Track Listing

1. Please forgive me
2. Babylon
3. My oh my
4. We're not right
5. Nightblindness
6. Silver lining
7. White ladder
8. This years love
9. Sail away
10. Say hello wave goodbye

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #909 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-01
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
A major artist in Ireland, David Gray has a loyal but somewhat smaller following throughout the rest of the world. Since his 1994 debut album A Century Ends, he has consistently produced quality, folk-tinged songs that showcase his one major talent--a raw yet melodic voice. White Ladder marks something of a departure from his usual fare, as it sees him embracing a more modern sound, adding interesting beats and electronic sounds to the more traditional acoustic guitar and piano. In trying to widen his appeal, he risks alienating his fan base, but tracks like "This Year's Love" and "My Oh My" should keep everybody happy. --Helen Marquis

CD Description
Breakthrough fourth album from this Manchester born singer songwriter includes the hit singles 'Babylon' and 'Please forgive me' as well as 'This year's love' and other tunes for the film of the same name . The album was originally released on the singer's own IHT label after he was dropped by bothHut and EMI and initially made most impact in Ireland wherehis success eventually brought him to the attention of EastWest. 'White Ladder' was promptly re-issued and repromoted to international success.

Customer Reviews

Let's not be forgetting the secret track on White Ladder...
...the reviewer below has correctly identified and reviewed each and every track on White Ladder with amazing accuracy. However, there's one glaring omission..!!

There is a secret track on White Ladder, hidden cleverly for all to find.

Play track 1 of White Ladder
Press the rewind button [<<] until -2:00 minutes
Listen to the secret track!

The track is called 'Through to Myself' and is probably my favourite track on the album given that it sounds like David's having a lot of fun recording it and it sounds totally raw unlike the polished shine of the majority of the album.

Enjoy!!

Songs from a room
As David Gray sat down to record this album in his London basement he put the years of hertbreak, both personal and commercial, well and truly behing him to record on of the finest records ever commited to CD.

The album bursts into life with the dancey "Please Forgive Me", a shocxk in itself considering the folk roots found on Grays previous albums. Next comes centrepiece track "Babylon" - the song that shot him to the fame and success he so richly deserved. The song details a passionate plea of frustration from a modern spurned lover to another (Let go of your heart/Let go of your head/And feel it now) over another dancey loop but driven underlyingly by acoustic guitar and an amazing voice.

"My Oh My", "We're Not Right, "Nightblindness" and "Silverlining" are extrmemly personal songs, recorded mainly acoustically, dealing with the pressure of non-success and the personal battles of the artist with drink and debt.

"White Ladder" is pure pop bounciness whilst "This Years Love" remains one of the most genuine and moving love songs ever written - Grays voice being particulary haunting over a simple piano-only backing.

"Sail Away" is perhaps the most powerful track on the album and the one that bears most of the hallmarks of Gray of old. If you fail to be moved by the whistled outro and imagery of stormy seas you made of stern stuff indeed.

The album closes with a fine acoustic cover of Soft Cells "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" that morphs into Van Morrisons "Into The Mystic" and then into Morrisons "Madame George" - putting more lament and loss into the song than Marc Almond ever managed.

Gray voice is simply superb and unique throughout and the whole album has a personal, melancholic but strangely uplifting feel about it born, I guess, out of it's birth in such humble surroundings.

Simply a must buy album for anoyne and I truly mean that!

Look out also for the hidden track BEFORE track one!

Amazing! Simply, Amazing!
Along with Radiohead's, "OK Computer" and John McArthur's, "HIDDEN" it is one of the few albums that doesn't have a bad song!

White Ladder is one of the best albums as a whole that I've heard in a long time. Gray blends electronic beats with his traditional folk style to produce a superb album. His previous two almbums, A Century Ends and Sell, Sell, Sell, each progress from traditional folk to the technical superiority Gray exhibits on the folky-pop album White Ladder. You can hear obvious Dylan influences in the musical composition and delivery, while the gritty, bluesy vocal style of Van Morrison is prevalent in Gray's deeply personal lyrics. There isn't one bad song on the album, from the amazing solo ballad "Nightblindness" to the uptempo "Babylon". "Sail Away" is another excellent track blending acoustic and electric worthy of mentioning. The hard thing to believe is that Gray recorded White Ladder in a house without the help of real intricate studio equipment. Some of the songs where even recorded in front of an open window! David Gray has been around for a long time, White Ladder has gone 6 times platinum in Ireland, but he just gaining real popularity with his amazing music. He's even better live!