Believed in Magic, Believed in Lore...
Written: Sep 04 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The first half is unbeatable
Cons: Final studio album from the original lineup
The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line is about to implode in the middle of a North American support tour...
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| teamfreak16's Full Review: Carved In Sand by The Mission UK |
In 1989, while recording the follow up to their popular 1988 release, Children, Goth-rockers The Mission seemed poised for even bigger things.
The John Paul Jones-produced Children had produced a couple of (UK) hits, and the album sold well, hitting #2 on the UK Chart, and #126 on Billboard's Top 200. Children had been considered by many to be the band's most consistent album to that point, and it's success put the band in a position of strength as they recorded Children's successor.
Despite the successful collaboration with Jones, for Carved in Sand, the band went back into the studio with Tim Palmer, who had produced The Mission's debut, God's Own Medicine. The result was an album almost as strong as Children - the first half of Carved in Sand is some of the best work the band ever did, the second half is good, not great, which drags the CD down at times.
Carved in Sand proved to be more popular than Children, at least in the United States. In the UK, Carved in Sand peaked at #7, but provided two Top 40 British hits. In America, however, The Mission finally achieved that elusive hit single, with two Billboard appearances, including a #6 Modern Rock Chart placement for Deliverance. (The album also became the band's highest U.S. placer, peaking at #101 on the Billboard 200.) None of this, of course, changed the minds of the music media, who continued mercilessly hammering away at the band.
Carved in Sand also represents the final studio album recorded by the original lineup of Wayne Hussey, Craig Adams, Mick Brown, and Simon Hinkler. On tour in North America, guitarist Hinkler would walk out on the group, effectively ending The Mission as we knew it.
Carved in Sand begins on a strong note with Amelia, a commentary on incest. Vocalist Hussey had never sounded so angry, spewing lines like daddy loves his little girl over his acoustic. The band kicks in, charging through an equally angry soundtrack, with drummer Brown standing out, as usual, with his powerful drumming. Craig Adams drives Into the Blue with a bombastic, relentless bass line, as the band continues the high-energy theme that opened the CD. Occasional David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels makes an appearance here, credited with additional guitar. The layers of guitars work well together, quietly supporting Hussey's vocals, occasionally coming to the forefront, yet mostly staying out of the way as Adams and Brown bash away. I have always taken this song as a reference to drug addiction, with lyrics such as candle flames and razor blades,dancing through the poppy fields, hand in hand, we cascade,into the blue.
The pace slows down a bit for the beautiful Butterfly on a Wheel. Hussey supposedly wrote the mid-tempo ballad about the end of a relationship between Hinkler and All About Eve leader Julianne Regan. The band plays along with a sequenced beat and a sad, atmospheric synthesizer track. Marion Zimmer Bradley's popular novel The Mists of Avalon serves as the inspiration for the next two songs, Sea of Love, and Deliverance. Once it kicks in, Sea of Love is a fairly straightforward rock song. The drumming is heavy, as is custom with this band, the bass is steady, the guitars chime, and it serves as a nice lead in for Deliverance.
Deliverance is this album's tour de force, and one of The Mission's greatest songs ever. If you have read the above referenced book, you can practically envision Viviane, in her boat, raising the mists of Avalon during the songs dramatic opening. Once it gets going, Deliverance features The Mission in all of their bombastic glory. The drums and bass are loud and vigorous, the guitars play along quickly, and the chorus is shouted like an anthem. Deliverance is possibly The Mission's most perfect attempt at mixing Goth with arena rock.
And there you have it, a near perfect first half. So what, you may ask, is so wrong with the second half? Well, nothing, really, other than the fact that it just is not quite as good.
Grapes of Wrath, for instance, is a beautiful piano and synthesizer piece, but Hussey overdoes it a bit on the honest day's work cliche's. Belief does live up, opening with a beautiful guitar riff and settling into a nice, dark, bass-heavy rock groove.
A typical Mission minstrel-style acoustic guitar opens Paradise (Will Shine Like the Moon.) The light bongo percussion is a nice touch. When the song finally kicks in, it sounds like something taken from Children and cranked up a notch. Good enough, yet not enough to fit on the first half. Hungry as the Hunter is a rather fast-paced romp with more drug-addiction references. Lovely closes the CD with an homage to God by John Lennon. On God, Lennon sings about what he does not believe in, on Lovely, Hussey sings about what he does believe in. It is short and sweet, but I have never felt that it belongs on this album.
All in all, Carved In Sand is a fine listen, whether you are a Mission fan or not. Rock fans in general may enjoy this, for it is not as dark as earlier efforts, and, frankly, more than a few songs veer into arena-rock territory. However, this album could have been much, much better - The Mission followed this up with an album (Grains of Sand) comprised of (mostly) outakes from the Carved In Sand sessions.
I am still scratching my head over why some of those were left off of here. I would have swapped Lovely; Hungry as the Hunter; Grapes of Wrath; and maybe even Paradise for some of the songs on that next release. Which songs? Ahhhh, but that is the next review in this series, so all I will say now is: doing so would have made this the Mission CD to own. Carved In Sand is good, but it could have been great.
For related opinions:
Children
Recommended:
Yes
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