The Chimes - The Chimes - (1990)[FLAC-EAC-CUE]

The Chimes - The Chimes - (1990)[FLAC-EAC-CUE]



Track list.



The Chimes - The Chimes



01. Love so tender 03:01

02. Heaven 03:52

03. True love 03:49

04. 1-2-3 03:24

05. Underestimate 04:12

06. Love comes to mind 04:52

07. Don't make me wait 04:02

08. Stronger together 03:53

09. I still haven't found what i'm looking for 05:33

10. Stay 04:40

11. I still haven't found what i'm looking for (street mix) 06:19

12. Heaven (physical mix) 08:27



Biography

Scottish R&B trio the Chimes formed in 1988 when multi-instrumentalists and producers Mike Peden and James Locke (formerly of the synth-poppers Fiction Factory) drafted singer Pauline Henry to sing on some dance-pop demos they had recorded. The resulting tracks got the trio signed to CBS Records, who released their first single, "Love So Tender," in 1989. Though the single was a critical hit, thanks largely to Henry's expressive but controlled voice, it was not a particularly strong-seller. The trio hooked up with Soul II Soul's Jazzie B and Nellee Hooper, the club producers of the moment, to record the follow-up, "1-2-3," which was a bigger hit, though a less-interesting song. Third time was the charm, however, as the trio's next single, a canny acid house reworking of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," reached the U.K. Top Ten.

Their debut album, 1990's The Chimes, was a minor hit in the U.K. and a critical and college radio favorite in the U.S., but Henry left Locke and Peden later that year for a solo career. Her first solo album, 1994's Pauline, scored a minor hit with another unexpected remake, a trip-hop version of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love." Locke became an indie producer, helming albums for acts like the Glasgow dream pop quartet the Bathers. Peden became a noted producer and remixer on the British underground dance scene of the '90s, with credits on a huge number of singles and albums.

In 2001, a collection of single sides, remixes, and album tracks, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, was released.



Review

The Chimes' sole album is proof that commercial dance pop can have artistic viability as well as chart potential. A mixture of hip influences (Soul II Soul's Jazzie B and Nellee Hooper produced two tracks, including the meaty acid house single "1-2-3") and the polish of soul and pop veterans (Pete Wingfield plays piano on most of the album, and other guests range from the Hooters' Eric Bazilian to '70s studio pro Ralph Schuckett), The Chimes is a completely solid and credible album with thankfully little of the overdone slickness and shrieking pseudo-soul of pretenders like Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. (In fact, it's possible that the low-key dignity of this album is why it wasn't a bigger chart hit, though it received rave reviews both in the US and the trio's native Great Britain.) Pauline Henry's expressive but controlled voice is powerful without resorting to the tiresome trills and oversinging of so many of her R&B contemporaries, and multi-instrumentalist producers James Locke and Michael Peden combine pop, dance and soul influences into a seamless, sleekly danceable blend. The album's biggest hit, a gospel-tinged remake of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," finds new levels of power in that over-played song, and its inclusion make perfect thematic and musical sense instead of being the desperate plea for chart attention it might have been in less capable hands.



Enjoy.