The Polyphonic Spree – The Beginning Stages Of... (2002)

This is a bit of an odd one. I had heard the first single, I'm not sure where, because I don't tend to listen to radio stations playing chart sounds, then saw this album, just released, in a boot fair sale for a quid.

I picked it up, listened, quite liked it, then put it away for over twenty years until now.

My minimal research (and looking at the cover) tells me they're still going, and at the time, were a 25 piece band, 10 of whom just sang, giving the band their big choral sound, and you can see from their distinctive white choir robes from the album cover.

It's a collection of joyful songs, arranged with band and brass section, with leader and vocalist Tim DeLaughter joined by a large chorus, not unlike the lighter sections of The Flaming Lips. My one criticism would be a feeling that they're unfinished, almost as if we're being treated to a full band rehearsal of the choruses of various songs, the nine song sections being made up of their early set list.

But joyful and celebratory is the tone, as we stroll through the happy Have A Day, It's The Sun and the slower, more reflective Days Like This Keep Me Warm. There's the bright and cheery La La followed by the darker Middle Of The Day, before the album concludes with the three 'hit' singles from the album (all scraped into the lower reaches of the UK Top 40). There's a long instrumental part one, before the vocal section of Hanging Around The Day, the bright Soldier Girl, and the joyous Reach For The Sun. Nine fun songs, 33 minutes of happiness, what more could you want?

Well, CDs can fit more than an hour of music on them, so the tenth track is a 36 minute long ambient drone, presumably for meditation after all the light and brightness. I listened to the whole thing, so you don't have to.

But this is a nice album. Not earth shattering, nor groundbreaking, but simple, bright and cheery.

Link to album tracks

3* - Half of this is a really fun listen. Let's ignore the filler final track