Albums Produced by Phil Vinall - Before the Calm, Luke Haines Is Dead, the Worst of Black Box Recorder, England Made Me, the Facts of Life (Paperback)

Commentary (music and lyrics not included). Chapters: Before the Calm, Luke Haines Is Dead, the Worst of Black Box Recorder, England Made Me, the Facts of Life, Baader Meinhof, Now I'm a Cowboy, New Wave, Dirty Vs Universe. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 30. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Before The Calm is the debut album from the Wigan-based band, Witness. The album was released in the UK in 1999 via Island Records and spawned three singles for the band in "Scars," "Audition" and "Hijacker," with the former two placing in the Top 75 of the UK singles chart. Upon release, the album was lauded with all-round critical acclaim. The Times noted that the album was "tethered to neither trend nor time" and that Witness themselves were "a band to cherish." Melody Maker praised "the baroque fragility of Gerard Starkies vocals and the effortless, atmospheric swell of Ray Chans guitars." NME declared Before The Calm "an astonishing debut album; stripped of all affectation," and went on to draw comparisons with Joy Division, DJ Shadow and Radiohead. Other reviewers likened the sound of the LP to Wilco, The Blue Nile, the early releases of R.E.M., along with fellow Wigan band, The Verve. Tim Perry of The Independent thought that Before The Calm encompassed "a satisfyingly undulating 45 minutes of delicate, late-night, soulful songs." Allmusic noted that the album was conducive to repeated listens; "(t)he more one listens to this CD, the more one realizes just how moving and thoughtful songs like "Heirloom," "Scars," and "My Friend Will See Me Through" are." Writing for Hi-Fi News and Record in September 1999, Johnny Black was impressed with the album's immediate accessibility, labelling Before The Calm a "truly wonderful debut" and Witness a band whose music was "moody, rootsy, gutsy, rockin'-...http: //booksllc.net/?id=22126529