Ocean Colour Scene - North Atlantic Drift

Ocean Colour Scene - North Atlantic Drift (2003)
Cancion: She's Been Writing
Compositor: Simon Fowler

Letra en ingles:
The Village Girl ain't it just the way
Grows her hair long and paints her face
Nobody calls her anyway
It's a shame

Here we go she knows it all
Writes it all down to tell us all
Nobody hears her at all
Anymore

She's Been Writing
She's Been Writing
She's Been,
Ah She's been writing

At the fighting bar she knows the law
Ah she'l just get up and sock you on the jaw
After all she's been in love before
Nevermore

Repeat Chorus

Between the stages and the sad refrains you know she sings
Is just a dreamer scheming for the show
Between the pages I can hardly stand the pain
The changes bought to you before you had to go

Sandy Girl ain't it just the way
Grows her hair long and makes mistakes
Nobody calls her anyway
Nevermore

Repeat Chorus X2

All the sad refrains you know
She sings them solo

Letra en castellano:
En proceso de traducción.


Notas:
Simon Fowler compuso "'She's Been Writing" dedicado a Sandy Denny tras leer su biografía en el libro "No More Sad Refrains", (De este libro doy información en la sección que le corresponde). Linda Thompson añadió su toque vocal en los coros. ¿Quién lo podría hacer mejor...?
Puedes escuchar 30 segundos de cada una de las 15 canciones de es álbum en Artistdirect.

Biografía de Ocean Colour Scene por Stephen Thomas Erlewine 
Falling between the energetic pop/rock of mod revival and the psychedelic experimentations of Traffic, Ocean Colour Scene came to be one of the leading bands of the traditionalist, post-Oasis British rock of the mid-'90s. Although they had formed in the late '80s and had several hits during the height of Madchester in the early '90s, the band didn't earn a large following until 1996, when their second album, Moseley Shoals, became a multi-platinum success story in the U.K. Their ascent was greatly aided by Paul Weller and Oasis' Noel Gallagher, both publicly praised Ocean Colour Scene for keeping the flame of real rock & roll burning during the '90s. And, according to one specific definition, they were right, since Ocean Colour Scene was nothing if not rock & roll traditionalists, drawing heavily from British Invasion pop, psychedelia, soul, R&B, and blues-rock to create a reverential homage to classic rock. Their devotion to trad rock may have earned them decidedly mixed reviews, but that was the very thing that earned them a sizable following.
Ocean Colour Scene is comprised of Steve Cradock (lead guitar, keyboards, vocals), Simon Fowler (lead vocals, guitar), Damon Minchella (bass), and Oscar Harrison (drums). Prior to forming in 1990, the members of the band had played in a variety of other groups. During the late '80s, Cradock played in a mod revival band called the Boys. Though they released an independent EP called Happy Days and supported former Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott, the band never gained much of an audience. At the same time the Boys were active, Fowler and Minchella were in a Velvet Underground-influenced group called Fanatics, who released an EP, Surburban Love Songs, on the independent label Chapter 22 in the spring of 1989. Following the release of the single, the group's original drummer, Caroline Bullock, was replaced by Harrison, who had previously played with a reggae/soul band called Echo Base. Shortly after Harrison joined Fanatics, the group split up. Several months after their disbandment, Fowler, Minchella, and Harrison formed Ocean Colour Scene with Cradock, who they met at a Stone Roses concert. 
Appropriately, Ocean Colour Scene was initially heavily influenced by the Stone Roses. After performing a few concerts, the group built a small fan base and signed with a local indie label, !Phfft. Shortly after signing with !Phfft, Ocean Colour Scene became hyped as "the next big thing" by the British music weekly press, as their live shows and debut single, "Sway," earned extremely positive reviews during the first half of 1990. In the spring of 1991, they headed into the studio to record the debut album with Jimmy Miller, who worked on the Rolling Stones' classic albums of the late '60s and early '70s. Instead of concentrating on work, the band essentially drank away their hours in the studio, resulting in a batch of uneven recordings. Unsatisfied by the tapes, the band headed back into the studio with Hugo Nicolson, who had previously worked with Primal Scream.
By the time they completed the record, !Phfft had been acquired by Fontana Records, who bought the indie with the intent of owning the rights to Ocean Colour Scene. Despite their enthusiasm for the band, the label's head of A&R, Dave Bates, rejected the group's first attempt at the album and asked them to re-enter the studio to re-record most of the album with another producer, Tim Palmer, who had previously worked with Tin Machine. Palmer also remixed the remaining cuts, resulting in a slick, over-produced debut album that was delivered belatedly in the spring of 1992. By that time, the music press had abandoned the Madchester scene that the Stone Roses spawned and, in turn, they rejected the return of Ocean Colour Scene. The public also refused to buy the record and it sank upon its release. The band made some headway on an American tour, but tensions with Fontana continued to increase throughout the year. 
Ocean Colour Scene returned to England halfway through the year, planning to record a new album quickly, but Bates rejected their new material. Soon, the band sued to get out of its Fontana contract. By the time it was settled in early 1993, the group owed hundreds of thousands of pounds to the label and they were back on the dole. Ocean Colour Scene continued to rehearse, often supported by their manager (and Steve's father) Chris Cradock, who put the family house up for mortgage. The band converted their rehearsal space into a recording studio and began recording constantly, but their break didn't arrive until they played a gig supporting Paul Weller's new band in early 1993. Weller was impressed with Steve Cradock's playing, and asked him to play on his forthcoming single, "The Weaver." Cradock gradually became part of Weller's backing band, performing on much of Weller's second solo album, Wild Wood. However, the guitarist didn't abandon Ocean Colour Scene all the money he was making was funneled back into the band, and he landed Fowler a gig as a backing vocalist for Weller. By the end of the 1993, Cradock, Fowler, and Minchella were all playing in Weller's band.
The next break for Ocean Colour Scene arrived in late summer of 1994, when Noel Gallagher, the leader of Oasis, heard the band's tape in the offices of his record label. Gallagher offered OCS the opening slot for Oasis' breakthrough fall 1994 tour, which provided the group with needed exposure. Soon, the group was subject to a bidding war among several major labels, all of whom wanted the band to change their name. Eventually, the band signed with MCA in the summer of 1995; they were one of the few labels not to insist that the group change their name.
During early 1996, the hype machine began to go into overdrive for Ocean Colour Scene, as Gallagher proclaimed them the best band in Britain in several interviews and Chris Evans, a DJ on BBC's Radio 1, constantly played OCS's comeback single "The Riverboat Song," essentially using it as his theme song. "The Riverboat Song" entered the charts at number 15 early in 1996. Moseley Shoals, the band's second album, was released in April of 1996, unexpectedly entering the charts at number two. The album was a fixture in the British Top Ten throughout 1996, spending six months total in the upper regions of the charts. Two subsequent singles from the record, "You've Got it Bad" and "The Day We Caught the Train," reached the Top Ten and the album continued to sell strongly throughout 1996, going multi-platinum in the U.K. Ocean Colour Scene also became a popular live attraction in Britain, selling out concerts during their summer tour. Moseley Shoals was released in America during the summer, but it failed to make much of an impact in the U.S. 
As the band was working on their third album, Ocean Colour Scene released the rarities compilation B-Sides: Seasides & Freerides in March 1997. By the late summer they had completed the album and had released "Hundred Mile City" as a single; it debuted at number two on the U.K. charts. Marchin' Already, OCS's third album, was released in September 1997 and it debuted at number one in the U.K., knocking Oasis' Be Here Now off of the top slot. 

Comentarios sobre el álbum:
Part of the problem of being a traditionalist band is that you emerge with a sound that sounds fairly mature from the outset - by emulating classic bands at their peak, you wind up sounding older than your years and, no matter how hard you fight it, a little bit stodgy. Then, because you hold the classic rock tradition so dear, you wind up becoming bound to it, rarely exploring new territory and, even then, it's usually just new tonal, textural, and emotional ground, which is so subtle that only dedicated fans will notice - which, of course, is the only kind of fan that will pay attention through several similar-sounding records. This fate has befallen many bands, both British and American, many lesser than Ocean Colour Scene, who at least were fortunate enough to ride the post-Oasis zeitgeist in the mid-'90s, which meant they not only had some hits, but that they could cultivate a reasonably large fan base and that the best of their songs "The Riverboat Song," "The Day We Caught the Train," "Hundred Mile High City," "Travellers Tune" became part of the pop culture of the time. Once that time passed and "Noelrock" became passé, OCS still trudged on, delivering journeymen-like records to a steadily decreasing audience (admittedly, they were hurt by a record deal that kept their records from regular release in the U.S.). By the point they released their sixth studio album, North Atlantic Drift, in late summer 2003, it seemed like only the faithful would care, which is too bad, because it's the best record they've done in a long time. Like any trad rock band, there isn't a great progression in the sound it sounds like it could have been the sequel to Marchin' Already, or even Moseley Shoals - but the production isn't nearly as claustrophobic as it was on its predecessor, 2001's Mechanical Wonder, nor are the performances as mannered. Here, the tone is brighter and the sound is subtly, appealingly layered, while the band displays not only a willingness to stretch out (the extended coda on the closer, "When Evil Comes," is suitably atmospheric), but a renewed vigor in songwriting. Once again, the best of their songs - and there are a lot of good songs on this record - are sharp, impassioned, tuneful, and sturdy, gaining resonance after each play. To complain that they offer little new to the OCS sound is to miss the point: They're supposed to fit within the sound, and they not only do that, but they hold their own against the best of the band's material. Since the group seemed to be slipping into pleasant genericness with Mechanical Wonder, this revival is to be embraced, since it means that once again Ocean Colour Scene embodies all the virtues of trad rock, making a very enjoyable album in the process. [Sanctuary's 2003 U.S. edition of North Atlantic Drift contains four bonus tracks, all of a similar high standard, with the standout track being the spare, rollicking "I Want to See the Bright Lights."] - Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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