BonosSaint said:
Okay, what's the music like? What drives them--vocals, guitars, lyrics? Can you post a few lyrics?
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The Church consists of four very competent to excellent musicians, but is more than a mere sum of it's parts. A large part of their sound is the interplay of the two guitarists, Peter Koppes (PK) and Marty Willson-Piper (MWP). They are the backbone of the lush, shimmering, trippy, psychadelic, often ethereal sound of The Church. Think Pink Floyd, The Byrds, The Cure, Echo and The Bunnymen...The Church have similar sounds and feels. And they did an awesome cover of Neil Young's Cortez the Killer -- a perfect song for them to cover -- it sounds like a song they would do on their own.
Steve Kilbey's vocals and lyrics are also essential to the mix. They are there more to evoke feelings than to relate precise stories. Interestingly, Church fans generally find SK's vocals to be deep, warm, silky smooth, and occasionally disturbing, but always compelling where often non fans find them cold, bland and dispassionate. There's a similar divide between fans and non fans when it comes to his lyrics as well. SK loves to play with works and it's obvious in his lyrics. Most fans adore SK's way with words and find his lyrics exquisite and powerful -- many non fans call them a load of pretentious nonsense. I will note that for me, in the context of the songs his lyrics are most often perfect for me. But seperated from the music I'm often left scratching my head wondering "what was he thinking?"
Here are the lyrics to a few songs I really like (and might not be too much pretentions nonsense seperated from the music
)
After Everything
Now that it's over I find myself leaving
The sound permeate in all directions at once
I never said goodbye to the family, lovers
Brothers and daughters, the rest of the bunch
It seems so strange that the things I was chasing
Have all evaporated like a distant dream
Petty ambition, petty obstruction
Something in between
I really thought it would go on forever
Never believed they would sever the ties
All of the questions remaining unanswered
A stranger's reflection in a stranger's eyes
Here is a child playing in a garden
Here is an old man with a broken heart
Here comes a train to take you away
It all goes round and round and comes back to the start
I was never really sure what I was waiting for
When the moment came I was looking away
Obsessed with a past, scared of the future
Never took the time to be here today
After everything now this happens
It's not a grand illusion, it's a stupid little trick
The show must go on, these people have paid
You're standing in the wings feeling kinda sick
Never really sure what you were waiting for
When the moment came you just couldn't choose
The fog sweeps down over the marine city
Standing backstage trying to pull on your shoes
Sealine
The minute the sting penetrates your finger
You're strapped to the pain like an angry stranger
The moment the rain freezes in the gutter
Come the flaming birds and their hideous matter
The second the claw lifts up your chin
I'm alone in your head and you can't get in
Somebody said that it's all for you
It's a miracle, let it alter you
But I will not follow you to the sea line
Somebody went and turned it on for you
Revelation baby, you're beautiful
But I will not follow you to the sea line
The instant the transfer hits your account
And it's deep in the black, and just one way out
The morning the storm rolled to the coast
We were down to the shake, and our silent throats
The evening the trees lash at the window
The roots curl up, strangle the candles
Somebody said that it's all for you
It's a miracle, let it alter you
But I will not follow you to the sea line
Somebody went and turned it on for you
Revelation baby, you're beautiful
But I will not follow you to the sea line
(To the sea line)
It's a miracle, let it alter you
Revelation baby, you're beautiful
To the sea line
Destination
Our instruments have no way of measuring this feeling
Can never cut below the floor or penetrate the ceiling
In the space between our houses some bones have been discovered
But our procession lurches on as if we have recovered
Draconian winter unforetold
One solar day, suddenly you're old
Your little envelope just makes me feel cold
Makes destination start to unfold
Our documents are useless, or forged beyond believing
Page forty-seven is unsigned, I need it by this evening
In the space between our cities, a storm is slowly forming
Something eating up our days, I feed it every morning
Destination, destination
It's not a religion, it's just a technique
It's just a way of making you speak
(When) distance and speed have left us too weak
And destination looks kind of bleak
Our elements are burned out, our beasts have been mistreated
I tell you it's the only way we'll get this road completed
In the space between our bodies the air has grown small fingers
Just one caress, you're powerless, like all those clapped-out swingers
Destination, destination
Cantilever [a wild, swirling, disturbing song. also shows SK's love of the pun -- Cantilever = Can't I Leave Her
]
You and I
Something else
So afraid, doubtful light
You and I
On our own
So full blown in the night
A for the angles and the algorithms
B for your brains, what ya did with 'em
C, see what we've done, see what we've become
Delightful, delicious and divine
You and I
So exposed
Flaring out into white
You and I
I suppose
Never quite getting it right
E for the elite and the easy way
F for the phantom limb you still obey
G, gee I feel weird, I feel strange
Holy, horrific, and hard
I don't know what you want to be
I only know how I adore thee
Remembering times I was on the inside
And I ran to your side
You helped me to hide
The trap was so smooth
Up the back in your booth
With a bird in your hand
A hand on your heart
The stuff that we did
The stuff that we hid
The stuff that we drank
And the blank that we drew
It was always me
It was almost you
I don't know what you want to do now
I only know nothing you won't allow
Think about it when I'm after a bit
And I'm down in the dumps and I'm needing a hit
And your cut was so clean
The split was so fair
The water was green
When you came up for air
And the things that we saw
The things that were true
The things that we wore
It was always me
It was almost you
Remembering times I was on the inside
And I ran to your side
You helped me to hide
The trap was so smooth
Up the back in your booth
With a bird in your hand
A hand on your heart
The stuff that we did
The stuff that we hid
The stuff that we drank
And the blank that we drew
), I think I might try one by these guys. So which album should a newbie such as myself start out with. I've probably heard Under the Milky Way somewhere, but didn't know who it was by, but that's about it. So reccomend away! But you can only choose one. 
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