Tellin’ Stories

Tough to think of anything to say about this one beyond ‘totally serviceable britpop’

terug een britpop bandje van dertien in een dozijn... compleet onnodig

One To Another is an awesome song, and I love the jam tracks along with a couple other songs, but a good amount was pretty monotone or generic. Not bad by any means, pretty good. Did enjoy while on shift

Really liked the sound this album had and it was not was what I expected at all

#501/1001. Sorry Charlatans, you were chosen by the algorhithm to appear in my list somewhere in the middle, so I chose to write down "middle of the 1001(+some) project sentiments" instead of a proper review. Well, let me tell you a story. I guess it is a suitable selection since the music represents more or less perfectly all the boring sides of this project one must endure: average-to-ok bands which were already established part of the western popular music culture, hip or fairly recent at the time of creating the list, bands which stay on the golden middle road, by which I mean the tradition of western, mostly white and male, rock and pop music. My main question for this project from the beginning has been: where are the narrow, hard to walk or unkown paths of music? This project could as well open new musical universes (like every issue of the Wire or a good specialist record shop can do). Instead we are stuck with the canon, occasionally getting glimpses from otherness, which for me are the shining and bright moments which help continue with the project. The main bulk I try to take as education, getting to know better the familiar artist names and genres (well, it is mostly rock, pop, hiphop, rnb and country) and listening to full albums from bands which I knew only perhaps a song or two (or just the name, not always even that). Along with reading about the band /artist histories whenever there is time and interest will create a fairly strong middle-class cultural knowledge of who is who according to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Rolling Stone ratings. In the beginning I was thinking I could perhaps try to improve skills in writing somewhat neutral album reviews, you know the kind where music journalists find interesting things to say about the most boring artists, trying to see the positive sides and the purpose for the albums and bands to exist, but no, it works better for me as a listening diary. To be fair, most albums should be given at least 3 playthrough times, the rating varies lot depending on the mood, the location, the possibility to focus on the songs, sounds, mood, textures, playing, arrangement, production, etc, sometimes even lyrics. What have I learned? Luckily, there are new artists and even genres I've come to discover, respect and even love. Yes, I'm talking about De La Soul -era hiphop. Damn, I've been sitting in the cold for too long. What else? Continuing to find new artists from genres I already liked (e.g. 60s-70s singer songwriters). I've had some albums- both familiar and new - from the new wave -post punk - new romantics etc. era, I really think this was the true musical revolution, punk started it and after that everyone could do what they wanted, record companies were taking risks all kinds of great stuff was produced, and people had fun. What is missing? A few bigger names. Where is Brian Eno as an artist (as a producer he is here and there). Although I am not so much a metal fan (well, was about 40 years ago), surprisingly few metal albums, and they all have more or less been the usual suspects (metallica, megadeth, sabbath). Surprisingly few albums from the biggest names in Pop music, the list is very Rock-oriented. The same goes almost without saying to electronic music - not everything in that genre is for dancefloors, and some of the dancefloor stuff is brilliant as well. That said, do we have any proper disco albums here? I guess the "disco sucks" movement is unfortunately still part of the rock culture. But mostly: Africa. Niger, South Africa, Algeria, Ethiopia, Senegal, goddam africa is the new black. The Latin Americas: Brazil with tens of music styles, hundreds of amazing musicians and thousands of amazing albums, The Caribbean with it merengue, bachata, Reaggae(ton), Cuban son and Salsa, Venezuelan, Columbian, Mexican Cumbia... Asia: Indonesia, gamelan album anyone? All weird sounds mixing western rock to Thai, Vietnamese or Cambodian music (don't think I've forgotten). Japanese acid house, extreme noise/ metal and punk or hiphop to this list please, along with Okinawan folk music. Music by the indigenous people everywhere. Or rename this book 1001 rock and pop albums we though might be worth listening to, what do you think? Tell us in the comments, don't forget to like and subscribe. P.s. Thanks for the project / website, I am blaming the book about the music selection, not this site :) Luv, let's keep getting positively surprised in the latter half of the project as well.

Nothing about this struck me as noteworthy

Nostalgic feeling. I enjoyed.

This was a much more rock'n'roll album than I expected from my limited familiarity with the Charlatans (i.e., owning and digging "Some Friendly" back in the day). Good sounds, strong songs, and a more consistent album than "Some Friendly," as I remember it. Yeah, this sound needs good representation like this.

Some good brit-pop

Sounding a lot like Oasis. Decent listen though.

a good band from this era but nothing overly special on this album. enjoyable if you like this type of music, as I do, but nothing non-fans should feel compelled to seek out.

Banger. One of the defining Brit Pop bands. Area 51 has appeared on a half dozen mix tapes. Love this album and this band so much.

Super

For the first time in four hundred records, I am tempted not to dignify this listing with a response. There are worse records and there are nastier records. There is much worse playing and more inept writing. But there is neither inspiration nor ambition here and that is the truly dispiriting thing. The dropped G in the title tells us all: it is 1997 and coattails are the only ride available. 1.5 This is notable as the Charlatans album with One to Another on it, and as the album they made after the tragedy of their keyboard player’s death. That is to say notable…as Charlatans albums go. There was certainly a heaviness here - both a meaner, bluesier edge and a sort of lack of optimism - that wasn’t present on their previous album (self-titled). It isn’t just the relative absence of bubbly major key stuff like Feeling Holy or Just When You’re Thinking Things Over - it is a shift in the way Tim Burgess sings as much as anything. He snarls more. He is more obnoxiously nasal. Truthfully, listening today, it is difficult to believe that this transition was brought about as an artistic response to the death of a band member. It seems to me that the explosive success of Oasis between the summers of 95 and 96 is the more pertinent tragedy in the measure of Tellin’ Stories. I gather, reading through the Wikipedia entry for this album, that we are supposed to hear Tellin’ Stories as a melting pot of all sorts of credible influences - Patti Smith, John Martyn, Dexys, Dylan, Neil Young, The Waterboys. That’s all fine, and all detectable somewhere in the midst to a sharp and generous ear I am sure. It still mostly sounded like The Rolling Stones and The Stone Roses to me after reading all that. But even if the instruments are a little too varied and well played, and the drums too loose and groovy, the heart of this album belongs, surely, to Oasis. I dare say it isn’t easy to be a slightly nasal rock singer from the West Midlands when the challenge of sounding not-like-Liam-Gallagher presents itself, but listen to With No Shoes or How High - how submissively Tim leans into the lairiness here. The songwriting too - particularly the shape of the melodies - chimes with Oasis’ first two albums. The Charlatans were on their fifth album here, at the height of their popularity, in their prime, and should have been able to express something more than ‘if you like Oasis maybe you’ll like us too’. Well Oasis fans did. The Charlatans got a steady career; the band’s Wikipedia page is quick to inform us that ‘All of the band's thirteen albums have charted in the Top 40 of the UK Albums Chart’. Still…a bit pathetic, lads. 1.5/5

Felt very boring and not very exciting

It's odd to say that I love Britpop as a genre, since it's more of an umbrella term for a movement, not really a specific sound, but I really enjoy many of these groups. You'll even catch me bumping a song from The Seahorses on a random day. I never really managed to get into The Charlatans, though. There are some special aspects to their music, they do stand out from the rest with some obvious Madchester influences, but the majority of this album sounds so unconvincing. Every good groove is buried in a cluttered, muffled mix. The vocals are timid and almost bored by the uninteresting melodies they're producing. Definitely a product of its time, which I would usually enjoy, but the negative aspects stand out the most here, without many positive ones to save the day. One to Another is an absolute banger, though.

Mer oasis än oasis

Det mesta var väl ok, med ett par låtar som var ganska dåliga. Svag trea som helhet.

Här har vi det igen - medioker britpop, oasiskopior utan riv. Oasisefterapningen var fan genant i första låten. Ok, nu läste jag att de bildades innan oasis, så den anklagelsen haltar, men vidhåller att de är sämre.

Snacka om förutsägbart! Men ah, inte dåligt för det. Svag trea

Sjukt att UK på 90-talet var peak musik. Precis på det 60-tal de är så inspirerade av fanns det så många brittiska band som lät likadant. Och räckte det inte med den Stone Roses-plattan? Hur dåligt det egentligen är kanske jag överdriver just nu, är bara så sjukt trött på skiten.

Standard 90s indie. Excellent!

Vriament fun

Band named after the people who authored this list

Worse Oasis. So, so boring.

It's pretty much just one long generic British rock song.

feels like generic British rock band to me, so its fine, but its not great

The only song I liked on the album, Rob's Theme, sounded nothing like the rest of the album, which is exactly why I liked it. Everything else was just so aggressively bland and samey. I've got no beef with britpop or even that British bands are somewhat overrepresented on the list, but this was just so generic that it was a chore to listen to. Glad to be done with that ⭐⭐

I honestly prefer these guys to Oasis - at least their swagger comes with a side order of soul, and there's a little more musical variety. Not a great album by any means, but likeable.

This was pretty good. Probably wouldnt go back. It sounds a little bit like a watered down Oasis. Good background music for working.

Now we’re talking. One of my favourite bands and favourite albums. Great memories of seeing them play at my student union and this still feels fresh today. 4/5

Britpop är hela min tonårstid, så det känns alltid lite nostalgiskt. Men det här albumet är riktigt bra ibland, men också bara helt okej ibland.

Like Oasis, but not as good.

Another mid 90s band that is trying to be like the Beatles this guy Tim used to do this party during Covid. That’s how I knew the name charlatan never heard them before it’s fine. It’s melodic a couple of catching songs. Nothing great nothing bad.

Charlatans is one of these 2nd division brit pop bands that is familiar from that era but they never really impressed me. Well maybe their debut was an exception. This album is also good example how “Oasis ruined British pop music” because most of the bands tried to sound like them.

Britpop as it's finest... Only sad thing is that The Charlatans sounds like dozens of bands from the same era and this no surprise. And based on cover art they also look like every band from the era. Originality obviously missing but sounds something that you can play on the background without any fear of disturbance.

#492 / 1089 Heard before? ❌ Revisit? ❌ I saw the cover and went "not one of these shits again" inside my head, but I'll give it a chance first... oh sweet cheeses this whiney britpop shite is immediately getting on my nerves. It's always a mix of the music few years before and after (yes, after!) the album I'm listening to plus a random variable or two from the past, one of which is almost always Beatles. I'm so annoyed right now that it's an outright 1/5, but I'll see about it again tomorrow.

Rate: 8/10.

Listened to this one a bunch, but unfortunately nothing stuck. Reminds me of the Dandy Warhols.

Не визжат (к счастью), не ноют (к сожалению), не запоминаются - честное слово, какое-то шарлатанство

Главный твинк Британии до сих пор. Лучшая прическа. Лучшее все. Какой красивый альбом. 10000 north country boyев из 10

Я говорил, что еще один бритпоп, и начинаю стрелять? Я начинаю стрелять

звучит как дженерик брит поп, возможно я просто не распробовал еще - пока 3

Wow Manchester was such a vibe in the 90s!

indie rock 1997 -> 2

A good, solid album. 1 "With No Shoes" (3/5) 2 "North Country Boy" (3/5) 3 "Tellin' Stories" (3/5) 4 "One to Another" (4/5) 5 "You're a Big Girl Now" (3/5) 6 "How Can You Leave Us" (3/5) 7 "Area 51" (3/5) 8 "How High" (3/5) 9 "Only Teethin'" (3/5) 10 "Get on It" (3/5) 11 "Rob's Theme" (2/5) Total - 33 Average - 3.0 433/1001 229/433 albums reviewed were new to me.

good

Steady indie

No está mal, pero por momentos sentía que escuchaba a Oasis, luego a Primal Scream, luego a Air, y la verdad no sé qué pensar al respecto.

My kind of Britpop! 3-1/2 stars

2.5. Pretty standard 90’s Brit rock.

Had a very Oasis vibe to it. I liked it and am kind of surprised I'd never heard of this band before.

A strong 3. I listened a lot to The Charlatans once, but that was the material earlier than this. I recognise a couple of the songs, but I think I was finished with britpop for a while when this album came out.

Should not be on this list. Second rate Brit pop nothing.

Not bad. I love the heavier stuff out there & this was a nice change up.

OK, bit samey

Pretty dull, sub-oasis rock

I'm torn between a 3 and a 4 for this one. Initially, I liked their sound, very much oasis if more grungy and experimental. Their first couple tracks (Specifically telling stories and with no shoes) were great and on the track for a 4 star album. I didn't notice at first, but after looking at some reviews, the lyrics are pretty crap, if you could even hear them. I don't fuss about lyricism as I'm all for the music part of a song, though when you're going to be singing the ENTIRE song, you might as well have enjoyable or memorable lyrics, this is something I felt oasis did very well.

que grande fake oasis

It’s Britpop I guess

Back at that time I believed the media narrative that there is such a thing as "Britpop" ... when in reality it was just Oasis and nothing else ... and then a whole bunch of formulaic crap bands like this one.

Honestly, and I hope that everything I write in these spaces represents my honest impressions of these albums and artists, this album is a bit of a bore. I get the emotional backdrop to this as I enjoyed the Charlatans early run and particularly the debut Some Friendly and its follow up Between 10th and 11. By Tellin Stories you knew that keyboardist Rob Collins was a bit of a fucking idiot. Having previously been arrested for armed robbery and having done jail time, I’m sure the relationship was a bit more strained than even the wiki version of the period covers. 8 months in prison isn’t a lifetime but it is a stretch. 4 years later I’m sure the tension was greatest and I note that Burgess and guitarist Marc Collins were at the end of the road with Rob. Then he fucking dies during recording. And with that background, it is obvious that this record is a mixed bag - both lyrically and musically. I like the guitar forward songs but the sonic palette of those early records relied on those keyboards which were intricately integrated into what was the Charlatan’s sound. So, when the album leads if with the morose With No Shoes and it really never picks up. I get there is diversity here with a mix of genres including hip hop and soul and in places hints of the soul pioneered by Dexy’s from the Searchin’ For The Young Soul Rebels days ( an album I thought so good I own 5 copies of that album). But diverse does not mean good. I bought this album when it came out and it was the last Charlatans record I bought in this period until 2001’s Wonderland. There are only 2 songs that I thought were good and they would not make the top 10 on I think anyone’s list of Charlatans hits: North Country Boy and Get On It. I have complicated feelings with One To Another, which I think I don’t think is complete. I just don’t like its arrangement or production much. I feel better about How High which captures the Charlatans energy and in hindsight I’d say is my favorite track on the record. There are moments on the record where Burgess has Paul Weller like moments, such as on Only Teething that are a little disconcerting but still enjoyable. However, the highlights don’t make up for the overall lack of truly interesting songs. It’s sonically well produced but perhaps that’s the problem. Without edges some of this comes off as indulgent e.g. the long instrumental section at the end of the aforementioned Only Teething. Oh well. No matter how your feeling you’re never on your own. 3/5

Some very oasis-y parts. Are there any British bands they didn’t copy??

I was enjoying this album at first, but as it went on it just became generic background noise. Still not a bad, album, and there were parts I really enjoyed, but not a great album. High 3

kinda sounds like all english rock music from the 90s but it wasn’t dreadful

Alrighty, an artist I havent knowingly listened to before. I love the opportunity to listen to something new. With No Shoes - Ew, that Liam Gallagher whine... This would be a fantastic hook if anyone else was singing. Very 'of its time' sounding. North Country Boy - LOL this has a very low effort feel to it. Shocked to see this has the 2nd highest streaming plays on the album, thats not a good sign for things to come. Hey, at least I hate the soaring organ parts. Tellin' Stories - This isnt bad. Im not adding it to my library but I wont turn this off if it comes on either. One to Another - Same as the prior song. You're A Big Girl Now - Yeah, I dont like this. The addition of the extra percussion really brings home the 'meh'. How Can You Leave Us - I mean... its not terrible. That whine really drags this down. Area 51 - This would be my favorite song on the album if not for the organ. How High - after the instrumental it sounds like they through that whining voice REALLY forward in to the mix. Another song that would benefit from a different vocalist. Only Teething - This isnt bad, again im not adding this to a playlist but im not gonna rush to turn it off if it comes on again. Wait, here comes the organ prominently in the mix. Yeah, I would turn this off knowing that now. Get It On - Harmonica and Organ forward. I could do without this. Rob's Theme - More of the same. Suffice it to say I did NOT need to hear this album before I die.

5/10

el mejor hasta ahora

Generic as all get-out

Just looking at the album cover, I am about 90% certain this is a low-rent Britpop band who really want to be Oasis or Blur. Now I have finished my listen, I was 90% certain but 100% right. Another also-ran Britpop group who probably don't deserve to be on this list. It's not a bad album but I don't think it's one that I had to listen to before I died. I am never going to be at a party impressing someone with my knowledge of The Charlatan's fifth studio album, and I am never going to recommend it to anyone.

I didn't know this band. Some good tunes. A good album overall

Loved it. Hooky and jangly

Never heard of this before. Reminds me of Oasis. It was ok.

Never heard of this band. (Mildly amusing/concerning that their Spotify profile calls them “One of the best loved UK bands of the last four decades”.) Album sounds ‘competent’, but not particularly interesting to listen to, they sound like any number of other nameless British pop-rock boy bands (guitar heavy, with a little bit of baggy). The vocals don’t attract me to find out more about the words, I take a look anyway (“How High”) and they appear to be utter gibberish. I can get through the songs, listening while guitars chug along in apparently commercially palatable way, but I’m not very interested in radio-friendly mild pop-rock. Also, I read Wikipedia about the album, I’m shocked and disapproving that a band member died during recording and they just kept going with a session muso?! Warm and caring relationships in the band, not. It’s Not Good, 4/10.

They have a nice collection of well written songs on this album. They are worth further listening to.

Not bad just nothing special, sounds of it's time

Pretty fun record. Lesser talked about brit pop band, but they’ve consistently put out some good records. Really enjoy this baggy/madchester sound. Little long and didn’t really know how to end but great record.

I liked the album a lot, good jams from a group I'd never heard of. I might give it a 5 on as comprehensive beginning-to-end listen, but I had trouble finding time for it. I absolutley love the organ parts.

Starts out strong but then gets a bit boring.

Wasn't too bad - I'm not going to be rushing back into listening to The Charlatans, but I enjoyed what I heard. Call it 2.5 stars for me.

Very bland, couldn't hardly tell one song from another. A little Oasis clone?

The Charlatans is another one of those bands I knew songs without knowing that it was them. When the first chords of With No Shoes came in, I told myself : « Hey, I know this one! » The first third of this album is very good, but the more I listen to it, the more I had the impression that it sounds too much like Oasis. The Brit pop in that era turned around very much around the Gallagher’s band, and I thought that the Charlatans tried to ride that wave with Tellin’ Stories. Did they were able to do it? I think so, but the more you are of the end of the album, the more it loose momentum. 3/5. Some songs might end up in a rotation. With No Shoes : 5 North Country Boy : 5 Tellin’ Stories : 3 One to Another : 5 You’re Big Girl Now : 3 How Can You Leave Us : 3 Area 51 : 3 How High : 3 Only Teething : 2 Get On It : 3,5 Rob’s Theme : 2

More 90s Britpop. We have Oasis on the list. Thats enough. Brits out. 2/5.

Original Manchester sounds.

The Manchester sound (Manchesterism?) crashes into Brit Pop retaining good bits from both

This warranted a second listen and improved as a consequence. For me, their earlier stuff was more raw - this was safe but recognising the tragic backstory.

A brilliant mixture of Oasis snarl, Stone Roses guitar swagger and a sprinkling of Hammond organ to create something uniquely their own. It's a powerful combination if you like that sort of thing. And I do. 4*

Whole album was a banger, went down a whole Britpop rabbit hole as a resilt

Fine

Nokkuð þétt og skemmtileg plata.

Very pleasant Britpop. More interesting than some others of its ilk.

Good rock

Not my favorite album, a bit forgettable at times. Surely not the best record by this band?

The Charlatans sound like a bargain bin Oasis. Tellin' Stories isn't terrible, but I just found myself wanting to listen to Oasis the entire time.

How many oasis's do we need?

Muito bom disco, com melodias bem construídas e um clima de psicodelia moderna interessante.

While some of the music itself went places the vocals and lyrics need to be set on fire for turning the whole thing towards utter wank.

Brit rock snoozer rinse and repeat.

Classic 90s indie album, had a lot of nostalgia listening to this

Uno de los grupos más lóngevos de Manchester, como los también adorados James, con una carrera brillante hast el día de hoy. Prefiero su debut, que he escuchado miles de veces, o su sucesor, e incluso el recopilatorio Melting pot, pero este Tellin´stories fue su disco de madurez y todo un acierto. One to another y North Country Boy son dos de los mejores temas de su carrera.