18- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 9, 1998
I I 1 1 1 I le I e I
EMBRACE LET THE GOOD WILL OUT
Hill climbs into her
solo recording careef
Although brand new to American listeners,
Embrace is already more than just a household
name throughout most of the United Kingdom.
Still only in its early childhood as a signed
commodity, the band, originally from
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, has already
accomplished more in a year-and-a-half than
most bands ever even dream of achieving in a
lifetime.
With a confident mix of traditional Northern
England blue-collar vigor firmly in its grasp, in
a matter of mere months Embrace has gone from
playing small dungeon-like clubs to headlining
the second stage at England's esteemed
Glastonbury Festival this past summer. And not
only has the quartet already garnered 2 top ten
singles, but it has watched its debut album "The
Good Will Out," soar straight in at No. 1 in the
U.K.album charts, where it remained in the top
10 for the rest of the month after going gold in
its first week.
Singer and co-songwriter Danny McNamara
would have it no other way. One part shy roman-
tic and two parts self-assured visionary, Danny-
Embrace
The Good Will Out
Geffen Records
Reviewed by
Daily Music Editor
Brian cohen
And why not?
boy has already been the
cover star of virtually all of
the country's music publica-
tions, and has already been
thoroughly stalked and
hounded by the ever zealous
British tabloids. Fans swarm
the gigs, many of them in
tears, just waiting for the
chance to sing along to his
band's powerfully epic and
irresistible melodies.
After all, it's very easy to get
stuff that sold out stadium shows are made of -
completely bereft of any hint of overblown or
empty posturings.
Instead, McNamara successfully fills each
gorgeous melody with the kind of momentous
sentiments that can make even the most testos-
terone-laden meat head long for his teddy bear.
The brotherly songwriting tandem of Danny
and younger sibling Richard supplies "The
Good Will Out" with basically two types of
songs: epic and not so epic, with more than a
few of the tunes hovering around the six minute
mark.
Although sometimes lengthy, the songs all
share a surprisingly simple and straightforward.
style, which makes the lush layering of instru-
mentation all the more palatable and effective.
Strings are present all over this debut, lifting
songs like "Retread" and current U.K. single
"My Weakness Is None of Your Business" into
such lofty tufts of fury that you would expect
some '90's reincarnation of Bach or Beethoven
had a hand in the arrangements.
But as much as this is indeed music for the
common man on the street - real emotions
about very real life - some of the weighty feel-
ings do get a bit soppy with time, and
McNamara's sometimes-out-of-tune lower-
ranged baritone does take some getting used to.
But there are gritty rockers too, of course.
Future single "One Big Family" and the ever
macho "I Want The World" get their messages
across loud and clear, although the latter does so
with a bit too much Oasis-esque sneer and per-
haps not enough lyrical panache.
But on other parts of "The Good Will Out,"
some of Danny's lyrics certainly do tease, tor-
ment and tantalize. Take the last few blistering
measures of "Higher Sights," for example. Here,
it is actually possible to hear genuine inspira-
tion, as Danny croons "Then we'll dance, those
plans we make won't last/ They'll wear and fade
like fools too young to run out of time."
Elsewhere, rave-ups like "The Last Gas" and
"Blind" also grind their way into your head, but
just don't seem to overwhelm the listener like
the softer ballad "That's All Changed Forever"
or the album closing title track, both of which
show the band's impressive ease with quiet and
dignified expression - something which has
been noticeably absent from the music world in
quite some time.
Cockiness and Oasis/Verve comparisons
aside, Embrace's ability to write moving and
sweeping songs is undeniable on "The Good
Will Out," which is probably the most ambi-
tious and well-produced debut from any band
on either side of the Atlantic in the past three
years.
With enough talent and potential to sustain a
seemingly limitless breadth of musical possibil-
ities, and with "All You Good Good People"
starting to seep into MTV and radio airplay, per-
haps Embrace will be seeing a lot more of
America in the not too distant future. Perhaps
America should start to feel lucky.
Lauryn Hill can do no wrong. Those
who knew about the Fugees from day one
thought it was only a matter of time before
she ditched her Fugees compatriots and
became a solo MC. This view spread to
the mainstream, when audiences every-
where wondered when they would get a
chance to hear L-boogie not only rap, but
now sing. A baby and two other Refugee
Camp solo albums (by Wyclef and John
Forte) later, everyone gets their wish. "The
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" does not in
any way disappoint, and helps continue
the Refugee revolution.
Lauryn hits hard from the start, blaz-
ing with a lyrical barrage on "Lost
Ones," reminding anyone who forgot
about her mic skills that she is still one
of Hip-Hop's elite lyricists. However,
just when you think you're going to get
an album full of
classic Hip-Hop
* * joints like "Final
Hour", she spins
Lauryn Hill around and hits
The Miseducation of you with some
Lauryn Hill classic soul -
Ruffhouse/Columbia like on the remi-
Reviewed by niscent "Every
Daily Arts Writer Ghetto, Every
Quan Williams City" - and then
keeps you off-bal-
ance with combination rap/R&B songs
like "Forgive them Father." Everything
you love about L-boogie is on this album.
Well, almost everything. A lot of
artists who are affiliated with a larger
group rely too much on their affiliation
when it comes time to do solo material.
This is not the case with Lauryn Hill.
She chose to shine on her own, without
using her Fugees affiliation as a crutch.
While it is refreshing to hear "Lauryn
Hill" instead of "The Fugees starring
Lauryn Hill," it wouldn't have hurt to
have Clef and Pras on one or two songs.
Even though Lauryn is the only o
cial Refugee Camp member on t
album, she did invite Mary J. Blije,
D'angelo, and Carlos Santana to guest
on several tracks, and they all represent
rather well. All this, and the album has
two bonus songs, too!
But the primary focus remains Hill
herself. Lauryn does it all, from writing
all the lyrics to songs like the frustrated
"Ex-Factor," to arranging all the vocals
for songs like the clever Blije duet called
"I used to love him," to producing all '
music for songs like the nod-inducin
"Everything is Everything."
Ms. Hill could have just made a hip-
hop or R&B album, but instead she
chose to fuse the two styles, and ended
up making one of the best albums of the
year, in any category. Regardless of
whether you prefer Hip-Hop, R&B,
Gospel, Reggae, or anything else, if you
don't have this al)um in your collectio
then Lauryn Hill obviously isn't the o*
person who's been miseducated.
excited about this band.
First and foremost, the music is that good.
The sheer ambition of anthems like "Come
Back To What You Know" and current single
"All You Good Good People," complete with
strings, brass, piano and acoustic guitars, is the
V L
U FUID)
GJwyCuisoEr *
Getaway Cruiser
Getaway Cruiser
Sony
Etta James'
Life Love & the Blues
Pnvate Music
Movie
Sixpence None the Richer
Squint
ADA
New Skies
V&R
OA*Ct
GREAT I
IN A CLAS
DOL
P SHO
SMUSIC
Y ITSELF.
music is
slice of m
Numbers have tons of power if
you believe "7t", the movie being
referred to as the "best student film
ever."
And while there's a certair*
primitiveness to the look of the film,
the soundtrack is super polished.
And how could it not be with a lot
of the score music coming from vet-
eran Pop Will Eat Itself front guy
Clint Mansell? From the album
opener "itr2" to the ending "2ne r'-
Mansell provides a dark electronic
soundscape, appropriate accompani-
ment for a movie where a num
can cause computers to melt dov-
and make stuff grow on your skull.
The entries are variations ot d
theme, but it's a good enough theme,
so no harm there.
Througho ut
the album are
*** .14 snippets of dia-
logue from the.-
?L film, showing a
Soundtrack bit of the
Thrive/Sire Cabalistic/sto*
market number
Reviewed by theory underly-
Daily Arts Writer ing it. It's proba-
Ted Watts bly not too far
out to suggest"
that it might be meant to-draw your
attention to the use of' electronic
music, which exists as numbers in a.
synthesizer or a MIDI program, as.
yet another way or reinforcing t
number motif in "n".
And of course they haven't
skimped on the authors of the num-
ber-music. In addition to Mansell
everyone from Orbital to Roni Size
appears on the soundtrack. Aphex
Twin contributes "Bucephalous
Bouncing Ball". a high nitched fre-
Various Artists
Groove Radio Intl. Presents
Electronik
PaulStarr
I rckster
Push
Greatest Hits and Future Bits
Paul Starr
Various Artists
VH-1 's The Big 80's: The Big
Movies
Rhino
1____________-E