With the success of their single “Ugly Girl,” people are
\nstarting to take notice of the true “alternative” pop group Fleming
\n& John. (Anyone who can successfully work instruments like the
\noud into a pop song deserves to be called alternative.) And while
\npeople are busy discovering the group’s latest work
\nThe Way We Are<\/i> (which we reviewed back in May), some people
\nmight be surprised to find that Fleming & John have one other
\nalbum under their belts.<\/p>\n
\nDelusions Of Grandeur<\/i> was originally released independently,
\nthen under the banner of Universal upon their signing of Fleming
\nMcWilliams and John Mark Painter. While this album easily hints in
\nthe direction their music was moving, and this is still a decent
\nalbum, it also clearly is a work in progress.<\/p>\n
The one thing that will strike you about this album is it’s not
\nas pleasantly goofy as
\nThe Way We Are<\/i> — and I mean musically as well as lyrically.
\nIt doesn’t seem like Painter tries to work in heavy instrumentation
\non some of these songs — but then again, as an up-and-coming
\nartist, why should he have felt the need to do so? Still, I have to
\nadmit that the stripped-down sound on tracks like “I’m Not Afraid”
\nwas a bit of a culture shock to me.<\/p>\n
The second thing I noticed is that it takes a little longer for
\nDelusions Of Grandeur<\/i> to really hook you in. I’ve listened
\nto this album several times, and for some reason, I just can’t get
\ninto “Break The Circle” or the title track like I’d hoped I would.
\n(I will admit that, having seen Fleming & John perform “I’m Not
\nAfraid” live, I have more of an appreciation for this track
\nnow.)<\/p>\n
But if you think all is lost, fear not; McWilliams and Painter
\nlock into a solid groove starting with “Love Letters,” a beautiful
\nsong that should have shown people in 1996 that this group had the
\npotential to be stars. The power continues with “Letters In My
\nHead,” “6570,” “Hanging On A Notion” and “Rain All Day.”<\/p>\n
Ah, yes… “Rain All Day.” When I first heard the operatic
\nsinging at its start, I thought to myself, “I’ve heard this
\nsomewhere before.” Indeed… the song made a return appearance on
\nThe Way We Are<\/i>. While the beauty of the song is very much
\npresent on the original version, it feels like it’s rushed a bit,
\nand the song isn’t given enough time to really develop into
\nsomething special. (The band agreed; I interviewed McWilliams
\nrecently, and she said that she and Painter wanted the opportunity
\nto do this song the right way on
\nThe Way We Are<\/i>.) Don’t get me wrong; this version still is
\nnice — but it is missing some small little nuances.<\/p>\n
Yes,
\nDelusions Of Grandeur<\/i> is not as happy-go-lucky as one might
\nhave expected if you listened to
\nThe Way We Are<\/i> first. And, maybe, this is a good thing, as
\nit shows the progression from a more introspective view of life and
\nrelationships to a more relaxed, carefree attitude. If anything,
\nthis album helps to explain
\nThe Way We Are<\/i> more, and let us know how it was shaped.<\/p>\n
\nDelusions Of Grandeur<\/i> might take some searching, but it’s
\nworth checking out and adding to your collection, especially if you
\ncan appreciate Fleming & John for more than just “Ugly
\nGirl.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6151],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-36305","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-fleming-john","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36305"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36305"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}