Man Woman Life Death Infinity

First, get this straight: this isn't country star Eric Church, and for those who only know this great band from "Under The Milky Way", they, or you, have been missing out on one of rock's most enduring and almost indescribable outfits. 26 albums in now, The Church has been lucky to enjoy a devoted and large enough world wide audience to keep their music going strong. That is important because as those who can attest will tell you, this Australian band could and should have been in the same league (they are, musically) as Pink Floyd and other legendary bands known for stretching boundaries and creating timeless music that I seriously doubt will ever sound dated or stale. "Man Woman Life Death Infinity" has some aquatic lyrical themes, and musically it's a real delight to hear them create a much more spacious and atmospheric album this time around. While recent material is top shelf stuff too, for a while the band was heavier, with more distortion and walls of guitars, such as "Forget Yourself". Long time fans will be really happy to find this album is more in line with some of their cleaner and still spacey earlier albums, such as "Remote Luxury", an '80's pop album that still sounds fantastic today, "Heyday", perhaps their richest orchestral sounding album, "Starfish", and "Priest = Aura". In fact, there is little if any distortion on this album, replaced by the clean yet ethereal guitars and plenty of keyboards augmenting long time leader/bassist/vocalist Steve Kilbey's incredible smooth baritone. Ian Hauge has been a fine replacement for departed co-founder Marty Willson-Piper. To be frank, Willson-Piper had a bit of a tendency for pomposity - "The Ritz" from "Magician Among The Spirits" was the worst song they ever did. Not that he wasn't an essential part of the band, but Peter Koppes and Hauge work so seamlessly they are sometimes very difficult to separate. This shimmering undulating music is as good as it gets. Every cut is essential, the sonic tapestry truly in lock step with a higher presence, and in a perfect world, "Man Woman Life Death Eternity" would be in everybody's album collection.

SK doing here what he does best, even with the loss of a key band member.Making great rock albums that can't be compared to any other band or project out there. Shouldn't be compared with others."Man, Woman, Life, Death, Infinity." (I would have preferred leaving off any references to men and women), is another outstanding addition to a masterly back catalogue of superb musicianship. One can't say which Church album is better than another. That is part of this band's magic. Phenomenal music, lyrics and tonality. SK's voice has matured like great wine from the Tzar's private cellar. Like the proverbial Orpheus he has "astonished" us once again.How SK sits through interviews with ponces and imbeciles, and keeps a straight face, beats me. Nevertheless, he can rest assured in the appreciation of fans who adore him and his unconquered, unrivaled, unique artistry.

It is clear where the Church is going with Man Woman Life Death Infinity, a follow up to the brilliant and surprisingly good album Further/Deeper (ok ok, maybe not all of that surprised), that the band is using their sound to create and explore further soundscapes, rather the influence is by indie rock or pop. With addition of Ian Haug taking over Marty Willson-Piper's place, Ian is able to showcase more guitar skills here (he seems to really like twelve strings guitars, since a lot of tracks on this album are actually played by twelve strings), allowing more effects to create different textures of sounds.In fact, Steve Kilbey claimed this album is a "water album," and that water is his element. Strange to say, but he's correct. There's a lot of currents to ripple, and the music seem to swim rather and you'll float along the tracks. "Another Century" sounds like it could have been from Further/Deeper. The tracks opens up with eerie keyboards, slowly builds it's way to a beautiful chorus. "Submarine" starts with beautiful guitar works by Koppes and Haug, follow with beautiful textures of keyboards and effects, before taking a surprising darker tone. "For King Knife" is much more upbeat than the pervious two tracks, and one that, thanks to Powles's drums, makes your head bang to the track. "Undersea" is done by two twelve string guitars, with effects to make it sound like Egyptian music is being played. This is perhaps the sing with most pop background on the album, and the way Kilbey sings it suggests it was made to be a more of a pop song, one that the band knew it'd be a hit. "Before the Deluge" is my personal favorite track on the album. It's the rockiest track on the album, one that's eerie but quite beautiful at the same time, with Kilbey's double voice haunts the second half of the track.And here is where I think the album becomes weak. "I Don't Know How I Don't Know Why" takes the Church to familiar ground, because it sounds like it could've come straight off from Starfish. Nothing wrong with that, going back to your older ways, but I feel this track could have had much more potential than it was going for. For me, it's a little too plain. "A Face in a Film" is my second favorite, only because it has a good beat to it. Like "Before the Deluge," it's rather eerie but the band pulled to make it something worthwhile to listen to. "In Your Fog" reminds me a lot of "Let Us Go" from Further/Deeper, only there isn't really catchy keyboards to make the song feel more atmospheric than it should have been. "Something Out There is Wrong" sounds like it could have come from Uninvited Like the Clouds, a darker tone that is, sadly, rather forgettable. And the album finally closes with "Dark Waltz," a typical Church song, really, with Kilbey sings/talks with unenthusiastic character while the guitars try to do their best to make the song catchy but couldn't quite live up to the hype.Am I saying the second half is bad, no, but it feels like it's a whole different album than the first half. But the big main criticism I have to give the album, like After Everything Now This, is that the songs are mid tempo, and there really aren't rocky tracks. That's why I love about Further/Deeper, the variety (from soft to rock to dark dance to jingly joy); Man Woman Life Death Infinity lacks, for me at least, good variety, and the songs don't really pack a major punch for me. Still, it's a good follow up.

Modern Church, not exactly reformed, but with MWP gone and Mr. Hoag here they are a little more mid-tempo, perhaps a little more psychedelic, even a touch electronica - for this record. But since they change some all the time, who knows the next. But it's definitely the Church, with superb drumming, atmospheric guitars, that unique bass and voice. And it has some cool keys and BV's, and remarkable production that sounds great on my speakers, monitors and cans. I bought tickets to see this tour, then couldn't make it, and then I lost the CD. So this is my second copy bought a week after I couldn't find the first - there's yer endorsement.

This is another stunning album from such an ignored Australian band..A masterpiece....

Excellent musicianship, interesting arrangements, quite enjoyable, if not as amazing as some earlier works.

tout est ok

The Church keep making interesting music. Another Century is the first track and I was hooked from then on. Like many albums by The Church, get it while you can because they can go out of production and then you are stuck with streaming

Bei The Church Alben ergeht es mir immer ähnlich. Beim ersten Hören denke ich, dass ich auch ohne gut klar gekommen wäre. Und irgendwie stimme ich auch allen Meinungen zu, so gegensätzlich diese auch daherkommen. Die einen empfinden Monotonie und Stillstand, die anderen schreiben in aller Regelmäßigkeit vom besten Church Album überhaupt. Auch beim ersten Durchlauf von MWLDI war ich zunächst enttäuscht. Aber dagegen habe ich inzwischen ein Rezept – Album ohne Unterbrechung wiederholt laufen lassen und abwarten. Das Ergebnis ist auch bei MWLDI das gleiche, erst wird es besser, dann brilliant und dann kann ich über Tage und Wochen nichts anderes hören. Nur das die Abhängigkeit bei MWLDI stärker als üblich ist. Ich glaube, die machen das nicht nur mit Absicht, die können gar nicht anders. Danke dafür, dass sich nicht jede Band neu erfinden muss. Abschließend halte ich fest, dass MWLDI wie viele andere Church Alben ist, nur ist es halt das bislang Beste. Wieder mal.