[Album Review] Little Cloud by The Whitlams - Rock

[Starrik]

 

Starrik's Overall Rating: 8/10

1. Been Away Too Long ( 7/10)
2. White Horses ( 9/10)
3. I Was Alive ( 8/10)
4. Year of the Rat ( 8/10)
5. Keep the Light On ( 8/10)
6. Tonight ( 6/10)
7. 12 Hours ( 8/10)
8. Little Cloud ( 7/10)
9. Beauty In Me ( 9/10)
10. Fondness Makes the Heart Grow Absent ( 9/10)
11. Beautiful As You ( 9/10)
12. Second Best ( 8/10)
13. Fancy Lover ( 6/10)
14. Stay With Me ( 7/10)
15. She's Moving In ( 6/10)
16. The Curse Stops Here (With the Australian Chamber Orchestra) ( 8/10)

This album is typical of Tim Freedman's work, the album encompasses songs ranging from depressed to off-the-shoulder joviality. To those unfamiliar with the Whitlams, Tim Freedman is the final original member of the three person band, the other two having committed suicide. As can be expected, that event led to some very deep, powerful songs on the subject, especially The Curse Stops Here performed on this album in an orchestral version. Freedman opens the album with the song Been Away Too Long which is about his experiences as a musican on the road, and the strange effects that being away from home for long periods of time. A few of this album's songs appear less close to Freedman's heart, but are still powerful songs in their own right, like White Horses, Beauty In Me and Fondness Makes the Heart Grow Absent.

The flip side of this album are his more light-hearted works, like Year of the Rat which depicts showbusiness in the capital city of Australia, Sydeny. Also fitting this category is the song She's Moving In which is about having a partner of the opposite sex move in, and the dread he feels as it happens. I Was Alive depicts a crazy fling that he had with a girl, which is in many ways similar to the deeper song 12 Hours, which is the aftermath of a bad breakup that Freedman presumably had.

The main theme of the album is deeper than much of Freedman's work, and a lot less flippant. My personal favourite is the song Beautiful As You, which is Freedman asserting that nobody and nothing is as beautiful to him as the girl he is singing for, despite the beauty that his extenisve travels have taken him through.

Overall, this is a very well crafted album, that transcends the time difference between when it was released and now. It only receives an 8/10 as some of the songs seem to jar a little with the others, despite being great in their own right.

[The Bard Babe]

This album does have the majority of his depressing songs on it...

 

I personally really like Tonight, though I haven't paid attention to the lyrics for a while, I love the melody of that one.

 

Also, it's a double album. If you look at the track listings separately, they fit much better.

 

Disc One: Little Cloud

1. "Been Away Too Long" – 3:57
2. "White Horses" – 3:19
3. "I Was Alive" – 3:06
4. "Year of the Rat" – 3:52
5. "Keep the Light On" – 3:40
6. "Tonight" – 3:40
7. "12 Hours" – 2:28
8. "Little Cloud" – 3:30

Disc Two: The Apple's Eye

1. "Beauty in Me" – 3:05
2. "Fondness Makes the Heart Grow Absent" – 3:56
3. "Beautiful as You" – 3:48
4. "Second Best" – 3:15
5. "Fancy Lover" – 3:38
6. "Stay with Me" – 3:09
7. "She's Moving In" – 2:12
8. "The Curse Stops Here"

[Starrik]

Hehehehehe

I didn't buy it with discs.

[The Bard Babe]

XD

 

Of coooourse not.