Disco de The Beautiful South: “0898”

TBS is one of my favorite groups, and they have so many great discs, but I'd have to call this one their best (with "Quench" and "Painting It Red" tying for second). Every song is fantastic, particularly "Old Red Eyes Is Back," "We Are Each Other" and "36D." If you don't have any TBS, this is a good place to start. Their music is hard to describe. A friend once compared them to Squeeze, but they're a little more refined than that (not to slight Squeeze...I love them too). If Squeeze used occasional orchestrations and listened to some older-period Elton John, they would probably sound a lot like this. Witty, biting (and very British) lyrics, coupled with lush, gorgeous melodies. Paul Heaton possesses one of pop/rock' most beautiful voices. One of my all-time desert island discs.

there's no BS in the beautiful south. i might be mistaken, but i believe this album spawned a couple of hit singles in the UK, despite what the amazon review opined.

0898 features some of the beautiful south's greatest singles: 'old red eyes is back,' 'we are each other,' and '36D.' each song showcases dave rotherway's classic songwriting skills and paul heaton's incredibly clever lyrics. other tracks, like the mournful 'the rocking chair,' the biting 'something that you said, (with the brutal lyric 'when you walk into your house and she's cutting up your mother, she's only trying to tell you that she loves you like no other' and 'the perfect love song, it has no words, it only has death threats) and 'i'm your no. 1 fan' also proudly show off the beautiful south's impeccable gifts for arrangement and melody. and paul heaton, for my money, has one of the best vox's around: it's husky and powerful at times, but suprisingly tender and effective when it needs to be. the man has range like few others (check out 'let love speak up itself' off 'choke') and comes off even sounding better when he's up against the incomparable brianna (who sadly left after this album). the call-and-response of 'we are each other' alone is worth the price of this album.

top to bottom, 0898 is their most complete album. most beautiful south albums have a miss or two, but 0898 is dud-free. more recent beautiful south albums seem to have lost an ounce or two of the spark that made them so great, but they're still a great band and worthy of your hard earned caish. i remember seeing the beautiful south in SLC back in 1992 supporting this disc. i saw them again in 2000 in hollywood at the house of blues. both shows were incredible. unfortunately, the beautiful south seem doomed to relative obscurity in the states, and that's a shame because everone deserves a trip to the beautiful south.

The last Beautiful South album featuring the bittersweet vocals of Brianna Corrigan (allegedly leaving after Paul Heaton penned the misogynistic Mini-Correct on sequel Miaow), 0898 is also the Hull band's most rounded work. The intelligent pop craft of Old Red Eyes Is Back and We Are Each Other is off-set by the bittersweet Bell Bottomed Tear. Some people were put off by this album's malevolent streak, but this is part of the band's charm and was also prevalent on the earlier Choke, the artwork is the most disturbing thing on offer here...

I was only 11 years old when I first heard this CD and ever since it has been my favorite. I take it everywhere I go and have never tired of the songs. My parents, being fans of the long gone Housemartins, they are also fans of the Beautiful South. I LOVE this CD. Whenever I go on bus trips and the windows are fogged up, I am known to write on the windows, Beautiful South is the Name. I LOVE this CD.

Beautiful!!! Heaton and Co have created a masterpiece. Songs for all ages and tastes (although i hated to hear that J. Abott left b/c of "36D" lyrics). Album never lets you go. It makes you dance, smile and think (in more ways than needed sometimes : "cutting up your mother..."???? ). A definite dont-miss album for everybody who like pop-rock.