SPIRITUALIZED
Amazing Grace - (2003)

After the arduous process of making 2001's hyper-orchestrated Let It Come Down and hearing the fierce, back-to-basics rock of bands like the White Stripes and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Jason Pierce vowed that the next Spiritualized album would be a departure from the excesses of his previous efforts. In some aspects, Amazing Grace makes good on his word: right down to its cover art -- a photo of a naked arm, free of any ornament (or track marks) -- the album makes a show of its simplicity. The pair of rockers that begin Amazing Grace are just as driven as anything that has come out of the recent wave of garage rock revivalism, but save for some lo-fi affectations, could easily appear on any of Spiritualized's other albums. Indeed, lyrics like "This little life of mine/I'm gonna let it slide" and song titles like "She Kissed Me (It Felt Like a Hit)" are so quintessentially Spiritualized that they border on parody. The album's softer moments also have a slightly rehashed quality and are still fairly ornate. While "Hold On" and "Oh Baby" are more restrained than Pierce's Let It Come Down material, that just means that their excesses are less excessive -- there's only one orchestra and gospel choir per song. However, the processes that Pierce used to craft the album aren't as important as the fact that its songs aren't especially distinctive. Amazing Grace touches on all of Spiritualized's song archetypes: fiery rockers ("Never Going Back," "Cheapster"), gospel-tinged pleas for salvation ("Lord Let It Rain on Me"), ethereal laments ("Rated X"), and forays into jazz ("The Power and the Glory"), but, despite energetic performances and a relatively simple approach, very few of the songs connect. If anything, the stripped-down production magnifies the album's nondescript songwriting. The standout track is "The Ballad of Richie Lee," a bleakly beautiful song that truly does use the orchestra in a restrained and powerful way, making a logical progression from where Pierce's music has been to where it could be going.

http://www.mediafire.com/?bavw4x8visbgvhc

SPIRITUALIZED
Lazer Guided Melodies - (1992)

The group's seminal debut album is aptly titled: The melodies shimmer and drone and hum like otherworldly pop tunes, and Radley and Pierce's vocals hover gently in the mix. One of the premier dream pop albums, Lazer Guided Melodies is both beautiful and innovative. Long before they were floating in space, Jason Pierce and friends were exploring the far reaches of the pop universe on Lazer Guided Melodies. Essentially four suites, it was an album on which nothing was as it seemed; all was processed and tinkered with, while horns and brass offered glory and fulfillment to the keyboards, guitars, and vocals. It was, really, the new space rock, drugged to oblivion and gazing at the planets, the modern psychedlia. Best heard on headphones, isolated in a darkened room, this was the sound of shapes to come.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zfmizzdm4un