High

Artist: The Blue Nile
Label: Sanctuary Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 060768636828
EAN: 0060768636828
ASIN: B0002L57U0

Release Date: 2004-08-31

High

Related Categories:

General

| Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative

| Pop | Styles | Music

Tracks:

The Days Of Our Lives
I Would Never
Broken Loves
Because Of Toledo
He Saw The World
High
Soul Boy
Everybody Else
Stay Close

Similar Items:

Hats
A Walk Across the Rooftops
Peace at Last
The Space Between Us
As If to Nothing

Amazon.com

Some eight barren years have elapsed since Glasgow's nocturnal melancholics the Blue Nile last tendered a studio album. However, patience is a virtue and "High"--which features material conceived and recorded over a ten year period, including a song once gifted to a former Spice Girl--yields a generous dividend for prostrate audiophiles and sleepwalking nighthawks alike. Like a far-away comet circling the universe in sublime and yet static perpetuity, the Blue Nile maneuver impressively into view every few years having changed very little, a compliment which can scarcely be applied to many other artists in their profession. In the manner of Talk Talk's Mark Hollis or Jackie Leven, Paul Buchanan's distressed utterances exude a downcast but romantic spirituality, mining a rich blue seam of fatigued detachment from the diaphragm upwards while somewhere in the background pianos, electronic drums, and subtle acoustic guitars pulse inconspicuously and yet with all the assurances of a heart steadily beating inside the chest. Eavesdropping on restaurant conversations, gazing at passing cars, looking at "the morning people going to work and fading away" is the stuff of cold, terminal exclusion but "High" is beautifully warm, offering the uncluttered quiescent orderliness of sonic Feng Shui for the soul. --<I>Kevin Maidment</I>

Customer Reviews:

The music evokes so many emotions and opinions as evident on this page..........2006-04-26

I too like many of the folks here, am a HUGE HUGE HUGE Blue Nile fan. I began listening in the late 80's when I heard Headlights on the Parade on the public radio station in Nashville, TN. It has been the only band/record that has ever spoken to me so intensely and reflectively at that time in my life. I figured over the years (of growth, relationships-good and bad, love, loss, melancholy, joy, elation, evolution) that my seemingly lonely position of being the only person to LOVE this band- would fade. It has not. I looked long and hard for the next album after Peace At Last (an ok set); and found it with HIGH. I intensely (and with beating heart) skimmed the snippets of the tunes before purchasing hoping another track would speak to me as many did in the 80's- 10+ years later, BN has not lost their ability to reach in and connect with the innermost corners of psyche and subconcious. The minute I heard 'Stay Close' I felt like something long gone for over 10 years had come back to life. I listened over and over and over. I felt no one else on earth could understand my connection to this band. Clearly there ARE OTHERS. Its cultish. I hope to see a performance in some seedy London back club one of these days and who knows... one might just might find the renaissance man himself- Sting- sitting in the back sipping a smart cocktail... (or a green tea) ala Christian McBride :)

Strikes a Chord.......2006-02-15

I just wanted to add my two cents to the Blue Nile reviews and opinion section of Amazon. I have been following Blue Nile since about the 80's and i must say they had an affect on me spiritually, emotionally and even more. They rode with me as i traversed rocky relationships, family problems and directions in life. There is something inherent in their music that goes beyond having to release records due to the stardom of being rockstars or the glam and glory of it all. They seem to write out of life itself, breath itself, the need to express themselves in such an emotional and personal way. This new record of theirs may have been long due, but once again the ingenious esoteric unspokeness about their sound shines forth again. It's funny so often i tend to compare one record to the next and sit back and say that one is better or worse, but at the end of the day it is more of a collage and a collaboration of several musicians coming together in whatever shape or form they do it in and bring something magical to the ears of humanity. I cannot say that about many bands but few. Maybe the Cocteau Twins, The Chameleons and such...in this genre but overall they shine with a brilliance that one must hear with open ears and open eyes. Til the next time my dear friends, write til your tears, joys and stories unfold and can be experienced and embraced by others...thank you

dull folks- with a few bright spots.......2005-11-06

Sorry, this recording is as much a disappointment as "Peace at Last." I love the Blue Nile, but the musical arrangmements of the last two albums lack the imagination and precision of the first two recordings. There is little counterpoint, staccato rhythms, grand arrangements or just plain instrumental interludes that brought depth to the lyrical vision of this great group on "Walk Across the Rooftops" and "Hats." There are, in my mind, two exceptions. First the title track and I Would Never bring the combination of yearning and melancholy within the landscapes that are so unique to the Blue Nile. Buchanan still has that soulful melancholy voice intact, and it is a beautiful instrument. Too bad he had to give us such boring arrangements with little imagination or flair. I used to grab Blue Nile recordings when they came out with great anticipation. Now I feel like when I buy a Moody Blues album-2 or 3 great cuts with the rest filler. I expect more from these guys as to me they are one of the few groups that really mattered and had forged a unique sound in popular music, which is a gift in itself. The group has not lost its sound, but to me it has lost a lot of its ability to give us music that gave us a fleeting yet profound glimpse into the yearnings, hopes and disappointments of all of our lives.

dont hesitate.......2005-08-30

understated avantgard. enoesque inspiration. john cale's type of voice and inspiration with a touch of scott walker flight...

dont hesitate.......2005-08-30

this is so avant garde in disguise, such an understated jewel.

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