Customer Reviews
A pleasurable plethora of emotional pain and tear-stained melancholy... - By: Embers_fire, 15 Nov 2008 
and it's wonderful! They might be "old" songs but some, such as Danny's reworking of "Are You There" (with more than a nod to Nick Drake) sound completely different. The addition of the cello adds a pleasingly plaintive edge to these emotional landscapes. This is THE album of 2008 & definitely music to touch your inner being with shards of wintery light!
outstanding! - By: David Clarke, 23 Oct 2008 I have bought every Anathema album since back when they were classed as Doom Metal so Know all the original tracks that are remastered on this new Album.. By no means is this a best of or old tracks reboxed & sold to rip you off Album, every track on this disk sounds fresh & new & compleatly different from the originals. Its a beautifually constructed if depressing 45 mintues worth of anathema at there finest, truely outstanding.
I'm sure it's nice - By: D. L. Wilkinson, 21 Oct 2008 I havent got this but I love Anathema.Trouble is I was looking at itin HMV & thought,hmm...an album of acoustic versions of old songs selling at full price,I don't think so.
So I didn't buy it & now the enthusiasm has waned somewhat.I'm sure I'd like it but I have all but one of the songs already.
You would thinkin this day & age of downloading bands would be trying not to sell you the same thing twice over & over at unreasonable prices.It's no wonder even avid fans are thinking twice.
As for being miserable,some of us love a nice helping of misery with our music.
Anathema fans rejoyce, and weep - By: M. Bewick, 03 Sep 2008 
Anyone who has been a fan of anathemain the past will pretty much love this album, it has new versions of old classic aswell as a new fresh song. I agree with what the chap above me says about the album being very, well, miserable i guess, but fans of anathema should really expect thisin an anathema record. While people say its miserable, id also say its a beautifully constructed album, & that the songsin themselves are stunning renditions of classic tracks. Some work better than others, & id say i prefer the original records for about half of them, but considering that the album is 100% self produced, theyv done an amazing job. One thing i will say as a sound engineeer, there are a few sketchy pointsin the actually recording/production - vocals a bit too trebley, cello a bit loud at points e.t.c, but thats just me having a picky ear.
This band is one of my biggest musical influences & by the sounds of it, will continue to be for years to come
'Serious Slash Your Wrists Time' - By: Antony May, 30 Aug 2008 
This is apparently a 'semi acoustic' album of (mainly) previously released music from the band. The musical emphasis this time is definitely on piano, cello & oboe instrumentation & (bar a little on the first, & best track, there's not a guitar wieldedin anger on the whole record). Now, I am the first to recognise that there are two distinct ways of looking at this album. One is that the record literally drips with heartbreak & sadness from every pore & has a 'tragic beauty'in every melody. The other is that this is a record SO bereft of any hint of happiness that it is simply far too rich a cake of misery for anyone to digest. Sadly for Anathema, the latter is my view. The tracks on this record are not really songs at all. They arein fact a series of mood pieces & many I would suggest started life as poetry. Thisin itself would not be a bad thing, had some of the poetry been wistful, happy or charming. There is nothing like this on this record. The whole tone of the album is downbeat and, while some of the tracks are beautifully played & stir the emotions, it is all just too much misery to take on boardin one go. To be honest this record makes Leonard Cohen & Morrissey sound as if they are two members of a boy band! So,if you have been a long term fan of the band & are familiar with the original versions of these songs, you MIGHT just get along with this, but if you have tried it because of a plethora of great reviewsin the music press (like me) I would STRONGLY advise you to have a listen to the WHOLE thing before you leap.
