C/D: Terence Trent D'arby - Symphony or Damn

...most of whom returned it immediately after purchase.

Enough good stuff (and a little great stuff) to push this one comfortably into the "Classic" column - and I wasn't overfond of his two previous ones. It goes on too long, but that's a foregone conclusion. "Penelope Please" is glorious.

Also: His first halfway-decent album title (still pretty bad tho.)

"Let Her Down Easy" is one of the most generous soul ballads I've ever heard; he redeems a totally icky concept.

liked it alot; but gave up after Vibrator…

J0hn D. is being kind of uncharacteristically snotty here! What the heck, did we stumble into some kind of heretofore undiscovered grudge and/or feud?

This is a great and sorely underrated (?) record.

one of only about 10 albums in the 90's to get five stars out of a possible five stars in its original Q magazine review.

they sure backed a winner with that review

this thread alerted me to the surprising information that people outside of D'Arby's immediate family bought this record

― J0hn D., Tuesday, August 21, 2007

lol. Didn't like the record, you say?

did you buy it?

real talk from youtube:

abualbelawi (1 day ago) Show Hide
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its like a tea with mint in the afternoon after a hard day

I need to listen to this right now, don't I?

did you buy it?

First reaction: You mean me? Yeah, years ago, on cassette, I think. Now I'm fixing to download it from eMusic.

Second reaction: That comment reminded me of an old Prince song, where a guy named Bob George is berating his girlfriend for her having an affair with Prince's manager ("Nice coat, huh. / Did you buy it? / Yeah, right. / You seeing that rich motherf----r again." And so on.). Greatest song ever, maybe.

some days i think i may still be in love with the lady from the wishing well video.

i mean, uh, carry on.

You mean the chick that appears right at the beginning of the video?

I mean "young woman"! Apologies.

leather jacket, short hair, otherwise late-80s fashion sense.

Yeah yeah. She's 'saright.

Apparently, you're not the only one who feels that way about 'that girl.'.

just ordered this on account of y'all. damn.

Hope you didn't overpay. You can get it for, like, a dollar in most used record stores!

nah, it was dirt cheap.

I say again: BABY LET ME SHARE MY LOVE

classic.

God, "Let Her Down Easy."

everyone i knew aged 13 LOVED 'Hardline' i mean LOVED that thing. crossed over to everyone. i always meant to check Symphony... hm.

xpost -- Had nobody mentioned that one on the thread before?

I just remembered I saw him in concert for this album, appearing at the first KROQ summer concert festival from 1993.

BABY LET ME SHARE MY LOVE

(yow!)

dig the Steven Tyler-esque vocalisms on "She Kissed Me."

(^^^aero-bait.)

just remembered I saw him in concert for this album, appearing at the first KROQ summer concert festival from 1993

review??

Let Her Down Easy is amazing. I wonder, if he'd have released this album after the debut maybe he'd have been as big as he looked like he was going to be.

hahah--at the Dylan channeling Otis Redding (or the Four Tops' "Bernadette," maybe?) wordplay/organ surges on "Turn the Page!"

SHE KISSED ME
and PUT IT THERE

this might fall into the ever shrinking category entitled "great forgotten neglected at the time albums that have yet to be reassessed by younger critics or hip bands."

there aren't many left you know!

this might fall into the ever shrinking category entitled "great forgotten neglected at the time albums that have yet to be reassessed by younger critics or hip bands."

We should do a thread on this, though there needs to be some rules so it doesn't just become "my favourite album that I don't see talked about." Perhaps include an argument for why it deserves rehabilitation.

i think it has to be albums by failed or fizzled pop stars, or at least people working in a pop idiom, so it doesn't turn into "this noise cassette from 1985 by a friend of boyd rice that shoulda set the world on fire."

of course that gets tricky too because the first one that popped into my mind when you showed up tim was ultramarine who arent quite pop in the same way ttd was trying to be pop.

I could mention any number of Rosanne Cash and Maze & Beverly records. But, yeah, it's a shrinking category.

haha the radio played a double-shot of beverly/maze today and i did think "here is one r&b sound that will not likely be revived any time soon."

this might fall into the ever shrinking category entitled "great forgotten neglected at the time albums that have yet to be reassessed by younger critics or hip bands."

― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Tuesday, June 21, 2011

She kissed me and
she put it...
there

Your yearly reminder that this album is incredible.

His voice on "I Still Love You"... how??

and on "Let Her Down Easy"