Went back to Spacemen 3 from Spiritualized having got big in to Ladies & Gentlemen when it came out, but donāt think they quite reach the highs of Spiritualizedās best stuff. 3 or maybe a 4 as Playing with Fire is an ATD. Gotta be a 5 for Spiritualized though. Those first three albums building to L&G are fantastic, and L&G itself has the feel of an absolute masterwork, a real culmination of the sound and vision JP had been working towards for years. Kind of inevitable that what came after doesnāt quite match up, but thatās ok. I like Sweet Heart Sweet Light a lot, but realise thatās probably not a popular opinion.
Really hard one. Fell hard for ladies and gentlemen and caught them on that tour and thought it was next level. Had only seen britpop, punk and the smashing pumpkins live at that point and it blew me away. Went backwards and enjoyed their records but nothing they have released since has even slightly pleased me. Dull as fuck to be honest.
One of those i instinctively think Iāll give a high score to but then the more i think about it the more it comes down.
Perhaps i should just Let it Come Downā¦
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Yeah, gone for a 4 for Spiritualized because the last few albums have not been very good at all. A great run all the way up to Live at the Albert Hall though.
I feel like that album has aged really well. Since then the only one really worth revisiting is And Nothing Hurt, but there are some moments scattered across the others too (love Rated X from Amazing Grace).
Live, Iāve generally found them to be fantastic (Shine a Light is a song Iād never get tired of hearing live), and the Acoustic Mainlines gig at Edinburgh Queens Hall in about '06 (I think) is one of the most incredible and euphoric gigs Iāve ever been to.
Really like the Spiritualized artwork aesthetic thing too.
The Perfect Prescription is a masterpiece as well. Two bands capable of incredible heights.
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I had to look this up on discogs, how fascinating
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Iāve gone with my heart and given 5 for Spiritualized. Ladies and Gentlemenā¦ is a near-perfect record with a near-perfect title track. And I canāt think of a better live album than the Royal Albert Hall one. That intro of Oh Happy Day into Shine A Light 
Diminishing returns since then, plus they were a dull live band, but still, going with a 5.
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I think Huh? Was a good late period album from them. Nothing else theyāve done since 2000 was that good
There was a version where each track was a separate āpillā on a 3 inch CD. I think that cost about Ā£200 though
wow!
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9 For Sale from Ā£109.31
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5 - would argue itās not diminishing returns so much as erratic returns - Songs in A&E is lovely, and they were pretty good live around then as well. Also responsible for one of my favourite gig moments ever of hearing the beep at the start of Ladies and Gentlemenā¦ playing, when I was pretty sure they didnāt play that song live at all (hadnāt at three previous shows of theirs Iād seen).
Let It Come Down was the first album of theirs that I bought, I managed to pick up the embossed edition with the face-mould. Even got both of the Collected Works releases, which areā¦ sporadic. Instrumental versions, alternate versions, some absolutely searing live takes, and THREE instrumental takes on Feel So Sad, one of which is 13 minutes long. Probably just all the b-sides, but still an extremely weird pair of compilations.
Worth it for this, though
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Quite enjoyed the acoustic mainline shows. Especially at atp when I got to have Pizza Hut too.
This might be the least essential thing on the Collected Works compilations (agree that thereās some great stuff on there too)
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As it happens I listened to LAGWAFIS yesterday. What an astonishing record. Seeing it in full at the Barbican the other year did a hell of a lot alleviate the FOMO I felt from the live at the RAH (and other bootlegs I used to rinse). Just one of those records that executes its concept perfectly: the vulnerability and openness of Jās lyrics with the orchestration and choir - just spine-tingling. Amazing that it came out on the same day as OK Computer which also fits that āconcept album perfectly realisedā mould.
But theyāre not a one-album band either - Pure Phase and Lazer Guided Melodies are both sensational, Let It Come Down is also great. Okay, kinda diminishing returns since then, but whatever. Some nice moments sprinkled in and around the latter releases.
Bought those first four CDs for Ā£3 each from Fopp - good lads, Fopp - can remember splitting the songs on Lazer Guided Melodies up from red/green/blue/black to match the scrobbled versions on my last.fm. Bless.
Yeah giving spzd a five.
Spacemen 3 Iāve never clicked with in quite the same way, Playing With Fire is obviously great but never got the same emotional tug that I have with Spiritualized.
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They call them āSpacemen 3ā, and thereās four of āem! Make it make sense!
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I bought Ladies & Gentleman and Ok Computer on CD on the same day (think they came out two weeks apart) and remember barely bothering with Computer as LAGWAFIS was soooooo much better.
Got into Spacemen 3 off the back of Spiritualized - not a duffer in their discography.
Have seen Spiritualized live a bunch of times. Annoyingly, they are one of the most boring live bands out there.
Giving a 5 to both 
Ladies and Gentlemanās one of those albums I donāt really get. I like it and itās perfectly fine, but I canāt see the magic that a lot of people clearly do. Maybe just expectations being too high after years of hearing about it.
Fucking rubbish at End of the Road last year too.
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tbf itās not called āThe essentialā¦ā or anything.
The instrumentals of Let It Come Down are lovely, though. Anything More really works well as an instrumental (canāt even find it on YouTube, though)
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Like a few others in this thread I have LAGWAFIS and think itās fine but donāt really get what all the fuss is about. Didnāt stop me queueing for 2 hours and still not getting a ticket for their Auditori show at Primavera, although as it transpired a) they didnāt play Cop Shoot Cop which is all I was really interested in seeing and b) I saw Wolf Parade instead and they were brilliant.
That is a great book. Met Will a few times as well, properly sound lad.
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I was at that and though they didnāt play āCop Shoot Copā it was still brilliant. I seem to remember being very drunk and I also got a ticket for it for @littlebirds???
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