Product Description

SUNSHINE ON LEITH continues in much the same vein as Craig and Charlie Reed's debut, THIS IS THE STORY, with inventive harmonies, blue-eyed soul, and straight-ahead acoustic songs. The brothers' excellent, hook-heavy tunes and distinctive vocals, heavily flavoured by their appealing Scottish diction, are rooted in folk. Here, the song structures and harmonies are high calibre coffeehouse fare, and the acoustic guitars loom large; the sound is expanded and strengthened by electric guitars, piano, violin, and a tight rhythm section.
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" sets the tone for the album withits infectious, punchy chorus and the brothers' close, interlocking harmony. Though singalong barroom ditties such as "Cap in Hand" and "Oh Jean" gloss the duo's native musical heritage, there is also a noticeable influence of American musical forms. '50s and '60s rock & roll crops up in "I'm On MyWay", while country music seems to inform "It's Saturday Night". Even some of the more overt folk balladry is given thedown-home tang of a steel guitar, as on "My Old Friend the Blues" and the title track. SUNSHINE finds The Proclaimers' sound much matured and just as enjoyable as before.

Track Listing

1. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
2. Cap in Hand
3. Then I Met You
4. My Old Friend the Blues
5. Sean
6. Sunshine on Leith
7. Come on Nature
8. I'm on My Way
9. What Do You Do?
10. It's Saturday Night
11. Teardrops
12. Oh Jean

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12049 in Music
• Released on: 1993-09-06
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

I'm on my way.... to give a great review!
Well what can I say.. I've been a Proclaimers fan for a good few years now.. it was because of hearing "I'm On My Way" in the Shrek film that I decided to get the best of album.. and after hearing it, its clear the majority of the good tracks have come from this album.

Sunshine On Leith was a little underated as an album at the time but people have now sat up and paid attention thanks to the inclusion of the aforementioned "I'm On My Way" in the Shrek film to the inclusion of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" in the Benny and Joon film made back in the early 90's.

My favourites are the obvious: I'm Gonna Be and I'm On My Way but special mention should be made to Then I Met You.. the fast guitar playing and the tight band instrumentation make this track a treat to hear... and I think its between this, I'm Gonna Be and I'm On My Way as being the best tracks off the album, its a shame it never got onto the Best Of album, I wonder why.

The only track I can think of thats not as strong as the others is "Come On Nature" apart from that, all the rest are catchy, melodic and will forever be a part of you, plus... something about the Proclaimers makes me want to sing in a Scottish accent.. and I doubt I'm the only one who does this.. its that infectious.

The best offering I think from Skye's finest duo.

Much more than 500 miles...
My first brush with the Proclaimers was in the mid 80's, the band with the 'crazy videos' as I knew them, with little regard for their music. King of the Road was great but a cover.

Fast Forward to 2001, and nights out in Liverpool whilst at university, one couldn't go through a night without hearing 500 Miles (or 'I'm gonna be' to give it the proper name..). My housemates were all going to see the Proclaimers at Liverpool University, and I went too. We got hold of a copy of this album before the gig (from a random uncle of one of the lads), and were blown away.

There were what you could call religious experiences throughout the gig, with folks what didn't know each other embracing and singing 'Sunshine on Leith' at the top of our voices. The aforementioned title track is possibly the most beautiful and touching song written about God, without being preachy.

A purchase duly followed, and the album didn't leave the CD player for weeks. Highlights for me (apart from the two tracks mentioned previously) are 'Oh Jean', a pean to Ugly blokes and girls, 'My Old Friend The Blues' a beautiful cover, and just about the whole album.

Just buy it!!

Sunshine on Leith
Without a doubt the finest offering from the boys Reid, so far we hope!

It's one of those albums you buy for the singles that have been buzzing around your head for days on end, in this case "I'm gonna be 500 miles" and "I'm on my way" and then you end up falling in love with the superb "filler" tracks instead.

There's the sadly sweet "Sunshine on Leith" with its beautiful soaring fiddle work, the raucous "Cap in Hand", a tongue in cheek protest song about the English(!), the country and western flavoured "What do you do?" and the drunken choruses of "It's Saturday Night"

Another outstanding track is "Teardrops", sung in a punchy shouting style with a single guitar as accompaniment it shouldn't make for a love song, yet the strong and from the heart lyrics make it a superbly moving song.

Excellent Album.