Giant Steps

Ugh. So bad.

It was a really great album! It's experimental, Britpop, and rock. It's really good and definitely has influenced bands in the future. Some of the songs weren't my favorite. However, it was amazing!

Too long, weird mix of elliot scott and indie vibe instrumentals. Not my cup of tea

It’s fine for what it is, but I feel like shoegaze inherently has a ceiling. Not really sure what it’s done to deserve a place on the list.

I thought "Shitty Beatles" was a joke, but man this was bad.

My review of these is predominantly driven by two other bands. I think the Boo Radleys are the British Smashing Pumpkins and a good ELO. Let me explain, the smashing pumpkins comparison isn’t in musical styles as the Boos are very much in a British tradition. However, the blissed out pop Melodies hidden under fuzz and feedback are very similar and while the boos are more prone to experimentation and whimsy the comparison is there. As for ELO well this shows you can love the Beatles but use that a springboard for creativity rather than a formula. Even though it’s a double it never really outstays its welcome

Album 362. Giant Steps — The Boo Radleys (1993) No❌ British shoegaze feels like a nightmare and the attempt at psychedelia didn’t help 1/5 Liked: — Thinking of Ways

achei que ia ser britpop medíocre, mas me enganei demais. é como se o pet sounds + white album fossem feitos nos anos 90. barulhento, mas super pop, com uma ótima produção e muitas ideias boas aqui. eh um britpop sem medo de zaralhar tudo pra depois voltar com uma baladinha indiepop delicinha. gostei BASTANTE, sério mesmo. tem shoegaze, eh experimental, tem popzinho delícia. bem completo. estarei ouvindo mais!

More shoegazing already?? This was pretty good but I found it too long

Whatever

Цікаво, що воно таке? ) Нічо такий гурт)

I’ve given this a go a few times. It’s odd that I’d never listened to the Boo Radleys before, given my love of shoegaze and dream pop. Honestly, this is pretty boring. I like that they were trying to experiment and push their boundaries as a rock band, but beyond the experimentation itself, nothing about it sticks. I have nothing else to say about this one. 2 stars.

I actually was able to see the Boos open for Sugar in 1993, and that should some context to this album as I try to describe it from my vantage point. It is really a pop record that has shoegaze elements- the use of distortion is honestly masterful on this record. Most tracks have copious amounts of it making for some very interesting Sonic’s in the same vein as the better know Jesus and Mary Chain. The Brit pop of songs like Spun Around is battered by the vocal distortion. In isolation this would seem somewhat disorienting but in the context of the album it builds a necessary bridge to the second half of the record with the Oasis indebted If You Want It, Take It starting a run of great tracks with Lazarus being a highlight. It is actually somewhat surprising to find this record on the list as it is a bit of an outlier from the crap that occupies much of what is this list. Well worth the time to revisit as each listen delivers new insights into a brilliant record. 4/5

pretty good. Got a little screechy near the end though.

not really my cup of tea - it was fine for background in a car ride... but i don't see myself doing much more with this album

I unfortunately had to pause this album about halfway through and then took a couple days to get back to it. I think it could have been higher ranked, but mid-grade is still where it lands for me.

From the movie Wayne's World: Wayne Campbell: Shitty Beatles? Are they any good? Tiny: They suck. Wayne Campbell: Then it's not just a clever name The Boo Radleys had to be the inspiration for this joke, except without the clever name. This album sounds like a band that wanted to restart a late 60s psychedelic rock vibe in the 90s. Nothing felt true to the time period of the album and it seemed forced. 1 star

Plenty of people here like this. I do not. Average at best. 3.

Holy f I’m so bored you’re boring me. Don’t finish. RYM: N Saved a song: N

pretty good. not exactly my vibe but certainly better than a lot of other stuff

Juxtaposing but appealing

Shockingly modern sounding. Not much too memorable but very nice music to listen to

Brittiläispoppinen levy, mutta hitusen parempi sellainen. Omituinen sekoitus.

Vahvahkot Steven Wilson vibat. Ääniskaalaa oli käytetty ainakin reilusti, ku välillä ei meinannu kuulla mitään ja välillä taas meinas korvat vuotaa verta.. Kovat äänet kans tuli toisinaan vähän yllättäen, että tuli kunnon jumpscarea välillä. Meinasin tiputtaa pisteen tämän takia, mut ehkä kuulokkeet vaan liian kovalla. Mielenkiintosia instrumentaatioita, soittimia erikoisissa paikoissa ja oli paljon eri vaikutteita miksattu keskenään. Laulu suht perus brittipoppia, mutta ei ärsyttävyyteen asti. Variaatiotakin oli.

🤨 I don’t know

AN HOUR?! Absolutely too long. It wasn't a bad listen, but it was dragging by the end and there were definitely points where I found myself not actually listening to it. I've heard worse, but this one wasn't a standout by any means. 2.5

Сначала понравилось и я не поняла о чем говорят ревью, потом поняла

I feel like I should have liked this a lot more than I did -- this is exactly my kind of music, just something didn't quite work right for me. I guess the analogy would be a slightly overcooked steak.

The band name is the best thing about the Boo Radleys... I took a dislike to Wake Up Boo and never really got back into them, even though it turns out Wake Up was not representative of the band's output at all. Although... this album did improve after a second listen, so maybe I judged them too early.

Plenty of bands that do this but much more memorably

Pretty fun album! No further insight at this point

Okay, finally, Brit Pop era band that I didn't listen to that was actually a true miss for me. I should've heard this years ago. Damn, that was good. 5/5

I can't say I've heard of The Boo Radleys before. Apparently, they started as another shoegaze band out of England before broadening their musical palette with this record, Giant Steps. I will say there is something reminiscent of The Beatles and Primal Scream's Screamadelica regarding the band's ambition and scope with their experimentation here. The band managed to cross the lanes between noise pop, reggae, psychedelia, and orchestration in such twisted manners that never seemed dull. The fuzzed-out dub trip of "Upon 9th and Fairchild", the Smiths-esque jangle pop of "Wish I Was Skinny", the hazy, angular guitar effects mixed into the quiet-loud-quiet dynamics of "Leaves and Sand", the abrasive horn that cuts through the noise amidst the changing styles on "Butterfly McQueen", the electronic keyboard clashes paired with the airy vocals from Pale Saints' Meriel Barham opposite Simon "Sice" Rowbottom's on "Rodney King (Song for Lenny Bruce)", the ornate harpsichord with the woodwinds on "Thinking of Ways". Credit to singer-songwriter Martin Carr for making this album as imaginative and creative as can be, while working in some vivid imagery in the lyrics and some big hooks across the board, most notably in the back half with the psychedelic pop of "Barney (...and Me)", the anthemic rock of "If You Want It, Take It", the organ-accompanied ballad of "Best Lose the Fear", and that crescendoing sing-along chorus at the end with "The White Noise Revisited". I wouldn't say every experiment worked well here. I certainly wasn't into the backmasking and filtered vocals of "Spun Around", even if it was likely done to take the piss off folks who believed in hidden messages when playing records backward. Also, I'll admit that by the time I got to the interlude "One Is For", I was feeling fatigued from this record. It is a little over an hour long, and while I have listened to longer records before with relative ease, I wouldn't say this one was as engaging all the way through. Still, I had a good time overall with Giant Steps, as an experimental record that really went all out. It's cool to see that The Boo Radleys have reunited recently and continue to put out new material, even without Martin Carr's involvement.

Started out strong with some good guitar rock and then it kind of devolved into some weird whiny indie rock with what sounded like flutes? The back half of this album really kind of sucked, and it was overall too long. (2.5)

Tienen talento, no cuestiono eso Pero no conectaron conmigo en esta ocasión El álbum se extiende mucho también, y por su estilo se me hizo algo pesado de escuchar De nuevo, respeto mucho su aporte, pero no conectó conmigo

Not for me. 1/5

No, not the album either “Wake Up Boo!” On it. Which I guess is good as it means it’s all new songs to me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Wake Up Boo, and it’s on my 90’s indie clubbing playlist, but it was quite poppy if I recall - and I’m not sure I’m up for a overly cheerful happy sounding album this morning. So, hopefully this is not like that… I actually quite enjoyed the album. I even listened to “Wake Up” after I’d finished. This album is certainly different to what I was expecting and may listen to more of the back catalogue at somepoint.

Suprised myself by really not enjoying this album

I didn’t mind this album, some songs were great and others pretty lame, inconsistent. What I would say is, just because you have a bunch of effects peddles doesn’t mean you have to use them all, all of the time!! Dial it down dudes!

I didn't mind some of the tracks, but it was a bit all over the place and far too long.

Kul! Nästan så varierat att det tappade vad bandets identitet är

Nytt för mig och gillade variationen och det allmänna soundet.

Lite upp och ner, men mer upp.

Okay, but not very engaging.

looking at the cover and the overall art style/visuals of the whole band, i thought i was in for a REAL treat. but because you can't jugde a book by its cover (even if positively), i was kind of underwhelmed. this is still pretty decent though, i just think the music is a bit too plain and simple COMPARED to the artwork, but that's not saying it's boring or even traditional music. i particularly liked "rodney king", but alto thought the album was a bit too long.

This is a very good sound to it right off the bat. It really hooks you. I think the mixing is a big issue throughout. Vocals very frequently, I thought, were getting drowned out. I feel like I'm very easy to please. When it comes to instrumentation, chuck everything at the wall and you'll have me happy. And that's essentially what they do here. But it works so well, they got brass, percussion, and I think woodwind. I think it's safe to say I like this album. Caveat, being I don't think it's gonna be a heavy rotation one for me, but I would definitely play this again. Fav Track: I Hand Suspended

Mehhh. What I heard is a bunch of shameless plugs, or some homage I guess, to Bauhaus/Cure/The Smiths and so on, or at least that's what felt to me. I can already listen to the originals...

It's always nice when you discover a band's discography beyond their biggest hit (in this case 'Wake Up Boo') and you realise that they have a broader style, and are much more sonically diverse. This was more noisy, rough and shoegazey than I was expecting, but it does work overall. I'm kind of impressed at the experimentation on show, and the variety of different instruments and approaches. I particularly like the moments of impactful brass, but there's much on offer. Still, despite this, it feels like it's somehow lacking overall, or there's just one missing element that could take it to the next level. It might be the vocal delivery holding it back, which is just a bit soft and floaty and meandering for my liking. I'm sure it's a taste thing, but I feel like something a bit punchier would work so much better. 3.5 rounded down.

A little Flaming Lips in there somewhere.

this sounded superficial and lame

It was an interesting album with its own sound but it didn't stand out quite far enough. Probably worth another listen.

Duller than I thought it was going to be

There is some really great stuff on here, but it's also got some pretty big misses. It's just inconsistent. I'll give it a mid to high 3

If I was a better guitarist, I might’ve enjoyed this more

A 90s rock album I enjoyed but not sure I’d revisit.

Maybe a little too chill and lacking direction for my liking, but a good listen one time through. Every song alternates between generic 90's alternative rock and then something a bit spicier. An album of it's era for sure. Not bad but not really my thing.

Very good

Thanks for the feedback.

I liked it when they sounded Beatley.

Kinda grew on me as it went on, though it is rather long.

very enjoyable. much of it feels quite amateurish, but that affects the experience far less negatively after multiple listens.

A solid rock album that would be much better served by being 20 minutes shorter. A lot of unnecessary haterade in these reviews, though. The length is really the only major flaw.

Fantastisch! Sehr abwechslungsreich, viele Stile zusammen und alles funktioniert. Eine unheimliche Bereicherung!

Spannend, produktionstechnisch teilweise etwas durcheinander.

色んな独特な音が使われているポップス。 曲ごとに変化はしているけど、根底のものは一緒なので雰囲気は意外とそんな変わらない。 まあでもポップスはなー。あきたわ

ui de zweit song isch 90er reggae rock irgendwie? da chunt nöd guet glaub. oook shoegaze isch scho nöd soo miis glaub? ider findis gad afoch glichzitig chli langwilig langsam aber au chli z viel? ok finds insano arsch has null checkt isch wieder öpis woni glaub eig mega sött möge aber ich hans wüüüürkli nöd chöne gnüsse fr fr null. z wenig hooks mengmol afoch chli genudel, ihr sind halt nöd d beatles sorry ich kenn eu nöd und ich verzeihs eu nöd wenner es inkohärents eistündigs album anehaued. JUAN

E STUND JA MOLL what in the introsong vonere sitcom upon 9th und I wish I was skinny hani beidi na cool gfunde, er het iwie e lieblichi stimm und dass hii und daa die shoegaze-element innechömmed mached d songs na intressant es gfalltmer bis jz besser als ich denkt hett ahh de classic "mier spieled schräg und weg dem isches speziell und nöd mainstream und kreativ" hahahaiwie lieb ich barney so langsam chönnt eig s album fertig sii aber ich han halt no 8 songs vor mier :( hahaha ich gsehn scho, wiso so es album uf dere liste landet jz die letschte paar songs hend mich chli ah flaming lips erinneret wiso liebet sie so musig?? schad, e ziit lang hetsmer echt na freud gmacht aber bruder was füres belangloses umegejammere uf dene letschte paar songs und ich weiss genau, dass das fürd musigkritiker:inne the second coming of crist isch ich überlegmer sogar no es 1 geh willi die art vo muaig scho 68 mal ghört han alsoo ich würd zwar sehr gern es 1 geh aber will ich doch de ahfang rig na fun gfunde han, gibi es knapps 2 WOBII ES ISCH AUNO SOO LANG GSI egal nei ich blib debii

72/100. The first three tracks were great. So many ideas and sounds that you can easily pick out parts you like and parts you don’t. I enjoyed this record, but that doesn’t take away from how inconsistent it is. The dream pop element was what I liked the most about this.

Commercially unsuccessful British jangle pop from the 90s: Aww, you're sweet Commercially successful British jangle pop from the 90s: Hello, human resources?

First playthrough I felt that I should like it more than I was at the time… Glad I gave this time to marinade and listen a couple times over in different mental capacities. A bit overlong at 1hr 4mi but there’s enough variety that the playtime isn’t too terrible. Overall 4/5 leaving a bit of this album on the cutting room floor and it could be 5 stars

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Guitar sound was good, u I kind of enjoyed some of the songs. Too long and lacking standouts though. 7/10

Track 1 is a very good 90's rock song. Track 2 is interesting, with the incorporation of reggae in the verses. Wish I was skinny is a lovely 60's inspired tune that I really enjoyed. Lovely textures and melody. 4,5,6 only nice. 6 least. 7 is just awesome. Beach Boys inspired tune with wonderful instrumentation. 8 is another very good one. Similar. 9 less. I really like the 60's vibe songs here. 11 is another one of them. Super nice. 12 in a similar way but not as great. Lazarus is a very very strong song, not going to lie. It's very 90's but in a good way. Beautiful textures and very interesting progression. 14 is a little pleasant interlude. 16, might be my very favorite here. Super impressive so deep into the record. The closer is a proper Beatleesque closer for a proper album. What a high quality listen this was! Maybe a bit to long, and I strongly favour the 60's vibe tunes, but it remained a great experience throughout. Lovely. A 4.

it is ok

It's fine. I don't really have time for it, but it's fine. Maybe if I heard this at the right time in the 90s I'd like it more, but having never listened to The Boo Radleys until now, it's just... it's fine.

None of the songs particularly stood out to me but it was a good listen

278. too long

Ein interessantes musikalisches Experiment, das am Ende so mittelmäßig herauskommt. Mir gefällt der Mix aus Psychedelia, Alternative Rock und die Shoegaze Elemente. Die Instrumentierung ist teilweise auch ganz cool. Aber wie es halt öfter so ist... es funktioniert nicht alles gleichermaßen. In einigen Songs gibt es Elemente oder Sounds, die irgendwie das Hörerlebnis stören, und insgesamt ist es viel zu lang. Viele viele Ideen. Auch einige gute dabei. Aber es hapert an der Umsetzung und ein gutes Album ist draus irgendwie nicht geworden. 2.5/5 - okay

That was actually pretty good

Not bad most of the time

Many influences indeed, but not my cup of tea. Lazarus jumps out.

Crapgazing

Kept taking me to Coltrane album giant steps

Another pretty unremarkable britpop album I'm afraid. As much as I like the genre, I'm starting to feel like it's only as good as it's three biggest bands. Favorite track: Take the Time Around

It's 3.5

I got through a couple of listens and it was starting to open up to me after a while. What seems like bland indie fare at first became more interesting with some lovely rhythm guitar lines, some space and confidence in the songs and a slow burning hook or two. I need to apwnd more time with this to see if it develops further but a nice 3 star for the day.

what trash

4.5

A cool album with some really interesting guitar parts and songs with enjoyable melodies. As a 90's kid this kinda thing will always be up my alley.

Didn’t rate this at all, too many weird and random sounds

This rocked, easy 3.5

I'm not a fan of shoegaze apparently. It was a bit too long.

I don't find this album as impressive as Blur's "Modern Life is Rubbish" which came out the same year or Suede's "Dog Man Star" or Manic Street Preachers "The Holy Bible" which were also expansive in their scope. That being said, this is a good album and part of that conversation, since they obviously wouldn't have known what Blur, Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Pulp or others were going to do at the same time. Finally, I will say that I still think "Kingsize" is The Boo Radleys' "magnum opus" and really displays their Brit Pop prowess. I hover between a 3.5 and 4 stars, but I am going to go 4 on this scale, as I do think it is amazing how many different styles they do and do well.

That was great! I'm really glad I didn't read the Wikipedia article or any reviews before listening. Tons of sounds, reminded me of a lot of different bands throughout the 90s and early 00s, in a good way. Not sure if I'll revisit it on purpose, but I won't skip it if they come up on shuffle.

Not for me, I’m afraid!

It wasnt that bad, it was just a bit nothing and all over the place. Inoffensive background noise towards the end. Nothing to write home about but not a jump for the off switch.

I wasn't expecting this based off their one known song, which reminds me of GMTV and getting up for school. This didn't seem so bad, but sadly this lacks any bangers and I'm confused as to what genre it was meant to be. It ends up just sounding '90s'. Not one to return to, but it was good enough for the hour it was on.

If it weren't for Stereolab my indie category might be competing with punk at the bottom. I'm not sure I gave this a decent chance as I kept getting interupted by work, but on my attempted second go I quickly realized I'd rather listen to something else

Aw, man, I loved A Love Supreme! That was such a great jazz album. I'm so excited to listen to more John Coltrane today.... What's that? This isn't John Coltrane's classic 1960 album, Giant Steps? This is some other thing I've never heard of before? It's another 90s British indie album that nobody cares about? Well, I can't say I'm surprised. This album list never fails to confuse me. But you know what? I'm going to be honest here. After listening to this album, I don't hate it. I actually think the Boo Radleys' 1993 album, Giant Steps, has some decent ideas behind it. I don't love it, obviously, but I think I enjoyed it a little more than I thought I would. I have complaints, for sure. It's too long and there weren't many standout moments, but there also wasn't really anything that I hated. Musically, this album blends styles like shoegaze and britpop together to create something that's somewhat unique. It's not special per se, but this doesn't feel like a lesser version of any one specific band. There's some pretty nice guitar work on here. I thought "I Hang Suspended" was a nice opener and "Lazarus" was pretty good too. The vocals aren't bad by any means, but they're not amazing either. I can't say that this is a must-listen album, but I'm definitely not upset that I listened to it. I can see someone out there really digging this band. I'm not that person, but if that person out there is reading this, I'm happy for you. Just don't be too disappointed by my score. 3/5.

I didn't hate it but I felt like I was lost in an unfamiliar supermarket for a full hour. Like all these ingredients are familiar but the vibes are off, the layout's thrown me, and I'm ready to leave now. I kept waiting to get accustomed to whatever was happening stylistically, and to the wretched volume levels – oh my God, you're so quirky and quiet-loud, we get it, enough! – but I never really did. I think I restarted the album four times over because it just kept getting away from me. It's largely not unpleasant, but it's somehow both too soft and too noisy to please me much. I weirdly feel none the wiser as to what the Boo Radleys are about, which is a bit annoying after an album with seventeen tracks on it. There's plenty of fun, catchy moments that I enjoyed, but they're often fleeting and buried in the big disjointed mélange of stuff. I also think that if you can't project your singing voice with more vigour than a consumptive Victorian child's last gasp, it's not singing and you should be stopped. Pipe the fuck up, dude! Ugh, maybe I did hate this a bit. But it's also just kind of OK and sometimes nice. Three stars, on balance? Anyway, 1001's Britpop tag stinks. Ash, The Coral, and two Doves albums but not a whiff of James? James, est. 1982? Laid? Gold Mother? Is Tim Booth nothing to you people? 😭