The Greatest Story Ever Told is the debut album by the British band Balaam and the Angel, released in 1986.[1][2] They supported it by playing the Reading Festival and by opening for the Mission on a North American tour.[3][4] The album peaked at No. 67 in the UK Albums Chart.[5] It was reissued in 2008, with B-sides and bonus tracks.[6]
The album was produced primarily by Hugh Jones.[7] Balaam and the Angel spent five weeks in the recording studio before starting over with the producer.[8] The band, initially considered a gothic rock act, strove for a poppier, less dark sound.[9] They explicitly rejected the goth label, and thought that their sound came from a combination of the three brothers' musical interests.[10] Guitarist Jim Morris used an echo on his instrument on several tracks.[11] The album title was taken from a Melody Maker article about the band.[12]
The Gazette said that Jones "has added a lot of orchestration to the overall sound, giving the material a pop veneer... All-in-all, the album's lightweight and pleasant listening."[17]The Washington Post noted that "the energetic trio shares a Cultish predilection for simple, decidedly secular subject matter, compact, concise songs and ringing, stinging guitars."[18] The Los Angeles Times concluded, "The album's array of folky rock mysticism, popish horn charts, wild guitar gyrations, rustic moods and sonic collages recall a variety of sources, from the Kinks to the Stones' Between the Buttons period to the Velvet Underground to today types like Gene Loves Jezebel and Julian Cope. Slightly derivative, perhaps, but with an engaging enthusiasm."[19]
The Coleshill Chronicle called The Greatest Story Ever Told "a very good pop record" that owes much "to the stadium rock spirit".[20] The Bristol Evening Post labeled it "a likeable album exploring the more melodic side of rock".[21] The Birmingham Evening Mail considered it "one of the best debuts of a decade."[8]Trouser Press concluded that the album "does have some charm, but the trio's melodies are too often buried in feeble attempts to whip up a vague air of menace."[22]
Track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"New Kind of Love"
2.
"Don't Look Down"
3.
"She Knows"
4.
"Burn Me Down"
5.
"Light of the World"
6.
"Slow Down"
7.
"The Wave"
8.
"Warm Again"
9.
"Never End"
10.
"Nothing There at All"
11.
"Walk Away"
12.
"Day and Night"
References
↑ Moore, Graham (8 August 1986). "Pop Scene". Salford City Reporter and Advertiser. p.17.
↑ Archer, Simon (20 September 1986). "Good Gothic Stuff". Weekender. Burton Mail. p.8.
↑ "Have You Heard". Bolton Evening News. 9 August 1986. p.9.
↑ MacDonald, Patrick (22 May 1987). "British Bands Invade Seattle". Tempo. The Seattle Times. p.5.
↑ Greene, Jo-Ann (20 June 2008). "Get your groove on with punk, prog, metal". Goldmine. Vol.34, no.13. p.12.
↑ Thompson, Dave (2000). Alternative Rock: Third Ear – The Essential Listening Companion. Miller Freeman Books. p.782.
1 2 Cole, Paul (6 October 1986). "Success at last for a family band". Birmingham Evening Mail. p.15.
↑ Boehm, Mike (19 April 1987). "A dark and stormy night in the Living Room: British 'Gothic rock' to cast its shadow tomorrow in Providence". The Providence Journal. p.I1.
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