英国で話題沸騰!‘ハピネス’と‘サンシャイン’しか歌わない総勢25人(!)の白いローブを纏った混声シンフォニック・ポップ・バンド“ポリフォニック・スプリー”の日本デビュー盤。イギリスではデヴィッド・ボウイのリクエストによりメルトダウン・フェスティヴァルや2002年のレディング/リーズ・フェスティヴァルなどに参加、話題を呼び「世界で一番最高のニュー・バンド」とUKメディアから大絶賛の嵐。2ndシングル「Hanging Around」のビデオ・クリップはポリフォニック・スプリーの大ファンであるパルプのジャーヴィス・コッカーが手掛けている。
タワーレコード(2009/04/08)
Rolling Stone - 3 stars out of 5 - "...An uncanny combination of rock orchestra and choir...evoking Up With People's all-American optimism but also bears the wounds of Spiritualized and Flaming Lips..."
Mojo - Ranked #27 in Mojo's "Best Albums of 2002"
Mojo - "...Their pop peaks sound like an ecstatic communion of Mercury Rev, ELO and the cast of HAIR..."
Q - Included in Q Magazine's "The 50 Best Albums of 2002."
CMJ - "...The group makes tuneful and tasteful use of an array of aural colors in 10 nameless psychedelic soundscapes....it happens to kick a little booty..."
Uncut - Ranked #61 in Uncut's "100 Best Albums of the Year"
Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 - "...a bright, beatific prayer-meeting-cum-jam-session...Charming, involving, only marginally creepy..."
NME - 9 out of 10 - "...A huge, humane record that could airlift the gloomiest soul from the Slough Of Despond. Never mind the cassocks, here's The Polyphonic Spree...the good news starts here."
Q - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[The album has] the humanist warmth and simple joy that you hear in The Beach Boys or The Flaming Lips at their best..."
Q (12/02, p.67) - Included in Q Magazine's "The 50 Best Albums of 2002."
Mojo (1/03, p.75) - Ranked #27 in Mojo's "Best Albums of 2002"
Uncut (1/03, p.97) - Ranked #61 in Uncut's "100 Best Albums of the Year"
Rolling Stone (8/8/02, p.82) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...An uncanny combination of rock orchestra and choir...evoking Up With People's all-American optimism but also bears the wounds of Spiritualized and Flaming Lips..."
Q (11/02, p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[The album has] the humanist warmth and simple joy that you hear in The Beach Boys or The Flaming Lips at their best..."
Mojo (10/02, p.110) - "...Their pop peaks sound like an ecstatic communion of Mercury Rev, ELO and the cast of HAIR..."
NME (9/21/02, p.37) - 9 out of 10 - "...A huge, humane record that could airlift the gloomiest soul from the Slough Of Despond. Never mind the cassocks, here's The Polyphonic Spree...the good news starts here."
CMJ (6/02, p.15) - "...The group makes tuneful and tasteful use of an array of aural colors in 10 nameless psychedelic soundscapes....it happens to kick a little booty..."
Uncut (9/02, p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...a bright, beatific prayer-meeting-cum-jam-session...Charming, involving, only marginally creepy..."
Spin - "[S]tandouts 'It's the Sun' and 'Have a Day' brim with irresistible optimism."
Rovi
'The Beginning Stages Of...' is the debut album from The Polyphonic Spree, a band consisting of the remaining members of Tripping Daisy and a few dozen of their friends. The end result is a mass congregation of white robed musicians composing orchestral rock and pop reminiscent of the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev and Spiritualized. Includes their debut single 'Soldier Girl'.|
Rovi
怪しい。〈多声楽バカ騒ぎ団〉(注:俺訳)という名前も、聖衣を着た20数名の男女(すべてメンバー)が近所の空き地で適当にポーズを取ったようなジャケも、すこぶる怪しい。けれど一聴して仰天! 彼らはいたって本気である!! ビーチ・ボーイズとマーキュリー・レヴの狭間を10人の聖歌隊と生音/電子楽器隊が大行進。後光の射した先に降臨するのは天上のサイケデリア神! すべてのポップ信者を帰依させる第一教典が誕生!!
bounce (C)北爪啓之
タワーレコード(2002年12月号掲載 (P90))