Anybody heard of The Boo Radleys?

[liberalpragmatist]

This is probably not getting any takers, but does anybody know of The Boo Radleys and the album Giant Steps. This is simply a fantastic piece of music and I want to know if anybody else has it or has heard it.

Any takers?

ON EDIT: Check out reply #5, which has a link for samples. Another (and easier link, actually) would be allmusic.com (if you are registered).

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00077372O/qid=1124510994/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5103610-3254460?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

That's a link for their 2-disc overview set.

Here are some All Music Guide links:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=BOO|RADLEYS&uid=MIW030508200011&sql=11:rrkqikz6bb69~T2

This Stylus Magazine profile also does a good job of summarizing the album:

http://stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=363

[Left Is Write]

1. I have heard of them, but am unfamiliar with their music.

[liberalpragmatist]

5. See this link

And listen to the clips. Then order it from Amazon if you're interested. It should be ranked as an all-time indie-rock classic (it is in the UK, but is completely unknown in the US, due mostly to horrible promotion and a lazy record company that has since dropped them and made their catalogue out-of-print in the states).

Here's the link:

http://booradleys.co.uk/giantsteps/

Click on the icon and select the songs at the bottom to hear 30-second clips.

Alternately, if you have Apple iTunes, go to the music store, switch to the British store by clicking on the "change store" link at the upper-left corner and once in the Uk store, do a search for The Boo Radleys, and select either Giant Steps or their next album Wake Up! - both are fantastic.

[GOPisEvil]

2. I've heard of them, but I'm not real familiar with their music.

[Generic Other]

3. Didn't they leave stuff in a hollow tree for Scout?

:shrug:

[Left Is Write]

9. That was Boo Radley, singular.

;)

[Tom Kitten]

4. I've heard of them but I haven't heard them

I'm kinda clueless

[RandomKoolzip]

6. Yeah, they were okay....

But honestly, IMO, there were a lot of bands around that time in the UK who were receiving lots of praise that was barely warranted: Menswe@r, Super Furry Animals, etc. Most of them were mining that same bland washed-out Britpop sound and had nothing very original to offer.

Having said that, there were a handful of groups who could occasionally cough up a good melody now and again (Blur, Gene, Supergrass). But they were intentionally working within a very limited style, i.e post-Primal Scream UK pop with occasional loud guitar. Apart from Blur, the bands from this scene produced no vocalists or instrumentalists of note.

"Giant Steps" was hyped to the heavens when it first came out, but I don't remmber hearing any lasting melodies or words from it (I bought it based on a Mojo review, too) and sold my copy a month later. Maybe I should go back and revisit a used copy to see if I missed anything.

[liberalpragmatist]

7. Eh, I'll admit I'm a big Britpop fan

So I'm somewhat biased.

But yeah, Menswear were pretty bad and there were tons of Britpop bands that went nowhere and still were hyped to the moon.

Still, I thought it was overall a great retro-pop movement and I love most of the major bands from that period - even Oasis, which most American music fans abhor these days - but also Blur, Pulp, Suede, Elastica, Supergrass.

That said, The Boo Radleys were only somewhat associated with that scene. Their sound was much more ecletic, mixing a lot of shoegazing influence with dub elements and Beach Boys/Beatles-style melodies.

Also, do check out the Super Furry Animals again - their catalogue is superb.

Try to get a copy of Giant Steps and give it another spin - maybe you'll change your mind. It's a very subtle album but also very beautiful.

[RandomKoolzip]

8. And I'll admit that I'm a big High Llamas fan.....

But the Super Furry Animals were always just too....I dunno...derivative to me. I dunno. Subjectivity is funny that way.

Anyways, I might just take your suggestion and dig up a copy of "Giant Steps" to see if my first opinion was wrong (BTW, I was working as a music critic at the time, and had a heavy bias against Britpop).