom Import Distributi

Andy Wilkinson

Stereo

3

(not USA)