Grease Atlas

Overall Album Score: 8.8 out of 10

Another year another album....... Er, another SEVEN years another album. Geez, these guys sure like to bide their time. That's very difficult for their fans to take, but I will say that I strongly prefer this practice instead of releasing many albums full of mediocre material. If only Elton John would have taken that advice! Anyway, all the time The Blue Nile took to produce this album clearly was time very well spent.

Why do I so often read that The Blue Nile took a step back with this release? This is just as well produced as Hats, and it's sure a heck of a lot more interesting. The main difference is this isn't such a synthesizer-led album. There definitely are synthesizer sounds here, but the acoustic guitar is now central. Their inspired sense of song arrangements, however, have never been stronger. There are so many wonderful compositions here with some the finest instrumentals I've ever heard. These guys seal their reputation as audiophile gurus.

"Body and Soul" is really the best of the best in those regards. They begin it with a rather simple groove, but they continue to pack on the instrument sounds. Meanwhile, Paul Buchanan's vocals become even more passionate! Speaking of Buchanan, he's really taking the opportunity to fully reveal what a great singer he is. Not that he didn't give good vocal performances previously, but it's not until now that I have noticed so starkly. I like the soothing, deep tone of his voice when in the more mellow compositions, but he's also turning in some remarkably boisterous performances. The main disappointment of the album, "Holy Love," is redeemed because he gives such a convincing impression of Prince.

The towering achievement of this album is undoubtedly "Family Life." That's one of their mellow pieces, and --- well --- it proves that was their true strength to begin with. The instrumentals don't sound so much impressive but subtle and gorgeous. That's such a beautiful song.

It's worth pointing out that The Blue Nile weren't universally writing great melodies, which is an aspect that would have served them very well on this album. This is an enormously well-done work even without it, but that's the one aspect that's keeping Peace at Last from achieving an even higher rating. Certainly, these guys weren't about the melodies but the instrumentation, but there was no particularly good reason why that had to be the status quo.

Overall Album Score: 8.8 out of 10 (They introduced acoustic gutiars, which constituted a change of style. Don't think they've abandon their audiophile sensibilites, however!)

Average Song Score: 8.9 (These are such universally well written songs! There's only one real disappointment of the bunch, "Holy Love," and even that one's pretty interesting.)

Album Tilt: 8.5 (What a solid album! It's not the easiest thing to sit through for many listeners, but it shouldn't be. This is music, baby.)

Artist Rating: 9.0 (The excellent arrangements more than warrant artistic distinction. Plus, the moods are genuine.)

Track Reviews

Happiness 9/10

I like this one. It's a song about happiness and the major off-putting aspect about it is that it's so mellow. Are happy moments supposed to sound like that? ... To answer my question, I suppose I can see that. Sometimes when something good happens to me, it takes awhile to believe it. The lyrics seem to confirm that "theory." The melody is enchanting, and Paul Buchanan delivers a soulful and convicting vocal performance. The song production is captivating, as you would expect if you heard their earlier albums. The atmosphere is quite thick, lush and well-developed. They even incorporate a gospel choir at the end. Yeah, this is a stark contrast to their earlier works --- especially the debut!

Tomorrow Morning 9.5/10

I love this new sound. Just Buchanan singing along with his acoustic guitar and only a light synthscape in the background, which become grander and more built-up as it progresses. This has a steady and regular backing beat, which I prefer over those endlessly mellow tunes from Hats. Most importantly, however, this is hopelessly captivating! I like the melody, and the production is perfect. Songs that evolve like this are the best, in my opinion.

Sentimental Man 9/10

Whoah. Hear this one! The instrumentation is grandiose and superb. It jumps out at me. It starts out rather gracefully, but they continue to layer on the instrumentals to make something that sounds so noisy and thick. What a wonderfully done track! Those hits of the horn synthesizer lend this a towering texture, and the rhythm guitar plucks along beautifully. Buchanan's singing his heart out, especially during a point in the middle, and he has such a beautiful voice. This isn't so much a melodic song, but one that show cases all the instruments gushing out of the speakers. In that respect, it's rather like Kate Bush's "Big Sky."

Love Came Down 8.5/10

This is still quite excellent, but what's missing here is are those glorious arrangements. That's OK, I don't expect them to hit a goldmine every single time. This is still a very well done song with some passionate singing, and an entirely decent melody. Though I'd say it's blander than usual. The arrangements most predominantly features the acoustic guitar, but there's a well developed synthscape as well. Nice.

Body and Soul 9.5/10

Yeah, hear this excellent production! Again, they prove to me masters of sound layering... by the end, there are so many sounds coming out of the speakers, and absolutely nothing seems out of place or too much. Everything from that straight ahead rhythm, those pizacatto strings, the horn hits and a wide array of synthesizers doing their own thing in the background. The fact they managed to pull of something this wonderful sounding can only be explained for the fact that they are audiophile perfectionists. The melody is immediately catchy (so this song is a bit better than "Sentimental Man" in those regards), and once again Buchanan nails the vocal performance. Wow.

Holy Love 8/10

Hah, this starts out with some deep vocal "oohs" as you might expect glancing at the song title. Anyway, this is a relatively brief track and shockingly minimal. After that rather simple intro, there's about a minute worth of Buchanan singing along with a drum machine and a synth-bass. There's an orchestral build-up in the middle but that's not nearly as interesting or well developed as the previous tracks. I will say that Buchanan's vocal performance is very fun --- he's delivering a flashy, soulful performance of the Prince variety.

Family Life 10/10

Back to their mellow roots! Hey, don't get me wrong, I like their mellow roots. This track, especially, is very exquisite. It starts out very well, and Buchanan's continuing to be a wonderful singer with his signature deep and soothing performance. The orchestration starts out rather minimal with a piano and a very light strings in the background. The orchestral build-up in the middle is so FREAKING well done that it surely takes my spirits for a quite a wonderful ride. This is a beautiful song.

War is Love 8.5/10

The vocals aren't quite in their top form this time, in my opinion. He comes off sounding rather dreary and droning. Likewise our audiophile perfectionists are still quite exceptional, but they weren't quite taking this opportunity to deliver their finest work. What's left is the melody, which is quite alright. Some of the hooks are a bit flat, though. This track has a tendency to get dull, but I still appreciate its exquisite and thoughtful nature.

God Bless the Kid 8/10

They're racking on another song that layers on the sounds as it goes along. Again, I really love it when they do that. It lends their music a foward progression that often leads to glorious results, and this song isn't much of an exception. Though I think they did it a little better already in the album. To make matters worse, they really made a mistake at the end when they stripped out the synthscape and faded out with some uninspired funk guitars. Meh.

Soon 9/10

But at least they end it with one of their good old mellow tunes. This is a bit of a throwback to their debut album with some relatively stripped down sounds with lone hits from a trumpet synthesizer. Buchanan's singing some frilly notes in his smooth, low register style. Luckily, there's an orchestral build-up in the middle although the song does seem to end on a more or less inconsequential note. Well, this is a fine closer.

Hats!!!! Hats????