Space Flower

Space Flower is a syrupy-sweet album. It is full of nonsense-love lyrics like, "she's my love-flavoured melting blue delicious," "she's a butterfly girl," "she's candy-coated, she's honey-toasted, it tastes like Tuesday everywhere," food references like "tangerine temple, cinnamon skies" and "chocolate bubblegum," and child-like lines such as the "I'm a.../you're a..." back-and-forth in "I'm A Lighthouse" and "we're all staying at the magic hotel" in "Magic Hotel." Imagine a  Cure  album where every single song was a version of "The Lovecats" or "Friday I'm In Love."This is certainly nothing like  Bringing Home The Ashes , the sober-faced debut of The Wild Swans. The thoughtful religious strain from that album is almost totally gone. Perhaps the only exception is "Immaculate," which even sounds like a leftover from the debut, and seems to obliquely refer to certain religious images. But that's all -- other songs seem much more, uh, worldly in nature, with "Butterfly Girl" mentioning the  Kama Sutra  and "Melting Blue Delicious" longingly rhyming, "she paints her toenails spectral blue / she's like a candle, half burnt through." The only connection remaining to the band's post-punk roots is Paul Simpson's voice, which is still disarmingly, winningly mannered. It sounds a little weaker on Space Flower than it did before, possibly because the production is no longer focused on making it sound foreboding. Simpson also frequently adopts a saccharine croon, for instance on the chorus of "Tastes Like Tuesday."Well, this isn't all bad. Space Flower is a nice breezy sort of album, as good for summertime as Bringing Home The Ashes was for the winter. Certainly there are lots of catchy choruses, and if you think about it, the lyrics of "Melting Blue Delicious" are actually kind of clever and memorable. But I can't help myself -- I really liked the balanced, serious-yet-uplifting tone of Bringing Home The Ashes, so as much as I enjoy the songs on Space Flower, the line "chocolate bubblegum will set you free" makes me pine for the days when pain was April rain upon my skin.One big plus is the music, which is actually better than on Bringing Home The Ashes. There's more of a sixties influence -- the fat-bottomed letters on the cover should be a clue, and the lyrics are very " Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds ." Although there are still few standout rhythms or musical phrases, and many guitar parts still sound similar, the drums are looser than on the first album, with more energy and detail. For example, there's the speedy beat in "Tangerine Temple," with numerous fills, and also the peculiar shuffling rhythm in "I'm A Lighthouse." There is more stylistic variation, with a psychedelic riff leading "Melting Blue Delicious," backing vocal harmonies in "Butterfly Girl," and slower, chime-laden soundscapes in the title track and "Sea Of Tranquility." The guitar passages in the latter even start to sound a bit like songs from  Laid  by James ("Knuckle Too Far"), which is high praise in my book. I even like the minute-long acoustic interlude "Vanilla Melange," which is airy and slight, but quite adorable.The bonus tracks are insubstantial. There is an alternate mix of "Melting Blue Delicious" by none other than pop music opportunist  Bill Drummond . As far as I can tell, it is exactly identical to the album version, except for the addition of gratuitous female backing vocals. (A fitting metaphor for the  KLF 's entire career...) The other five bonus tracks are demo versions of songs on the album, all sounding pretty much the same as the final cut, a couple with very slightly modified lyrics. This is a bit disappointing compared to the reissue of Bringing Home The Ashes, where all the bonus tracks were originals, with no repeats or demos.In the end, Space Flower is a good album, especially if you've a high tolerance for the sticky-sweet. However, Bringing Home The Ashes is in a whole separate class. It's an album to come back to, whose tone can really resonate when one wants to pause and reflect, whereas Space Flower is ultimately a fun, cute diversion.

The Wild Swans 1988 debut album, Bringing Home the Ashes, is a home run: Excellent melodic angsty songs, good chimey arrangements, well sung, winning from end-to-end.At the time of its initial release, I was quite looking forward to this, the followup (and as it would unfold, final) major label album. What a disappointment it turned out to be. The melodies don't stick, the lyrics seem slight, and ultimately it passes without making much impression. Such a disappointment. It's not horrible; just horribly mediocre.Go back and get Bringing Home the Ashes, which holds up quite well 23 years on. This album is simply a footnote to a career that didn't really play out the way it appeared it might.

This is a good album, but to understand it you need to understand the time. The debut "Briunging Home the Ashes" was a late 80's mope masterpiece, influenced heavily, I believe, by the Smiths. This album, however, was a sharp turn to a psychadelic early rave-influenced sound. Though I did not love this upon release, I did like it, and in retrospect it grows better with each listen. In the context of the time, it has songs reminiscent of "Fools Gold" by Stone Roses in grooviness but with a much more 60's themed dopey psychedelia. Definately influenced by the Ex & ah-ceed so available during the early 90's. A pleasent distraction for today.

Kind of a swirling, popish, alt. band that is largelyforgotten. HOWEVER, I'd recommend Space Flower foryour listening pleasure. Some great songs on thisalbum and although heavily produced, will provide agreat listen for anyone looking for something a bitdifferent from the glory of the late 80's/early 90'salternative music scene.

Wanted a copy of this for ages, after hearing "The Coldest Winter..." It's not as good as the later album by any stretch, but is quite good. Worth getting a cheap copy of.

One of my favourite albums of all time, but then again so are all the Wild Swans albums. Paul Simpson's voice is something truly amazing to listen to and although there are many critics of it, the production by Ian Broudie and the musicianship of the backing band are second to none. It is true that the lyrics didn't have the same depth or maybe tackle the same themes as on their first and third album but that in no way makes it any less enjoyable. They created some pretty unique sounds on this album that many bands later tried to copy - just listen to Smashing Pumpkins "1979" and you hear what The Wikd Swans were doing with "Chocolate Bubblegum" many years earlier. Songs like "Sea of Tranquility" pictured some of the direction Paul would later take with his Skyray project, which is something also worth searching out. The only sad thing is that they never got the recognition they deserved and this we were robbed of hearing the many more albums that could have been if Paul had stuck with doing more music with the Wild Swans. It's nice to see they returned years later and released an exceptional album, but I still would like to hear more. At least in some parts of the world they treated with more respect and appreciation. Here's to hoping that their flight continues and we get to hear more by this very special band.

Didn't know well the work of this band and I'm happy to risk purchasing this item. Highly recommended.I do explain why you liked or disliked this product and I do identify specific attributes and I don't include promotional content.