Blue Nile

[Rude Boy]

Are there any other fans of the quite wonderful band Blue Nile out there? If so they are due to release a new album, their fourth, at the end of August. A new album from the Blue Nile is quite something to behold as they average one per five years! They are true musical "Tortoises" akin to Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Roger Waters etc.

If you don't know of them they are really worth checking out, the singer, Paul Buchanan, has a beautiful voice and their songs are moving and superbly crafted.

[Marblehead Johnson]

Bought the first album "A Walk Across The Rooftops" when it was released (1983!!!!) -still a classic - and you're right about Buchanan's voice - superb.

"Tinstletown in the Rain" is one of my all time favourite tracks.

[Rude Boy]

Oh now you're talking...great stuff! My personal favourite is the "Hats" album, if ever an album was suited to a late night listen this is the one. I was introduced to The Blue Nile in an odd fashion, a really dodgy bloke had a pub' near me and one day he happened to have literally hundreds of copies of the "Hats" album and a similar number of an album by a heavy metal band called "Dokken." God knows what he'd been up to!

He was dishing out these cds free to everyone in the pub' so I took them home and gave them a listen and "Hats" blew me away and I've been a fan ever since.

Paul Buchanan sings on a few tracks on Peter Gabriel's "Ovo" album as does Richie Havens who also has a phenomenal voice.

[Pervert]

Havens has a remarkable voice. Some of the stuff on OVO is great---and it features another great singer, in Elizabeth Fraser of the totally fruit-loop Cocteau Twins.

Sounds like I'm going to have to check out the Blue Nile.

[Rude Boy]

"Sounds like I'm going to have to check out the Blue Nile."

I think you'll enjoy what you hear, I don't know what to big-up as a good starting point as there are only three albums out there at the moment! I think the cop-out answer is...any of them!

I liked quite a bit of OVO but his latest album, "Up", blew me away totally and I personally think it's his best album since his monumental third and fourth albums or "Melt" and "Mask" as they are otherwise known. I was reading in a Sunday paper that PG owns a hotel out in Sardinia, it was his favourite place to stay and he heard it was going to be redeveloped so he bought it! The man is a just a God and a hotel owning God at that!

[Marblehead Johnson]

I think PG 2 is a very under-rated album - but Gabriel isn't that keen on it, he feels that it was rushed, there's some great playing on it however.

"melt" and "mask" is where he started getting into world music/electronics. Interesting how everyone thought that Phil Collins had invented that distinctive drum sound on "In the air tonight" whereas actually it came from him playing on "Intruder" on PG4 and Gabriel telling him he wasn't allowed to use his cymbals!!

Fav track on "Up" is "No Way Out"

[Pervert]

It's a sign of the times that a brilliant album like Up is virtually ignored, save for the Springer-slagging Barry Williams Show. The likes of PG and Kate Bush can be tortoises as much as they want. When they do release albums, they contain quality songs.

Off to check Blue Nile album reviews on Amazon.