I haven't thought about Mull Historical Society since 1996, when a friend, a musical journalist named Dulcy, handed me a promo at the shop and said, "I really love this and I think you will, too."
I have a vague memory of thinking the record "Loss" was good, but apparently not good enough for me to keep playing it all these years. I blame a lot of that on the amount of music coming into the shop on any given day.
But now I see there is a CD boxed set, "The Complete Recordings" due on February 24th from Demon Records, as well as individual vinyl releases of the first three albums. I decided to give these records a long overdue second chance.
If this is old news to you, then forgive me, but my friend Dulcy was right. I love these records!
Mull Historical Society is the brainchild of Colin MacIntyre, and to get right to the point, this is brillant pop music, like Brian Wilson, Lindsey Buckingham and Todd Rundgren given carte blanche.
There wasn't a single track off of the debut, "Loss," that didn't wow me for one reason or another. If a song lacks in one department, like the slightly repetitious "Instead," the genius arrangement and powerful crescendo picks it up and carries it home. There are more hooks than a pirate's convention. The follow-up "Us," turns down the beautiful chaos just a bit, and delivers on its own merit, with some acoustic guitars in the foreground and maybe half as many kitchen sinks.
I've shared a few tracks from both, as well as posting another as today's SOTD on the left.
I am looking forward to February 24th, and maybe you will be, too, after giving these tracks a spin.
I can't believe I haven't been listening for the last 25 years.
5 comments:
Like your friend, I have tried over the years to get people to listen to MHS.
Your ultimate conversion means I wasn't crazy.
Hope more people will give this band a try.
Thanks for writing about them.
Ps. there are a few good live shows available on the web.
John
Watching Xanadu brings great memories, haven’t heard it in a while and your post reminded me of that one.
Roy
That stuff is fantastic. If I had heard that at the shop, I would have bought it on the spot. Thanks, Sal.
You continue to amaze me...hadn't thought of these guys for a second, but remember how much I liked them at the time. Wonderful. Thanks!
'more hooks than a pirate convention." Ha!
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