Ariels [Import]

1. Comin' Back

2. Sunday 29th

3. I Can't Believe It's Over

4. As You Fall

5. Silent Life

6. Sing Me

7. On the Lake

8. Now I Must Remember

9. You Are the Oscillator

10. Sunday Boy

11. Exercise 4

12. Waters Deep

Tracks:

Comin' Back
Sunday 29th
I Can't Believe It's Over
As You Fall
Silent Life
Sing Me
On the Lake
Now I Must Remember
You Are the Oscillator
Sunday Boy
Exercise 4
Waters Deep

Customer Reviews:

A review just to add a little star weight........2007-05-08

This album is quite a radical departure from the bent we've heard from before which probably explains why it did not get a United States Release. As nobody below has really described the music it contains, I'll attempt to do so. Take a little bit of Curve or Lush (shoegazers from the 80's/90's), add a healthy dollop of Annie Lennox when she was part of that duo whose name escapes me (the vocals on this album are all driven by a strong but vulnerable female lead) salt it with a teeny tiny bit of 80's britpop ala depeche mode then fill out the rest with the soul of our old familiar bent and you've got this one nailed. Ordinarily this sort of thing is a bit effeminate or, perhaps more aptly, obviously emotional for me but there is something really pure and soulful and powerful about it that causes one to not play it but once every great while, and each time the full power and quality of it prises one's heart open and makes it bleed. This is a really good album!

This album changed my BENT opinion..........2006-11-20

Funny thing... I was in the camp at first that thought this cd was a slight change from what BENT was up to. I loved the first 2 cd's and the fun sampling on them. This cd did away with that sampling and I was worried at first that I wasn't liking it as much as the other cd's. Given a year or so of listening to it, I now think this is their best cd to date. It really is amazing and I listen to alot of this genre of music and think BENT is still the cream of the crop. I thank god I found a unheard-of little duo called BENT on the web years ago. They just have their own sound in the genre and a way of mixing to make incredably beautiful tunes.

Bent's finest and most complete album to date........2006-07-28

First of all I'd like to say that Bent are the most consistent producers that I have had the chance to hear.

"Programmed to Love" was as one of the finest debut albums I've ever heard. "Everlasting Blink" was a very nice follow up to the debut release. "Ariels" shows me that this duo has perfected their style in a magnificent way.

This release is one of the finest works released this decade. It starts out with a few slower tempo songs that have a very nice feel. This really helps set a tone for the rest of the album. Soon we begin to see the complexity that this group has to offer as we progress through the album. The mixture of exquisite instruments layered upon perfectly chosen vocal tracks reveals a quality of production and song writing very rarely experienced in popular music. With the duo's "Exercise 4" we get a wonderful bit of electronic fun just before they sink into "The Waters Deep", the last track on the album. Which puts the so called 'cherry on top' of this tasty treat for all to enjoy just before we start the CD over again.

I myself can't seem to take this album out of my car. Everytime I feel like listening to something really amazing it's right there to make everthing alright. I for one can't wait for the next release from Bent. They've made themselves into something special that all music fans can appreciate for one reason or aonther. For anything from the variety of instruments, vocalists, and equipment used to the pure quality of production. And yet the song writing may be the strongest quality displayed in "Ariels".

It isn't the individual attributes of this duo that really brings them to life. It is the style in which they combine these qualities and the consistency with which they do so.

If you haven't heard of Bent it's probably time you buy one of their albums. You can't go wrong!

Really nice, with a cute, fun feel to it..........2006-06-20

Its a very nice CD. Sort of upbeat and fun and it has some very nice mellow songs in it. You can play from beginning to end and not be dissappointed.

Really very, very good just not devastating.......2006-05-05

My formal introduction to Bent came after a random download onto my computer from Audiogalaxy turned up "Always". I was smitten and quickly fell head over heals with Swollen as well, arguably one of the strongest and most beautiful tracks off "Programmed to Love". Their experimental sampling and off the wall vocals don't always work for me and it took a while to come to fully appreciate the wonderment of PTL. Regardless, I continued to purchase everything they put out. I know why two of the reviewers gave Ariels a decidedly low vote. It's less overtly electronic and gone is the kitschy fun of PTL and some of the quirky Hawaiian sounds from their sophomore effort "The Everlasting Blink" but what remains is the beautiful emotion that they always manage to evoke. Some of Ariels is merely nice without the punch but at least several tracks stand out namely Exercise 4 which is as fine as anything they have done (such as Magic Love, Always, etc) along with I Can't Believe It's Over (with Kosheen's Sian Evans), and I'm Coming Back (with Weekend Players' Rachel Foster). I listen to about half the numbers and the other half I leave for the background but really Exercise 4 alone was worth it to me.