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Product Description ------------------- Welcome to the North is the next instalment from The Music. Following on from their self titled debut album, which gave the world the crunching guitar hits 'Take the Long Road', 'The People' and 'Getaway', the new album from the boys retains the bands rock charm but is enhanced by the production talents of Brendan O'Brien. Leading the charge from the album is the single 'Freedom Fighters', which sees The Music at their truly magnificent best, with a legendary rock guitar crunch, which rings out to a riff that guitar greats would be proud of, topped off with a searing vocal performance. .co.uk ------ The Music are nothing if not confounding. Their second album, Welcome to the North would, based on its title alone, suggest that this quartet wear their Northerness on their sleeve. But rather than producing yet another tired Oasis or Stone Roses pastiche, the Music ( /exec/obidos/artist-search/the%20music/${0} ) decamped to the distinctly un-Northern town of Atlanta, Georgia to work with renowned rock producer Brendan O'Brien (best known for working with Pearl Jam and Soundgarden). The results are thrilling--an over-the-top, bombastic album that often manages to combine the rock power of Led Zeppelin with the epic psychedelia of Jane's Addiction (helped by frontman Robert Harvey's vocal similarities to Perry Farrell and drummer Phil Jordan's breakneck drumming, reminiscent of Stephen Perkins). And though the lyrics occasionally venture into pretension (really, who says "mine eyes" anymore?), they're made forgivable by the power of tracks like "Freedom Fighters" and "Bleed from Within" (which even boasts a drum solo). In fact, the only outright homage to their Northern indie heritage is "I Need Love", with a danceable, New Order-esque bassline that drives the whole thing along. But generally, they stick to their s instead of their roots, making Welcome to the North a great rock album. --Robert Burrow P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review ------ Welcome To The North is that rock cliché, the difficult second album, and that is exactly why it is so exciting. In a year where bands like The Strokes and The Thrills have released sopre efforts which have shown exactly zero musical progression, which have been *easy* second albums, this sees The Music make a leap for artistic greatness. They don't quite make it, but the attempt itself makes for an exhilarating listen. It kicks off with the title track, and kicks off is exactly the right phrase - this is the sound of a drunken brawl on a wet Northern street, built on layers of brutish guitar and a strident, desperate vocal from Robert Harvey. On their debut, Harvey sounded whiny as often as he sounded heroic. On this record he has perfected his instrument, pushing it to howling, raging extremes one moment, then scatting guttural rhythms the next. Like Harvey's voice, Welcome To The North often teeters towards the absurd, but even a song as silly as "Freedom Fighters" is redeemed by its epic scale and the virtuosity of Adam Nutter's guitar work (though Harvey will one day weep with shame that he ever sang "dance for the freedom, hers of the world"). "Bleeding From Within" has a far better lyric, a fierce denunciation of a war which the vast majority of today's careerist rock stars haven't even noticed, perfectly matched by a bruising, brooding musical backdrop which recalls The God Machine at their bleakest. Listening to this album is an intense experience, without a doubt, whether mournfully so in the minor chords and despairing melody of "Fight The Feeling" or ragingly so in the frantic, guitar juggernaut that is "Cessation". Not that The Music totally disdain pop - the nagging keyboard riff and giddy handclaps of "Breakin" make it the album's most lovable and immediate moment. There are occasional misfires. A song as pompous and blatantly indebted to Urban Hymns as "Guide" verves on the ridiculous. But the blatant sincerity of Welcome To The North, the fact that it so clearly cares about music and itself, makes it deeply rewarding. And the best thing about itis that it feels like a stepping stone to somewhere even better. --Je Gill Find more music at the BBC ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/syn//albumreviews/-/music/ ) This link will take you off in a new window See more ( javascript:void(0) )