The Coral

Pretty catchy, but I’m not terribly surprised I e never heard of them. Apparently they’re kind of big in England? 3.5 stars

iskreno, dosta dobro. jedino što mi je znalo pa i podosta smetati jest pomalo seljački način pjevanja na nekim dijelovima, nepotrebna amerikanizacija. no sve u svemu ostavilo dosta dobar dojam, pa ću im progledati kroz prste i dati četvorke umjesto možda nešto objektivnije trojke. nastojat ću zacijelo preslušati još koji put

jack white and modest mouse sing sea shanties

Quite impressed that these fellas seem to remain operational. Classic 3 star, fine, not 1001 worthy. Wouldn't be surprised if they eventually released a goodie.

The Coral are essentially a sixties outfit, not only b/c James Skelly's vocals are reminiscent of Eric Burdon & Mark Lindsay, the organ has you jamming like The Doors, & the compositions are playfully soulful like The Kinks, The Stones, & The Mamas & the Papas, but b/c an act of discovery in the realm of rock 'n' roll underlies the entire project. In other words, refreshingly, The Coral has you feeling that this is music that's only been around for three or four years, & they just can't wait to share what they've heard. 'It feels like I'm fixin' to die / She took my soul and she blew my mind.' Not much here is that deep, at least from a conceptual point of view, but who needs that when you've got soul? So yea, better than expected & better than mucho.

First things first... I owe The Thrills a massive, public apology.

A few weeks back I said they were one of the weakest "The" band from this early 200s era, but then I had to listen to The Coral again, and wow... The Thrills were just kinda boring with their california band vibes and incessant location name dropping, but The Coral? It's a mess, a total disaster. They apparently have to have every instrument imaginable, but it doesn't make them good. They only have one decent song, "Dreaming Of You," and even that feels weird next to everything else.

Listening to this album is like having a bad dream. Someone tried to mix polka, ska, and some weird folk stuff, and it's just... awful. It hasn't just not aged well, it's gone bad.

Dreaming of You sehr nostalgisch für mich dank scrubs. Ansonsten kein 1001 Album was ich gehört haben muss

A one hit wonder does not make a good album. They're a one hit wonder for a reason...

2 ⭐️

Not that this had to do with anything, but there was a moment listening to this where I had my headphones on and stared dramatically into my reflection in a window, and it felt really fucking cool. Now, the MUSIC wasn't cool, but the FEELING was. So basically I don't really know what to say about this album.

A solid 3. Nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either. Agree with others noting that this probably is borderline in terms of deserving a spot on this list, but there is plenty worse!

Okay. Just okay. Some interesting musical flourishes here and there, but overall okay.

I’m at a recommended 4.

For the most part, Mercury Prizes nominees have worked really well for me on the list, and this is yet another one to fit the bill. With the Wikipedia description of a “neo-psychedelia and folk rock album”, I expected this to be something a little more stuck up & serious. I’m very glad they proved me wrong by the polka-esque shift on “Shadows Fall” – this is neo-psychedelia & folk to a degree, but I would say this is far more of a blended mixture of a bunch of different genres, somehow working cohesively together. There’s elements of ska, polka, rock, doo-wop & Americana, bringing to mind everyone from Nick Cave to Bruce Springsteen to Billy Joel to Elvis Costello to the Pogues. It’s an eclectic album, & one that feels sort of Zappa-esque in nature, though without the bigger eccentricities of his earliest works.

For as eclectic & genre-bending as it is though, there are some tracks that feel like they hit a wall of ideas on & just sort of padded them out with instrumentals / ending choruses, and those moments are pretty noticeable. This album is only 34 minutes (roughly 40 if you count “Time Travel”, oddly not on streaming), but it feels a little bit longer due to that padding, which does sort of mess with the pace of the album. Most of these tracks are at a faster tempo, so while they bring up an energy really quickly, that energy can feel stagnant once those walls are hit, and it does hit them decently often. Granted, I don’t think it’s a big deal – the energy of the tracks is strong enough to begin with, & there’s only a handful of tracks that really FEEL like they overstay their welcome (“Waiting for the Heartaches” probably chief among them). Past that, there’s just a few tracks that didn’t hook me in all the way, even though they’re really fun to listen to (“Skeleton Key” & “Wildfire”, in this case).

Those are the reasons I’m at a 4 here, but it’s a 4 that I do recommend. I think people giving this a 1 or a 2 are just turned off by the soundscapes here, and I can understand that to a degree. Those who are dismissing this just because it’s some plucky band from London that they’ve never heard of feels like a dismissal of the entire purpose of going through these albums. I’ll admit, I’m a little hesitant to say this is an album you MUST listen to before you die (certainly a lot ahead of it), but that’s not a reason to slap this with a 1. Putting it on its own merits, it’s a really enjoyable set of tracks that blend a lot of genres together with some “innovative” (what’s old is new again) production for the era. I think it’s a fun one, hence a pretty strong 4. I’m glad it’s on the list.

It was aight, but didn't stand out to me very much.

this was pretty fun. Probably not gonna revisit too often, but had a jolly good time. Yarrr? Strong 3

Not sure I've ever listened to any recordings by The Coral before, but I saw them live 4 times in 2018 as they were opening for the Manic Street Preachers. I wasn't a big fan then, and that hasn't really changed with time. "Dreaming of You" is fun the first time you hear it, and then it gets old quite quickly. There's nothing particularly offensive about their sound, but there's nothing that really catches me, either. I'm not a fan of the raspy vocals or the use of saxophone, which to me feels like it's just been added in to make the sound stand out rather than being an integral part of their compositions. Truly not sure this one belongs on the list as it's just so unremarkable, and it makes a lot of sense that it's been dropped in more recent editions.

Some fun, raucous rock and roll. I quite enjoyed it.

The Coral was a surprisingly really good album. I didn't really come in with much expectations because i didn't scout ahead when it came to this album but i was sure in for a fun surprise when i did listen to this album. James Skelly's voice was apparently heavily compared to Jim Morrison of The Doors and i not only can see that but i see a lot of similarities with them in the music department too. That music is incredibly weird and very varied as were the vocals, and that's why i loved them so much. Granted, i don't think this album is perfect, there are a few vocal bits that i wasn't really a fan of which is why it barely missed getting 5 stars but it was still an absolutely great listen.
Best Song: Shadows Fall
Worst Song: Simon Diamond

A few tracks into this album and I’m wondering why the author would think I need to hear this before I die. Here’s my theory.

If you had asked me what I thought of the coral before listening to this album I would have said, pretty good, based on hearing “dreaming of you”. Maybe this is the authors way of making sure as many people as possible know they’re absolutely garbage.

I grew up where The Coral grew up so have a slight issue of being massively over exposed to them. Still regularly name dropped by my brother’s mates 20+ years later, seemingly unaware the rest of the world has moved on.

“ey lad gerron this rite. Bin chattin to James Skelly / Bill Ryder-Jones. Says he’ll produce me new EP if I go round is gaff this Satdy.”
“Is it yeah? Sound tha ya know.”
“Is rite. Giz a go on that lemo there lad”

Ok at times, but irritating most of the time. I wouldn't compare this guy's voice to Jim Morrison's at all, but the music is kind of the same vein--for better or worse. 2/5