Disco de The Beautiful South: “Blue Is the Colour”

I love the Beautiful South to death, but this is not a good introduction to their music. There are too many ballads, and not enough musical variety. "Little Blue," "Rotterdam" and "The Sound of North America" are the highlights here. To get a better idea of how great this band can be, get "0898" or "Quench." This particular disc shows off the band's sarcastic lyrics and perfect pop touch, but a lot of it sounds too forced. Not bad, but please start with something else if you're a BS newbie.

I have seen this record being blasted by many reviewers and I am standing up for it because I happen to be that little boy depicted in the front cover of the album. But seriously, how can you find faults with a great album such as this? It's crime is probably being too catchy and at times the lyrics are borderline crass and wit.

It is not fair to compare this to Beautiful South's other albums as everyone of them is rather unique. If you expect them to make every album like 0898, then perhaps you should have bought more copies of 0898. This is a five-star record without any doubt. The tunes are incredibly catchy and the lyrics are still nothing less than amusing. Is this a good first album of Beautiful South to purchase? I don't see why not although I would have to say 'Welcome to Beautiful South' will be more appropriate as it is one of the best compilations around.

I have yet to get sick of "Rotterdam," and my friends in my car still wince when they listen to "Don't Marry Her." I still hum to "Little Blue" when I am stuck in boring corporate meetings. So how can I give this album anything less than five stars? (...)

Anyone that is a true Beautiful South fan knows that this CD is one of the bands best recordings. If you're from the U.S. and you thought the last release was "Carry Up On The Charts", consider yourself lucky to have stumbled upon this gem. "Little Blue", "Blackbird On The Wire", and "Liar's Bar" are as good as any track on "Carry Up..." Most U.S. listeners have heard of The Housemartins and know a few Beautiful South early releases, but aren't familiar with their later material because of weak airplay. If you have enjoyed their previous recordings, you're gonna love this CD. If you are a new listener, you may want to start out with "0898".

The voices in this group are beautiful (different members sing different songs) but I find the songs sung by Jacqueline Abbott to be the strongest. "Don't Marry Her" is catchy and I *adore* "Rotterdam." But pieces like "Foundations" and "Little Blue" are a little too wishy-washy for my tastes. One cool thing about the liner notes--the lyrics are written in English, then each is translated into a different language (Russian, Portuguese, Arabic, etc.) This is a good album for Beautiful South fans, but I wouldn't recommend it as an intro to the group.

The Beautiful South are getting better with time - their music easy to catch and their lyrics sharp. "Don't marry her" is 100 % truth but who dares to say it. I know where that voice on "Liar' Bar" comes from - but how does he recover?