Tuesday, August 28, 2007

How things could have been

OK. So listening to Deep In The Shallows has made me think a little bit...

For some reason, fans of The Church tend to be a bit on the compulsive side. They are just one of those bands that people have a tendency to really really love - to the point of it being an obsession.

Now every fan has their story about how they got into the band - and I would wager a majority of them involve seeing Under The Milky Way on 120 Minutes or hearing it on the radio around that time. I'd be lying if I said Starfish wasn't my first Church album (well, CD) purchase. Thankfully, Arista rereleased their entire backcatalog at the same time so I was quickly able to get my hands on Of Skins And Heart, The Blurred Crusade, Seance, Remote Luxury, and Heyday. I played all six of those CDs non-stop for a long long time. I also stumbled upon Conception at an indie record shop and paid $25 just to get A Different Man. Yes - I was hooked and I was crazy!!!!!

But...

The first time I heard them was on MTV when I saw the video for The Unguarded Moment. I really liked the song a lot. My brother and I had a somewhat compulsive bent to really like bands with Rickenbackers too - and of course Marty has one of his Ricks sitting on a stand in the background and I'm sure my brother and I pretty much stared at the guitar the whole time. Plus, Peter looked so damn cool in his scarf and all...

I can't tell you how many times I looked at their album at the record store after hearing The Unguarded Moment. Never bought it though.

I've always wondered what would have happened if I did..

I'm sure I would have loved it. It was The Church album which was the US version of OSAH which was the mix of the original Of Skins and Heart and some of the songs from the Tear It All Away/Too Fast For You double single.

I'm sure it would have been life-changing, although to be perfectly honest I can't imagine it would have been nearly as life-changing as Starfish was.

Now, if i would have ever heard Almost With You (which I probably wouldn't have since The Blurred Crusade was only available as an import at the time and I was still too young to be able to frequent the indie stores since I couldn't drive yet!) I know I would have been hooked.

I guess things happen for a reason and everything seems to have worked out well. I have the best of both worlds - an obsession which started in the late 80s and an incredible appreciation for what they did in the early and mid-80s to fill in some of the cracks.

Sue said they're going back into the studio in September. As awesome as Uninvited Like The Clouds is I can only imagine what will come our way (hopefully) next year.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

In reflection

Interesting weekend - well last weekend since this weekend isn't here yet and I've been too lazy to update the old blog this week.

Went to a good friend's wedding reception last weekend. Strange this sort of thing occurs in the middle of SK's lovey dovey blogging recently.

Other than the fact it was strange this particular reception was right around what would have been my anniversary and it really wasn't nearly as hard for me as I thought it might have been (I guess that's good, right?), it did make me reflect somewhat.

They actually had their wedding at a resort in Colorado with just close friends and family. Man - the pictures were amazing. It got me thinking how wonderful it would be to have a group of close friends who would love to share that kind of experience with me. Think about it - six friends and spouses who would pay to spend a few days with you at a place that couldn't have been cheap. Obviously, I have a great family and they would certainly not have a problem with that sort of thing at all...

So, considering I'm a hell of a lot closer to 40 than not I realized I will most likely never have that sort of a circle of friends. While that does make me somewhat sad, when you compare it to the "troubles" of a lot of people out there in the world it really isn't that big of a deal, right?

I have so much to be happy about and even though my little "transition" period is going on two years now I certainly am not crying myself to sleep every night or anything.

Just something to make me sit back and think. I'm so happy for them. Hope it all works out!

As for Churchy things - Deep In The Shallows came this past weekend!

Funny thing eek, I did the same thing. Put the CDs in my player and haven't really listened to it yet but I have read the booklet and looked at the pictures. I also ordered one of my copies with the t-shirt (even though I already had one of those shirts) to give me a much better chance of all of the CDs arriving in unbroken cases! It worked! All present and accounted for and unbroken. Sometimes I do get lucky!

I have made it through the Seance songs. It's so great to hear some of these songs in a different order. It gives them somewhat of a different life to me. I had heard all of the different versions before except for the edit of When You Were Mine. Interesting to say the least - it almost sound like a different take to me but I only listened to it once so I'll reserve further judgement.

If anyone is on the fence about getting Deep In The Shallows I highly recommend it! Great liner notes and absolutely wonderful pictures!

I had always though David Fricke was kind of an idiot - especially from his appearances on some of the VH1 Classic Albums shows - but after reading his praise of The Church I will forever give him all benefit of the doubt!