Track Listing

1. Flowers And Football Tops
2. Geraldine
3. It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
4. Lonesome Swan
5. Go Square Go
6. Polmont On My Mind
7. Daddy's Gone
8. Stabbed
9. SAD Light
10. Ice Cream Van

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #963 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Glasvegas are a four-piece from Glasgow - the latest band to be championed by industry mogul Alan McGee, the man that "discovered" Oasis. Despite the inevitable hyperbole that has followed McGee’s proclamation of the band, Glasvegas more than deliver on their early promise with this eponymous debut album. The quartet already showcased their earthy wit and sonic ambitions on singles such as "Daddy’s Gone," a heartfelt tale of soured father-son relations delivered in an uncompromising Glaswegian accent and set to a shimmering wall of rock & roll. Glasvegas continues in more or less the same vein. Singer James Allen reels off stories of everyday city life over euphonious, pop-edged soundtracks that blend 50s surf rock, layered, Phil Spector-esque production values and the occasional splash of 60s doo wop. Tracks like the arching "Flowers and Football Tops", the confessional "It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry" and the upbeat "Legs & Show" contrast with darker songs like "Stabbed" and "Go Square Go!". The band's down-to-earth worldview combined with their nostalgic sound and surging, sing-a-long choruses makes for a rich and enjoyable musical tapestry.

CD Description
Glaswegian four-piece Glasvegas release their self-titled debut album through Columbia. Another discovery by music mogul Alan McGee, the band mix the wall-of-sound style of My Bloody Valentine with the anthemic singalong choruses of latterday Manic Street Preachers. There is also a 1950s influenceevident here and vocals that emphasise the band's Scottish origins. A powerful, resounding success that includes the single 'Geraldine'.

Customer Reviews

Top Scots Rock
For once you can believe the hype - the Glasvegas debut album is stunning. James Allan delivers his songs in a very Scottish voice indeed which will not be to everyone's taste but it lends real authenticity to his lyrics of contemporary Glasgow life: stabbings; absent fathers; social workers; paranoia and broken childhood dreams.

The music is guitar driven with strong percussion but it stands apart by way of its shimmering guitar backdrop, almost a `wall of sound' shining like a dirty jewel. The songs soar and are almost anthemic but are never dull due to the power and meaning behind the lyrics.

The singles `Geraldine', `Flowers & Football Tops' and the poignant `Daddy's Gone' are truly superb and rightly celebrated, but for me `It's My Own Cheating Heart..' is stunning with its pounding guitar line and lyrics delivered from the heart. `Glasvegas' shows amazing confidence for a debut album; `Stabbed' features a dreamlike lyric about imminent wounding spoken over Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. The band are also not afraid to sing a snatch of `You are my Sunshine' at the end of `Flowers & Football Tops'; both of these tricks work superbly. The final track, `Ice Cream Van' begins almost ethereally but gradually builds to a crescendo of guitar noise and is a fitting finale. Even the foul-mouthed singalong of 'Go Square Go' makes sense when you listen to the lyrics.

`Glasvegas' is a great record and shows how effective music can be when it is delivered with passion, meaning and authenticity.

Just Like Glasvegas?
Hmmmm, I bought this album after waiting nigh on a year for it. It was the first time in years that i was actually EXCITED about buying a record!

First the bad news....If you loved the original DIY versions of the singles 'It's My Own Cheating Heart that Makes Me Cry' ( one of my favourite songs of the decade, the guitar refrain makes me melt, and recorded perfectly for me on original release)and 'Geraldine' you might be a little disappointed.

Radio friendly re-recorded versions of these songs placed virtually at the start of the album kicks it off badly for me. The usual major label inteference. On first listen I was devastated.

But....The good news, the original versions of the above songs wouldnt have fitted into this 10 track opus in their original guise anyway and this actually isn't a bad thing.

The recording of this album (buy it on vinyl if you can) is lush, vibrant and many tracks (well, the first 5 anyway) segue into a victorious cacophony of atmospherics and crunching guitars.

For me the real victory in this recording is the downbeat final 3 tracks (Stabbed, S.A.D. Light and Ice Cream) which on listening usually a)terrify me and b) nearly have me in tears. And that takes something. Whoever came up with the idea of using the lyrics to their originally recorded version of 'Stabbed' then underpinning it with Beethovens 'Moonlight' Sonata should be awarded a chufty badge in my opinion. It works really well.

After my initial disappointment, I absolutely LOVE this record now. It wasnt what i was expecting, growing up listening to J.A.M.C., The Wolfhounds, MBV and The Wedding Present in the 80's, my ears are more tuned into abrasive and discordant music and in all honesty I was expecting an 80's indie album in the ilk of the previously mentioned especially after their first 2 singles, but for sheer emotion, power and honesty, this record returns in spades, especially with a nice bottle of red wine in tow.

Highly recommended.

A Fine Recommendation From Our Mentors
Amazon have been posting this album as a recommendation
for me for weeks now, so finally I gave in and bought it.

By the clearly magical force by which such assumptions are made they
were entirely right, on this occasion, to have brought it to my attention.

It's good. Very, very good as it happens.

The retro-chic wall of sound is both evocative and affecting.

Mr Allan has a fine voice whose vernacular splendour is
darkly humorous and grittily convincing.

A great little band whacking it out like there's no tomorrow.

Somewhat late in the day and with little else to add that has not
already been written by my esteemed co-listeners I can do no
more than concur that this fine album should be an essential
inclusion in any sane and upstanding person's musical collection.