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04'01 |
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THE DIVINE COMEDY
Regeneration (5317612) Parlophone 2001 11 Tracks. 49mins47secs. Buy this CD on line now |
With Regeneration, Neil Hannon strips his lyrical compositions to the bone. Left is the spinal cord of his talent: perfect pop melodies and quintessential song writing. Gone are the Scott Walker influences, the string quartets of the early days or the large formations of the later years – Joby Talbot is still in charge of the strings section, but is, this time, very much in the background -, in are simple guitar and piano lines and a more classic pop/rock structure. Hannon’s lyrics have evolved too. Still using witty quotations and old-fashioned forms, his songs are more straight to the point. So, what is left of The Divine Comedy as it was known, the fans ask? Well, more than could be imagined at first: the melancholy and darkness that inhabited Fin De Siècle draw their dark blanket over the whole album, especially taking care of Timestretched, Lost Property or Regeneration; the perfect melodies that graced Casanova or A Short Album About Love still linger around Perfect Lovesong, Love What You Do or Mastermind. What differentiates Regeneration from its predecessor is that Hannon doesn’t deal in instant three-and-a-half minutes pop songs this time round. No Becoming Like Alfie. No Bernice Bobs Her Hair. No When The Lights Go Out All Over Europe. No National Express. The nearest he gets to it is on Perfect Lovesong. The album requires more time to reveal itself, and The Divine Comedy deserve for their audience to be patient. There isn’t much here for the ones who liked the DIY-in-your-bedroom innocence of Liberation or Promenade, the flamboyance of Casanova, the panache of A Short Album About Love. But the format adopted here does put Hannon’s lyrics in a very different perspective, almost giving them a life of their own, and revealing the man as a true poet in the process.
Neil Hannon has taken the brave decision to change direction before he started parodying himself, risking disconcerting his fans. The result is an album intense and interesting, even if it hasn’t got the class and grandeur of its predecessors. Regeneration suggests that there is more than one way to appreciate The Divine Comedy.
| 01 | Timestretched | 07 | Love What You Do |
| 02 | Bad Ambassador | 08 | Dumb It Down |
| 03 | Perfect Love Song | 09 | Mastermind |
| 04 | Note To Self | 10 | Regeneration |
| 05 | Lost Property | 11 | The Beauty Game |
| 06 | Eye Of The Needle |
| FANFARE FOR
THE COSMIC MUSE
1990 |
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Ignorance Is
Bliss
Indian Rain Bleak Landscape Tailspin The Rise And Fall Logic Vs Emotion Secret Garden |
| LIBERATION
Setanta Records 1993 Buy it on line now |
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Festive Road
Death Of A Supernaturalist Bernice Bobs Her Hair I Was Born Yesterday Your Daddy's Car Europop Timewatching The Pop Singer's Fear Of The Pollen Count Queen Of The South Victoria Falls 3 Sisters Europe By Train Lucy |
| PROMENADE
Setanta Records 1994 Buy it on line now |
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Bath
Going Downhill Fast The Booklovers A Seafood Song Geronimo Don't Look Down When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe The Summerhouse Neptune's Daughter A Drinking Song Ten Seconds to Midnight Tonight We Fly |
| CASANOVA
Setanta Records 1996 Buy it on line now |
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Something For
The Weekend
Becoming More Like Alfie Middle-Class Heroes In & Out Of Paris & London Charge / Songs Of Love The Frog Princess A Woman Of The World Through A Long & Sleepless Night Theme From Casanova The Dogs & The Horses |
| A SHORT ALBUM
ABOUT LOVE
Setanta Records 1997 Buy it on
line now
|
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In Pursuit Of
Happiness
Everybody Knows (Except You) Someone / If... If I Were You (I'd Be Through With Me) Timewatching I'm All You Need |
| FIN DE SIECLE
Setanta Records 1998 Buy it on line now |
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Generation Sex
Thrillseeker Commuter Love Sweden Eric The Gardener National Express Life On Earth The Certainty Of Chance Here Comes The Flood Sunrise |
| A SECRET
HISTORY
Setanta Records 1999 Buy it on line now |
 |
National Express
Something For The Weekend Everybody Knows (Except You) Generation Sex Becoming More Like Alfie The Summerhouse Your Daddy's Car The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count The Frog Princess Gin Soaked Boy Lucy Songs Of Love In Pursuit Of Happiness I've Been To A Marvellous Party The Certainty Of Chance Too Young To Die Tonight We Fly |
| REGENERATION
Parlophone 2001 Buy it on line now |
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Timestretched
Bad Ambassador Perfect Lovesong Note To Self Lost Property Eye Of The Needle Love What You Do Dumb It Down Mastermind Regeneration The Beauty Regime |
| THE
DIVINE COMEDY
Completely redesigned, the Divine Comedy web site offers the usual (disco, bio, news, tour dates, bulletin board...) in a flash environement. |
| PARLOPHONE
Parlophone is the new home of The Divine Comedy. From this brilliantly designed site, you will be able to access the complete present Parlophone roster, including The Beatles, The Pet Shop Boys, Beastie Boys, the ubiquitous Coldplay, Kylie and many many more! |
| SETANTA
RECORDS
The label responsible for bringing acts such as The Frank & Walters, A House and The Divine Comedy, amongst others. |
| THE
DIVINE ONLINE
A very basic, poorly designed fan site, unfortunately strangely slow, even on a fast connection. The Divine Online is however filled with info. |
| RATHMINES
Yet another simple but good Divine Comedy fan site. |