Smalltown Poets - Smalltown Poets

Monday 1st June 1998
Smalltown Poets - Smalltown Poets
Smalltown Poets - Smalltown Poets

STYLE: Rock
RATING 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 3623-5276
LABEL: Forefront FFD5163
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1
RRP: £2.50

Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

You read about them a couple of issues back. This debut quickly establishes Smalltown Poets as one of THE alternative bands and this album as one of the best releases of 1997. An apt name for a band since lyrically there is indeed a great deal of poetry and deep thought. Clever lyrics and great music abound from the very start when "Prophet Priest And King" kicks in with some funny comments about writing to the President and Charles and Di and getting no response before pointing out that there is a king who always responds to us. There are some killer cuts here! The acoustic "If You'll Let Me Love You" is a gritty plea to a suffering brother asking to be allowed to care and "Everything I Hate" takes a fresh look at the struggles of Romans 7 with a more rock'n'roll approach! "Anymore" is more straight ahead rock grooviness and "Who You Are" is something special, a creative view of Jesus from the perspective of a shepherd present at his birth. "There's A Day" is a poetic picture projecting forwards to when with the end of the age, nature will have a new order. Overall. Smalltown Poets play with words and music sculpting new shapes, exploring issues from a new perspective, shining fresh insight and neither hiding it in a dense cloud of coded lyrics nor producing bland songs. Quite a balancing act but what more could you want from an alternative rock band'.' It takes a little work to get into but then it's nearly perfect!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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Sample Track Listing:
5. Anymore [Listen]

This track data is supplied by the Cross Rhythms CD/DVD review library. Please note that CD tracks may vary according to release region or product version.

Reader Comments

Posted by Don in state of Delaware @ 17:11 on Aug 31 2011

The first song I heard from this release was a live perfomance of "If You'll Let Me Love You":great song! Not long after I captured sight of the video "Prophet, Priest & King" which begins the debut songset: I like the song, but the video version was disappointing. The lyrics to "Anymore" really speak to the one who listens intently. Great poetic type lyrics to "There's A Day"; some may question that it's not only the LAMB but, GOD Almighty will also be our everlasting light (Rev. 21:22). "Trust" is another that speaks with its creative lyrics; great song!:I love it! The last # "Inside the Bubble"; I really like this one, "swim across the sky".
GOD Bless! -Don



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