Customer Reviews
Best comeback album ever - By: Timothy Larabee, 30 Jun 2008 
When I first heard James was reuniting, my heart was being tugged onin two directions. I would love to hear James again, but I was expecting a half hearted attempt at rekindling the magic that made James such a good bandin the first place. "Hey Ma" proves my doubts wrong, & then some.
"Bubbles" begins the album with a song about new life, describing Tim Booth's joy as a father. This song is reminiscent of Laid era work - uplifting, but atmospheric. While Eno isn't here to produce this album, his presence is still felt.
But the sound quickly shifts to jam-based anthemic rock that James successfully mastered with "Gold Mother" & "Laid." "Hey Ma" might be described as an optimistic protest song. Tunefully, it's a classic. In the chorus, Tim Booth loudly proclaims "Hey ma, your boysin bodybags coming homein pieces." It's very poetic, & there's really no reading between the lines.
Elsewhere on the album, there's a theme of age & growing older. "Waterfalls" deals with materialism while the single "Whiteboy" sounds autobiographical with the wonderful line "My mom says I look like Yul Brenner/Too old for Hamlet & Too young for Lear."
Still, one of my favorite gems on this album is "Oh My Heart," a song where the singer asks to have his heart broken. It's anthemic & once again features James taking bleak moments & making them somehow uplifting. The lyrics are simple, but the breadth of feelingin this & the other offerings on this album make it a winner.
What makes Hey Ma so great though is that it feels like James of many many years ago. While jamming & experimentation did prevail on the last two albums, there seemed to be more rigid structure & thus rigid performances. Conversely, Hey Ma feels loose, fun & raw, but not without the ideas from the Eno years. It's rare that a band that has been around for 25 years can come back & sound this fresh & energetic. I have read many reviews that compare James to U2. Yet I feel U2 stopped making relevant albums (musically) sometime ago, lurking into more adult contemparary fare. James thrusts back onto the scene that could give some of the younger bands a run for their money. If you're still doubtful, check out recent live performances. As Tim Booth proclaims on "Bubbles," 'I'm Alive.' As I listen to this album, I believe it.
mmm ... chocolate !!! - By: Mr. C. J. Davidson, 25 Jun 2008 
"My works about words & sounds you can taste, violins & trumpets, chocolate cakes" sings Tim Booth halfway through this majestic, triumphant return, & so sums up both Hey Ma, & James working methods.This is mood music.Every piece here is picked from the many they improvise because it displays a mood, a feeling, a melody, hypnotic patterns that the band can't let go of & have to persevere with until Tim Booth forms the words & images that compliment them.All woven together to form songs that affect the head & the heart.It manages to be emotionally & intellectually stimulating.
I mean you can read the words & nodin agreement & think what a clever couplet/verse etc but when welded to the music it becomes unforgettable, inspiring, irresistable, troubling even.The "I'm alive" segmentin the opener Bubbles for instance just makes me glad i am.If only to hear that song burst into life after its slow build up, if only to hear that line.How many other bands can make you feel that ?
Likewise the "Hey Ma the boysin bodybags, coming homein pieces" of the title track forces you to sing alongin a bizarre angry/sorrowful kind of way.It is an obvious nod to the situationin Iraq/Afganistan & echoes the frustration many have over ongoing events.In track 3 you can almost touch the waterfall "cool & cold & clear" washing away the "junk"in your life, whilst the "oh my heart - come on break me two" chorus almost does exactly that.If that doesn't get you then the "i may as well try semaphore as words no longer work" opening couplet of track 6 probably will.After several listens of this cd you will end up singing along to all the songs, especially Upside with it's monumental " upside love you, downside miss you" chorus & Whiteboy with standout lines like "my mum says i look like Yul Brynner, too old for Hamlet, too young for Lear", but others will soon be burrowing deep into your mind, like Monsters with it's strange underworld tale of stray cats, feral kids, mothsin the moonlight & the closing I Wanna Go Home about a drunkin a bar dying of remorse.
I've listend to a fair few new albums this year & this is still my absolute favourite.Still the one i always take with mein the car.Still the one i keep on coming back to.It is amazing, affecting, full of moments of beauty & despair.Hey Ma & James are unique, unlike anything else around.Sure is nice to have you back boys.
Everything I hoped it would be... - By: R G Swale, 18 May 2008 I've only been a James fan since my uncle recommended Millionaires. I bought that, & quickly followed it up with the Best Of and, a couple of years later, Pleased to Meet You. I was gutted when James split, & when I heard they were releasing a new album I was delighted. I had already had a preview of what might be included on the album from a live show atin April 2007. What I remembered from that a song amazingly & unashamedly anthemic,in a way that nothing on the two albums I had really was, butin a way that many of their greatest hits - from Waltzing Along to She's A Star - are. That song was Upside, & if I had my way, it would be a massive summer hit that'll have the kids on the school buses & the crowds of the festivals singing along - it still may be.
In fact, this is the most radio-friendly James album I have, & the most immediate. On my first listen the full & delightful sound (including brass, strings, fascinating backing vocals & Tim Booth's hazy, rhythmic & at times in-your-face vocals) left me feeling very excited. Butin addition to that, the songs really hit me.
Hey Ma, White Boy & Waterfall are the other anthems, butin a way which leaves them (particularly the first & third) not sounding like other James songs have before. Perhaps my favourite song on the album is Of Monsters & Heroes & Men. It builds, & builds, & builds (with a little of Out To Get You about it), & never quite cracks. It is full of words, & live would be a shivers-down-your-spine moment.
Overall, this album feels like James at their creative best. It has everything a James fan would want & more. The music is interesting & engrossing, the songs are at times anthemic & at times downbeat, & the sense is one of excitement.
I've heard the old 'dad rock' labels rolled out, as well as criticisms for James writing songs about being old. But they are older - to write about what they wrote about 20 years ago would be dishonest. Take James for what they are - a heroic bandin their middle age who make the sort of music you can fallin love with. This album is full of it.
Take me back to 90's again ! - By: Sith Hatta, 17 May 2008 Don't bother with the reviews with rated below 3 stars. This is a great comeback, it takes me back to 90's from the first track at the the first time i listen to! The real 'James' who we love are back !
Gobsmacked! - By: Johanna Hutcheon, 10 May 2008 I listened to this expecting the worst & it is like someone has rolled back time. This could well be their best album yet.
Love it.
