Reach the Beach

Artist - The Fixx ... [Goo?] [Posters] [Scores]

This Audio CD Music item from Mca was reviewed on 23-Oct-2008.

Reach the Beach Reference Music. Classifications : General Alternative Rock Styles Music New Wave New Wave & Post-Punk Alternative Rock Styles Music General Pop Styles Music General AAS Dance Pop Pop Styles Music General Rock Styles Music All Bargain . Click the following link to view the cover of Reach the Beach.

Related topics: One Thing Leads to Another - The Fixx, Agius, Alfie. The Sign of Fire. Running. Saved by Zero. Opinions. Reach the Beach - The Fixx, Curnin, Cy. Changing. Liner. Priviledge. Outside. General. Alternative Rock. Styles. Music. New Wave. Alternative Rock. Styles. Music. General. Pop.

1) Audio CD Music Reach the Beach by Mca. In a time when music all sounded like a soundtrack to a film version of Orwells 1984, very few bands stood out. The so-called second British Explosion that occurred in the early 80´s was a sham. Most of these bands made throwawy LPs that did little for anyone who looked for a decent bonafide reason to like this new wave. Duran Duran were exceptional musicians making mostly mildly remarkable music. Culture Club did little to shed the stigma of ´packaged muzak´ (not a swipe at them, just a fact of the time), Gang Of Four already made their mark and left us, XTC were creating music that in another time would have been Beatles frenzy material and the band that would dominate the next 20 years were still struggling with their christian beliefs on October and had only begun to record their masterpiece of War. In this huddled mass of Import bands, one band stood out. A band that musicians could sink their teeth into and lovers of great music could get excited about too.

"Reach The Beach" is an unheralded masterpiece that STILL has not been given its due respect. The funny thing is, this band just got better after this release (see "Phantoms"). BUt on to the cd at hand....

Sure this cd has the only two high charting singles of their career (at least here in the states), but this album is from beginning to end....incredible. From West-Orams beautiful guitar work to Cy´s cold, yet still very emotional vocal delivery...this cd still holds up after almost 20 years. It has everything you could want in an album....good stories, emotional rescues, uplifting climaxes, magical instrumental breaks, dynamic song delivery, heartfelt vocals, technically brilliant guitar work and near King Crimson level musicianship all around.

Every single song is a standout here, not one minute of dead music space.
I dare anyone to listen to this cd and not fall in love with it!!¤

2) Audio CD Music Reach the Beach by Mca. Probably one of their greatest works. Title track have a incredible movement. Vocals and instruments blend to create an encompasing sound.¤

3) Audio CD Music Reach the Beach by Mca. .
In 1995 A friend of mine shoved an old cassette tape into my hand and said ´just put this on will you´.
It was one of those moments that, as you get older become more and more rare.
That moment when you hear something for the first time and it seems to fill a gap in your quest for something new or different, sonically.
I was in fact listening to Reach the Beach, and track after track played with no thought to hit the FF button once. I was hooked.
I was struck by the intelligent, brittle strat playing of guitarist Jamie West-Oram, the wonderful sweetness of that compressed and agile sound is in my mind totally underated. I have since seen him play session for various other well-knowns, but he carries a distinct sound that belongs to him, and him only (how many other non-lead guitarists of today can boast that?).
There is a sense that the keyboard player doesn´t do much, with most of the sounds used for simple effect or as an underlying wash. But this is thoughtful playing with some interesting techniques employed to change the sounds in realtime.
Most of the upfront sound is carried by guitar, drum, and bass. The bass player, again an underated musician. locked dead tight to the drums but he plays with real confidence and fluidity.
Cy´s vocals can at times be harsh to the ears but there is a real sense of conversation in the lyrics, almost as if he needs to sing because the music is there in the background.
Now it may be that if you visit this bands music you´ll just hear the slightly dusty production of an eighties band. But if you wind this up or listen to it through headphones, I promise you that you´ll find some hypnotic gems that for some reason the UK audience just didn´t take to.
Maybe this was the record companies fault, maybe they just didn´t know where The Fixx fitted to be able to market them properly, but when they toured the States it was a different story altogether.
They became much bigger there then in the UK.
If you want something that is vibrant, has width and depth, feels slightly unsafe, but is totally radio friendly try it out, and if you can get hold of it, ´Reach the Beach´ captures The Fixx at their most agile, spirited and ´tuned in´ as a band.¤

4) Audio CD Music Reach the Beach by Mca. This album changed my life. It was the first album I ever purchased that felt like one complete work of art from beginning to end, not just a couple of good songs and some filler. Even if "One Thing Leads To Another" is the only song you know from this band, you should still pick this up. Every song is brilliant. "The Sign Of Fire" is my favorite, but "Outside" still gives me chills 18 years later! An absolutely stunning album.¤

5) Audio CD Music Reach the Beach by Mca. I am not sure why the Fixx was always so despised by critics. They made smart, energetic, moving music and I think they are one of the best 80´s bands. This release is thier best. Dark and moody, the tunes stay with you a long time. I still love to listen to this cd.¤

6) Audio CD Music Reach the Beach by Mca. Quirky keyboards, quirky new-navey hooks, quirky showman of a lead singer (the yelp-throated Cy Curnin)--in its mid-´80s heyday, few bands captured the fleeting tenor of the chart times better than the Fixx. A poor man´s Duran Duran, the group was perfect for the nascent rock-video age, perfect for the just-got-its-wings MTV, and it worked its datestamped shtick well into the ´90s. But the Fixx´s defining album/moment had already occurred in ´83, with the breakthrough "One Thing Leads to Another" smash, from a fairly solid sophomore album, Reach the Beach. Although critics today might pan the record as fey and mawkish, it won headline concert billing for an otherwise unknown London outfit. --Tom Lanham¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 20-Nov-2008, 076731102528, AZB-G6B-RFB-MZB-D5B-EJB-8

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