James: The Best Of James
As I have said many times, BritPop "wasn't my time" but when assessing its output I have come to the conclusion that James were damn good. There is seriously not a bad track on this album - every one has a killer of a hook. I have to say that it is a most enjoyable listen, whether you know any of the songs or not. You can get into them instantly.
The vaguely funky groove of Come Home taps into the contemporary Happy Mondays/Stone Roses dance rock vibe - full of programmed drum loops and similar keyboard dance music ones. The track is an intense, dense one, interjected by some searing, industrial guitar and topped off with a gritty vocal. If I didn't know it was James I would have thought it was The Happy Mondays or Black Grape.
Sit Down is the track that went totally stratospheric for James, guaranteed to get those "uni" students jumping around at halls-of-residence parties or summer festivals. I have to say that it a completely irresistible singalong number, full of joyous swing, Glitter Band drums and an anthemic Waterboys-style sound. It sounds ludicrous to say that I have always loved it, given that I didn't know who it was, but it is the truth. I can't hear it without getting a vision of a sunny evening at a festival somewhere and girls in skimpy vests on their boyfriends' shoulders waving their arms in the air. My favourite BritPop number by far.
She's A Star has a slightly George Harrison-style wailing guitar backing and another of those semi-sad, plaintive but simultaneously very expressive lead vocals. The high-pitched chorus is very catchy, again. They could nail a hook, this lot.
The infectious, high-pitched wails and rhythms of Laid have a real sixties riff backing them and we also get some wryly amusing saucy lyrics about sex in the first verse - only coming when she's on top etc. It is a poppy and mightily appealing, spirits-lifting number. No shoegazing here. Compared to many of their contemporaries. James were a most accessible, enjoyable band. Waltzing Along is also in that instantly appealing category - it is breezy, singalong and carefree. There is just something summery about so much of these songs - play them on a sunny morning in June or July, as indeed I am doing as I write this.
Say Something has a lovely, quietly infectious beat/keyboard and bass backing and yet another fine vocal from a most underrated singer. Those drums are very Larry Mullen-esque and that is not the first time I have said that in my James reviews.
Born Of Frustration has a sort of U2 meets Bruce Springsteen howling vocal intro before we are introduced to the horns for the first time and the music breaks out into a big "la-la-la" stadium rock, Simple Minds-esque refrain. Tim Booth's vocals have, all of a sudden, become huge, rousing affairs. Those rousing, high-pitched wails are something else, I have to say, something quite unique.
Tomorrow is an insistent drum-driven number, a kind of catchy post punk one, its attractiveness raising above any potential darkness. It gets stronger as the fuzzy guitar kicks in and the overall sound gets more urgent. Tim Booth's delivery gets more energetic and intense. Destiny Calling is probably the most obviously BritPop number on here, with the cynical vocals suddenly becoming laddish and the cadences just having that nineties vibe to them. The chorus is a big one too. I can't help but like it.
Out To Get You is a brooding, low-key opener to the album, sort of Lou Reed meets U2 on a track that builds up in a style reminiscent of Public Image's Rise, particularly near the end. Beginning with an archetypal jangly guitar intro more typical of the era than of James themselves, Runaground is also reminiscent of U2 but James also give it their own stamp. It is the album's most solid rock number. It still has an overall catchiness that their songs always had.
Lose Control is a haunting, sombre Joy Division-influenced offering (not just in the title) with a clear post punk influence. If their album was anything to go by, James were more in the latter category than the carefree BritPop one. They soon changed, however. It remains this compilation's darkest number, but then James didn't really do dark, did they? The tuneful brass helps to prove that.
Sometimes sees a return to more recognisable stadium singalong tones, as the acoustic guitars strum frenetically and Tim Booth's vocal is once more very Waterboys with vague hints of Deacon Blue in the melody and in the occasional phraseology - the "I swear I can hear the sea ..." line. As with many James songs, it ends on a huge built-up crescendo of sound. The rocking ambience continues on the riffy, almost Stonesy How Was It For You? Check out that cowbell and Keith Richards-esque guitar chops. Both of these tracks are really good - not just ones that have me thinking "they're ok for a BritPop band" but ones that I genuinely think are good.
The highly-successful Seven album ends on a high with its title track, and, guess what? It's a U2-style rocker. Again, though, the blissful, invigorating trumpet gives it something special of its own. That, and the impressive vocals, takes you higher.
Sound starts with another very U2-esque feel and indeed, as it continues, is so like U2 as to be a bit embarrassing. Never mind, it is a great track, full of atmosphere and there is something sharper and clearer about James's sound compared to the industrial murk of U2 at the time. As I said earlier, Booth's vocal wailing gives him something of a unique sound too. Those drums around two minutes in are just so Larry Mullen, though, aren't they?
One of the Seven album's most impressive tracks is Ring The Bells, which is full of catchy riffs, rolling drums and killer hooks on both the verses and chorus. It is one of the few James tracks to come close to matching the anthemic vibe of Sit Down, their one truly massive tune. I have to say it is pretty magnificent throughout, ending with some great guitar and drums interplay. I love it. We end this excellent collection with the rhythmic, Talking Heads-ish Hymn From A Village, a track that shows a bit of diversification.
Just a great album here, from beginning to end.
