Boo Radleys - Giant Steps Poll

I think Martin Carr just got fed up. Kingsize was a massive compromise between the band and Creation Records, because post-Oasis and 'Wake Up Boo!' (and because C'mon Kids was perceived as some kind of flop), the label actually wanted the band to sell some records.

I think he just got bored. I've read a couple interviews where he said he really didn't care at all about the band when he recorded Kingsize, which makes all the posthumous love for the album funny.

The Boo Radleys sound always evolved between each album, was this always a natural progression or did you ever decide on the theme/sound of an album before you started writing?

It was a natural progression but also a very conscious one. I never wanted our albums to sound the same. I never wanted to do what people with lesser imaginations thought that we would, or should, do. So Giant Steps was a step away from the MBV sound into using more instruments and less conventional arrangements. Wake Up was a stab at pop which we loved although there were only about three or four of those ‘It’s Lulu’ (i really hate that song) type songs on it. Apart from those tunes you would have to be deaf or an idiot to think that the album was similar to what other bands were doing at the time. C’mon Kids was us trying to get back to just being the four of us, no outside musicians. A more dense sound. I’ve no idea what Kingsize was, I’d had enough then. That album probably had the least preparation out of all them.

http://www.creation-records.com/interviews/the-boo-radleys/

Funny seeing an interviewer go on about Electric Soft Parade as if they're relevant... at least it was 2002.

I like this album & band enough to say I've listened to them a considerable amount compared to bands I don't absolutely love, but I can't help but get the sense that their songs don't feel very developed. It's like they're just racing to the next track and showing off a new style. This album particularly suffers from that problem. But when I look at the tracklist I can definitely say I enjoy more than half the tracks. It's a tough one.

For me, I think that's part of the appeal and charm. I've always loved the "stoned mixtape" approach to albums, and this fits in with the grand traditions begun with things like the White Album and Smiley Smile, where it's more about laying down this huge flood of ideas best you can before you forget about them.

I just wonder how a band with so many good ideas didn't really manage to continue making great albums together as a band or solo.

For me, I think that's part of the appeal and charm. I've always loved the "stoned mixtape" approach to albums, and this fits in with the grand traditions begun with things like the White Album and Smiley Smile, where it's more about laying down this huge flood of ideas best you can before you forget about them.

― dog latin, Tuesday, February 12, 2013 4:03 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I agree... this is part of the reason why I like C'mon Kids so much!

I like "It's Lulu." I don't hear any obvious signs of it being worse than any other song on Wake Up.

It's over maligned, for sure, but it's no Joel.

Wake Up is often seen as their chirpy Britpop album, but only because of singles like It's Lulu. The rest of it's still pretty dark, psychedelic and confessional.

One of many great moments on this album: that tiny bit of ludicrously loud high-pitched feedback just before 'Leaves and Sand' kicks in!

i have not thought about this album probably since ILM's Boo Radleys poll from a few years back. i do play that Spotify all the time but was thinking about putting on those first three EPs just this morning. ironic that this thread got bumped. the first three EPs also called Learning to Walk is right up my shoegaze alley, nothing else quite hits that spot in the same way.

I also re-listened to Wake Up! tonight and enjoyed it pretty much start to finish. 'Joel' and 'Martin, Doom! It's Seven O'Clock' particularly stood out as fine slabs of '90s psychedelia, but the singles on it are probably some of the finest pop songs Martin Carr ever penned.

Martin Carr is auctioning off a slew of GS-related swag (including an initial demo tape!)

https://newshapes.co.uk/product/giant-steps-turns-30-martins-attic-bundle/

http://www.booradleys.co.uk/giant_steps/fans.htm

Ten years since the "ten year anniversary" site was set up!

― Mark G, Monday, 11 February 2013 17:00 (ten years ago) link

Fucking hell.

― they all are afflicted with a sickness of existence (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 11 February 2013 17:05 (ten years ago) link

Fucking hell.

Fucking hell indeed

And there we all still are!

30 year and I bought on day of release as I was a huge fan of Everything's Alright Forever. I was not prepared to proclaim best band of the 90s but that is what ultimately happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAD6nrv-zGg