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Bicycle Thieves Album Reviews
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Louderthanthemusic.com Review
Glasgow based rockers Superhero are back with
their best album to date, The Bicycle Thieves takes
the band on a massive leap forward from their last
two offerings in "Fake Lunar Landing" & self
title album "Superhero". In the past
Superhero have toured with everybody you could
think of, and even had a few big Uk tours headed
by themselves. But more recent this band has taken
America by storm, touring non stop for a few months
at a time. "The Bicycle Thieves" is the
bands first independant release and they have got
the brilliant Sam Gibson in to do the mixing of
the album.
The album starts off with "Cool Police" this
track drags you into the vibe and feel of the album
with its intersting and observational lyrics on
the culture we live in and how we're all made to
have the same view and "sit on the fence",
what a great start to any album. Then a turn to
the less rocky side, more power anthems with "Emergenza", "The
Bicycle Thieves" & "El Nino State" all
beautiful songs, that you could easily relax and
unwind in, this all takes a large turn when the
chorus kicks in with an anthems sounding vibe that
wouldn't be out of place being sung by thousands
at a festival over the summer.
Tim Cheshire's vocals in "El Nino State" are
beautiful, this album seems to have let Tim be
more creative with his voice and it shows that
he has pushed his vocals to some different places,
and doesnt hold anything back. "The Great & The
Good" has a very modern pop rock feel, its
a mix between Scouting For Girls & The Hoosiers.
This then leads me to Superhero's most provocative
lyrics in any of their songs, "Delta.Pa" which
lead to discussing the issues of people more interested
in being against each other in the church family
while picking up on small issues but should instead
be loving each other, which could then maybe help
to change the world. The rest of the tracks off
the album lead to a more uplifting rock feel with
some funk bass in "Progress to Titan" to
the very dc talk sounding guitars in "C-List".
This is a Modern Rock album with a few great "Indie
Snow Patrol esq anthems", but also has some
all out and out Rock moments. Every single member
in Superhero deserve some praise, Great Guitars,
Great Keyboards work, Rocking bass and creative
Drumming. This could be the most complete Christian
Rock album for a long time.
To me Superhero have always been great live, and
I for one cant wait to see how the band introduce
these new songs into the setlist and see how they
sound live. Superhero the indie anthems band of
the christian music world are a real band, in the
sense that they play anywhere and to whoever will
listen, a real bands band. Could this album be
the start of something bigger in the Uk & America,
I hope so.. No, wait I know so.
Review By Jono Davies
Jonos rating 5 out of 5 Stars
Stand out Tracks
El Nino State
Delta .Pa
Cool Police
Emergenza
Mike Rimmer
After releasing two albums through the Delirious?
owned Fierce!, Superhero have released a self produced
and released third album. To my ears, their self
titled 2003 debut and 2005 follow up album 'Fake
Lunar Landing' were both a little over-produced
and suffered from a cluttered sound. For this new
album, there seems more room for Tim Cheshire's
vocals to breathe and I'm particularly enjoying
Gavin McGrath's blistering guitar work which explodes
in different places. Producing themselves and employing
skilled mixer Sam Gibson to bring it all together
seems to have paid off. Cheshire is always one
to employ interesting metaphors and create thought
provoking lyrics that only become clear after multiple
listens, this isn't an immediate album lyrically,
though musically it connects straight away. "Cool
Police" is an interesting observation about
cultural critics and fads and fashions and the
very catchy "Bicycle Thieves" notes that
all of us suffer from the selfishness of the human
condition. The band have created their own style
of indie rock which stands up to comparison with
the current crop of bands in the mainstream. Interestingly,
the albums gets louder as it progresses, the second
half representing the more fun side of the band
in a live setting. The rip roaring "All You
People" could be a call to arms in the spirit
of Delirious?'s "History maker". "C-List" is
a satirical look at celebrity culture whilst "Super
Intelligence" is just a nicely loud closer.
The band remain committed to sharing their faith
with audiences and through their music. If you're
looking for an effective band for a live gig, they're
well worth considering. Meanwhile, this album feels
like a great leap forward musically and Superhero
really are a great band!
Tony Cummings
It's only recently been released but already 'The
Bicycle Thieves' by Scotland's Superhero is gaining
considerable critical acclaim. With tours of the
UK and the USA to come interest in the long-running
band has never been higher.
Read
the full Bicycle Thieves review at Cross Rhythms »
Review of The Bicycle Thieves by Paul
Davis of www.newchristianmusic.co.uk
Here’s first class, “in-your-face” urban-teen
rock in sparkling audio-stereo coming at you here.
Under the inspirational Superhero banner comes
this welcome Brit release.’ Aimed at the
youth market, repertoire spans a spectrum of cultural
Brit youth-problem subject matter. One hopes that
this gets a fair airing to this generation. All
songs were penned by Tim Cheshire, an innovative
songwriter and Superhero is a quality combo that
I’d term "pure magic". One senses
that they understand and master their genre well.
Superhero kicks off with the engaging “Cool
Police” and concludes with “Super Intelligence.
In between we are treated to some interesting newly
positive contemp-rock songs. So if you enjoy the
gutsy chart-rock fare of constructive persuasion
then this is for you and is sure to be welcomed
by their die-hard fans. All material here will
extend the band’s span of popularity.
Reviewed by Graeme Crawford for Cross Rhythms
Superhero - 'The Bicycle Thieves' 9/10
Over the years that they have been together, the
Glasgow band have continued to develop musically.
From the indie/Britpop leanings of their early
independent releases through to the more mainstream
rock of their more recent albums, the band have
constantly evolved and matured their sound. Consequently,
this latest offering floats between blues-based
Rolling Stones-esque rock 'n' roll such as "All
You People" and more contemporary The Fray/Scouting
For Girls style piano-led pop numbers like "Emergenza".
The production is clear, allowing all the instruments
room to manoeuvre, while singer Tim Cheshire's
voice has lashings of power and emotion. Several
of the lyrics here reflect directly or indirectly
the themes raised in the Italian movie classic
and work well, even if you haven't seen the film.
Also, Cheshire's winning way with memorable song
hooks shows through on tracks like the opener "Cool
Police" and "All You People". Finally,
the production values, which were a bit muddy on
previous Superhero albums, have been improved significantly.
All in all, a fine rock album.
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