Track Listing

1. Are You Ready
2. Travel Time
3. Force And The Wisdom
4. Wind Season
5. Death From Above
6. We Move Through The Plateau
7. Bardo Plane
8. Chill
9. Federation
10. Simon's Ghost
11. Presence
12. Concorde Square
13. Sexus

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #111223 in Music
• Released on: 2002-06-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Customer Reviews

Merry Crispy's.
Reviewing the Crispy's is always a tricky business.
You usually have to start by loudly renouncing accusations of plagiarism (sub-JD is the main one levelled at them -among others). That they come from the same area and were signed to the same label as Curtis and co, makes it devilishly easy for (lazy) commentators to pack them neatly away with all the other wannabees from that era, and effortlessly dismiss a sure fire classic like 'the Plateaux Phase' (my 'x' because I love them!) as derivative and unoriginal. I sooo think not.

'TPP' (Curse that title again and again!) is a stand-up, solid long- player in its own right and needs to be re-appraised as such, without ever mentioning you-know-who on the page again.
Yes, yes, yes its got swirling synth-guitar and a slightly funk bass etc. etc. (well it was the 80's y'know!) but its the tone of 'TPP' that sets it apart.
Forget doom and gloom and remember what it was like to feel that first shiver of recognition when you realised the music you just listened to would be with you for the rest of your life, and you'd still be discovering new treats in its nooks and crannies a quarter of a century later.

Forget too, the overwhelming SERIOUSness of it all. Sure, 'TPP' has an air of reflection and perhaps even greyness, but it's never hopeless, never in-your-face despairing.
Hell, it's even ambiguously amusing at times (to me anyway). At one point big Alan Hempshall sings: 'Somebody keep me from going back into the water'. Is he singing about evolutionary regression or does he just not want his bath?

Even the original sleeve was a clue. Curved and spiral title lettering as opposed to the usual angled and sparse Factory captions. These people are not afraid of emotion.

'TPP'(last time now, promise) belongs to a time when artistic and hopeful people went into music and creating something lasting meant more than selling something quickly.
The Crispy's warm and broad lp still keeps me intrigued..and smiling.

Joy Division copycats make interesting debut
It is only natural that when a life-changing band such as Joy Division arrives on the music scene then thousands of other bands will emerge all trying to emulate that sound themselves. This re-release of their 1982 album is largely based on Joy Division's sound but unlike other bands, even though they could be accused of plagiarism, they did it better than most. Most of the elements needed were in place but they certainly did not have an Ian Curtis in their ranks; vocalist Alan Hempshall's whine being the weakness here sounding very thin and insubstantial although it appears to grow in confidence towards the end of this CD. The best tracks on offer here are the final two extra tracks, 'Concorde Square' sounds like their own version of Joy Division's 'The Eternal' with it's stately piano and general end-of-the-world atmosphere whilst 'Sexus' contains, for once, a biting vocal and a breathtaking post-punk anthem which most bands would be proud of. Sadly, the public were unmoved although the band recently reconvened for a one-off gig in late 1999.