Millionaires under-rated?

[Blahblahblah]

Reading through the posts on this forum, it's surprised me how many people regard the earlier James stuff as being the band's best... Millionaires is roundly dumped on by some fans...

...and this surprised me because I got into James when I heard Sound for the first time. I bought the album Seven and was blown away. I still can't get enough of Sound, Seven and Don't Wait that Long. I bought their earlier stuff and apart from the odd track or two, like Johnny Yen and What For?, was very disappointed. Just too experimental (or just mental) raw and spiky for my ears.

Laid, Wah Wah, Whiplash and Millionaires are brillaint albums. I don't believe I've ever bought an album by any band and liked every track, and these are no exception. But overall Millionaires is probably my favourite, with Whiplash a close second. I thought James went from strength to strength with each album (excepting PLTMY but even that is worth buying for Getting Away and Falling Down). I can't help wondering if some of the diaffection in the James camp was sometimes down to fans harkening back to their early days when the band was just evolving into a more rounded and less spiky package.

[scarecrow]

I only got into James around the time of Millionaires and I do agree that to me it seems weird that so many people dismiss it. But the most oft-repeated criticism is that it all goes downhill after the first six tracks which I completely agree with. The first half of the album is magic, when I first heard Crash I was blown away but the second part lets it down.

When I started to but the back catalogue I was a bit worried I wouldnt like it because I was a later fan and a bands early work is normally light years away from their later stuff.

But in my opinion the first three albums (4 including OMC) are the best. Love their later albums but that raw spikiness is just too damn hard to resist.

Love the Factory stuff too!

[Blahblahblah]

Hmmmm.... Maybe I will go away and give the early stuff another few spins. I heard them a few times and got downhearted because - as you say - it is lightyears away from the later material that hooked me.

Not sure I agree with Milliomaires going downhill for the second half. Wot about Vervaceous? Although come to think of it, I don't like Someone's Got it in for Me very much, or Surprise. But I do like Afro Lover! Am I one man clapping for Afro Lover? Lovely Afro Lover!!

[scarecrow]

I absolutely love Vervaceous live but im not a fan of the album version. Afro Lover is a good song but I dont think one good song in the second half of the album is enough to make up for the others.

Like I said I love Millionaires, its the first James album I ever heard, it was good enough to get me into their other stuff ;D

[geo]

I really like it... but I think PTMY is better.

As for favorite tracks: Vervacious, Surprise, Crash, Fred Astaire.

I like alot of the other tracks, but on the whole, the album feels a little overproduced. That's one of the reasons I like Pleased to Meet You better... since they recorded the songs "live" in studio. A little raw-er of a feel.

-geo

[Poster Saint]

Taste varies from person to person, that's a fact. I know we all have a common interest in James but it doesn't mean we all like them for the same reasons. It's a beautiful thing really.

Personally, I understand your initial reaction to the first few records. It took quite a few spins for me to appreciate the rawness and spunk of Stutter, Strip-mine I had much less trouble with. But trust me, though they're challenging listens to fans that joined the band later in their career, they're 110% worth the effort.

As to Millionaires, I think it's a perfect record. Unlike those that had been following James, I got exposed to those songs in the sequence of studio followed by what I've heard of the live stuff. I have no idea how my opinion would change had I first heard songs like SGIIFM or Vervaceous in a live setting, but I truly feel that they captured some magic in the studio and expanded on it on stage. Initally I much preferred Pleased To Meet You but as time passed I found Millionaires took the shape of a record that I swear the band wrote specifically for me, and that of course is part of why I love it so much. I find it relates better to the experiences I lived, especially those that happened shortly after I bought it, and because of that I cherish every moment of the record.

There is no right or wrong when it comes to taste, but I'm afraid I just don't understand all the posts that suggest Millionaires falls flat, because my ears and heart tell me otherwise. It shocks me, but I'm afraid I do agree it's underrated.

[tripped82]

Strangely enough, Millionaires was also my first NEW james album and though it is not my least favorite it is the one i wish i could correct every time i hear it.
I do believe it is overproduced. My proof for this lies in the wealth of B-sides from this era that are much less complicated. For instance, Downstairs just sounds like a live cut and i can't get enough of that song.
If Eno had really taken his time with the guys, the overproduction would have never occured. So many of the tracks are just cluttered with so many things going on and it sounds so digital, i just cringe.
I think the problem was the band kept using so many different producers who i think had a hard time dealing with the band's vast lineup. I love Fred Astaire dearly, but Steve Osbourne EVER working wtih James makes me cringe. I've never liked his work with New Order. I also feel that Faithless was a terrible idea. I love Faithless - but they aren't producers for James.
The album has some incredible moments, i cannot deny that. What i've noticed more and more overtime however, is that for me the most incredible moments are the silences and simplicities. When everything goes silent in Shooting My Mouth Off, beautiful. The same with Vervacious.
Hello is so beautiful also. I understand that some people are annoyed with the drums noises. I'm moreso annoyed by the overall digital nature of the song. If it could have been recorded with no digital instruments as a jazz sort of lineup it would have been perfect. An upright base, a real piano (not a keybard!), real jazz like drums, tim's vocals and maybe a violin solo or even an accoustic gutiar at the end, would have been perfect.
I guees my largest problem with the album is and always will be I Know What I'm Here For. I think its the farfisa more than anything. I really like the overlapping vocals towards the end but its just far too digital for me. I mean, this song could have been given to any sort of pop band like NSync and it would have been a hit single. That's not James.
The same goes for We're Gonne Miss You. It could have been a hit for a pop band of boys or girls. The use of so many electronics masked the true abilities of a band that had grown to a rather massive lineup. It did have really awesome lyrics and i will admit, the Eno mix though similar is MUCH more enjoyable for me.

I Still listen to this album very often, don't get me wrong. I just take it as one piece in a huge body of work. I mean you don't enjoy every aspect of every artists work. Things just didn't seem right in this era and i don't know if we'll ever find out what was really the problem. Bands don't just switch around to so many producers usually If you read the Q article from this era things do seem a bit amiss. While i can understand the insistance to work with Eno, i would be the same way, finding one single producer to unite the whole work as they did with Stephen Hague for Whiplash would have rendered a much more cohesive work.

I will say, there isn't a single lyric on this album that makes me cringe nearly as badly as listening to Lose Control, Heavens, Junkie, or Please to Meet You (the song).

This is just my opinion and sure others greatly disagree. Its fun to share these views though.

Thanks,
Tripp

[cmj]

IMO Millionaires is amazing.
It was the first album I decided to listen to for myself (although I knew the songs vaguely already because of my parents continuously playing them).
I guess the first half might be slightly stronger, but Someone's Got It In For Me is simply immense.
I'm also a big fan of Surprise.

[craven]

Funnily enough, I dug this out the other day and was surprised at just how much I like it as an album. It may not have stand out tracks like some of the others but its a great all round piece of work and I've really enjoyed rediscovering it.