667. The La's - The La's (1990)
















Track Listing

1. Son Of A Gun
2. I Can't Sleep
3. Timeless Melody
4. Liberty Ship
5. There She Goes
6. Doledrum
7. Feelin'
8. Way Out
9. I.O.U.
10. Freedom Song
11. Failure
12. Looking Glass

Review

So early into the 90s and we already have an album with one of the most unforgettable singles of the whole decade. There She Goes is one of the best pop songs of the decade, but we shouldn't neglect the rest of the album, even if it never reaches the brilliance of that single.

The La's influences are quite easy to read, there is a bit of R.E.M. (I Can't Sleep) and a bit of Love (Looking Glass) but there is also a lot that they influenced, The Coral for example has taken a lot from here.

It is strange that such a successful album would have been their first and last, but at least they avoided the "difficult second album" and the inevitable decay of any band, making this album a testimony of a band that could have been pretty great.

Track Highlights

1. There She Goes
2. Looking Glass
3. Way Out
4. Freedom Song

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

"There She Goes" has gained a reputation for being about the use of heroin; the lyrics seem to refer to a woman, but on closer inspection of some lines ("There she goes again... racing through my brain... pulsing through my vein... no one else can heal my pain"), the possible drug connotations become apparent. Several newspapers ran articles about The La's and their apparent ode to heroin. When asked about the rumor in 1995, the group's bassist John Power replied, "I don't know. Truth is, I don't wanna know. Drugs and madness go hand in hand. People who you've known all your life... they're steady, then they're not. But you can't ponder, cos' it kills you, la.'" However, in the 2003 book In Search of The La's : A Secret Liverpool by MW Macefield, ex-La's guitarist Paul Hemmings denied the rumour.

In May 2007, NME magazine placed "There She Goes" at number 45 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever. The song has also been covered by, amongst others, Sixpence None the Richer, Robbie Williams, The Wombats, The Boo Radleys and The Cranberries. It has appeared on several film soundtracks, including The Parent Trap, Fever Pitch', Girl, Interrupted and So I Married an Axe Murderer (where both the original and Boo Radleys version appear). "There She Goes" also appeared at the beginning of the Gilmore Girls pilot episode. The song has also been used by The Bay as part of their advertising campaign.

There She Goes: