From left to right (top down): Hey Ma, The Morning After, The Night Before, The Best Of, Millionaires, Pleased To Meet You, Laid, Wah Wah, Whiplash, Stutter, James/Gold Mother, Seven.
I think I am missing one album from the collection and that is "Strip Mine" released in 1988 (although it could possibly show up later on). Following James has been quite an adventure. I first came across the band way back in 1990 when I saw the video for "Sit Down" on TV and was totally hooked by the vocals and the singalong chorus. I remember forcing myself to make a mental note of the band and the song (you have to appreciate that there was no internet or web back then! - so it was almost impossible to find out more about the band where I was). It was not until 2 years later (around 1992) when I was in a small record store in PJ that, by chance, I stumbled across a cassette tape (yes CDs were still hard to come by) of the "Seven" album by James. And I remember standing there and wondering for the longest time if this was the same "James". The store owner was none the wiser (but what was I expecting right?!) so, in the end, I took a small leap of faith and forked out my weekly pocket money to buy the cassette. I went home and stuck it in the player and once Tim Booth's vocals came on - I knew I had the right band and I was completely ecstatic! Nothing beats the feeling when you've searched and waited in hope to find a song/band that you chanced upon fleetingly - it's like rediscovering a long lost friend. And since then, I have bought everything they have put out.
I loved "Seven" to death and I must have played the cassette until the tape wore thin. I still think it is my favourite James album. "Laid" was the next album to come out (in 1993) and it was the album that brought them greater success in the States. It was also the first time the band worked with Brian Eno and the story goes that he set up two recording studios side by side. One studio focused on the songs that would end up on "Laid' while the second studio was used to record all the jam sessions and live improvisation when the band was taking a break from recording the official album. These jam sessions eventually ended up on the experimental "Wah Wah" album. To fully appreciate why it was significant to record an album of the jam sessions, you have to understand that this was one of the unique things about James; most (if not all) of their songs were created from live jam sessions. For example, "Sit Down" was created out of a twenty minute jam that only ended because the band was "laughing too much to continue". So Brian Eno felt is was important to capture the creative process and allow people to see and appreciate the way their music was created. I know a lot of people who bought "Wah Wah" without understanding the background behind the album and ended up being utterly disappointed with the music (which has been described as "unlistenable"). But I think it gave a rare insight to how the band explored music and showed the enormity of their creative ideas.
The band went through a little patch with their subsequent albums. "Whiplash", "Millionaires" and "Pleased To Meet You" sounded like the band were stagnating and (I think) it was a challenge for the band to stay relevant in the constantly changing musical landscape. After a lukewarm response to "Please To Meet You", the band decided to take a break and work on individual projects. It was not until 7 years later when the band re-united and started work on their 10th studio album entitled "Hey Ma" (in 2008) and this was a true return to form. The songs were fresh and seemed to recapture the energy and passion of their earlier work. For me, it has been a real trip following James throughout the years with plenty of highs and lows (musically speaking) but I am just glad that they are still around and making good music ...
Well, after adding in my James collection, the CD count is:
119 albums
1,418 songs
There goes another weekend!
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