#22

Fuck that sounds brilliant!
Good eggs those lads.
I remember the video used to be on music tv all the time back in the day and cranking it up loud in our schools common room.

#23

Seeing them play 100 Broken Windows from start to finish at the Dublin Castle remains a highlight of my gig-going life.

1 Like
#24

Saw them loads of times but Glastonbury 98 was amazing. The tents and fields were flooded so tannoy told us to leave as they weren’t going to be able to make it, but a few of us hung around gutted they couldn’t make it. Then five minutes later, they appeared carrying their gear on their backs. There was no crew, I guess as their van was stuck, and they just plugged their guitars into whatever was around and went straight into a set, soundchecking as they layed the opener. Blitzed through about 12 songs in 18 minutes before being forced off.

Remains one of the most rock n roll things I’ve ever seen.

Also have fond memories of crawling out of a mosh pit at the forum with a mate, absolutely broken, before realising they were playing the opening chords of the b side Meet me at the harbour, downing my drink then running back in for more.

5 Likes
#25

Man I love this band. Been hammering 'em lately. Warnings/Promises has its moments you know, and had a hell of a lead single. I think Make Another World is ace too.

#26

Been hammering them too , since I read this thread. Warnings / Promises, it turns out, is absolutely brilliant. Blame It On The Obvious Ways is peak Idlewild.

#27

thought Make Another World had some decent tracks on it too though it’s a little bit up and down. the two albums after are shite.

still pretty decent live before the hiatus as well, saw them do a really good mixed up set after the Best Of came out in 2007. not so much now, too much keyboard and violin nonsense in songs that don’t need them. those Remote Part shows sound cool though.

#28

Easily my favourite Scottish band. I grew up as they did and I can’t explain that to you - you either did it with me, or you didn’t.

4 Likes
#29

Remote Part B-sides were really high quality - Poor Thing and A Distant History were every bit as good as anything they had ever done

2 Likes
#30

No Generation is really good too

1 Like
#31

They’re an odd band (wouldn’t have it any other way like). It’s as though they were riiiiight on the precipice of being absolutely HUGE, had it in the bag to some extent, then thought…nah.

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#32

I made two albums of b sides. Theyre both ace.

5 Likes
#33

Always out of step with what was ‘on trend’ (ugh!) which is more endearing if anything as the style changes weren’t £ motivated. Grungy when britpop was all the rage, folky/more mellow when that wasn’t the done thing, then cranked the noise back up for MAW when folk was the trend.
The new albums are good and have some very good tracks. In defence of the new live setup the violin worked great for songs that used it like You Held The World… and the violinist played guitar on a bunch of tracks too. The last time I saw them last year the violin player had gone so more like the classic live setup - dunno if this is the way it still is tho.

1 Like
#34

Don’t let me change is brilliant.

2 Likes
#35

That’s probably true overall but they felt huge when The Remote Part came out. If You Held the World… was a top 5 single and on MTV2 about 1600 times a day when the channel was at its peak.

1 Like
#36

Yep that’s true. They were big enough at that point (YHTWIYA peaked at 9) but there’s loads of worse bands with hits of course. MTV2 plays aren’t representative of the wider world too but yeah it felt like they could have gone big. Very glad they didn’t turn into Coldplay obviously and even success like the kind Biffy Clyro have would have been irksome for me.
Tbf I’m just glad there’s a great body of work and that people here still speak fondly of Idlewild :grinning:

#37

My pal at work recently got into Idlewild and it’s nice seeing somebody obsess over those first few albums like I did when I found em. Didn’t hear them myself until 2009 when I got 100 broken windows for about a quid in some used record shop. Dunno why I even bought it.

1 Like
#38

Listening to 100 Broken Windows again. Magnificent. Kids of today don’t know what they are missing out on etc…

7 Likes
#39

Rate the Records then? I’m going to do them in the style of an Idlewild lyric.

  • Hope is Important - 8.2 - Rickety and all over the place, but in all the greatest ways
  • 100 Broken Windows - 9.1 - Polished and clean, but still as emotional as the first time you felt spring rain
  • The Remote Part - 7.6 - We could have been big but the sheer size of the weight crushed our tears and folded our arms
  • Warnings / Promises - 6.9 - We knew what we wanted, and we wanted what we knew, but it turns we didn’t know
  • Make Another World - 6.5 - In all the rush we forget the island’s pull would sink the boat slowly
  • Post Electric Blues - 7.4 - It surprises me each day that we made it this far, with out really changing our hair
  • Everything Ever Written - 8.1 - Like a letter lost the prose strokes your cheeks and reminds you of the hidden youthful summer.
1 Like
#40

kids still discover idlewild m8

#41

Hope is important - 8
100 bw - 10
remote part - 9
warnings/promises - 5
dunno
dunno
everything ever written - 6