The Urbane - Glitter (2003)

In 1999 we witnessed the surprising release of Neon by John’s band The Urbane. Suprising because it was not quite the album you would expect from a guitarist in a progressive rock band. But it was definitely a pleasant surprise, because it was full of great, melodic songs with a rocky bite and good vocals by John himself. The phrase ‘it’s not prog, but it still rocks’ in the album’s booklet sums it up perfectly. We had to wait a few years, but 2003 finally brings us the release of Neon’s sequel Glitter, as well as a single/EP entitled Time After Time (yes, the Cindy Lauper song!).

Glitter
01. Chain Smoking A Way To Your Heart
02. 12
03. Glitter
04. Beautiful Sun
05. Parachute
06. Don’t Say
07. Time After Time
08. Hate My Radio
09. In-Between
10. Cut The Wire
11. Missing Something
12. Give It Away
13. Suffocate
14. Manhattan (hidden track)

Time After Time
01. Time After Time
02. Chain Smoking A Way To Your Heart
03. Complicate (non-album track)
04. Untouchable (non-album track)
05. Time After Time (demo)

Of course, we knew what was in store; downloads have been available for quite some time already at band’s website and some of the new tracks have been played live, both electrically and acoustically. My first acquaintance with the album (January 2002!) was a CD-R with the ‘rough tracks’ of the album, which were actually quite advanced already. Then came the ‘preview copy’, which is more or less the same as the official release. So alltogether, I know Glitter pretty well already; I have been playing these earlier versions quite a lot, because it’s great! It’s also makes it a bit weird to write a review now, so long after the ‘first impact’ of the album.

On the whole, the album sounds more mature and coherent than Neon. This is logical, because the songs on Glitter have been written in the same period, whereas Neon was a collection of songs written over a long span. The tracks on the album have a quite constant high level quality, only Missing Something is a bit mediocre.

Also there’s a good balance between rocky tracks (Chain Smoking A Way To Your Heart, Parachute, Hate My Radio, Give It Away), ballads, and songs that lie somewhere in between (12, In-Between, Cut The Wire). The intro of Give It Away brings the intro of Stiltskin’s Inside to mind and the vocals in the choruses the name Ray Wilson. The mellow, slightly poppy Beautiful Sun, the dreamy Don’t Say and the very atmospheric and moody hidden track Manhattan are ballads. Don’t Say opens in the vein of No Suprises by Radiohead and gets heavier later on.

With Glitter the band also take some new directions and pick up new influences, with vocals reminiscent of Britpop band Blur in the title track and the surprising cover of Cindy Lauper’s famous hit Time After Time (a sort of tribute, John was a big fan of her as a teenager). It works out very well, but does stand a bit alone between the rest of the tracks.

The highlight of the album is the closing track Suffocate, which has a similar structure and feel like The Tide on Neon. It opens quietly and melancholic and develops from there with a great guitar melody in the choruses and a soaring solo towards the end.

Besides the album, Time After Time has been released as a single/EP. The single contains two additional new tracks, Complicate and Untouchable, that were recorded during the Glitter sessions. They are B-sides of a high quality and can compete easily with the tracks on the album. The single also contains Chain Smoking… and a demo of Time After Time. I would have preferred the third additional track of the Glitter sessions, Here It Comes Again, which has a great guitar solo, included on the single instead of Chain Smoking…. Maybe as a B-side on a second single?

To conclude: if your musical taste is not confined to prog only and you like bands such as Radiohead, Muse and Manic Street Preachers, then you should definitely check this album out.

By: Erik Beers