The Adventures – Once More With Feeling
Northern Irish band The Adventures, led by the songwriting and multi-instrumentation talents of Pat Gribben, Terry Sharpe (lead & harmony vocals) and Gribben’s wife Eileen Gribben (harmony & backing vocals), who all feature here (along with Mark Toman on drums) are one of Belfast’s finest musical exports.
Plying their melodic, catchy and harmony laden pop-rock trade from the mid-80s to the early 90s across four albums, including the sumptuous widescreen sounds of The Sea Of Love and UK Top 20 single 'Broken Land' (the most played song on BBC Radio 1 in 1988), the band made a mark, but they never got the mainstream commercial success they deserved (the changing musical times of the early 90s did them no favours).
The esteem in which they are held, however, particularly in their homeland, has never diminished; the band have reformed several times to play shows and festivals in Belfast, including performances at The Empire for the past three years.
There has also been, rather inevitably, some back and forth about the possibility of another Adventures album but it wasn’t until lockdown, and a creative songwriting surge from Pat Gribben, that a new album started to take solid shape ("with not a lot to do, and all day to do it, for the first time in a long time I could dedicate myself to a much more concentrated songwriting binge").
The results are Once More With Feeling, an album that started life in Gribben’s home studio before being completed at Einstein Studios, where it was expertly engineered, mixed and mastered by Frankie McClay.
Pacey opener 'Imaginary Girlfriend' recalls the shimmering pop and guitar jangle that was a facet of Lions And Tigers And Bears, the band’s last album back in 1993; here however the fun, up-tempo number carries a discernible, homegrown appeal (with studio sheen) and a judicious use of keyboards to layer the sound.
Plying their melodic, catchy and harmony laden pop-rock trade from the mid-80s to the early 90s across four albums, including the sumptuous widescreen sounds of The Sea Of Love and UK Top 20 single 'Broken Land' (the most played song on BBC Radio 1 in 1988), the band made a mark, but they never got the mainstream commercial success they deserved (the changing musical times of the early 90s did them no favours).
The esteem in which they are held, however, particularly in their homeland, has never diminished; the band have reformed several times to play shows and festivals in Belfast, including performances at The Empire for the past three years.
There has also been, rather inevitably, some back and forth about the possibility of another Adventures album but it wasn’t until lockdown, and a creative songwriting surge from Pat Gribben, that a new album started to take solid shape ("with not a lot to do, and all day to do it, for the first time in a long time I could dedicate myself to a much more concentrated songwriting binge").
The results are Once More With Feeling, an album that started life in Gribben’s home studio before being completed at Einstein Studios, where it was expertly engineered, mixed and mastered by Frankie McClay.
Pacey opener 'Imaginary Girlfriend' recalls the shimmering pop and guitar jangle that was a facet of Lions And Tigers And Bears, the band’s last album back in 1993; here however the fun, up-tempo number carries a discernible, homegrown appeal (with studio sheen) and a judicious use of keyboards to layer the sound.
Following number 'With The Cats' is the Beach Boys and Summer-pop, showcased through some lovely harmony vocal work and the hazy days lyric ("me and you in the backyard, with the cats, oh, that summer!").
Irish folk-pop (another trait of The Adventures sound) then introduces itself on the acoustically driven jaunt and charm of 'When The Sun Goes Down.'
It’s followed by the swinging sixties styled 'Love Talk,' which takes its lyrical lead from the previous number ("every night when the sun goes down, I make my way to the heart of town - downtown").
Wistful ballad 'L.U.C.Y.' is unique among the ten tracks as it’s the only co-write on the album (Pat Gribben collaborating with Cathy Dennis), and the first song on an Adventures album to feature a lead vocal (and a lovely, delicately phrased vocal at that) from Eileen Gribben (she sang lead on 'Curragh of Kildare' back in 1988, but that was a single B-side).
The number is also special, and personal, to Pat & Eileen Gribben as it’s dedicated to the memory of their niece, Lucy McIlhatton.
The downtempo vibe continues with 'Down By The Water,' a poignantly reflective number in both title and lyrical impetus ("so many years have come and gone, too many tears been cried, it’s still the thought of you that makes me smile").
The delicacy of acoustic & harmony vocal number 'Song For You' makes for an unexpected, Simon & Garfunkel-esque highlight, not least because Terry Sharpe is accompanied on backing vocals by fellow Belfast boys Conor and Paul McGuinness.
'I Still Dream Of You' kicks the tempo back up for a joyful slice of folksy, melodic power-pop that would have sat comfortably on any the band’s previous albums.
By contrast 'The Hanging Tree,' a short, sharp 'n' choppy rhythm and bluesabilly, is somewhat left field for The Adventures, but it’s a change-up that’s worthy of inclusion.
The piano backed and delightfully Lennon-esque 'To Whom It Concerns' makes for a fitting album closer, with a lyric that acts as a letter from the past asking those in the present to consider the future ("To whom it concerns, I’m writing you from so far away; oh when will you learn, It’s not enough to live for today").
There’s also what amounts to an almost hidden in the mix easter egg moment, just before the lovely choral effect outro, where Eilleen Gribben vocally counterpoints with a repeated cry of "the sea of love" (nice touch).
We may not be drowning in that particular sea these days, but we should all be thankful that, more than three decades later, we can dip our toes in that Adventures sound once more, with feeling.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Once More With Feeling will be released 28th March on CD, Digital Download and Streaming.
Pre-order the CD version here:
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/the-adventures-once-more-with-feeling-digipack-cd
Irish folk-pop (another trait of The Adventures sound) then introduces itself on the acoustically driven jaunt and charm of 'When The Sun Goes Down.'
It’s followed by the swinging sixties styled 'Love Talk,' which takes its lyrical lead from the previous number ("every night when the sun goes down, I make my way to the heart of town - downtown").
Wistful ballad 'L.U.C.Y.' is unique among the ten tracks as it’s the only co-write on the album (Pat Gribben collaborating with Cathy Dennis), and the first song on an Adventures album to feature a lead vocal (and a lovely, delicately phrased vocal at that) from Eileen Gribben (she sang lead on 'Curragh of Kildare' back in 1988, but that was a single B-side).
The number is also special, and personal, to Pat & Eileen Gribben as it’s dedicated to the memory of their niece, Lucy McIlhatton.
The downtempo vibe continues with 'Down By The Water,' a poignantly reflective number in both title and lyrical impetus ("so many years have come and gone, too many tears been cried, it’s still the thought of you that makes me smile").
The delicacy of acoustic & harmony vocal number 'Song For You' makes for an unexpected, Simon & Garfunkel-esque highlight, not least because Terry Sharpe is accompanied on backing vocals by fellow Belfast boys Conor and Paul McGuinness.
'I Still Dream Of You' kicks the tempo back up for a joyful slice of folksy, melodic power-pop that would have sat comfortably on any the band’s previous albums.
By contrast 'The Hanging Tree,' a short, sharp 'n' choppy rhythm and bluesabilly, is somewhat left field for The Adventures, but it’s a change-up that’s worthy of inclusion.
The piano backed and delightfully Lennon-esque 'To Whom It Concerns' makes for a fitting album closer, with a lyric that acts as a letter from the past asking those in the present to consider the future ("To whom it concerns, I’m writing you from so far away; oh when will you learn, It’s not enough to live for today").
There’s also what amounts to an almost hidden in the mix easter egg moment, just before the lovely choral effect outro, where Eilleen Gribben vocally counterpoints with a repeated cry of "the sea of love" (nice touch).
We may not be drowning in that particular sea these days, but we should all be thankful that, more than three decades later, we can dip our toes in that Adventures sound once more, with feeling.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Once More With Feeling will be released 28th March on CD, Digital Download and Streaming.
Pre-order the CD version here:
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/the-adventures-once-more-with-feeling-digipack-cd