9172 - THE GRANDE - NOTHING CARRIES ON (2015)

THE GRANDE
''NOTHING CARRIES ON''
2015
58:34

1 Little Black Lies 04:56
2 My Evangeline 03:42
3 Yesterdays Blues 04:29
4 You, Me, Everything 05:25
5 Silver Lining 04:49
6 Fallen 05:05
7 D.H.Y.E. - When You Cry 06:22
8 Slow Down 03:43
9 Hide My Love 04:02
10 You Can't Follow Your Heart 05:11
11 Midnight Train (Bonus Track) 02:41
12 Sugar Rose (Bonus Track) 04:23
13 In Bloom (Bonus Track) 03:40

Ben Sherwen - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Joel Lynch - Guitar, Vocals
Olly Neasham - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Paul Davenport - Bass
Phil Stevens - Drums
Melissa Parker - Vocals, Backing Vocals

REVIEW
By Neil King, fatea-records.co.uk
"Nothing Carries On" is Liverpool combo The Grande's sophomore album, following on from their well received debut, "Bleaker Street". It's an album that grabs your attention from the word go, starting with opening track, "Little Black Lies", kicking in with a riff that is reminiscent of a slowed down and Americanaised "Atomic", before picking up on a darker, more melancholic sound, which, when combined Ben Sherwen's vocal has an overtone of Lee Hazlewood.

During the course of the album the sound falls partway between psyche country and Americana, swinging closer to one or the other depending on the needs of any given song, with hints of emotional turmoil feeling like they're never away from the surface. That overall effect is enhanced by the vocal interplay between Ben and Melissa Parker, moving between poignant harmonies and bitter call and response.

There's an age to the sound that sort of reminds me of the band and that's enhanced by subtle use of steel guitars and organ, heavy enough to make its presence felt, light enough not to be intrusive and that's something that's true of all of the instrumentation. There's enough space for some excellent arrangements, without a feeling of the sound getting cluttered or murky, not something all larger bands are able to pull off for the length of an album.

"Nothing Carries On" has a dark and brooding feel to it. It's like being on the edge of a Dixie storm, not quite sure if it's going to turn your way and overwhelm you or pass on by and give you a spectacular lightning storm as it passes. In reality it does both, letting you into the maelstrom and the depositing you into shelters of calm.

The Grande have a sound that matches their name, this is a big album, almost filmatic in its nature, but it's not anything "Nothing Carries On" can't handle, resulting in a release that can sit happily in any Americana devotees collection and well beyond that.

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9171 - THE GRANDE - BLEAKER ST. (2011)

THE GRANDE
''BLEAKER ST.''
2011
51:36

1 Don't Melt Me Down 03:43
2 Hollow House 03:57
3 Open Heart 04:06
4 Rose Tinted Picture 04:42
5 Life's On Hold 04:47
6 Wasted 03:43
7 Ghosts 04:48
8 Sunset On The Years 04:24
9 Coffee & Wine 03:50
10 Smile 04:24
11 Stay, Tonight 05:25
12 Bleaker St 03:41

Ben Sherwen - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Joel Lynch - Guitar, Vocals
Olly Neasham - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Paul Davenport - Bass
Phil Stevens - Drums
Melissa Parker - Vocals, Backing Vocals
Christian Madden - Hammond Organ (Guest Appearance)

REVIEW
By Graham Holland, liverpoolacoustic.co.uk
Way back in 2008 at the start of my first ever CD review for Liverpool Acoustic I explained that one of the ways I measure the quality of a CD is by the length of time I keep it in my car’s CD player. In the case of Bleaker St., the debut album from local alt-country band The Grande, it’s been entertaining me while driving for five weeks and sees no sign of being replaced any time soon.

The reason I like Bleaker St. so much is because it’s just so damned good! From the opening guitar riffs of Don’t Melt Me Down to the home-spun intimacy of the closing title track, this album doesn’t have a single duff track on it. Normally I’d highlight one or two tracks that stand out from the rest, but in this case that would be most of the tracks. What we have here is top-class songwriting, with fabulous musicianship and singing, all professionally recorded and engineered – a genuine treat to listen to.

Don’t Melt Me Down starts the album by setting the standards high and introduces The Grande’s trademark sound along the way. Ben Sherwen’s lead vocals are perfectly matched by Melissa Parker’s harmonies and complimentary vocals, and Joel Lynch’s lead guitar is underpinned by Ben’s acoustic guitar, Paul Davenport’s bass, Phil Stevens’ drumming, and Christian Madden’s guest appearance on the wonderfully evocative Hammond Organ.

Hollow House introduces Scott Poley on pedal steel guitar for a song that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Eagles set list or album. In fact, can I be the first to dub The Grande as The Scouse Eagles? In my opinion they’re that good, and whereas Don Henley needed Glenn Frey’s help to write some of their best hits, Ben Sherwen manages the feat seemingly effortlessly by himself.

The album continues with Open Heart, a song I found myself singing along to even on the first hearing – the sign of good songwriting, in my book. Rose Tinted Picture slows the pace and allows Melissa to take centre stage with lead vocals, and the contrast adds yet another dimension to the album’s sound.

And the cracking songs continue one after another. Life’s On Hold is followed by Wasted, with a suitably sad harmonica sound. Ghosts sounds more contemporary and, dare I say it, commercial (nothing wrong with that!), while Sunset On The Years is a beautiful ballad with great musicianship and sweet harmonies.

Coffee And Wine has a more traditional country feel to it with the added fun factor of a honky-tonk piano and banjo. Smile slips effortlessly back into the slower pace that the band does so well, allowing the songs to speak for themselves, with Ben and Melissa sharing the vocals.

At five and a half minutes long Stay, Tonight is by far the longest track on the album, although it never outstays its welcome despite the slow tempo – yet another sign of a well written song. The final track on the album is Bleaker St., a lo-fi recording which surprises (pleasantly, of course) with the introduction of Scott on mandolin.
The iTunes Gracenote database lists the genre for this album as ‘Alternative’, probably because the person who first added it couldn’t find a better way to describe it from the options available. However, ‘alternative’ is probably as apt a way as any to describe it, given that Bleaker St. combines roots, Americana, alt-country, and rock ‘n’ roll into a potent mix of music planted firmly into the genre I like to call ‘just great music’.

If you haven’t already bought this album, then what are you waiting for? Buy it. Now. You won’t be disappointed. After all, my car’s CD player doesn’t lie.

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MORE REVIEW
By Peter Cowley, fatea-records.co.uk
The Grande are a six- piece, fully-fledged alt-country band but they aren't from Lubbock, Luckenbach or even Laurel Canyon. No, they are from Liverpool.Their base is a pub in a village called Lydiate on the rural fringe of West Lancashire. They are led by chief songwriter /singer/ acoustic guitarist Ben Sherwen but this is no solo singer with a backing band, the Grande are a real band. Sharing lead vocals is the mellifluous Melissa Parker. The band has the familiar line up of lead guitar [Joel Lynch], bass [Paul Davenport] and drums [Phil Stevens] but what makes the band sound so authentic are the contributions of multi-instrumentalist Scott Poley, who can, and does, play anything with strings including pedal steel, lap steel, mandolin, banjo and guitar. He's also the band's producer, just for good measure. Completing the line-up [on the album, at least] is Christian Madden on hammond organ and other keyboards. Christian was also in an Anglo-American band called The Earlies, who you may have heard of.

"Bleaker St." is The Grande's first album although it sounds remarkably mature in terms of the songwriting and playing. All the songs were written by Ben, who is a master of his craft.

The album gets off to a cracking start with "Don't Melt Me Down", which has a great riff and soulful vocals from Ben and Melissa. Next up is one of my favourites on the album, "Hollow House", which has a great early Eagles /Jackson Browne feel to it [ think" Take It Easy"] courtesy of some excellent guitar/pedal steel interplay The high standard continues with the next song "Open Heart" which was the lead track on the band's debut EP and which has deservedly received airplay on the radio as it is an excellent song, with great performances by the whole band and Christian.

And the hits just keep on coming with the following song, Rose Tinted Picture which features lovely vocals from Melissa. The performance reminds me, curiously, of the best work of the Beautiful South [and that's meant as a compliment]. Great song.

"Life's On Hold" is a slow, gentle duet which sounds a though it should be a big country hit. Melissa takes lead vocals on "Wasted", a slow-burning ballad and another great performance.

The volume gets turned up on "Coffee and Wine", which features some great honky tonk piano from Christian and steel from Scott and has the feel of the Rolling Stones' country rock period.

The album closes with the title track "Bleaker St.", a haunting acoustic number with quiet, almost whispered vocals and excellent mandolin and steel accompaniment.

Really, every track on the album is, in the words of the late Frank Carson, "a cracker". My guess is that if you like artists such as The Eagles, Gram Parsons, Poco and The Jayhawks, you will like The Grande.

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