Surprised that this review doesn't mention how:

Fresh these recordings sound

Strong some of these songs are - up there with the best James have recorded

Experimentation is present in the approach to recording and composing which seems to have liberated their playing - it sounds more musically fluid and free than most of their studio albums

Porcupine does have a chorus but you have to listen past the first 32 bars or so to hear it, perhaps this is beyond the reviewers attention span?

I disagree with the comments regarding the size of the album and short run time and constituent pieces failing to gel. I think the album is a good James album. Maybe not on a par with Laid, but in my opinion has some terrific songs, especially It's hot, Crazy, Ten Below & Porcupine. I recently saw James Live, and they played nearly all of these songs at the gig, and they were well received by all fans. If anything the mini-album is too short, and I know it's a mini-album, but definitely leaves you wanting more.

I really don't think James try to sound like U2. If so then what a compliment for a very underated British band. I certainly think James have a quality control with regards to their songs, not unlike U2. And like U2, James developed their fanbase via live performance. They have to be seen live to be fully appreciated. That aside, this new album has to be up there with James' best work. The album does sound fresh. I personally don't think that there is a bad track on this mini-album. It actually leaves you wanting more, so roll on the next mini-album, The Morning After.

Well, clearly the reviewer didn't give the album or the songs a good listen, anyway. Mr. Hocknell seems to think Dr. Hellier is about Iraq. Not only is the comparison made to the war in Afghanistan, but the song is about a fight with disease -- I would guess Tim Booth's lifelong struggle with his liver.

Great Album, great band - I have bought it and love it (as will anyone else who gives it a proper listen). I would say to everyone buy it, buy it, buy it. I don't think Tom Hocknell (Reviewer) has actually listened to the album. His loss.

There is a complain about this comment button, but it's a great shame the BBC haven't ever included a "complain about this psuedo journo talking offensive, pretentious and ill informed rubbish out of their backside" button!

I never really take much notice of critics and reviews normally because I know what I like and don't need to be told my tastes, but had to omment on this one purely because it's so obnoxious and spiteful! Barroom philosophy? Oh my days! the subject matter of James songs is and always has far deeper, primal, spiritual and uplifting than anything this hack could write if he lived a thousand years.

Dr Hellier is about Iraq?
Shine is a tirade against the rich?
Tim sounds like he's trying to spell crazy?
Ten below is about John Peel?

Did this utter buffoon even play the god damn record?

Phhhfffft!
Dr Hellier is about Iraq?

It's a strange review because almost everything he says is wrong. It's almost crossing the line from opinion to lies in some cases.

I love porcupine’s chorus, and it's universally considered to be one of the strongest songs on the album. For people that have listened to the album anyway.

I guess there is a clue to the intellect level of the reviewer, in that he seems to think someone would struggle to spell the word "crazy". Good job there is spell check around today otherwise he could get many more things wrong in this review.

LP

Love your comments Andy and Long Pig - take note the BBC and you might want to re-assign Mr. Hocknell or take him off the pay-roll. Don't think he actually listens to the music - what are you paying him for?????

I couldn't disagree more with the reviewer I'm afraid. This is up there with James's best work, it's just a bit short and leaves you wanting more.

The big issue I have is that several of the comments made are WRONG - Porcupine has a fantastic, rousing chorus and similar to Were Going To Miss You in that the verses are dark with an uplifting chorus.

Dr Hellier is about the American Health System and Tim's observation of that system. Iraq is not mentioned in the song whatsoever.

Shine is not about the rich at all it's the dichotomy of whether to fall in love or play the field. I don't see what is wrong with blokeishness James have sung about sex in many other songs; Laid et al it's hardly a crime.

James are nothing like U2, the guitaring has a slight passing in sound to the Edge however the songs are much superior especially to U2's later works if the noughties.

I'd implore readers to explore The Night Before you won't be disappointed

Hi there. I edit the BBC album reviews, and just wanted to say that these comments regarding inaccurate coverage of song(s) on this release have been noted, and the reviewer made aware. I have no issue with the overall opinion expressed, of course - but if a song has nothing to do with Iraq, but is written about as if it has, then that is not on and misinforms the band's fanbase, and beyond.

I do not have the time to listen to every song on every album we cover here, so until recently did not get to sit with this release properly; now that I have, I recognise the shortcomings above. So, apologies to those who feel it isn't an up-to-scratch piece, and I hope you see this as an anomaly amongst a set of reviews of a typically high standard. We're striving for real quality with the album reviews here, so when there's obvious disappointment amongst the band's audience - a disappointment that does not stem from opinion but from a factual inaccuracy - then that's something that needs addressing.

MD

Thanks Mike - I appreciate your comments on this review maybe we can have another reviewer take a closer listen (to all of the songs please) and give a more accurate review. Cheers.

I have to echo the previous comments regarding this review - it sounds as though the reviewer has listened to a tiny bit of each song and based his review on a few seconds' worth of song rather than listening. He would have spent his time more productively by doing so rather than making clever, outdated comments about t-shirt sales from 20 years ago.

He states that James are 'oft-misunderstood' - the wildly inaccurate comments on the latest album show that, in the reviewer's case, this is one of the few true things in the piece!

As Mike Diver has noted, the complaints are not so much about opinion but factual inaccuracies - Porcupine has a very obvious chorus, Iraq is mentioned nowhere, and the references to Afghanistan and Pakistan are clearly drawing parallels with the American's gung-ho attitude to both war and health care. 10 Below is clearly about schooldays with a single mention of John Peel.

Even the comment about spelling 'Crazy' isn't right - the 'spelling' if that's all the reviewer found to comment on, is on the a-a-a rather than the cr-cr bit!

Where the tirade against the rich comes in on Shine is also a mystery - one line says 'on the rich list born and bred' - as I noted earlier, it simply sounds as though your reviewer has listened at random to 10-20 seconds of each song and reviewed it on that cursory hearing.

I'm also at a loss to understand how a short album can make the 'constituent pieces fail to fully gel' - it's a collection of songs - many albums are padded out with filler songs that detract from the strength of the other songs which are more likely to prevent that album from 'gelling' rather than a shorter album of very strong songs.

Back to the drawing board please, Beeb - F minus - could do better!

This is a really lazy review. As other posters have commented, Dr Hellier uses Afghanistan as a metaphor for diease and the diseased state of American healthcare in the song's opening lines. It doesn't once mention even a sniff of Iraq. That a BBC journalist should conflate the words Iraq, Afghanistan and Taliban and simply switch off with a shrug of the shoulders and a cry of don't mention the war is quite depressing.

If a reviewer doesn't like an album, that's fine as long as they back up their opinion with something resembling evidence. But to say it fails to gell when the reviewer has obviously only skipped through the intros of the songs is very, very poor.

This whole site appears rather shoddy in it's attention to facts and details - if you click on 'James' at the top, not only do you get an extremely out of date picture and wrong information on the history of the group, but apparently, Saul Davies, Larry Gott and Andy Diagram aren't even in the band!

Also strange for the BBC reviewer to contradict BBC's own 6 Music's assessment of the album - they made it their 6 Music Album of the Day. Not bad for an album that doesn't gel!

I don't think you can blame the BBC for 2 different reviewers having different opinions of the album.

Normally the BBC is very, very for what I use it for, which is why I felt it necessary to comment.

Although the Iraq mistake is getting a lot of attention, I am more annoyed with the statement that Porcupine has no chorus.

Did you spot the chorus Mr Editor?

If you did I think we should all be allowed to line up and spank Tom with a paddle.

LP

Knackers I missed out "good", it should say "very, very good". Oh well at least it wasn't a review.

@ Kay - the biography information is drawn from Wikipedia, so if the information is out of date there it will be mirrored here. As for the photograph, I will see if the record label wants a newer one put there. Admittedly some of the photographs on this site are old - but when there are thousands upon thousands of artist profiles in the system, it can be hard to keep them fresh!

@ Longpig - There'll be no spanking on my watch. Not before 9pm anyway.

Ta, MD

@ Mike - thanks for the comment. On the premise that if you want a job doing properly, do it yourself, I've registered at Musicbrainz which was the site with the incorrect info and corrected it myself! Will take time to verify and update though. Thanks for the time and trouble you've taken over this, good to know someone's taking note! When are you taking bookings for the spankings? ;-) K

Interestingly, re Porcupine, the snippet on this very page plonks you straight into the middle of the non-existent chorus!

It would be good to get a revised review by the BBC of someone who cared to listen to the album all the way through rather than the first 30 seconds of every track as seems to be the case here.

Tom Hocknell you should be embarrassed by these comments about your review, the inaccurate reporting of the songs on this great mini album warrants a new review by a new reviewer. Here is a band who is number one in the Greek charts and played to over 20000 on the last mini tour yet the Beeb see fit to overlook them on every station. Shame on agest BBC.

Steve - couldn't agree more. Yet the BBC will still play "old" artists like Madonna, U2 et al It's not fair that the band can't get more exposure on radio. There's a lot of old James fans out there who might not realise the band is back together. The internet can only do so much work. I did write to Heads of Radio 1 and Radio 2 asking why James aren't playlisted and I didn't get a response. So much for where our taxpayers money is going. I obviously don't have much of a choice with the BBC.

I downloaded the album earlier today and have just given it one play through.

Having been a fan since first seeing them support The Smiths (pre-record deal), through the hymn from a village days, the fabulous albums of Stutter and Strip Mine and then post expansion to the "classic" seven piece line up, what I find interesting is that the older James get, the stronger they get. Hey Ma is a fabulous album showing the benefits of a few years apart and showing even more musical maturity.
This mini-album of 32 minutes spread over 8 songs is well balanced. Its cohesive in that it sits together well, but it also spreads its bets well. It Hot kicks things off with a punchy beat and catchy progressive refrain.
Whether Tim is practicing for a spelling test or not, Crazy does a great job of carrying on the punchy beat theme. Turn the bass up - JimG's simple lines are a great back bone for the melodies.
Initially when Ten Below started, I thought my musit software had jumped to the wrong album. I wasn't convinced it fitted. But a minute into it and its obvious the ambience of the album is being continued. Not sure why Tim feels the need to use the F word though. Classic in the making.
By the time we get to the electronic beginnings of Porcupine and the very "James Larry Gott" guitar line starts, this track quickly becomes the stand out track for me. Some feat given all of the previous tracks have been really very good. So good I played it twice.
The remaining tracks really keep up the pace and quality. Shine, Dr Hellier and Hero each very good. The same ambience but very different to each other.
Final specific mention for All My Letters though. Love it. Also played it twice.

Who cares what the bozo from the beeb thinks having not listened to it. This is nothing short of brilliant in my opinion. You should listen to it and make up your own mind.

C'mon BBC playlist panel - James are back to their very best (or beyond). They are still relevant and have lots to contribute (and teach?) the younger generation of musicians and music fans. Get them on the lists and let the people of Britain again enjoy a world class British band's creative output.