Needle Time

Blue In Heaven - Explicit Material [ILPS 9838 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] A new 2020 rip of Blue In Heaven's second and final album, Explicit Material released on Island Records, co-produced by the band and Chris Blackwell at Compass Point Studios in Nassau. Explicit Material is powerful alternative rock album, marking a subtle hardening of the band's sound, clearly with an American audience in mind. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons for this, but the band had only made a minor impact in the home (that's the British & Irish) markets and there was clearly mileage to be made branching out to those across the pond. REM had broken through by 1986, and this album is very much in an early REM vein, though front man Shane O'Neill does not have the vocal presence of a Stipe but he does have a good attempt on the stronger tracks such as Sister , Change Your Mind and Just Another Day . Creatively, this is not a faultless album - this is mainly due to occasional ...

Blue In Heaven - Across My Heart [IS 199 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Firstly, this is a new 2020 rip - and it still sounds like it was ripped on a cheap hi-fi. It was not, it was produced by Hugh Jones and it suffers from a very flat production. Martin Hannett produced the original version (delays, snares et al) which can be found on the b-side of the rare 12" pressing. Strangely, the second Blue In Heaven single never made it onto an album. I doubt the reasons for this will ever come out but I would guess it has something to do with Hannett. I have no doubts that this could have been a more successful single if the Hannett version had been used. Anybody got an original copy of the 12" or lossless rip to share? (no mp3s please). A1 Across My Heart B1 A Whiter Day

Blue In Heaven - All The God's Men [BIH 1 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] One of my most requested re-posts from the ESWA era is the debut album from Blue In Heaven produced by Martin Hannett. As far as I am aware, none of their recordings have been reissued on compact or in a digital format. My original rip was back in February 2012, it was crackly and mastered from vinyl using a cheap turntable and by a ripper who did not really know the tricks of the trade. Let's put that right, this is a new May 2020 rip on a good deck - ripped properly, here's what I said back then.... As Blue in Heaven are an Irish band, I'll give Trouser Press the first say.... "Although this young Irish quartet debuted on 45 with a fiery guitar anthem, Julie Cries , an inappropriate choice of producer (Martin Hannett) for their first album turned them into bass-heavy doom mongers. A remix of the single on All the Gods' Men tells the whole sordid tale. A little light does shine thr...