Music : St Jude

Rating: - First class!
This is an excellent debut album. From start to finish, finely crafted songs, superb musicianship it's no wonder the album has been nominated for the Guardian's Best First British Album award.

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Rating: - St Jude - Patron Saint of Lost Causes; not this time!!!
I first heard of The Courteeners at this year's "V" Festeval; I hadn't heard of them and wasn't going to bother - until I heard them. They were brilliant!!! I bought the album, St Jude, as soon as I could afterwards. There is a definite "Libertine" style to their music, but I have got to disagree with any similarity to The Smiths or Morrissey. No, lyrically, I would say there is a suggestion of The Wedding Present, but the most important thing is that The Courteeners have a very unique sound - they are not a product of other styles nor are they Top Ten Pop Fodder; they are a band that should be watched for the future. The bonus disc gives an even better insight into the band's abilities, with acustic versions of album tracks and additional tracks to delight, amaze and leave you wanting more. A truly brilliant album and, even if you have to sell an elderly relative to do so, I recomend you see The Courteeners live.

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Rating: - The new Oasis?
That was how they were hailed in NME, the next big Manchester band, a band to follow greats like Oasis. Now Oasis were a little before my time, although I know quite a few of their songs, and I think you can hear their influence in this band. This album is brilliant; sharp, witty and very observant of society. The songs are quite catchy, the lyrics are smart and the music sounds like the guitar driven bands (like Oasis etc.) you don't hear so much any more. The new Oasis? Only time will tell, but that isn't really the important question. This album presents them as a great band in their own right, if they keep producing songs of this calibre people may one day be describing a new Manchester band as "the new Courteeners"

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Rating: - Hype is a fatal thing
I heard nothing but praise for quite a while before i tried this. I kept hearing things like "It's not the normal indie music that is being churned out these days". But after a listen I realised that it is just that and what these people should have been saying was "It is the normal indie music that is being churned out these days".
Theres nothing special about it. Nothing fresh really.

This may seem like harsh criticism, but i'm not saying it's terrible, just that it's definately not new. If you're happy listening to the wombats and stuff like that, with no real experimentation, then you'll be golden here.
I think that this stems from the fact that I've got an odd taste in music, I started out listening to stuff like this, Oasis, Travis et.c, but eventually I moved to pastures new. I really like experimentation, if it's not a bit different it doesn't last long in my playlists.

To sum up, this is OK, but nothing innovative like the praisers would have you believe.

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Rating: - Immense!!
Can't stop playing this. Getting all my mates involved in buying tickets as well!! Best album I've heard in years!!! Well, since the Cribs last one any way....