Ferment

Powerfully ethereal will sound like a contradiction in terms, but CATHERINE WHEEL defy categorization. I have to point out to start with, why I don't agree with the "shoegaze" tag, so that anyone reading this who is not a shoegaze fan will continue on & hopefully purchase & enjoy FERMENT. CATHERINE WHEEL have balked at & I fully understand why, being categorized as "shoegaze". I've listened to My Bloody Valentine, Ride (I do like Andy Bell from his time with Hurricane #1 & Oasis), Slowdive & Swervedriver to understand what all the fuss is about. I'm open to many different genre's. With that being said, I'm not a big fan of shoegaze. For me, it is what I call "awash in sound" ~ however, while that's true, to a point, of CW's instrumentation, shoegaze also typically pushes vocals to the background, or just about & that's why I can't call CATHERINE WHEEL a shoegaze band. Yes, the instrumentation is a bit fuzzy & gauzy, but it's also slamming guitars & drums with lead singer & guitarist, Rob Dickinson's vocals being, thankfully, fully present!! One definition of ethereal is dreamy & heavenly. Another regarding music & singing, in particular, is whispering. Rob Dickinson's vocals are dreamy & there's a haunting quality, but I don't find them to be whispering. He's got an amazing voice with his diction (not timbre) sounding a touch similar to Bush's Gavin Rossdale, but the overall CATHERINE WHEEL sound is unlike Bush's & neither could've been at all influenced by the other as they both came up in the same time-frame..If you're still reading, you'll probably be aware of songs "Black Metallic" & "I Want To Touch You". While these are great singles & highlights of FERMENT, it's also a full album listen., with flow. Through research I've learned CATHERINE WHEEL has had 7 releases. If you'd enjoy a darkish (can't use darkwave as a description since that categorization incorporates electronics/synths & is basically more Goth) sound with strong guitarwork, which is about the only type classification I'd even dare of mentioning in same sentence as CW, then FERMENT is absolutely worth getting, with CHROME being right up there as well. For a crisper sound, then the later works should please. FERMENT is what introduced listeners to CATHERINE WHEEL~yet another band who should've been at the tops of everyone's music lists of All time; not just the 90s!!

First things first: the music is fantastic. One of the best rock albums of the 1990s, by one of the most underrated bands of the decade.Next: the sound quality. Just purchased this reissue in 2017, seven years after the fact. The glitch in That's When I Reach for My Revolver noted by other reviewers has been fixed. No trace of it on my CD. The remastering was lightly done and does not really affect the sound quality. A bit louder overall, but not by much, and definitely no brickwalling or massive compression. If you rip the audio to WAV files and open them with Audacity or another sound editor, you'll see what I mean. I always thought this album could use a remix, especially to make the bottom end more powerful. Having said that, I'm glad that this specific remastering did not crush the dynamic range that is essential to enjoying the music.Finally, the overall package. Nice liner notes from the editor of The Big Takeover, and happy to have Intravenous and the other bonus tracks on one disc with the original album. However, I'd really like to see a two-disc or three-disc package someday with all of the Wilde Club singles, live tracks from the era, and other non-album songs from 1991-92. If other fantastic bands from the early '90s can get a proper reissue campaign done (MBV, Ride, Swervedriver), then somebody somewhere needs to make it happen for Catherine Wheel.

Catherine Wheel's debut is an incredible, sadly overlooked statement of noise and beauty. Time has not been fair to this band, who at one time seemed destined for very big things. Where other staples of the shoegaze scene turned off harder-rock listeners by being too inwardly focused, Catherine Wheel always reached for something a little more intense. The vocals were still breathy and ethereal and the guitars gauzy but cathartically loud, but there was something a little more "rock" about them (and this would come to the fore in later albums.) Somehow, however, that combination of sounds was a compromise rather than a blessing, and they've faded from memory of many today.It's unfortunate that this is the "deluxe edition" we're getting to try and revive those memories. It seems nice on paper - a remastered album with a healthy "six" bonus tracks*, four of which make up the long-lost 30 Century Man EP - but what we get is something that isn't noticeably remastered in any way, and may even seem a bit weaker in sound than the original (it is very, very hard to tell, however - most may not hear it at all,) and what's worse, the bonus tracks may be sourced from vinyl! At least one is, that's for sure, "That's When I Reach For My Revolver," and this track alone is a serious issue because not only can popping and clicking of vinyl be heard in the intro, the track has digital errors at approximately 2'53". It's inexcusable - there was obviously no quality control whatsoever. I've fired off an email to Cherry Red Records asking about corrections to this pressing, but who knows if I'll get an answer. Fix this, and maybe source it from a CD at least (surely a die-hard fan would make a copy for the label, right?) if not the original master(!) and this would be a pretty great re-release.*I say "six" because Balloon isn't a bonus track on my copy of the original Ferment, and so isn't a bonus to me. Five tracks, however, is still a pretty good number of bonus tracks.

Rob Dickinson & the boys supply 90's indie guitar perfection, one I always return to... Black Metallic should have sent them global! Key influence from producer Tim Friese-Greene (talk talk ) adding the textures, not so evident on later releases.

this album is definitely of its time (1992), but it is also wonderful to hear in this day.Brian Futter uses guitar effects to their shoe gazing utmost, Rob Dickinson sings elegantly over the indie-rock noise, Dave Hawes grooves melodically and Neil Sims keeps the musical ensemble dynamic and interesting with his drumming.I have to say that my favourite is still Black Metallic, although I also very much like Texture and, to be honest, the whole album's ambience.rather brilliantly, this also includes extra tracks, such as the singles 30th Century Man andsome Husker Du cover versions. All in all a very good buy!

Reedición 25 años después de su salida al mercado. Si bien este lp nunca sonó del todo bien (lo he oído en cd, ripeado, casette y vinilo), esta edición de Music on Vinyl se oye bastante limpia. En cuanto a la música, este disco, junto al "Ferment", forman parte de la primera y mejor etapa del grupo, más shoegaze y menos "pop". Imprescindible para los amantes del género.

Had to sell my original copy of this album a little while ago and since they can be hard to find and expensive when they are, this was a nice surprise to find out that they are re-releasing these albums. Glad bands who were releasing music in the CD 90s are starting to realize that people want to hear their stuff on vinyl and are putting them out again at affordable prices. Can't wait until Chrome comes out in September. Album sounds nice and am happy to have this back in my collection. I Want To Touch You and Black Metallic are the obvious gems here but the entire album is just a classic.

Il primo disco dei Catherine Wheel fu accomunato alla scena shoegaze, ma in realtà è un disco rock, un monolite compatto dal primo all'ultimo brano. Nulla suonava all'epoca come Ferment dei Catherine Wheel, con le chitarre così dense e il suono avvolgente. La copertina dell’album sembra figurare cosa vi attende. Ascoltate brani come I WANNA TO TOUCH YOU, BLACK METALLIC e BILL AND BEN, i miei preferiti di sempre. La ristampa dell’epico album contiene anche alcuni singoli non presenti nella prima stampa, come BALLOON, 30 CENTURY MAN e soprattutto il classico live favorito dai fans INTRAVENOUS uscito come b-side. Possedevo già il CD e i singoli comprati tra il 91’ e il 93’, ma da buon collezionista non potevo non prendere la ristampa con i brani extra e il bel booklet interno (il CD originale era scarno di note). Acquistate con confidenza un classico dei primi anni novanta, nessun timore.