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1991, Melody Maker
STAGGERING. This was going to get whacked up to the top of the page with a photo and an oblong box purely on the strength of the group's reputation, the singer's matchless cheekbones and some hefty peer pressure (transl: "threats") from my compadres at Maker Towers.
But then I played it. Then I played it again. And again. Soon the tape was making funny noises and begging me to stop. But I couldn't. "Adoration" is sensational. Compared to Cranes' previous works - which I liked, but life went on as normal - this is spectacular. By nearly everyone else's pitiful standards this week, it's the Taj Mahal and Hanging Gardens, Red Square and The White House rolled into one.
Just when we were getting used to the Young Gods and Black Sabbath reference points, Cranes go and do this. We'll forgive them. Huge sorrowful piano chords borrowed from Chic-via-Robert Wyatt's "At Last I Am Free" pound mercifully against an utterly breathtaking orchestral backdrop on loan from the saddest French film ever made, as Alison Shaw turns in the exquisite vocal performance of her career. Believe me, you can't wait to hear this.
The flamenco/noise/acoustic supporting feature, "Brighter", also makes most radical departures look like two-lane bus detours, but it's "Adoration" that earns Cranes their place in the '91 history books. If their Autumn LP has half this elegiacal grace, we really will be fencing with large adjectives. Stark, bleeding, beautiful.
© Melody Maker 1991
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