The Bible

Just as expected. Thank you.

great albumquick delivery

Great songs great album!

Excellent selection

Great band.

The 80's, oh yes, an era of decadence, brashness, loadsamoney, flouro socks, shoulder pads and synthesiser based bombastic tunes. Well if that was the case, nobody told Cambridgeshire based Boo Hewerdine, who from the ashes of his previous band The Great Divide, formed The Bible and composed songs of a maturity and brilliance with a standard of story telling and wordplay that would rival Roddy Frame and Lloyd Cole and to some ears, surpass them.Lloyd Cole and Roddy Frame both as solo artists and with their respective groups The Commotions and Aztec Camera achieved a good level of chart and commercial success during the 80's but what of Boo and his band featured on this collection, The Bible? Well they achieved a strong cult following when signed to an independent label, and once signed to Chrysalis, achieved a couple of minor top 40 'hits' with the re-released singles Graceland and Honey be Good and the dizzy heights of an appearance on Wogan no less, but as far as mainstream success goes that was it, and only two albums in, The Bible called it a day (apart from reforming for anniversary gigs in 2011 and 2012 that is!) and Boo embarked upon a solo career which saw him release several solo albums and many collaborative works over the next 20 years, including being asked by long-time friend Nick Hornby to contribute music to the soundtrack of the film, High Fidelity. Boo's status in the industry was also increasing as a song writer with his material being recorded by other artists such as Eddie Reader, KD Lang, Heidi Talbot and Suggs amongst many others.So enough of the history and what about the tracks featured on this Chrysalis released collection of tunes. Well essentially this is a compilation released back in 1989 of singles released (and their respective b-sides) and stronger album tracks from the Eureka album. The only exception to this is the opening track which is the re-worked and re-released 7" remix of Graceland featured in its original form on earlier album, Walking the Ghost back home.I am happy to report that oh my my, age has served only to re-enforce the awesome standard of song writing and musicianship standard at work here. Album opener Graceland still sounds as chart friendly and wonderful as it did in the day, Crystal Palace still sounds as tight driven along by a sublime bass line and drum part, and Honey be Good still shimmers as wonderfully as it did in 1989 'and if you can't be good, be good at being bad like every girl should'. As for the rest of the tracks which were not singles, well to be honest that is where the great voyage of discovery begins. Away from the magnificent singles, and with less pressure to be commercial perhaps, The Bible really start to relax and the music flows naturally, especially on cover Abraham, Martin & John, Skywriting (their live set and Eureka album opener) and Blue Shoes Stepping (the original Eureka album closer on Vinyl). Cigarette Girls is also worthy of special mention.Boo and his band The Bible where to provide the template and clues to Boo's later works and Boo has rarely failed to deliver uplifting, inspirational and moving music. This album is an introduction to his 80's band really is a must and highly recommended for Fan and non fan. Some bands are followed and liked as a phase, others are just there in the background in one ear and out of the other, and others stay with you for life and form part of the soundtrack to your lives. For me The Bible and Boo's work fall into the latter category. The world may have changed a great deal in 25 years, but my admiration and love of this music has and will remain with me.Cheers Boo.P.S. I believe this title was deleted a long time ago by the record company, so if you are interested in this release, I would advise snapping it up quickly!