Doves, Some Cities

This Doves, Some Cities album is a few years old now, and I bought it a while back and didn't really listen to it properly at the time. However, now that the new album Kingdom of Rust is just out, I thought I'd go back and listen to it again. What a mistake a made a few years ago. It's an absolute classic!! Better than Elbow too...

Some Cities can be picked up for pennies via e bay and amazon marketplace, so its a bombproof buy, the real question is what next, because some cities part 2 will be the death of them.

Some Cities is, to my knowledge, Doves debut album, and it's not bad to be honest, some blood pumping tracks like "Sky Starts Falling", mixed with some moving tracks such as "Snowden" and "Almost Forgot Myself".

The only problem is that the drummer seems to get slightly carried away on some songs, and on others, great guitar and drum sounds are wrecked by singing, this makes the whole thing feel very amatuerish and sketchy.

But on the whole the album is rather solid and the good songs outway the bad. I bought this album for "Snowden" but the album as a whole is growing on me day by day.

Recommendable if found cheap.

Only a couple of good songs the doves are well up their own ..... I am afraid.

If they put their talents to just writing good songs rather than trying to impress all the time they would be far better for it.

Some Cities by The Doves is absolutely amazing. Almost all the tracks are excellent - the ones I would most recommend however are Black and White Town, Snowden and Sky Starts Falling. One really starts to appreciate the album and its superb quality after around five listens. Only a few tracks e.g. ambition could be considered a little boring but I believe the album is purely exceptional.

Doves, Some Cities - I really, really wanted to love the new Doves album and for it to be as enveloping and lush as Lost Souls and as inspiring as The Last Broadcast but having had it for about a month now, I've only played it about 3 times, and it hasn't moved me enough to want to ever hear it again. I thought seeing the songs live would help - it didn't.

Yes, the new record has all the recognisable elements of a Doves record, slow, shoegazer-inspired, heartfelt ballads and rousing, footstomping anthems, but with the exception of single "Black and White Town" and album track "Walk in Fire" it all just blends into a mass of non-descript background noise in the CD player. I realise this CD has been described as a sort of concept album about cities, but I haven't been inspired enough by the music to take any notice. And that does not make for a good album.

Hopefully, this is just a blip and their next CD will see a return to form.