Fear of Fours

Amazon.com
Three years elapsed between the U.K. release of Lamb's highly acclaimed debut and this CD, making fans of their moody trip-hop impatient. Does Fear of Fours deliver? Yes, but like many sophomore efforts, this one can't help but fall short of expectations. There is more of Lamb's full, emotional sound here, but while songs off the debut such as "Gorecki" and "Cottonwool" were beyond epic, most of the tracks on Fear of Fours merely get the job done. Where Louise Rhodes's vocals were near operatic, they are now more spoken wordish. And rather than complementing the lush orchestral instrumentation of partner Andy Barlow, the two more often collide. But there is beauty in chaos and nobody knows that better than Lamb. When Fear of Fours shines, it really shines. Take the drum & bass-influenced beat frenzy on "Ear Parcel" and the uplifting aria, "Fly." These alone are a testament to why so many fell for this Manchester duo in the first place. --Courtney Reimer

Product Description
Aussie edition of the Brithop duo's 1999 & second album with a three bonus tracks, the very cool 'Gorecki' (Global Communication Mix) & two mixes of the record's first single 'B Line' (Herbaliser Mix & Lamb Lounge Mix). 16 tracks total, also featuring the second single from the album, 'All In Your Hands'. 1999 release. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Tracks:

Soft Mistake
Little Things
B Line
Untitled
All In Your Hands
Less Than Two
Bonfire
Ear Parcel
Softly
Here
Fly
Alien
Five
Lullaby

Amazon.com

Three years elapsed between the U.K. release of Lamb's highly acclaimed debut and this CD, making fans of their moody trip-hop impatient. Does Fear of Fours deliver? Yes, but like many sophomore efforts, this one can't help but fall short of expectations. There is more of Lamb's full, emotional sound here, but while songs off the debut such as "Gorecki" and "Cottonwool" were beyond epic, most of the tracks on Fear of Fours merely get the job done. Where Louise Rhodes's vocals were near operatic, they are now more spoken wordish. And rather than complementing the lush orchestral instrumentation of partner Andy Barlow, the two more often collide. But there is beauty in chaos and nobody knows that better than Lamb. When Fear of Fours shines, it really shines. Take the drum & bass-influenced beat frenzy on "Ear Parcel" and the uplifting aria, "Fly." These alone are a testament to why so many fell for this Manchester duo in the first place. --Courtney Reimer

Album Description

Aussie edition of the Brithop duo's 1999 & second album with a three bonus tracks, the very cool 'Gorecki' (Global Communication Mix) & two mixes of the record's first single 'B Line' (Herbaliser Mix & Lamb Lounge Mix). 16 tracks total, also featuring the second single from the album, 'All In Your Hands'. 1999 release.

Album Details

Australian Version featuring Three Bonus Mixes 'Gorecki Global Communication','b-Line Herbaliser Mix'& 'b-Line Lounge Mix'.

Customer Reviews:

Enough With the Voice Processing.......2005-09-27

This had the potential to be a great album. It's spoiled, however, by what I'm certain is the bizarre electronic processing of Rhodes' voice. If you listen on a good stereo, it's obvious that the harmonic envelope of her vocals has been truncated and shifted upwards in the frequency spectrum, leaving her sounding like a petulant chipmunk. Vocal processing can make an average voice sound wonderful, but it's hard to imagine why anyone would want to use it to make a wonderful voice sound terrible--and as their first album demonstrates, Rhodes has a wonderful voice. And it's something that gets worse with repeated listenings rather than better. I'm afraid to buy their last two albums out of fear that I'll have to listen to that ghastly electro-voice again. I listen to this album in spite of the cringe-inducing vocals--there's still some excellent songwriting, arranging and playing on it. But Lamb deserves a big thumbs down for one of the worst production decisions I've ever heard. Best heard on your computer or in your car where it just sounds as if her voice has become somwhat more shrill--the better your audio system, the more it's likely to drive you nuts. And I still can't understand why people call this trip-hop. Drum & Bass plus a white female vocalist does not a trip-hop album make.

Masterpiece.......2004-04-12

All Lamb's albums are awesome, but this one sums them up best. This was the first time I'd heard Lamb (besides the K&D remix of Trans-Fatty Acid), and it was totally unlike anything else I had experienced. It was so intense and different. Every listen opened up new tracks that I hadn't noticed before, and Fear Of Fours has the most cohesive album structure that I have ever come across. Lamb wakes you up with Soft Mistake and Little Things, takes you on a wild journey with Ear Parcel and Five, and finally says good night with Lullaby, with killer tracks like B-line, All In Your Hands, Softly and Fly thrown in along the way. Fear of Fours is an absolute masterpiece, and is definately the place to start your love affair with Lamb. Happy listening

Great record, probably their best yet.......2004-01-19

Andy Barlow and Louise Rhodes continue exploring interesting soundscapes after their intriguing self-titled debut. While not as risky and adventurous as that album, "Fear of Fours" still brings something new and provides a rich listening experience. In fact, it`s probably the duo`s best record to date, offering a strong and creative mix of trip-hop, drum n`bass, downtempo and electronica. Louise`s voice sounds a little weird at first, but after a couple of songs it doesn`t matter much since these compositions are always absorving and engaging, setting an unique and futuristic mood. There's a lot of good stuff to find here, like the heartfelt-but-not-corny ballad "Softly", the strange and addictive "Fly", the smooth instrumental "Five" or the epic "Bonfire". It expertly mixes light and darkness, the emotional and the mechanical, providing a fresh and original record that deserves more recognition. This gives "pop" a good name.

Great CD.......2003-10-21

I first heard about this group on a local radio station, the group's name was not mentioned since I was listening to the station's "Extended Trip" show: they play 3 hours of chill-out or Acid Jazz music with no commercials. When I heard the Filla Brazilla mix of Cottonwool, I was hooked from that point (on Lamb and Filla Brazilla) after a week of research led me to the groups name.

I like this CD alot more than their previous one (where Cottonwool comes from). This is a mixed bag of different styled tunes to suit a wide variety of tastes. My favorite is the one that does not feature the lead singer's vocals, the one that starts off slow, featuring the trumpet. One of the greatest tunes ever.

By the way, I like her voice, she could be ALOT worse = Britney (the devil) Spears anyone?

Great Group.......2003-10-07

I recently started hunting down any and all "Trip-Hop" inspired music and I am not quite sure how I came across Lamb, (probably thanks to Amazons suggestions) but I love this album as well as their newest "What Sound". Please if you enjoy smooth vocals and trippy hypnotic tunes then check this out!!!

Average customer rating:

Drum & Bass.........on another level
Americans luck out on Lamb

Fear of Fours
Lamb
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Drum & Bass | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Acid Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music
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Faking the Books

ASIN: B00000JNMK
Release Date: 1999-07-27

Tracks:

Soft Mistake
Little Things
B Line
0:04
All in Your Hands
Less Than Two
Bonfire
Ear Parcel
Softly
Here
Fly
Alien
Five
Lullaby

Tracks:

B Line [Andy Votel Mix]
Gorecki [Global Communication Mix]
Cotton Wool [Filia Brazilia Mix]
Trans Fatty Acid [Kruder & Dorfmeister]
Gold [Hipoptimist Alchemy Mix]

Customer Reviews:

Drum & Bass.........on another level.......2001-06-20

I chose this CD by way of ol' school play ground tactics, "Eeny-meeny-miney-mo!" I had to choose between their old release and this one. A friend told me about Lamb, but didn't tell me there was more than one CD. I didn't want to buy both because they both could've been garbage. My only sample of their music was from The K&D Sessions CD by Kruder & Dorfmeister. The track "Transfatty Acid - Lamb" was one of my favorites on the CD. I'm glad I was able to purchase the Double CD versions of "Fear Of Fours" that included the Transfatty Acid mix. I really feeling this CD and the clever beats and drum bass that these kats bring to the game. Like another reviewer wrote: "The vocals aren't best" but in my opinion the beats and bass lines over shadows any vocals. My taste in drum & bass has grown extensively in the past year and the CD is welcomed with open ears.

oNe

Americans luck out on Lamb.......1999-08-07

Sometimes it's worth the wait, and for "Fear of Fours" this definatly holds true. So, It's been out for over a month in the UK, but do they get the extra CD? Nooo...it's an exclusive..well, sort of. None of these tracks are really all that rare. It's just that most of them weren't released here in the US. The b-line and Goreki remixes were pulled from the two UK b-line singles, the Cottonwool remix is actually a hidden track on the first album, and the other two remixes were pulled from UK singles as well. These are some of the best remixes of Lamb songs, although it might have been nice to have added the Little Things remix from the b-line single, and maybe The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, a b-side from one of the All In Your Hands UK singles. Also, it's not really a box set, it just contains an extra CD.

Average customer rating:

Fear of Fours
Lamb
Manufacturer: Universal/Polygram
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Drum & Bass | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Acid Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music

Jazz | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000K202

Tracks:

Soft Mistake
Little Things
B Line
All In Your Hands
Less Than Two
Bonfire
Ear Parcel
Softly
Here
Fly
Alien
Five
Lullaby
B Line(Lamb Lounge Mix)
Gorecki(Global Communication Remix)

Album Description

Japanese edition of the Brit hop duo's 1999 & second album with three bonus tracks added, 'B Line' (Lamb Lounge Mix), 'Gorecki' (Global Communications Mix) and one hidden track that's listed only in Japanese (track #4). 16 tracks total. 1999 release.

Album Details

Japanese Version featuring a Bonus Track.