Lungs |  | Artist: Florence + the Machine
Label: Universal Republic
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $8.98
as of 9/9/2010 05:53 CDT details
You Save: $5.00 (36%)
New (40) Used (6) from $8.28
Seller: --cdzone-uk--
Rating:  69 reviews
Sales Rank: 111
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.7 x 0.4
MPN: 001317002
UPC: 602517979406
EAN: 0602517979406
ASIN: B001PB3RU8
Release Date: October 20, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Tracks:
| • | Dog Days Are Over | | • | Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) | | • | I'm Not Calling You A Liar | | • | Howl | | • | Kiss With A Fist | | • | Girl With One Eye | | • | Drumming | | • | Between Two Lungs | | • | Cosmic Love | | • | My Boy Builds Coffins | | • | Hurricane Drunk | | • | Blinding | | • | You've Got The Love |
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
International pressing. 2009 debut album from the hotly tipped UK outfit fonted by Florence Welch. Lungs, produced by Paul Epworth, James Ford and Steve Mackay, is an intoxicating mix of delicate fragility, dark humor and twisted Tim Burton style fairy-tales. From the live favourite 'You've Got The Love' to the raw Blues-tinged 'Girl With One Eye' to the beautifully painful 'Between Two Lungs', the album is crammed with crowd pleasers. Also boasting fresh tracks like new single 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)', 'Drumming' - with its epic denseness, the terrifyingly brilliant 'Howl' and 'Hurricane Drunk' with it's paradoxical charms of heartbreak, love and loss, Lungs promises to leave us wanting more of the insanely captivating Florence Welch. Universal. 2009.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 69
 Louder than sirens, louder than bells September 11, 2009
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
"Happiness hit her like a train on a track/Coming towards her stuck still no turning back/She hid around corners and she hid under beds/She killed it with kisses and from it she fled..."
Florence and the Machine is one of those little bands that seeps in under the pop radar, and becomes a sensation based on pure talent. And Florence Welch and Co. produce a solid debut, "Lungs," that blends delicate polished instrumentals and different genres -- there's little splatters of pop, punk and soul woven together, and cemented in place by Welch's lovely voice.
It kicks off with the plucked intro of "Dog Days Are Over," with Welch's sweet voice singing about "Happiness hit her like a bullet in the head/Struck from a great height by someone who should know better than that." While it starts off as soft, ethereal pop, the melody is swathed in eruptions of orchestral pop-rock -- it gets loud'n'catchy, with Welch yelling, "The doooog days are OVER-ER/the dooooog days are ALL DONE!"
She continues the high note with "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)," a scintillatingly colorful melody that sounds like a thunderstorm in a flower garden. After that she unleashes a bunch of other great songs: the soulful "I'm Not Calling You A Liar," the urgent piano-pop of "Howl," the wandering twangy "Girl With One Eye," the bouncy wistful "Between Two Lungs," and the sweetly macabre "My Boy Builds Coffins." An especially fun one is "Kiss With A Fist," a blazing punky tune that celebrates rough'n'passionate relationships ("You hit me once, I hit you back/you gave a kick, I gave a slap/you crashed a plate over my head/and I set fire to our bed!").
But Welch and her revolving-door band really shine when the music overflows into a steady river of fiery rock'n'roll, wrapped in twisting gossamer synth and soaring rich vocals. "Howl," the hymnlike "Drumming" and the bleak "Hurricane Drunk" all fit into this category -- and these are absolutely stunning songs, if not as immediately accessible as the catchier tunes.
Florence and the Machine has a pretty unique sound -- there's a lot of punky rock'n'roll, a spattering of pop's catchiness, and some jazzy overtones woven into a few of the songs. As debut albums go, this is a pretty spectacular one, with a distinctive flavour that sounds like little else in modern music -- the closest comparison that comes to mind would be if Joanna Newsom formed a punk-rock band and went for pop stardom.
In particular, Welch has a very pretty voice -- it's a little wavery and girlish, but she sculpts it into a flickering, roaring presence in the louder songs. And she has a knack for dark, evocative lyrics ("Louder than sirens, louder than bells/sweeter than heaven and hotter than hell!") with a quirky edge ("He's made [a coffin] for himself/One for me too/One of these days he'll make one for you"). There are a few lines that need some smoothing out, but not badly enough to distract.
And the instrumentation from The Machine is a gorgeous accompaniment -- lots of rich, swirling instrumentals and straight-ahead rock'n'roll, usually depending on Robert Ackroyd's strong electric guitar and Christopher Lloyd Hayden's solid drumming. Isabella Summers wraps the album in gossamer-soft synth, and Tom Monger adds to the ethereal edge with a harp -- it also helps give it a more classical sound, rather than straight rock-pop.
Florence and the Machine's debut "Lungs" really shows why this band has been getting so much attention across the pond -- it's passionate, eclectic and a lovely piece of work. And it sounds like they'll only get better.
The Best Album of 2009 (so far) July 7, 2009
J. C. Petts (Seattle, WA USA)
33 out of 36 found this review helpful
Truly a stunning album. One of the most amazing pieces of music I have heard for many years.
Florence Welch has a voice that she uses to amazing effect. It reminds me alternately of some other outstanding female vocalists, such as Grace Slick, Sonja Kristina (Curved Air), Sinead O'Connor, Dido but somehow seems to transcend all of them.
There is an intimacy and warmth she projects, combined with a great power, yet at times projects and air of frailty and vulnerability.
The music itself is pop of the highest quality, and the at-times sparse mixes move seamlessly between driving rhythms and allusive, haunting and captivating airiness.
The way that instruments such as harp are highlighted and allowed to interact with, and emphasize Florence's voice is wonderful.
The lyrics repay careful listening, being very much out of the ordinary.
Standout track of this album is Rabbit Heart (Lift It Up), but any of these songs would, to my mind, be outstanding among the very best music ever recorded.
I entitled this review "The Best Album of 2009 (So Far)", but I would not be at all surprised if I didn't hear a better album than this for several years. Truly, truly a gem.
Becuase of projects like Florence + the machine the music industry has still hope of surviving October 18, 2009
NUEVE (Culiacan. Sin. Mex,)
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
There are no words to describe how AMAZING this album is. From the beginning all its way through the end the music you find here is an unforgettable experience. Before I jump into conclusions with some of the songs let me tell you that this girl is so talented on her own terms. The production of the album is stunning and the arrangements of the instruments flow in such an incredible way and natural form that you might believe that perfection is what you hear. A piano here, an Arp there (such a beautiful inclusion to this record), an electric and acoustic guitar every now and then make the songs come up with their own personality.
"Dogs days are over", "I'm not calling you a liar" and "Drumming song" fight againts the traditional way of a song structure... there's a point where you don't know what you're listening and yet, you can't stop tapping your foot on the floor at the rythm of the music. Great songs for sure. "Rabbit heart (raise it up)" (of course!!!), "Kiss with a fist" and "You've got the love" are meant to be the commercial ones??? on the record... not that they're less impressive because of this 'cause once you hear the first one you fall in love with it right away. To point out one of tem in particular, I find "My boy builds coffins" a masterpiece. For some reason everything falls right in place here.
"Lungs" is by far one the best records of this year and for sure will be one of the best in the first decade of the 2000's. Because of projects like Florence + the machine and Bat for lashes (I must say), we know that if this kind of music is coming up from such young girls, we can expect a bright future for music itself. It is ok that we have ALL kinds of music: the bubblegum one (with all the annoying scene in the US), abstract one (a la Radiohead) and commercial-respected one (R.E.M., U2, Muse or even Placebo). But if we didn't have the independent one and all the UK scene going on, the whole music universe would be so predictable.
The best album you'll hear this year September 26, 2009
noelle (Seattle)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have to add my voice to the cacophony singing Florence + the Machine's praises. This is an unbelievable album from a whopper of a talent. I first heard "Hurricane Drunk" on KCRW and within minutes had committed to buying the whole album. That was a month ago, and I gotta tell you, the album still hasn't gotten old despite repeated playings.
Sure, I may be a bit obsessed. But the last time I was this excited about a new artist was when Scissor Sisters came on the scene years ago, and that's saying something.
Key tracks:
- Drumming Song
- Hurricane Drunk
- Girl with One Eye
Eclectic Brilliance - no pigeon hole for Florence. September 2, 2009
Anthony Lord (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have not listened so much to an album since Seldom Seen Kid. It is truly amazing that talent like this can suddenly emerge almost by accident. Lyrics with bite, beautiful music with vocals that go full bore for the senses. Those lucky enough to have seen her live are giving raves and the venerable BBC are pushing her forward.
World look out!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 69
|
|
|
