ASLAN
''THE PLATINUM COLLECTION, DISC ONE''
2005
192:17
DISC ONE
1. Please Don't Stop (03:49)
2. Loving Me Lately (04:20)
3. This Is (05:21)
4. Pretty Thing (04:45)
5. Crazyworld (03:46)
6. Where's The Sun (04:26)
7. Rainman (04:15)
8. Hurt Sometimes (04:20)
9. Lucy Jones (Part 1) (04:05)
10. Lucy Jones (Part 2) (03:41)
11. Different Man (03:57)
12. She's So Beautiful (03:17)
13. Six Days To Zero (04:04)
14. Love Is All You Need (03:58)
15. Shine A Light (03:43)
16. Fall On Me (03:36)
DISC TWO
1. Can't Hold Back (03:55)
2. The Gallery (03:59)
3. Run Like A Devil (04:23)
4. Somethings Wrong (04:21)
5. Dangerous Games (04:11)
6. All I Wanted To Say (Live) (04:56)
7. 5 Years (04:35)
8. Caroline Says (Part 2) (04:43)
9. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide (03:55)
10. Shine A Light (Remix) (05:06)
11. Not The Only One (03:42)
12. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See M
13. Crazy World (Remix '98) (05:09)
14. Working Class Hero (03:58)
15. Angie (03:56)
16. Dreaming Of Dreams (Remix) (06:15
DISC THREE
1. Living For The City (03:32)
2. Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis (Demo) (04:37)
3. Jesus Says He Loves Me (Demo) (04:30)
4. Don't Make Me Cry Again (Demo) (04:16)
5. Stay (Demo) (05:28)
6. Let Loose in Heaven (Demo) (04:04)
7. Broken Soul (Demo) (04:10)
8. Don't Look Down On Me (Demo) (05:10)
9. Won't Let You Down (Demo) (04:40)
10. Toy Soldier (Live) (04:42)
11. Movies Not Bad Dreams (Live) (02:27)
12. Holidays On Cloudtime (Live) (04:26)
13. Meelah Part 2 (Live) (03:16)
CHRISTY DIGNAM - VOCALS
JOE JEWELL - GUITAR, BACKING VOCALS
TONY MCGUINESS - BASS
BILLY MCGUINNESS - GUITARS, BACKING VOCALS
ALAN DOWNEY - DRUMS
REVIEW
by Dr Dave De Sylvia, Sputnikmusic.com
Irish rock group Aslan were tipped at one point to follow in the footsteps of U2 in conquering America. Sadly, Aslan imploded in 1988 on the very day their debut single was due to be released stateside, but regrouped half a decade later and forged a legacy that has seen them become one of Ireland's most popular and enduring acts. Inspired by David Bowie, the Smiths, and the Rolling Stones, Aslan crashed onto the Irish music scene in 1986 with the release of debut single "This Is," an entirely self-funded effort that earned them a record deal with EMI Ireland and would go on to become the longest playlisted track in the history of Irish radio. Following their mid-'90s re-formation, Aslan's music became softer and more melodically mature, evoking the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and contemporaries Oasis, and their domestic profile continued to rise through the '90s, establishing them as one of the country's most successful touring acts.
Singer Christy Dignam, a classically trained tenor, guitarist Joe Jewell, and bassist Tony McGuiness first came together in 1980 under the moniker Meelah XVIII. Meelah XVIII's greatest achievement was a brief session recorded for Dave Fanning, an influential DJ at national radio station 2FM, but they disbanded before long. In 1983, the three teamed up again with guitarist Billy McGuinness (no relation) and drummer Alan Downey, adopting the name Aslan in deference to the heroic lion in C.S. Lewis' classic Narnia series. Building a strong live following in the then-economically deprived city, the band finally scraped together enough money to issue the "This Is" single in 1986, and quickly followed it with the Smiths-like numbers "Please Don't Go" and "Loving Me Lately" the same year. A short tour of the U.K. that summer led the BBC's Radio 1 to playlist "This Is," and by year's end the group was on the verge of a major record deal. In 1987, Aslan signed with EMI Records and recorded their debut album, Feel No Shame, which included re-recorded versions of those early singles, the following spring. It charted instantly at number one.
Domestic sales of Feel No Shame were enough to persuade EMI to take up the option of a second album and to introduce the group to the lucrative U.S. market. However, on the eve of "This Is"'s release in the States, Christy Dignam was unceremoniously fired from the band, the victim of a rapidly intensifying heroin addiction that would recur periodically into the 21st century. Aslan continued for another couple of months with singer Eamonn Doyle, but it didn't last; they later regrouped as a four-piece under the name Precious Stones. Dignam formed the band Dignam & Goff with former Fast Boys guitarist Conor Goff in 1990, releasing a couple of 7" singles before quietly lapsing into inactivity. In 1993, five years to the day from their acrimonious split, Aslan re-formed for a one-off gig in their native Finglas. One gig soon became a full-blown resurgence, and the following year Goodbye Charlie Moonhead was released via BMG Records, producing the hit single "Crazy World." Both album and singles sold well, but backroom changes led the band to be dropped.
In 1997 Aslan recorded Here Comes Lucy Jones using the band's own resources, and in 1998 EMI released A Shame About Lucy Moonhead, a compilation of selected tracks from the band's first three albums, debuting at number one. In 1999 they released their first live CD, Made in Dublin, on the Rubyworks label to universal acclaim, earning the group its third number one album. While remaining free agents, Aslan allowed EMI to issue their fourth studio album, Waiting for the Madness to End, in 2001, yielding the hit singles "She's So Beautiful" and the affectionate Beatles parody "Love Is All You Need." In October 2005 the band released a three-disc, 48-song compilation entitled The Platinum Collection, and it duly went platinum three weeks later, and in October 2007 the group's fifth album, For Some Strange Reason, was released, featuring "Blood or Diamonds," a collaboration with Damien Dempsey, and the Top Five single "Here Comes the Sun."
Dave Donnelly, Allmusic.com
There’s something about being tipped to be ‘the next U2’ that really irks me. It’s not so much that it’s an honour dished out so often as to render it close to meaningless, nor that it’s such a vague statement that it could mean any number of things (it’s routinely applied to both any promising Irish band and any promising stadium rock act) but rather it annoys me that it carries an connotation that that’s actually a good thing. You might as well tip the band to be the next Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.
In Ireland, it’s even more common than elsewhere because, as a nation, the pressure of living up to such a major name has so far yielded only one act with comparable success- the, err, Saw Doctors- so all and any breakout bands are immediately dubbed ‘the next U2’ in the uneasy hope that they respond well to the massive weight of a nation’s expectation.
Probably the first band to receive the so-called ‘Kiss of Adam Clayton’ were Dublin band Aslan, who in the spring of 1986 had a major hit with their self-produced demo single ‘This Is’, which eventually became the longest ever play-listed single in the country’s history. Signing to EMI, the band recorded their debut release Feel No Shame in 1988. Then, on the morning ‘This Is’ was due to be released in the US, in the midst of a successful North American tour, the band fired frontman Christy Dignam. And the bubble burst. They reformed five years later, but by then their style of rock was long out of fashion, though their evolving sound has helped them consistently top the Irish charts in the meantime.
The Platinum Collection is a three-disc retrospective, released in late 2005 to mark twenty-five years since the group began in earnest: Disc One is a collection of the band’s singles to date, Disc Two a compilation of the best b-sides from those singles and Disc Three collects thirteen rare tracks, ranging from early radio sessions in 1980 to recently recorded cover tunes.
The singles encompass the group’s four album releases to date, as well as the two most recent non-album singles (‘Shine a Light’ and ‘Fall on Me’) and as such provide a good indication of the band’s changing styles and fortunes; the early singles, ‘This Is’ and ‘Please Don’t Stop’ the pick of the bunch, are very much singles of their time with strong references to post-punk acts from the Smiths to Talking Heads, but with strong radio-friendly choruses that seem destined for the arena setting. After Dignam cleaned himself up, he returned to the fold with a more introspective and spiritual approach, culminating in singles like ‘Rainman’ (If I should lose my faith in God) and the smash radio hit ‘Crazy World’ (which borrows much from ‘This Is’, but is here contained in its inferior re-recorded format, losing the rock-based vitality of the original single).
Christy Dignam’s vocals are at once harsh and refined; he makes no effort to disguise his own strong, high-pitched accent, yet his classical training affords him a unique, semi-conversational style that recalls at times post-war crooners like Dean Martin and Elvis Presley (likely indirectly) as much as it’s informed by (his idol) David Bowie’s own half-talking approach. After the group reformed, Dignam took over backing vocal duties, replacing the group vocal choruses with delicate harmonies and counterpoints that bring to mind Gilmour-era Pink Floyd and, though the singer consistently denies it (everybody’s heard a Beatles song, but I’d rather listen to the Rolling Stones any day – ‘Love Is All You Need’) a strong Beatles influence has crept in in recent years, particularly on the infectious single ‘She’s So Beautiful’, featuring a replica the unmistakeable Lennon/McCartney group chant with Sinead O’Connor.
Instrumentally, the group’s long periods of studio inactivity (the self-imposed exile before ‘Waiting For This Madness To End’ in 2001 came close to equalling their five-year break-up) have allowed for just as striking a development. The Marr- and Bowie-influenced sound of ‘Feel No Shame’ gave way after the reunion to a sound that took in Britpop (Joe Jewell’s leads on Here Comes Lucy Jones are strikingly similar in tone and source to those Noel Gallagher produced on the following year’s Be Here Now- probably due to a shared Gilmour/Harrison influence) and even the Replacements (Lucy Jones Part 2).
The b-sides and rarities discs are almost as interesting, though for completely different reasons. It’s unfortunate that the group never saw fit to release their authoritative cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ (the band’s collective favourite song) from the Made in Dublin album, but the rich assortment of cover versions here contained affirms (as if listening to Disc One wasn’t enough) one’s notions that Aslan check all the right names: Bowie’s ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide’ and ‘5 Years’ were both released as b-sides, as well as Lou Reed’s ‘Caroline Says’, The Rolling Stone’s ‘Angie’ (again, authoritative) and John Lennon’s ‘Working Class Hero’, with only the latter track bordering upon ‘run of the mill’, the rest are thoroughly personalised.
Recently covered versions of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living for the City’ and Tom Waits ‘Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis, are the most surprising cuts on the collection, and while the latter suffers the perennial ailment of most Waits covers, that it sounds too thin and polished in relation to the original, ‘Living for the City’ re-invents the classic tune and places it in a ‘Gimmie Shelter’-era Stones mould, making it arguable the strongest non-single in the collection. The remainder of the set is a mixture of inadvisable remixes (Crazy World (Remix ‘9 sounds particularly forced), decent (Run Like the Devil) to essential (Broken Soul) originals and a rather interesting trio of 2FM sessions under the Meelah XVIII moniker in 1980, featuring three of Aslan’s five eventual members.
Those looking simply for an Aslan hits collection would do better to pick up Shame About Lucy Moonhead, The Best of Aslan, which features all of the singles up to Here Comes Lucy Jones as well as the best non-single tracks, including the beautiful rock ballad ‘Chains’, however despite the haphazard nature of The Platinum Collection (and the price, of course), it’s an overall more satisfying package, even if the a-sides collection is bound to receive ninety per-cent of the plays.
''THE PLATINUM COLLECTION, DISC ONE''
2005
192:17
DISC ONE
1. Please Don't Stop (03:49)
2. Loving Me Lately (04:20)
3. This Is (05:21)
4. Pretty Thing (04:45)
5. Crazyworld (03:46)
6. Where's The Sun (04:26)
7. Rainman (04:15)
8. Hurt Sometimes (04:20)
9. Lucy Jones (Part 1) (04:05)
10. Lucy Jones (Part 2) (03:41)
11. Different Man (03:57)
12. She's So Beautiful (03:17)
13. Six Days To Zero (04:04)
14. Love Is All You Need (03:58)
15. Shine A Light (03:43)
16. Fall On Me (03:36)
DISC TWO
1. Can't Hold Back (03:55)
2. The Gallery (03:59)
3. Run Like A Devil (04:23)
4. Somethings Wrong (04:21)
5. Dangerous Games (04:11)
6. All I Wanted To Say (Live) (04:56)
7. 5 Years (04:35)
8. Caroline Says (Part 2) (04:43)
9. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide (03:55)
10. Shine A Light (Remix) (05:06)
11. Not The Only One (03:42)
12. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See M
13. Crazy World (Remix '98) (05:09)
14. Working Class Hero (03:58)
15. Angie (03:56)
16. Dreaming Of Dreams (Remix) (06:15
DISC THREE
1. Living For The City (03:32)
2. Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis (Demo) (04:37)
3. Jesus Says He Loves Me (Demo) (04:30)
4. Don't Make Me Cry Again (Demo) (04:16)
5. Stay (Demo) (05:28)
6. Let Loose in Heaven (Demo) (04:04)
7. Broken Soul (Demo) (04:10)
8. Don't Look Down On Me (Demo) (05:10)
9. Won't Let You Down (Demo) (04:40)
10. Toy Soldier (Live) (04:42)
11. Movies Not Bad Dreams (Live) (02:27)
12. Holidays On Cloudtime (Live) (04:26)
13. Meelah Part 2 (Live) (03:16)
CHRISTY DIGNAM - VOCALS
JOE JEWELL - GUITAR, BACKING VOCALS
TONY MCGUINESS - BASS
BILLY MCGUINNESS - GUITARS, BACKING VOCALS
ALAN DOWNEY - DRUMS
REVIEW
by Dr Dave De Sylvia, Sputnikmusic.com
Irish rock group Aslan were tipped at one point to follow in the footsteps of U2 in conquering America. Sadly, Aslan imploded in 1988 on the very day their debut single was due to be released stateside, but regrouped half a decade later and forged a legacy that has seen them become one of Ireland's most popular and enduring acts. Inspired by David Bowie, the Smiths, and the Rolling Stones, Aslan crashed onto the Irish music scene in 1986 with the release of debut single "This Is," an entirely self-funded effort that earned them a record deal with EMI Ireland and would go on to become the longest playlisted track in the history of Irish radio. Following their mid-'90s re-formation, Aslan's music became softer and more melodically mature, evoking the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and contemporaries Oasis, and their domestic profile continued to rise through the '90s, establishing them as one of the country's most successful touring acts.
Singer Christy Dignam, a classically trained tenor, guitarist Joe Jewell, and bassist Tony McGuiness first came together in 1980 under the moniker Meelah XVIII. Meelah XVIII's greatest achievement was a brief session recorded for Dave Fanning, an influential DJ at national radio station 2FM, but they disbanded before long. In 1983, the three teamed up again with guitarist Billy McGuinness (no relation) and drummer Alan Downey, adopting the name Aslan in deference to the heroic lion in C.S. Lewis' classic Narnia series. Building a strong live following in the then-economically deprived city, the band finally scraped together enough money to issue the "This Is" single in 1986, and quickly followed it with the Smiths-like numbers "Please Don't Go" and "Loving Me Lately" the same year. A short tour of the U.K. that summer led the BBC's Radio 1 to playlist "This Is," and by year's end the group was on the verge of a major record deal. In 1987, Aslan signed with EMI Records and recorded their debut album, Feel No Shame, which included re-recorded versions of those early singles, the following spring. It charted instantly at number one.
Domestic sales of Feel No Shame were enough to persuade EMI to take up the option of a second album and to introduce the group to the lucrative U.S. market. However, on the eve of "This Is"'s release in the States, Christy Dignam was unceremoniously fired from the band, the victim of a rapidly intensifying heroin addiction that would recur periodically into the 21st century. Aslan continued for another couple of months with singer Eamonn Doyle, but it didn't last; they later regrouped as a four-piece under the name Precious Stones. Dignam formed the band Dignam & Goff with former Fast Boys guitarist Conor Goff in 1990, releasing a couple of 7" singles before quietly lapsing into inactivity. In 1993, five years to the day from their acrimonious split, Aslan re-formed for a one-off gig in their native Finglas. One gig soon became a full-blown resurgence, and the following year Goodbye Charlie Moonhead was released via BMG Records, producing the hit single "Crazy World." Both album and singles sold well, but backroom changes led the band to be dropped.
In 1997 Aslan recorded Here Comes Lucy Jones using the band's own resources, and in 1998 EMI released A Shame About Lucy Moonhead, a compilation of selected tracks from the band's first three albums, debuting at number one. In 1999 they released their first live CD, Made in Dublin, on the Rubyworks label to universal acclaim, earning the group its third number one album. While remaining free agents, Aslan allowed EMI to issue their fourth studio album, Waiting for the Madness to End, in 2001, yielding the hit singles "She's So Beautiful" and the affectionate Beatles parody "Love Is All You Need." In October 2005 the band released a three-disc, 48-song compilation entitled The Platinum Collection, and it duly went platinum three weeks later, and in October 2007 the group's fifth album, For Some Strange Reason, was released, featuring "Blood or Diamonds," a collaboration with Damien Dempsey, and the Top Five single "Here Comes the Sun."
Dave Donnelly, Allmusic.com
There’s something about being tipped to be ‘the next U2’ that really irks me. It’s not so much that it’s an honour dished out so often as to render it close to meaningless, nor that it’s such a vague statement that it could mean any number of things (it’s routinely applied to both any promising Irish band and any promising stadium rock act) but rather it annoys me that it carries an connotation that that’s actually a good thing. You might as well tip the band to be the next Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.
In Ireland, it’s even more common than elsewhere because, as a nation, the pressure of living up to such a major name has so far yielded only one act with comparable success- the, err, Saw Doctors- so all and any breakout bands are immediately dubbed ‘the next U2’ in the uneasy hope that they respond well to the massive weight of a nation’s expectation.
Probably the first band to receive the so-called ‘Kiss of Adam Clayton’ were Dublin band Aslan, who in the spring of 1986 had a major hit with their self-produced demo single ‘This Is’, which eventually became the longest ever play-listed single in the country’s history. Signing to EMI, the band recorded their debut release Feel No Shame in 1988. Then, on the morning ‘This Is’ was due to be released in the US, in the midst of a successful North American tour, the band fired frontman Christy Dignam. And the bubble burst. They reformed five years later, but by then their style of rock was long out of fashion, though their evolving sound has helped them consistently top the Irish charts in the meantime.
The Platinum Collection is a three-disc retrospective, released in late 2005 to mark twenty-five years since the group began in earnest: Disc One is a collection of the band’s singles to date, Disc Two a compilation of the best b-sides from those singles and Disc Three collects thirteen rare tracks, ranging from early radio sessions in 1980 to recently recorded cover tunes.
The singles encompass the group’s four album releases to date, as well as the two most recent non-album singles (‘Shine a Light’ and ‘Fall on Me’) and as such provide a good indication of the band’s changing styles and fortunes; the early singles, ‘This Is’ and ‘Please Don’t Stop’ the pick of the bunch, are very much singles of their time with strong references to post-punk acts from the Smiths to Talking Heads, but with strong radio-friendly choruses that seem destined for the arena setting. After Dignam cleaned himself up, he returned to the fold with a more introspective and spiritual approach, culminating in singles like ‘Rainman’ (If I should lose my faith in God) and the smash radio hit ‘Crazy World’ (which borrows much from ‘This Is’, but is here contained in its inferior re-recorded format, losing the rock-based vitality of the original single).
Christy Dignam’s vocals are at once harsh and refined; he makes no effort to disguise his own strong, high-pitched accent, yet his classical training affords him a unique, semi-conversational style that recalls at times post-war crooners like Dean Martin and Elvis Presley (likely indirectly) as much as it’s informed by (his idol) David Bowie’s own half-talking approach. After the group reformed, Dignam took over backing vocal duties, replacing the group vocal choruses with delicate harmonies and counterpoints that bring to mind Gilmour-era Pink Floyd and, though the singer consistently denies it (everybody’s heard a Beatles song, but I’d rather listen to the Rolling Stones any day – ‘Love Is All You Need’) a strong Beatles influence has crept in in recent years, particularly on the infectious single ‘She’s So Beautiful’, featuring a replica the unmistakeable Lennon/McCartney group chant with Sinead O’Connor.
Instrumentally, the group’s long periods of studio inactivity (the self-imposed exile before ‘Waiting For This Madness To End’ in 2001 came close to equalling their five-year break-up) have allowed for just as striking a development. The Marr- and Bowie-influenced sound of ‘Feel No Shame’ gave way after the reunion to a sound that took in Britpop (Joe Jewell’s leads on Here Comes Lucy Jones are strikingly similar in tone and source to those Noel Gallagher produced on the following year’s Be Here Now- probably due to a shared Gilmour/Harrison influence) and even the Replacements (Lucy Jones Part 2).
The b-sides and rarities discs are almost as interesting, though for completely different reasons. It’s unfortunate that the group never saw fit to release their authoritative cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ (the band’s collective favourite song) from the Made in Dublin album, but the rich assortment of cover versions here contained affirms (as if listening to Disc One wasn’t enough) one’s notions that Aslan check all the right names: Bowie’s ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide’ and ‘5 Years’ were both released as b-sides, as well as Lou Reed’s ‘Caroline Says’, The Rolling Stone’s ‘Angie’ (again, authoritative) and John Lennon’s ‘Working Class Hero’, with only the latter track bordering upon ‘run of the mill’, the rest are thoroughly personalised.
Recently covered versions of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living for the City’ and Tom Waits ‘Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis, are the most surprising cuts on the collection, and while the latter suffers the perennial ailment of most Waits covers, that it sounds too thin and polished in relation to the original, ‘Living for the City’ re-invents the classic tune and places it in a ‘Gimmie Shelter’-era Stones mould, making it arguable the strongest non-single in the collection. The remainder of the set is a mixture of inadvisable remixes (Crazy World (Remix ‘9 sounds particularly forced), decent (Run Like the Devil) to essential (Broken Soul) originals and a rather interesting trio of 2FM sessions under the Meelah XVIII moniker in 1980, featuring three of Aslan’s five eventual members.
Those looking simply for an Aslan hits collection would do better to pick up Shame About Lucy Moonhead, The Best of Aslan, which features all of the singles up to Here Comes Lucy Jones as well as the best non-single tracks, including the beautiful rock ballad ‘Chains’, however despite the haphazard nature of The Platinum Collection (and the price, of course), it’s an overall more satisfying package, even if the a-sides collection is bound to receive ninety per-cent of the plays.
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