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Best SFA album??

which is the best SFA album?

  • Total voters
    38
belboid

belboid

Exasperated, not angry.
simple as - which is it?

Fuzzy Logic - those early poptastic singles, that were quite unique

Radiator - [insert unbiased comment to not give away the fact that this is there best album here]

Out Spaced - a compilation, so shouldn't be allowed. But it's got Man Don't Give A Fuck on!

Guerilla - including the track it took me eighteen months to find!

Mwng - the best selling Welsh language album ever

Rings Around the World - 'history making joint CD & DVD! With some nice tunes on.

Phantom Power - the one where they perfected the smoothness of RAtW. & another DVD.

Love Kraft - the one for Observer readers, apparently.

and, before you ask, no, there is no 'they're all shit' option, so nyaah.
 
hmm...i dunno. i've not heard "phantom power" or "love kraft"....

i'll vote for "guerilla" just for "northern lites" alone :cool:
 
oh, and some reasons for your votes would be nice n all!

Radiator for me, Play it Cool, would do it on its own, but it has the rest of the best singles on there too, (Hermann Loves Pauline, Demons) as well as the magnificent Chupacubras, and gorgeous Mountain People.

It's the labum where their pop sensibilities peaked, imo, before they turned to the (still quite wonderful) mini-opera type stuff they are doing nowadays.

Tis a tricky decision tho, it's true.
 
Radiator for me. Mwng is brilliant, it would be difficult to find a better compilation of its type than Outspaced, I love the expansiveness and rollickingness of Phantom Power and Rings, and Fuzzy Logic was astounding at the time. The only one I haven't got on with is Guerrilla (but it does have Northern Lites), and I'm trying to figure out Love Kraft.

It's Radiator -- punk, Moog and Mountain People. They're a proper band with real style.
 
is it? that's a shame, tho the remixes on the Rings DVD were not exactly inspired.

I was just looking at PP on ebay, there are a few singles & DVD's I haven't got and may as well try and pick up, they're less than a fiver now!
 
Dirty Martini said:
The remix album, Phantom Phorce, is utter shite though.
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Agreed. That's about the one thing I don't own by SFA. :D

I'm not averse to a good remix, but despite the wealth of remixes they've commissioned, I can't think of a single good remix of an SFA song! :confused:

And the few remixes they themselves have done for other acts have also been rather poor IMO. It's something I really find baffling: considering their obvious techno/electronic leanings, you'd think they'd have quite a good ear for a decent remix.

:confused:
 
hmm, I half recall there's one good Man Dont Give A Fuck remix....but can't think of any others
 
hmm, I'll have to take that as an excuse to leave work and go home to play them again then - just to make sure like!
 
Sunspots said:
I love 'em all to bits, but I actually think they peaked with Rings Around The World. :cool:
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^^^^^^^
What the man said.

I feel it's a close call between that and 'Radiator' for me, but I think the former was very much the latter perfected.

The man Don't Give A Fuck' is one of the ten best singles of all tyime IMO. :)

I didn't feel quite so positive about 'Phantom Power' - a bit on the beardy side for me - and I think they're at their best when taking classic pop music and mangling and distorting it in that blissed out way that they do. And they've come a long way since '96.:cool:

60ft Dolls anyone...? :D
 
Its hard to pick between Guerilla, Radiator and ring around the World all very good in their own ways. Also Mwang aint to bad far pla tothem for doing it in Welsh :cool:
 
mwng is fan fucking tastic - i cant understand a word but the music is right up there...
and who can fail to support any big selling celtic language album?

otherwise guerilla has to be best of their english language releases i think, perfect pop
 
overall it has to be radiator for me. demons, shes got spies, herman loves pauline, play it cool and ofc mountain people :cool:

although, i have a habit of changing my mind all the time as to which is my favourite - surely the sign of an excellent band :)

that reminds me, was meant to go pick up tickets for the manchester gig today but forgot. they better not sell out! :(
 
belboid said:
I was just looking at PP on ebay, there are a few singles & DVD's I haven't got and may as well try and pick up, they're less than a fiver now!
Click to expand...

The b-sides for the Northern Lites single are worth having -- Rabid Dog (which sounds very Fuzzy Logickish) and This, That And The Other. And Crynood Yn Dy Lais on Play It Cool.

Didn't you get that Gruff Rhys solo album, belboid? What was it like?
 
Haven't actually bought "Love Kraft" yet but will do soon. I voted "Fuzzy Logic" because I think it brilliantly displays them for what they are, essentially a pop band. There are some great hooks on there, but all their albums are great.

"Mwng" is not only the biggest selling Welsh language ever, but also the biggest selling SFA album somewhat surprisingly.
 
Dirty Martini said:
The b-sides for the Northern Lites single are worth having -- Rabid Dog (which sounds very Fuzzy Logickish) and This, That And The Other. And Crynood Yn Dy Lais on Play It Cool.

Didn't you get that Gruff Rhys solo album, belboid? What was it like?
Click to expand...
northern lites was the last single i bought i think - had all up till then, apart from llanfairpg. i note there arent actually that many more since, i may have to complete the set.....

the gruff album is alright, not mindblowing, but definitely alright. i only yesterday removd it from my computer actually! i'll stick it back up if you wanna soulseek it - aint seen you on there in an aeon!
 
belboid said:
the gruff album is alright, not mindblowing, but definitely alright. i only yesterday removd it from my computer actually! i'll stick it back up if you wanna soulseek it - aint seen you on there in an aeon!
Click to expand...

Ta :) Been away, will be back on slsk in the next few days.
 
stavros said:
"Mwng" is not only the biggest selling Welsh language ever, but also the biggest selling SFA album somewhat surprisingly.
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Eh? :eek: I thought that would have been 'Guerilla' or 'Rings'...or do you mean worldwide?

The UK stats (just 'cause I'm a geek like that :D ):

'Guerilla' - highest position on chart: #9 - weeks on chart: 10
'Mwng' - highest position on chart: #11 - weeks on chart: 2
'Rings Around The World' - highest position on chart: #3 - weeks on chart:7

:confused:
 
stavros said:
"Mwng" is not only the biggest selling Welsh language ever, but also the biggest selling SFA album somewhat surprisingly.
Click to expand...

If that's true then... -wow! :eek: :cool:

Are you sure it wasn't more a case of it being the most erm... profitable of their albums? :confused:

I'm sure that compared to their other albums it only cost a pittance to actually record (-and they put it out on their Placid Casual label, with minimal promotional costs); so even though it probably only sold moderately well, their profit margin was relatively large...?

-Dunno though, just guessing. :confused:

Top album though. Some of their best songs. :cool:
 
Dirty Martini said:
The b-sides for the Northern Lites single are worth having -- Rabid Dog (which sounds very Fuzzy Logickish) and This, That And The Other. And Crynood Yn Dy Lais on Play It Cool.
Click to expand...

Rabid Dog is total class. :cool:

Starts off all garage-fuzz, then gradually slows to become beautifully serene, via a bizarre verse that manages to include Cornwall's Owl Man, third world debt, and mosquito bites... :D :cool:
 
belboid said:
oh, and some reasons for your votes would be nice n all!
Click to expand...

I expect Radiator will win this vote. It usually comes up top in the various fan polls. As I said, I love 'em all, but I chose Rings Around The World 'cos I think that's been their peak so far.

They'd just walked away from the wreckage of Creation, and having signed to a major, were suddenly given the budget to fully realise their grand visions. As a result, I think they just really went for it production-wise with Rings..., which in turn inspired their songwriting and arrangements.

Maybe it was just where my head was at at the time. I'd recently split up with a long-term girlfriend and was utterly devastated. A couple of days later, I put on the new album for the very first time and heard track #1: Alternate Route to Vulcan Street. As is the way with SFA lyrics, there's ambiguity and double-meaning, and the song simultaneously laments failed relationships with both a lover and Mother Nature. The music's achingly melancholy too. And I was really feeling the heartbreak... :( :o

Then the album takes off with the pure power pop of Sidewalk Serfer Girl and (Drawing) Rings Around the World, the gorgeous It's Not The End Of The World. There's the typically skewered Receptacle for the Respectable and No Sympathy (-which starts like Bon Jovi, ends up like gabba [!!!] and is all about the Texas death penalty!). There's sweeping orchestral wonder with Shoot Doris Day, Presidential Suite, and the mighty Run Christian, Run which I think really is one of their best songs ever. :cool:

I remember going to see them live a couple of times in the days following September 11th, and stuff like Run Christian, Run (-chillingly accompanied by the footage of bombs raining down) suddenly seemed so poignant. :(

Overall, Rings... is a very emotional album for me, reminding me (-as it probably always will) of a time when my personal and political worlds were both seemingly falling apart like never before. But still I love this album.

-And finally: which other albums can claim to feature guest spots by both a Beatle and a Velvet?!!... ;)
 
i'll have to go back and revist rings around the world then. i found it annoying and frustrating at the time, and still think of it as my least favourite sfa album.

i have to say 'love kraft' is a brilliant, brilliant album, and i voted for it as their best. just the first track would be enough, 100 piece catalan choir and all, but the songwriting keeps up throughout. before that 'fuzzy logic' and 'radiator' were the ones for me. i kind of feel that 'guerilla' was where it started to go wrong for the band, and they've only really got it back with 'love kraft'.

but after reading your eulogy sunspots i'm going to go back and give 'rings..' another chance.
 
ianw said:
but after reading your eulogy sunspots i'm going to go back and give 'rings..' another chance.
Click to expand...

Er, yeah... sorry, I got a bit carried away there. :o :D

My thoughts on it are obviously highly subjective. It's not a perfect album, but on balance, I really do think it's their best so far. :cool:

Who knows though... -tomorrow I might well have changed my mind. :D
 
cool, highly subjective and passionate opinions tend to be the best in my experience.

oh my god, the video for jessica simpson doing 'these boots..' has just come on. i've never seen this before...
 
bloody brilliant post there sunspots! if a bit scary, as you could almost be my brother, who has said almost exactly the same thing about it!

love kraft is growing on me, there aren't the really stand out tunes on there (tho there are four tracks which are starting to stand out), but it does sound like it would be great to see live
 
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