Track Listing

1. Swimming Pool
2. Born In The UK
3. Degrees Of Separation
4. Welcome To The Overground
5. Journey From A To B
6. Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind
7. Promises
8. Way Things Used To Be
9. Without A Kiss
10. Long Way Round (Swimming Pool)
11. Walk You Home (Tonight)
12. Time Of Times
13. One Last Dance

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26941 in Music
• Released on: 2006-10-30
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
A doff of the woolly hat to his beloved Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA, Damon Gough's fifth album as Badly Drawn Boy, finds him musing on modern life, national heritage, and finding the space to crack wise a little along the way. Gough's approach to the knotty subject of patriotism is not quite as chest-beating as Springsteen's, but in truth it's just as conflicted. Take the title track; it mentions the hosepipe ban, Sid Vicious and the Falklands conflict, yet far from being a straight-up nostalgia tract, still confronts the troublesome contradictions of the British patriot: "We made something out of nothing/A sense of loathing and belonging". Perhaps it's true to say that Born In The UK finds the Badly Drawn one looking behind rather than in front: the country-tinged "The Way Things Used To Be" even strikes a wry note of self-mockery amid the rather traditional songwriting within. But if time has blunted Badly Drawn Boy's impulse to challenge his audience, there's a genuine warmth and optimism to songs like "Welcome to the Overground" that mark Gough out as a rare author who can pull off sentimentality without sounding forced or trite. --Louis Pattison

CD Description
'Born In The UK' is the fourth album proper from singer-songwriter Damon Gough AKA Badly Drawn Boy. A slightly poppier direction has been taken by Gough here than on his previous records, but that only serves to highlight his songwritng ability, taking the sound of early Springsteen and crafting itinto something that sounds polished without losing any of its emotional depth. Includes the single 'Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind'.

Customer Reviews

Hard not to love.
Here we have album number 5 from the "wooly-hatted one". In true Damon Gough style, it has a playful, punning title ("Born in the UK" - a nod to his idol, Springsteen.) In true Damon Gough style, the music here is beautiful, exhilirating, uplifting and GODDAMN LIFE AFFIRMING! I hate to be so predictable, and bestow it with 5 stars, but...WHAT THE HELL?! This music is making me happy. 5 STARS it is. Let me guide you through, track by track:-

1.Swimming Pool. - Some spoken word philosophising from Damon. Would probably sound lame coming from other artists, but from Mr Gough, this outspoken love for his family sounds earnest and real. A powerful start to the album.

2.Born In the UK. - Vintage BDB. Impossibly catchy and energetic. Power chords on the piano and a Joy Division-style rolling beat. A very infectious vocal line. Be prepared to fall in love with this tune!

3.Degrees of Separation. - Piano-driven kitchen sink pop. Beautiful.

4.Welcome to the Overground. - Sounds like something from a 1970s musical!(Godspell, possibly?) This brings the album to a whole new level. Operatic backing vocals, a triumphant melody, gigantic piano stabs. The energy here is tangible.

5.Journey from A to B. - Very remeniscent of New Order's "Run". This contains a very captivating one-finger piano hook.

6.Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind. - This one you know. A melodramatic masterpiece!

7.Promises. - Introspective and melancholy. Builds and builds, then the beat kicks in and this tune spreads its considerable wings! Superb.

8. The Way Things Used to Be. - Good use of slide guitar.

9. Without a Kiss. - Classical-style arpeggiated piano. Another introspective beaut.

10.The Long Way Round. - My personal favourite. A gorgeous vocal line, accompanied by an equally gorgeous muted trumpet and minor piano chords. This sounds like early Belle and Sebastian. Possibly even better.

11.Walk You Home Tonight. - Perfectly executed tune. Piano and ghostly synthesiser. This would have fitted snugly into the "About a Boy" set.

12.The Time of Times. - A rythm guitar heavy, golden sunset tune.

13.One Last Dance. - Upbeat ballad as a finisher. This is a beautiful love song that floats on perfect waves of melody. The climactic chorus makes this the perfect closer to a pretty much perfect album!

So there you have it. Buy the album. Slap it in the HI-FI. Feel your hair stand on end. Feel alive.

The Boy's Masterpiece?
I confess it took me a couple of listens to get this. I was probably not in the right 'listening mood' or something. But then I did get it. And wow.

This could be the Badly Drawn masterpiece. Musically it is less flightly and quirky than earlier efforts, but at the same time is not restricted to a compressed range of expression. The songs are strong and the arrangements dense and both finely judged and expertly delivered.

The Springsteen influence is very strong indeed, but tends to come out in cleverly constructed lyrical touches - 'streets of fire' gets a mention, and at one point the protaganists decide to listen to Thunder Road because they can't think of anything else to do. Musically, rolling piano and what sounds very like the legendary E Street glockenspiel throw up reminders of vintage New Jersey. But the homage is neither oppressive nor a substitute for great and personal song writing.

I'm not sure one song really stands out above the rest, as this is a very strong set - perhaps it lacks a "Born to Run". I would vote for "Promises" as my favourite, but the more you listen the more you get.

Overall a great album, but one that I suspect will unfortunately be overlooked by far too many people.

UK understatement
The first time I heard OK Computer I didn't know what all the fuss was about. But slow burners can be strong burners and Born in the UK is a classic case. The melodies on this album are restrained and, on the face of it, unremarkable but they embed in your brain and you end up craving them. BDB doesn't put a foot wrong on this album. There are no embarrassing fanfares, no false notes, no awkward lyrics. So delicate are some of these songs that, like Mercury Rev, you wonder why BDB falls into an alternative rock category. On first listen, a song like The Long Way Round has an muzak feel that wouldn't be out of place in a hotel lift - but the strength of the melody will last you a whole day's humming. Every song is beautifully but restrainfully crafted, with some lovely shifts of mood and beat. The most effective is on the beautiful Without a Kiss, while there is another on The Way Things Used to Be, which takes you from melancholy to jauntiness via humour in a slide guitar. It could have been a Springsteen song if the drums were banged harder and koy Damon exercised his lungs it a bit more, instead of breath-singing like Mark Knopfler. The Time of Times and Born in the UK also have the potential to be stomping anthems but are held in check. The tinkling piano recalls the Boss on various tracks, especially on Journey from A to B, an influence acknowledged on Our Last Dance. Perhaps appropriately, another influence is the UK musical. We hear shades of West End shows in the choral Welcome to the Overground and in the structurally complex Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind. Lyrically, BDB is also very restrained with no poetic fireworks but he comes across as a really nice guy throughout. The romantic One Last Dance tells a simple but heart-warming story of true love. But even this finale to the album doesn't take itself seriously.