A Box of Birds
A Box of Birds is the twelfth album by the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church, released in September 1999.[1] It consists of cover versions of tracks by artists who were influential on the group's music.
| A Box of Birds | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 21 September 1999 | |||
| Recorded | 1999 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic rock, dream pop | |||
| Label | Festival, Cooking Vinyl, Thirsty Ear | |||
| Producer | Dave Trump, Tim Powles | |||
| The Church chronology | ||||
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The album was released after the band's decision to abandon an already-complete live album[2] and was recorded and mixed in 10 days.[3] Guitarist Marty Willson-Piper said the band had played several covers in its gigs over the years, including "The Porpoise Song", "It's All Too Much" and "Cortez the Killer" – "and we thought, why not put them on a record. So we came along with our own ideas. Tim wanted to do an Iggy Pop number, Peter wanted "Cortez", Steve wanted Kevin Ayers and I wanted to do Alex Harvey. We had to pick 10 after an initial list of about 40."[4]
Kevin Ayers' song "Decadence" has been described as 'a withering portrait of Nico.'
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Faith Healer" | Alex Harvey, Hugh McKenna | The Sensational Alex Harvey Band | 7:35 |
| 2. | "It's All Too Much" | George Harrison | The Beatles | 6:10 |
| 3. | "Hiroshima Mon Amour" | John Foxx, Billy Currie, Warren Cann | Ultravox! | 4:27 |
| 4. | "The Porpoise Song" | Gerry Goffin, Carole King | The Monkees | 4:28 |
| 5. | "Decadence" | Kevin Ayers | Kevin Ayers | 9:14 |
| 6. | "The Endless Sea" | Jim Osterberg Jr. | Iggy Pop | 4:33 |
| 7. | "Friction" | Tom Verlaine | Television | 5:11 |
| 8. | "All the Young Dudes" | David Bowie | Mott the Hoople | 4:10 |
| 9. | "Silver Machine" | Dave Brock, Robert Calvert | Hawkwind | 4:57 |
| 10. | "Cortez the Killer" | Neil Young | Neil Young with Crazy Horse | 11:08 |
Personnel
- Steve Kilbey – lead vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, guitar
- Peter Koppes – guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, backing vocals
- Tim Powles – drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Marty Willson-Piper – guitars, bass guitar, backing vocals
References
- Holmgren, Magnus. "The Church". passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- Scatena, Dino (7 October 1999). "Box of Birds review". Daily Telegraph. Sydney. pp. T21.
- Scatena, Dino (16 March 2000). "The Church resurrection". Daily Telegraph. Sydney. pp. T21.
- Buivids, Amanda (5 March 2000). "One out of the box for Church". Sunday Herald Sun. Melbourne. p. 98.
- A Box of Birds at AllMusic