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James - Hey Ma
| Allmusic |
| Seven years is not an extraordinarily long time between albums for bands in the new millennium (some bands take considerably longer), so only those who pay attention closely might realize that James split and reunited in the seven years separating 2001's Pleased to Meet You and 2008's Hey Ma. Apart from the lyrics -- the title track opens with an overt 9/11 reference, as Tim Booth sings "now the towers have fallen" -- Hey Ma is such an extension of the band's signature sound that it's possible to think no time has passed at all, yet that isn't quite accurate....full text |
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| Musicomh |
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This wasn't supposed to happen. But then with all the band reunions taking place over the last couple of years, the reigniting of the James fires had a certain inevitability. The group's critics will, of course, be totally unmoved at the prospect of a rejuvenated Tim Booth crusading at their ears once again, but for others such as yours truly who regard the band's work with Brian Eno as verging on the masterly, it's a privilege we didn't expect....full text |
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| Pitchforkmedia |
| James started out in the early 1980s as just another Manchester band trying to make it big, struggling for attention for the better part of the decade before 1990's Gold Mother finally closed the deal and made them famous. But it wasn't until James reinvented themselves with producer Brian Eno for 1993's largely acoustic Laid that they were revealed as more substantive than their broad-stroke arena-ready rock previously indicated. Out went trumpet player Andy Diagram, in came a sound close to what the Waterboys deemed "the big music," songs at once anthemic and spiritual, though rarely explicitly so. Whiplash kept the ball rolling, but by the time James reconvened with Eno for the underrated Millionaires and its follow-up Pleased to Meet You, it was clear the band had peaked. Singer Tim Booth departed for a solo career (as well as some ill-advised adventures in facial hair), the rest of the group went on hiatus, and the world moved on....full text |
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