James

Item: The Best Of
Author: James Stewart

The Best Of

(1998)

Reviewed by James Stewart

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Spotify

Label PolygramThe Phantom Tollbooth1998

britpop folk rock

When the history of British pop music towards the end of the twentieth century comes to be written, the song "Sit Down" by James will, I'm sure, be held up as a classic. Since being described by Morrissey (the Smiths) in 1983 as the best new band in Britain, James have ridden the peaks and troughs of popularity. This is illustrated perfectly by their previous album not making much of a dent, but this new one riding high in the charts.

James peddles something of a folk-pop sound--lots of guitars and some keyboards, matched with extremely sing-able lyrics that appeal on a number of levels. Don't let my use of 'folk' mislead you, though; this is no acoustic album -- the guitars are mostly electric and the sounds mix more traditional folkie elements with 80's British indie. The band were among the founders of what came to be known as brit-pop. The vocals are tuneful and versatile, with a good range evidenced quite well on "She's a Star." Only a couple of these songs are well-known ("Sit Down," "She's a Star," and "Come Home"), but others deserve to be.

As far as I know, the band doesn't have any connections with Christianity, but there are a couple of references to God. The songs do really stand on their own anyway -- appealing to emotions and telling stories in a way many people can identify with. Or at least I can.

Those who feel the breath of sadness,
Sit down next to me.
Those who find they're touched by madness,
Sit down next to me.
Those who find themselves ridiculous,
Sit down next to me.

The songs are not all great, but none of them are bad either; they just don't all have the staying power of the high points. Over all, this is an enjoyable journey through the back-catalogue of one of Britain's most enduring pop bands.

3.5 tocks