Customer Reviews
a hugely underestimtated album! - By: Mr. Nathan Armstrong, 03 Jun 2008 
i was workingin a record store when this was released & "tinseltownin the rain" was released & it has taken me till now to realise how great the cd is!
"walk across the rooftops" has echoes of japan (the group) & peter gabriel..very atmosheric & aching vocals 8/10
"tinseltownin the rain" is rated still rated as one of the songs of the 80's that wasn't a hit! & it is'nt hard to see why...aching vocals, stunning lyrics all such a lush arrangement it is a masterpeice! 100/10
"rags to riches" is a haunting vocal track..good 7/10
"stay" is another pop classic 9/10
"easter parade" is so haunting track..turn the lights off & indulge yourself 9/10
"heatwave" sounds like a japan track..very eastern..very clever...aching clever & catchy once it gets going 9/10
"automobile noise" has a great piano backing & captivates you!
the album is stunning..it takes a few listens to appreciate how great it is...same the lyrics aren't included!
such an aching voice..such perfect production...such clever songs & lyrics!
Something Very Special... - By: M. Clarke, 22 Oct 2007 You know you have something very special, when the second songin your set can't be played because the audience is on its seventh standing ovation!
This was the atmosphere when the Blue Nile played an emotionally charged Birmingham Town Hall on September 20, 1990.
Mysterious & elusive, rumours had been circulating of a first tour - almost a decade after forming - & anticipation levels were high. The band took to the stage slightly mystified by the capacity audience assembledin anticipation.
We were rewarded, as each song was reproduced with meticulous care to a `pin-drop' silence, followed by explosive rounds of applause! A casual mid-set glance around the audience saw manyin tears during the rendition of Easter Parade.
As A Walk Across the Rooftops concluded, a similarly faithful rendition of the second album Hats followed. By the end, with the band, audience & play list exhausted, an ecstatic Paul Buchanan asked for favourite songs to be called out so the `moment' could continue. It remains unsurpassed to this day as the best live performance I've ever experienced.
A Walk Across the Rooftops is a masterpiece. Observational & richly orchestrated, it contains a unique sense of care that draws on space, timing & economy as additional instruments. And that's without taking into account Buchanan's soulful vocals.
Are the Blue Nile one of the best kept secretsin music? Probably yes, but sssssshhh, keep it quiet!
Should you buy this album? Well, I think you know the answer...
Achingly beautiful. - By: Daniel McAllister, 31 Jul 2007 A jaw dropper.
Arguably Hats is a better, more consistent album. It would be close though. And yes Toledo may well be the finest song Paul Buchanan has written. Again it would be a fine judgement & boils down to personal taste, Family Life would be a contender too.
However, this is the one for me. Because it was first, because on its release I had heard nothing like it, because its got Tinseltown, because it mattered, because no-one else sings with such intensity, because because because. . . .
Sheer heart rending bliss.
And its got Easter Parade.
Excellent first album - By: Widnes Bob, 04 Feb 2007 The Blue Nile first long player - yes this was completed before compact discs were an everyday release. Builds on the studio experience of the debut single, & offers up 7 slices of music quite unlike anything else around.
Key element is Paul Buchanan's voice, which aches with emotion on every syllable. The skeleton is the simple but intricate instrumentation that leaves holesin the sound for the mind to discover.
Highlight is 'Tinseltown In The Rain' a driving beat & a swooping synthesiser that I first heard on Gary Davies Radio 1 show on my summer holidays. The other single 'Stay' also has a good beat, but the ballads also draw youin & leave you thinking that's just how I feel too.
Buy this & 'Hats', you can pick these up for around £5 or £6 brand new these days.
The Sound of Another Glasgow - By: Gibby's Ghost, 25 Oct 2006 If ever an album captured the sound & mood of the west end of Glasgow this is it. The university spires, the Byres Road tenements, the constant hum of cars & taxis, the late night snack bars, the uncertain lovers winching up tenement closes (you maybe need to be Glaswegian to understand that), the general wistfulness of each new day. It's just beautiful.
Glasgow is usually seen as a tough, no holds barred working class city, but it has a strong & prosperous middle classin fine old houses & flats. This is their lives.
