Pale Saints - Throwing Back the Apple
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Category: Music CD
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CD Details
Artist: Pale SaintsEdition: Music CD
Format: Import, Single
CD Release Date: 1992-05-11
Music Label: Bo
Soundtracks:
- Throwing Back the Apple
- Blue Flower
- Half Life, Remembered
- Reflections from a Watery World
Music reviews of Throwing Back the Apple
Music Review: good, with a hidden gem.
Rating: 4 Stars
It's tough to review old EPs. Do we judge them purely on their recorded merit, or do we have to see them through a certain kind of lens? I'm referring to the fact that it's now years later, and people reading this review are probably looking to complete a Pale Saints collection, rather than make an impulse buy based on a radio single. In that case, maybe "Throwing back the Apple" has to justify itself more on the strength of its supporting material than its eponymous single. I'll leave that up to the reader.
The song is certainly a good one, although if you've purchased the excellent "In Ribbons" album, you hardly need to buy this to hear it. It features one of the signature elements of the Pale Saints sound: a driving, hard rhythm guitar riff trading off with or coming up against pretty, dreamy lead guitar lines, with an idiosyncratic but catchy beat from drummer Chris Cooper. Bassist/vocalist/songwriter Ian Masters has the voice of a choral tenor. It's clean, oddly androgynous, and almost angelic. Guitarist Meriel Barham contributes ethereal, atmospheric backing vocals on the title track and the B-side "Half Life Remembered."
"Half Life Remembered' is the strongest of the bunch on this EP, and exactly the kind of track the music fan looks for in a purchase like this one. It's a redone version of an older song, and an improvement in every respect. The original had a great foundation, but suffered from poor production and strange arrangement. Their producer for "In Ribbons," Hugh Jones, makes all the difference in putting the right polish on "HLR," elevating it to excellence. An imaginative bassline combines with the aforementioned guitars, while Masters makes an odd contrast between the qualities of his voice and his disturbing lyrical theme of drug addiction. It's an enchanting song and tough to get out of your head once it gets in.
While I'm a fan of Barham's almost detached vocal delivery and her ability to create different moods, her solo effort on the second track, a wistful ballad cover, doesn't seep in like you'd hope. The instrumental closer, "Reflections From a Watery World," is nothing special. For whatever reason, Pale Saints seem to lose their way when they try instrumental tracks. It's not that their efforts at these kinds of pieces are bad; they are just rarely memorable. In this case they do absolutely nothing to justify the relative expense of an EP.
I highly recommend the album "In Ribbons," in any case, and can add that as a fan of that album I am still happy with my acquisition of this cd, despite the fact that I already have the title track.
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