Unfinished SymphoniesAbsolutely have to agree with Mark Astons review here over the missing-middle-eight-repetitiveness of this album. At first listen it sounds like a glorious sugar coated update of the Screams first album, "Sonic Flower Groove", with "Beautiful Future" and the "Glory of Love "(in both forms) particularly brilliant in a second-summer-of-pop type way. "Uptown" is good in the same way that "Trainspotting" and "Screamadelica" (the track not the album) were, and cover "Over & Over" is another Broken Bobby (TM) version of "Damaged". But it's true, all these songs sound unfinished and either repeat themselves adnausium in some sick loop after about 20 seconds, or else take the cursed fade out route at the end. Criminal stuff because this could have been once of The Screams best albums. As it is it bores you senseless after a couple of listens.
Played it Over & OverThis Primal Scream album is one which takes a little getting used to, and repeated plays on the ipod have convinced me of its quality. In my opinion many of the reviews have been a little too critical and some people maybe expecting too much from a band who change approach and direction with almost every track and album.
The many uptempo tracks really hit the spot and the slowest Over & Over is really excellent.
Looking forward to seeing many of these tracks, along with some old classics, played live on the upcoming tour.
I suggest anyone who liked any Primal Scream album should buy it, give it a few listens, and make up your own mind as many of the reviews, I believe, are misleading.
IN A WORD : YAWN!god knows what the scream were thinking when they made "beautiful future"; this album is so blatantly commercial, it could make you scream (pun intended).
I miss everything that this band ever stood for - and I say this with about 13 or so years hindsight: there`s no urgency here, no irony, nothing...not even real sleaze...it`s simply utterly boring.
in a nutshell, primal scream have obviously run out of ideas: this might well be their last shot at chart success - and the scream`s motivation for targeting the kiddie market. mark my words, it`s not gonna work.
therefore, avoid this one like the pest; and hope for better days...maybe.
beautiful future? not.
Which Primal Scream?OK so there are two Primal Screams. The Scream that did XTRMNTR and EVIL HEAT, and the band that produced RIOT CITY BLUES. Personally I love RCB, but not everyone does. So what you need to know is that IMHO Beautiful Future is more like RCB than the other two. So if you didn't like RCB then I'd recommend you steer clear of this one as well.
Although I love this album, I'm not too sure about the Fleetwood Mac cover. Also, is it just me or is Zombie Man a rip-off of Ringo's Back Off Boogaloo?
Can't go back, so look to the futureI have to admit that, on first listen, I was really quite taken aback by this album - it isn't what I was expecting at all. Even though Primal Scream have, throughout the years, been musical chameleons, 'Beautiful Future' is different enough from their previous releases to be a genuine surprise when you first hear it. I have noticed that this album has pretty much split the fanbase down the middle and I can't say I'm shocked - this album has probably the most catchy, shimmering, near-mainstream pop Primal Scream have ever released with only glimpses of the hard-edged dirtiness which have characterised some of their most loved releases in the last decade or so.
In fact, when the opening, title track starts, complete with chiming bells, bouncy beat and radio-friendly sing-a-long chorus, you wonder if they're joking but, as it turns out, they're not - they're serious and, quite honestly, it's seriously good. The single 'Can't Go Back' is a raucous piece of brilliance which, along with the menacing 'Suicide Bomb' and the brilliant Josh Homme collaboration 'Necro Hex Blues', provide the edge and character which makes the album distinctively Primal Scream, but the album is equally as good for songs such as the mellow, chilled out 'Uptown' and the understated but catchy 'Glory Of Love'. There's even a quietly superb break-up ballad, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'Over & Over' featuring Linda Thompson. Not everything on 'Beautiful Future' is exactly fantastic, in fact there is a distinct mid-album lull, but it's all very listenable and, on the whole, a very good album.
Leave your pre-conceptions and reservations behind - Primal Scream have made an album to be enjoyed, so just buy it with an open mind, play it, go with the flow and enjoy it but, be warned, if you want anything similar to 'XTRMNTR' or 'Evil Heat', you're likely to be very disappointed.
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