Where such brilliance now?
Jay M | Dublin, Ireland | 02/12/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I can't add anything more to what has been said already here regarding the general ignorance shown to this band by the music press and general public but what I can add are my thoughts on this collection.Contained on here are some of the finest moments in English pop music of the eighties. Guitar driven by the excellent Terry Bickers, this is far away from what we know pop today. This is proper music. The House of Love existed in between the end of The Smiths and the start of The Stone Roses. They filled an important gap, but they were more than just a filler group. They should have been bigger than the Roses, I'm not saying they were better, just that they should have been in such a high position by the time the Roses came that they would have eclipsed them. 'Shine On', here in its original glory, is just a perfect moment in British pop music, it just doesn't get better than this. Excellent guitar, stirring melodies and the lyrical genius and vocals of Guy Chadwick combine to make this one of my favourite songs of all time. 'Destroy the Heart' reached the top of John Peels' 'Festive Fifty' in 1988, so therefore it should be no surprise that it is one hell of a pop song. 'Salome' and 'Happy' continue in the same fast-paced, hook-laden guitar style.But there are quieter moments on this album too. Quiet love songs, soft melody tracks, songs about pain and frustration. So all in all a perfect combination and the voice of Andrea, their German female co-vocalist provides a perfect counter-balance to Guy's on certain songs, she even gets to sing a song by herself and it's pretty good stuff too.For all fans of guitar pop like The Smiths and The Stone Roses, give this album a go. When I listen to the House of Love I sometimes like to describe them as a mix between Echo and the Bunnymen and James, if there can be such a thing! So fans of these two groups may also like to take a look. For people like me who followed the House of Love avidly then this is a great addition to our collections."
Compiles the first two full-length guitar-mope releases
John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 08/06/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Seeing that HoL's original albums are out-of-print in the US, this collects what would have been the Creation-label debut "pink trim, two-person photo cover" and the German-import singles anthology (silver, with a cat and the cover of the Anais Nin paperback "A Spy in the House of Love". Both titled, in early Peter Gabriel solo-style, as House of Love. A couple of tunes are taken from their subsequent third full-length release, called...you know--well, otherwise known as "the one with the butterfly cover issued on Fontana." Which leads you after this Creation compilation to the "Fontana Years" follow-up anthology.
The Creation years find the London quartet in late 80s guitar-pop Smithsy mode, but I hold that comparisons were exaggerated. Actually, I prefer Guy Chadwick's less theatrical version of self-loathing. The production on many of the band's songs highlights well the interplay of snappy guitars and intelligent if not exactly always clearly reasoned lyrics, and an attempt to kick-start sonic dynamism and textured swirl into what already was becoming a tired subgenre of British alternative indie-based rock. This period of the band captures them with original guitarist Terry Bickers in the band (later in Levitation) and therefore is preferable to the later years when they were reduced to a trio and also diminished in power and craft."
Track Listings (23) - Disc #1