Spiritualized: Let It Come Down 2001

British space rock band founded in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire. Spiritualized has always been Jason Pierce plus a rotating cast of supporting musicians.

When highly influential English psychedelic rockers Spacemen 3 splintered, singer/guitarist Jason Pierce (also known as J. Spaceman) formed his group Spiritualized, extracting his more melodic and plaintive songwriting from droning minimalism of his former band. Spiritualized evolved from the narcotic, Velvet Underground-inspired sounds of their earliest material to incorporate both gospel and blues influences and wistful orchestral pop touches that took cues from Brian Wilson and Phil Spector's teenage symphonies to God.
                                       

 
Jason Pierce has never shied away from changes in pursuit of his artistic goals. He traded

Spacemen 3's white-hot intensity for the gentler ebb and flow of Spiritualized, and took things a step further by firing the rest of the band after their greatest success, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. Let It Come Down is another step in Pierce's difficult, single-minded creative path. To craft the album's epic sound, Pierce sang the melodies into a Dictaphone, translated them to piano, and then transposed them into orchestral arrangements.
                             

This painstaking process results in an album that is equal parts intimate confessions and ambitious soundscapes, yet, despite the lineup changes and its lengthy inception, Let It Come Down doesn't sound

radically different from Spiritualized's previous albums, proving for once and all that Pierce is Spiritualized and Spiritualized is Pierce. Instead, it feels like a natural progression from the densely orchestrated space rock of the first three Spiritualized albums, especially on the bleak, bluesy "Out of Sight" and the plaintive "Don't Just Do Something." Sweeping, stratospheric string and brass sections dominate the album, with over 100 musicians surrounding Pierce's frail, desolate vocals on some songs.
                                    

Indeed, the lushness of the arrangements sometimes overpowers the album's relatively straightforward songwriting, particularly on tracks like "Anything More." While country and gospel influences bring

the beautiful "Do It All Over Again" and "Won't Get to Heaven (The State I'm In)" back down to earth, Let It Come Down's elaborate sound doesn't always make its songs particularly accessible. When Pierce dares to keep things relatively simple, as on the insistent, yearning "I Didn't Mean to Hurt You" and the finale, "Lord Can You Hear Me," the emotional impact is stunning; the rockers "On Fire" and "The Twelve Steps" also cut the album's scope down to size in a direct, gripping way. Let It Come Down is another masterfully made Spiritualized album, but its very ambitions sometimes overwhelm it.
By Heather Phares

Spiritualized – Let It Come Down
Label: Spaceman Records – OPM001CD, Arista – 74321882242
Format:    CD, Album
Country: UK & Europe
Released: Sep 17, 2001
Genre: Rock
Style: Space Rock, Psychedelic Rock

TRAXS

                          

01. On Fire    4:01
02. Do It All Over Again    3:48
03. Don't Just Do Something    6:53
04. Out Of Sight    6:11
05. The Twelve Steps    4:43
06. The Straight And The Narrow    5:11
07. I Didn't Mean To Hurt You    5:13
08. Stop Your Crying    5:16
09. Anything More    5:35
10. Won't Get To Heaven (The State I'm In)    10:33
11. Lord Can You Hear Me    5:37

NOTES

                             

Alto Vocals – Emer McParland, Heather Cairncross, Rachel Weston
Bass Clarinet – David Fuest
Bass Trombone – Andy Waddicor, Dave Stewart (2), Roger Argente
Bass Vocals – Michael Dore, Simon Grant (4)
Bass [Fender Jazz Bass, Fender Musicmaster, Fender Bass V❘, Burns Bass, Fender Telecaster], Banjo, Piano – Martin Schellard
Bassoon – Celia Birkenshaw, Gavin McNaughton
Cello – Tony Pleeth, Cathy Giles, David Daniels, Jonathan Tunnell
Choir – London Community Gospel Choir
Clarinet – Anthony Pike, Richard Addison
Countertenor Vocals – Nigel Short
Double Bass – Diane Clarke, Mary Scully
Drums [Gretsch Drum Kit] – Kevin Bales
Flute [Contra-bass Flute] – Andy Findon
Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute – Andy Findon, Dave Heath
French Horn – Dave Lee (3), Hugh Seenan, Martin Owen, Michaela Betts, Nigel Black, Paul Gardham, Richard Ashton, Richard Bissel
Guitar [Fender Telecaster, Fender Jaguar, Gibson Firebird], Organ [Vox Continental, Farfisa Compact], Piano, Synthesizer [Juno 106], Acoustic Guitar [Martin] – John Coxon
Guitar [Fender Thinline, Fender Jaguar, Epiphone Olympic, Vox Starstreamer X❘❘], Acoustic Guitar [Martin], Banjo, Organ [Vox Continental, Farfisa Compact], Piano, Harmonica, Vocals – Spaceman
Guitar [Gibson Les Paul Gold Top, Gibson Les Paul Custom, Fender Telecaster], Effects [Vox Bulldog], Acoustic Guitar [Martin], Harmonica – Doggen Foster
Harp – Helen Tunstall
Oboe – Chris Cowie (2), Margaret Tindale
Organ [Hammond C3, Vox Continental, Farfisa Compact], Synthesizer [VK7, Kurzweil K2000, Minimoog], Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Piano – Thighpaulsandra
Piano – Chris Clark (4)
Saxophone, Clarinet – David Temple, Pete Whyman, Tamar Osborn
Score [Music Scores] – Martin Schellard
Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Raymond Dickaty*
Soprano Vocals – Jacqueline Barron, Sarah Eyden
Tenor Vocals – Andrew Busher, Andrew Gray (2), Gerard O'Beirne
Trombone – Colin Sheen, Graham Lee (5), James Adams (2), Mike Hext, Peter Davies, Roger Brenner
Trumpet – Andy Crowley, Ben Edwards (2), Bob Farley, Ian Balmain, Nick Smart, Paul Archibald, Paul Beniston
Tuba – David O'Carroll
Vibraphone, Marimba, Timpani, Bells [Tubular Bells], Percussion – Tom Edwards
Viola – Bruce White, Kate Musker, Philip Dukes, Roger Chase
Violin [First] – Cathy Thompson, Christina Emanuel, Everton Nelson, Ian Humphries, Jackie Shave, Laura Malhuish, Patrick Kiernan, Steve Morris
Violin [First], Leader – Edmund Coxon
Violin [Second] – Ann Morfee, Dai Emanuel, Jeremy Morris, Jonathan Rees, Miffy Hirsch, Perry Montague-Mason, Sonia Slaney
Vocals – Mimi Parker
Vocals [London Community Gospel Choir] – Aaron Paul Sokell, Carmen Smart, Donovan Keith Lawrence, Irene Forrester, Jasette Barratt, Jenny Graham, Jenny La Touche, Michelle John-Douglas, Samantha Smith, Travis Jae Cole, Vernetta Meade, Vimbai Shire, Wayne Hernandez, Wendi Rose
Written-By, Arranged By – J. Spaceman

MP3 @ 320 Size: 145 MB
Flac  Size: 415 MB

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