Album: The La's
Artist: The La's
Release Date: October 1, 1990
Genre: Alternative Rock
Length: 0:35:14
Label: Polydor Records/Go! Discs
Producer: Steve Lillywhite/Bob Andrews
1,001 Album Book: Yes
An unknown album with a widely known hit...
The debut record by English band, The La's received favorable reviews upon release and charted at #196 on the US Billboard 200.
The clean, percussive acoustic guitar playing opens the album on "Son Of A Gun" and features Lee Mavers utilizing his unique style of singing which surely brought inspiration to bands such as Oasis. With it's powerful driving bass patterns and galloping melodic structure, it's shocking the group only has one mega-hit in their career, but upon learning about the way Lee Mavers operated, it all makes sense.
A known perfectionist, the tracks were written entirely by Mavers between '86 and '87. It then took nearly four years to record the debut record, which ultimately set the group off and made it impossible to continue as a band. A genius when it came to melodies and arrangement, Mavers knew exactly what he wanted but his perfectionist mentality caused tensions within the group.
The second track "I Can't Sleep" is a more distorted Alternative-rock jam, featuring a call-and-response chorus, a powerful bass punch at certain points throughout that continually shocks the listener, and a mesmerizing melody all mixed with extremely catchy lyrics make this song exciting to listen to throughout. The musical talent of the group is wonderfully translated to this song and the album but was sadly never capitalized on.
Given the fact the songs were written in the late 80s, this album is an impressive record way ahead of its time. The sounds throughout scream late 90s, or maybe even early 00s. The advancements the group made within each of the tracks could have cemented them as one of the most influential groups in the Alt-Rock genre, especially with each song adopting a different sound while keeping the overall feel the same. It's sad to see how little The La's is recognized within music history.
The greatest song by the group by far, "There She Goes" is an alt-rock hit that most people will know from movies, TV or commercials. The song features a cheery guitar riff with a largely high-pitched chorus from Mavers, all with a satisfying drum beat continuing throughout and a tambourine playing across the track. A catchy jam, "There She Goes" shows the band at their absolute finest.
Across the twelve track record, there is not one song that sounds similar to each other. Going from "Son Of A Gun", the indie-pop hit "There She Goes" to the bluesy sound of "Doledrum", the liberating explorative jam of "Way Out", a choppy beat with "Freedom Song" all the way to the beautifully melodic song "Looking Glass", this album expands across multiple genres while still keeping The La's patented sound.
I highly recommend this album as it never gets boring. All of the songs are different enough to keep the excitement level up and allows the listener to enjoy listening to its thirty-five minute length. It's a shame that the band could not capitalize on another album due to how fed-up they were with Lee Mavers and his perfectionist mindset. This album is a perfect representation of why you're a part of a band and not just a singular artist, and why it's critical to get feedback from all the members. It would be interesting to see how this band would've changed music history if they were able to stick together, but sadly they could not, and only gifted the world with this one hit wonder...
Favorite Songs: "There She Goes", "I Can't Sleep", "Son Of A Gun", "Looking Glass"
Least Favorite Songs: No bad songs in my opinion
Production Quality:
Mix = 8/10
Innovation = 8.5/10
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 10/10
Lyricism = 9/10
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 9/10
Instrumental Timbre = 8/10 (Amazing sounds)
Group Chemistry = 9/10 (An organized jam-band feel)
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 9.5/10
Overall Rating: 8.85/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at my "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!