A Walk Across the Rooftops

For some reason, whenever I hear a song from A Walk Across The Rooftop I have an urge to do the Willem Defoe pose in Platoon while a torrent of rain washes upon me. Something about this album and its brand of sophisti-pop brings out a sensual urge out of me. Nothing sexual, just an urge to hold someone and feel the heat and the of the moment.

I enjoy this quite a lot. Not as much as Hats, but it has its charm. Very lush production, more upbeat and mainstream, and doesn't quite rely on building up an atmosphere, but throwing you into the groove. Paul Buchanan's voice is a great companion through this journey as well.

Bought blind in my early days of record collecting. Was surprised by its goodness. Maybe not as into it these days. Tinseltown still goes good though.

I had never heard of the Blue Nile before, but this was a very interesting listen. The 80s production shines through a bit too much at times, but the instrumentation was very unique and I feel like there was a lot to unpack in each song. This probably needs a couple more listens to fully appreciate.

It’s interesting to think this came out in 1984, when I was 20, at university, going to clubs, working as a university radio DJ and reading the music papers — and yet I’d never heard of them then or now.

Which does make you wonder why some mediocre bands become enormous while others barely see the light of day beyond a local cult following.

The album itself is perfectly respectable. The vocal has a definite Peter Gabriel feel to it, and quite a few of the tracks do too, but then everybody is inspired by somebody. It’s well produced, has a strong sound, and clearly somebody somewhere thought they were worth investing in.

Altogether, not bad at all.
3½

Largely forgettable. 2/5

People that aren't bored to tears by this album should be studied so we can harness their powers for the greater good.

3/5. This thing is very well produced, whether that be the great groove on “Tinseltown in Rain” or the beautiful sounding “Heatwave.” As someone who’s usually not a fan of 80’s pop production that is really saying something. That being said, the album is a bit one-note, there’s not much variety in the track-list which is fine but makes it so there aren’t as many strong individual standouts outside of the two I previously mentioned. Though it is at least only 38 minutes so it doesn’t overstay its welcome too long.

i can't even remember listening to it yesterday but i did

I listened to this and promptly forgot everything about it. In terms of how awful most 80s music is, that’s an upgrade.

sophist-o-pop

This one has been haunting me a little bit. It was generated for me 12 days ago, but I've had to listen to it three times. My first impression was that the album was more "interesting" than enjoyable, but I think it's growing on me. It's an album that reveals a little more of itself track by track and then also (full) listen by listen.

If I have a criticism at this point, I would say that I don't know if they quite earned the right to average 5 minutes per track. Most of these songs take a minute and a half to wind down when 40 seconds would have done it.

Never heard of this band. A pleasant surprise. The bass on the first song was something I’ve never heard a bass do before. Would definitely listen to most of these songs again.

Very boring, but sounded very nice!

No thank you

Just beautiful music. Love the Blue Nile…this album and Hats are just wonderful.

4

This is very ok. Nothing offensive but nothing interesting.

Some really good songs here. “Stay” in particular caught my ear, for its really great new wavey guitar solo and its chorus. Also “Heat Wave,” with its instrumentation, and its coasting drumbeat, and its beautiful, passionate vocals. I was also really into the kind of nocturnal vibe the entire thing fostered, that kind of 1980s thing that I can generally take or leave but if I must listen to I enjoy. A lot of the production can err on the sparser side, but I kinda get it; a lot of this album feels like that moment when you’ve been up for a while, and it’s like midnight or 1 in the morning, and you’re just about to fall asleep. The lead singer has this really dreamy voice that’s perfect for this brand of synthy, piano-ey, new wave type music. I honestly really kinda love this one.
9.3/10

Sound familiar but not quite to my liking.

I hated this. Truly hated everything about it. Especially From Rags To Riches and Heatwave. Stuck with it to the end though, every track from every album and all that but bloody hell I was glad when this ended.

peter gabriel with a sprinkle of david bowie that somehow doesnt really work