Rings Around the World

Amazon.com
The fifth album from Welsh pop prodigies Super Furry Animals is their most ambitious work to date. Featuring everything from status quo-style boogie-rockers to technofied drill and bass meltdowns, this is an immaculately conceived pop masterpiece that has more in common with the excitable genre-crushing of 1999's Guerrilla than with their previous album, the respectable but defiantly firework-less Welsh-language folk outing Mwng. One of the great joys here is that, though the lyrics are imbued with dippy fun, closer inspection reveals a satisfyingly off-kilter--and frequently inspirational--intelligence. The gorgeous "Presidential Suite"--which, incidentally, features John Cale tickling the ivories--marries the classic SFA psychedelic shimmer to a weary lyric concerning the Monica Lewinsky scandal that rocked the Clinton presidency. Frontman Gruff Rhys questions the event sadly, as if it's the most passé thing he can comprehend. Perhaps that's so: when you're playing with the sort of magic that's scattered liberally over Rings Around the World, even the salacious exploits of world leaders pale into tedium. --Louis Pattison

Product Description
Exclusive U.S. edition features a 6 track bonus disc of material! Guests include Paul McCartney, John Cale (Velvet Underground) & Sean O'Hagen (High Llamas). Co-produced by recent Bob Dylan producer Chris Shaw. Bonus disc tracks - 'Tradewinds', 'The Roman Road', 'Patience', 'Happiness Is A Worn Pun', 'Gypsy Space Muffin', 'Edam Anchorman' & 'All The Shit U Do'. Beggars Banquet.

Rings Around the World,Super Furry Animals,Xl / Beggars Us Ada,Alternative Pop/Rock,Britpop,Indie Pop,Neo-Psychedelia,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop,Wales

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Rings Around the World

Average customer rating: Ambitious and intelligent but could have used some editing Rings Around the World A good neo-psychedelia album that is hindered by a few problems - for genre fans only This is just flat out awesome music Super Furry Animals Most immediately accessible album.....

Rings Around the World Super Furry Animals Manufacturer: Xl Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Neo-Psychedelia | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Welsh Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Similar Items: Fuzzy Logic At War with the Mystics Radiator Tellin' Stories Bandwagonesque ASIN: B000060MMJ Release Date: 2002-03-19

Tracks:

1. Alternate Route To Vulcan Street
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. (Drawing) Rings Around The World
4. It's Not The End Of The World?
5. Receptacle For The Respectable
6. (A) Touch Sensitive
7. Miniature
8. No Sympathy
9. Juxtapozed With U
10. Presidential Suite
11. Run! Christian, Run!
12. Fragile Happiness

Tracks:

1. Tradewinds
2. The Roman Road
3. Patience
4. Happiness Is A Worn Pun
5. Gypsy Space Muffin
6. Edam Anchorman
7. All The Shit U Do

Amazon.com

The fifth album from Welsh pop prodigies Super Furry Animals is their most ambitious work to date. Featuring everything from status quo-style boogie-rockers to technofied drill and bass meltdowns, this is an immaculately conceived pop masterpiece that has more in common with the excitable genre-crushing of 1999's Guerrilla than with their previous album, the respectable but defiantly firework-less Welsh-language folk outing Mwng. One of the great joys here is that, though the lyrics are imbued with dippy fun, closer inspection reveals a satisfyingly off-kilter--and frequently inspirational--intelligence. The gorgeous "Presidential Suite"--which, incidentally, features John Cale tickling the ivories--marries the classic SFA psychedelic shimmer to a weary lyric concerning the Monica Lewinsky scandal that rocked the Clinton presidency. Frontman Gruff Rhys questions the event sadly, as if it's the most passé thing he can comprehend. Perhaps that's so: when you're playing with the sort of magic that's scattered liberally over Rings Around the World, even the salacious exploits of world leaders pale into tedium. --Louis Pattison

Album Description

Exclusive U.S. edition features a 6 track bonus disc of material! Guests include Paul McCartney, John Cale (Velvet Underground) & Sean O'Hagen (High Llamas). Co-produced by recent Bob Dylan producer Chris Shaw. Bonus disc tracks - 'Tradewinds', 'The Roman Road', 'Patience', 'Happiness Is A Worn Pun', 'Gypsy Space Muffin', 'Edam Anchorman' & 'All The Shit U Do'. Beggars Banquet.

Customer Reviews:

Ambitious and intelligent but could have used some editing.......2007-07-06

If Brian Wilson was a young man today who was weaned in the indie pop/rock scene, this is the sort of music he'd probably have made. Its tribute to psychedelic pop finds infectious rhythms and low-key harmonies competing for attention. It's polished and often beautiful, especially in the way that some of the more dynamic tunes just sort of creep up on you. Some bland moments on occasion, but it's definitely an album to listen to front to back.

Surprisingly, the album's greatest standout is the heaviest, merging power pop with industrial rock dynamics on "Sidewalk Serfer Girl." Not for all tastes, especially when it starts getting electro-funky like the ending of "No Sympathy," but it's certainly imaginative and frequently retro (check out the lounge-soul swing of "Juxtaposed With U"). Besides, any album with a song called "Shoot Doris Day" can't be all bad, can it?

Best cuts: "Sidewalk Serfer Girl," "Receptacle For the Respectable," "Juxtaposed With U," "Shoot Doris Day," "Rings Around the World," "It's Not the End of the World?" "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street," "No Sympathy," "Run! Christian, Run!"

Rings Around the World.......2006-07-29

Simply put, this is the most refreshing listen I think I've ever heard.

SFA is a hybrid of 70% Beck and 30% Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

A good neo-psychedelia album that is hindered by a few problems - for genre fans only.......2006-01-05

Super Furry Animals' "Rings Around The World" is a great album which barely falls short of being a classic. It's fault are pretty noticable. The first is that the singer isn't for everyone and isn't that good anyway. The second is that the songs, though all good, aren't that great. They're kind of a guilty pleasure (they're mostly for your own pleasure - I don't think playing it front of others would be a good idea). None of the songs are "bad", but none of them are "great" either (they're all good to very good). Also, some of the songs start off well but end very poorly (most notably is "Receptacle For The Respectable"). I still can't really tell what's going on lyrically, but I know that you won't be singing along to any of the songs (except, perhaps, "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" which is one of the few real standouts). Musically it's pretty good but it isn't great. I don't think their 60's-ish sound hurts the songs. Genre fans should like it - I don't think it has mass appeal. Recommended.

Highlights include:
everything (though there's definitely standouts)

This is just flat out awesome music.......2005-03-06

I have to admit to coming to Super Furry Animals rather late in the game. I am unfamiliar with their earlier albums (though I plan on rectifying that very soon), so I didn't know what to expect except that the album had come highly recommended by my brother. There are so many very good things that I would like to say about this one. First and foremost, it is immensely enjoyable, and by that I mean that a large number of the cuts engender a sense of joy while listening. I hate metaphors that cut across genres, but you know the way that champagne fizzles in the mouth when you drink it? Well, that is almost how I feel when I hear these great songs. Second, although all the songs are great, each one manages to be great in a way that depends in no way on the other songs. For instance, the title cut sounds like the Beach Boys processed through alternative, punk, and power pop. It both sounds like the Beach Boys, and doesn't, but either way does not sound like any other song on the album. Similarly, the boys in the band see fit to raid at random the entire rock and roll songbook. In a couple of spots they actually use the same guitar/voice synthesizer that Peter Frampton popularized. They constantly sound completely original and yet very much like someone else. This willingness to create new syntheses from a huge range of musical influences is one thing that a host of the more creative current bands in rock have in common.

This is also one of those rare albums that completely justifies being issued on two CDs. This is not a function of insufficient discipline in editing: there simply is a lot of great music. From the very first song with the enticing title "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street" through a host of superb songs, this is just great stuff. Some of my favorite include the title track, the stellar "Receptacle for the Respectable," or "Juxtaposed with U" (which uses the Peter Frampton synthesizer, and in other ways sounds as if it warped straight out of some seventies soundtrack), and "Sidewalk Serfer Girl." The bonus disc contains many cuts just as excellent as those on the original disc, making the American version of the album an amazing bargain for the price.

What especially intrigues me about these guys is that several things I have read indicates that many people prefer some of their earlier albums. If they have done stuff better than this, then I can barely wait.

Super Furry Animals Most immediately accessible album............2004-03-22

Considered to largely be their most accessible album (& the most overproduced), My entry into the world of the Furry animals was via this album. And admittedly other albums have a more abrasive, Experimental sound, but the impact of the songs here are no less worthy than ones found on previous albums. In fact with the lush psych-pop of "Alternate Route To Vulcan Street", or the Warped beach boys melodies of "(Drawing) Rings Around the World", and sensitive ballads "It's not The End of The World"....Its hard for me not to give this album the same critical acclaim that I'd deservedly heap upon its predecessors. Purists will argue that "Fuzzy Logic" & "Radiator" are the bands best work and there are largely right, but if your new to the band, this makes for a fantastic starting point and eases you into their Quirky / Psychedelic sound...before progressing onto their more Experimental albums. But for me...the easiest (& occasionally most enjoyable) starting point is here.

Average customer rating:

Rings Around the World Super Furry Animals Manufacturer: Sony International ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Neo-Psychedelia | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Welsh Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00005ML9I Release Date: 2001-10-30

Tracks:

1. Alternate Route to Vulcan Street
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. (Drawing) Rings Around the World
4. It's Not the End of the World?
5. Receptacle for the Respectable
6. (A) Touch Sensitve
7. Shoot Doris Day
8. Miniature
9. No Sympathy
10. Juxtaposed With U
11. Presidential Suite
12. Run! Christian, Run!
13. Fragile Happiness

Album Details

Features Guest Musicians Paul Mccartney and John Cale. Mixed in
5. 1 Sound!

Average customer rating:

Rings Around the World Super Furry Animals Manufacturer: Epic ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Neo-Psychedelia | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Welsh Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music ASIN: B0002530V4 Release Date: 2001-07-23

Tracks:

1. Alternate Route to Vulcan Street
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. (Drawing) Rings Around the World
4. It's Not the End of the World?
5. Receptacle for the Respectable
6. (A) Touch Sensitve
7. Shoot Doris Day
8. Miniature
9. No Sympathy
10. Juxtaposed With U
11. Presidential Suite
12. Run! Christian, Run!
13. Fragile Happiness

Average customer rating:

Rings Around the World Super Furry Animals Manufacturer: Sony/Epic ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Neo-Psychedelia | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Welsh Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music ASIN: B00005V8AR

Tracks:

1. Alternate Route to Vulcan Street
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. (Drawing) Rings Around the World
4. It's Not the End of the World?
5. Receptacle for the Respectable
6. (A) Touch Sensitve
7. Shoot Doris Day
8. Miniature
9. No Sympathy
10. Juxtaposed With U
11. Presidential Suite
12. Run! Christian, Run!
13. Fragile Happiness

Album Details

The Fifth Album from the Welsh Indie Darlings, is at Once the Band's Most Accessible and Most Challenging Work to Date. Features the Single 'juxtapozed with U', the Band have Been Noted for their Experimentalism and Broad Appeal. 'rings' is also Notable for Being the First Album Ever to Be Released Simultaneously on CD and Dvd.

Average customer rating:

Rings Around the World Super Furry Animals Manufacturer: Sbme Import ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Welsh Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music CD Singles | Pop | Styles | Music | Adult Contemporary | Oldies | Pop Rock | Singer-Songwriters | Teen Pop | Vocal Pop Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00005Q3YK Release Date: 2001-11-27

Tracks:

1. (Drawing) Rings Around the World
2. Edam Anchorman
3. All the Shit U Do
4. (Drawing) Rings Around the World [Multimedia Track]

Album Description

UK single & title track off the 2001 album. Tracks, '(Drawing) Rings Around The World' & three non-LP tracks, 'Edam Anchorman', 'All The Shit U Do' & the video for the title track.

Average customer rating:

Rings Around the World Super Furry Animals Manufacturer: Sony Japan ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Neo-Psychedelia | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Welsh Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00005L9JQ Release Date: 2001-07-18

Tracks:

1. Alternate Route to Vulcan Street
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. (Drawing) Rings Around the World
4. Its Not the End of the World?
5. Receptacle for the Respectable
6. (A) Touch Sensitive
7. Shoot Doris Day (Miniature)
8. Miniature
9. No Sympathy
10. Juxtapozed With U
11. Presidential Suite
12. Run! Christian, Run!
13. Fragile Hapiness
14. Tradewinds
15. Happiness Is a Worn Pun

Album Description

Japanese edition of the Welsh indie act's fifth album with two bonus tracks, 'Tradewinds' & 'Happiness Is A Worn Pun'. 2001.

Album Details

Japanese version featuring 2 bonus tracks: Tradewinds, & Happiness Is A Worn Pun.

Average customer rating: Super Furries at their peak music! completely deranged...one of the year's best Do Not Judge a CD by the Single Still excellent but not their best

Rings Around the World Super Furry Animals Manufacturer: Sbme Import ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Neo-Psychedelia | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Welsh Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00005ML9K Release Date: 2001-10-30

Tracks:

1. Alternate Route To Vulcan Street
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. (Drawing) Rings Around The World
4. It's Not The End Of The World
5. Receptacle For The Respectable
6. A Touch Sensitive
7. Shoot Doris Day
8. No Sympathy
9. Juxtapozed With U
10. Presidential Suite
11. Run! Christian, Run!
12. Fragile Happiness
13. Bonus

Album Description

Import edition of the Welsh indie act's fifth album. Includes 'Shoot Doris Day' & 'Juxtapozed With U'. 13 tracks in all. 2001.

Customer Reviews:

Super Furries at their peak.......2007-01-23

This is the Super Furry Animals at their peak. The songs are more poppy than before and there is less experimental noise than on any other of their albums.

The album starts with "Alternative Route To Vulcan Street" which is quite downbeat and could give the listener a false impression of the sound of the album. It is anything but downbeat. Super Furries write intricate songs with great lyrics and soaring choruses. This is the Beach Boys meets The Kinks meets Love done in a very individual way.

The highlights for me have to be "Receptacle For The Respectable" with Paul McCartney in the background chewing carrots (don't ask me. I don't know why either !) and "Shoot Doris Day". The two songs really are astonishing - "Receptacle" is power pop par excellence and "Shoot Doris Day" is chamber pop par excellence.

There are plenty of other great songs here as well "Run!Christian!Run","Juxtaposed With U", "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" and "Presidential Suite" are all cracking tunes.

To people who like their music with a bit of originality and prefer something unique, this is the best band in Britain (forget about Oasis , they aren't fit to tie their shoelaces)

If you're a fan of complex power pop/indie/chamber pop/quasi psychedelia, you'll absolutely love this band. Their musical scope is astonishing

music!.......2001-09-10

SFA's 5th album is, as are all the others, an instant classic. there is no other band that can maintain their consistent brilliance from album to album. there ar no suprises here, if you liked their other albums, well then this has it all. the fun pop tunes, the ballads, the techno freak-outs, the keyboard tracks, the great artwork. as usual the lyrics are hilarious, the tunes are fantastic, and it is more coherent than, say, guerrilla. album of the year.

completely deranged...one of the year's best.......2001-09-06

My favourite new albums are the ones that are both instantly pleasing to hear as well as being challenging at the same time, records that throw convention out the window, great pop music that's a bit off-kilter, with clever lyrics to boot. Super Furry Animals' new album Rings Around The World is the first new album of 2001 to completely blow me away, a soaring, aural mindfunk of a pop album.

Where should I begin? Every track is musically vastly different from the other and is punctuated by Gruff Rhys's oddball lyrics, the first five songs getting the album off to a flying start. The mellow piano ballad 'Alternate Route To Vulcan Street' kicks off the album with the enigmatic line "sometimes I ponder/what if the Caspian Sea/should merger/over my shoulder", 'Sidewalk Serfer Girl' lampoons the Beach Boys with a bit of a glam twist, the irresistable electropop of '(Drawing) Rings Around The World' perfectly mirrors the sound of ELO, and Rhys's impeccable singing on the plaintive ballad 'It's Not The End Of The World' sounds as good as the best work by Blur. The album's best moments, though, are in the amazing 'Receptacle For The Respectable' (talk about the song title of the year). It starts at a midtempo, acoustic guitar-driven pace with harmonies that sound lifted straight from Wings, then suddenly breaks down to half the speed in an Abbey Road-styled segue before slowing down even more, with a gentle, horn-driven melody that also features the sound of Paul McCartney eating celery and carrots, then builds up to the final section where, over faux-industrial keyboards, Rhys belts out the song's title in his best death metal impersonation. All this happens in less than four exhilerating minutes, making it one of the most stunning songs you'll hear in a long time.

There are no low points on the rest of Rings Around The World: '(A) Touch Sensitive' is an effective stab at trip-hop, 'Shoot Doris Day' sounds a lot like Elvis Costello and just might hint at someone's great dislike of The Man Who Knew Too Much ("Sentimentality pause/as Jimmy Stewart ignores her question"), the grim, folky 'No Sympathy' that metamorphoses from a Crosby, Stills & Nash homage into a boisterous exercise in electronic knob-twiddling, the Marvin Gaye-influenced 'Juxtaposed With U' that combines biting social commentary with bizarre humour ("I'm not in love with you/but I won't hold that against you") and makes Rhys sound like a Welsh Jarvis Cocker, the hilarious lampooning of the Clinton-Lewinsky controversy in 'Presidential Suite', the Pink Floyd sounds of 'Run Christian Run', and the gentle "doo doo-wah"'s of 'Fragile Happiness that evoke the Velvet Underground.

Super Furry Animals have made a major statement with this spectacular album, which was close to a year in the making, and as a result they have emerged as one of the best bands on the planet. You can't go wrong with this flawless piece of work, which will end up close to, or perhaps, at the top of my best of 2001 list.

Do Not Judge a CD by the Single.......2001-08-06

Uh oh--I made the mistake of pursuing said CD based on "Juxtapozed With U." The single is not perfect. It's a bit trendy and irritating as of late to electronically warble/modulate the singing (Cher aka "Believe"). The chorus at least is tuneful. It brings to mind Elvis Costello in his Punch the Clock phase. Nothing else on this CD even approaches this. The music is largely disjointed, quirky, weird, and too often ends in dead end noise. It's far too self-indulgent to repeatedly enjoy. A lot of it sounds like rejected outtakes from the solo sides of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma LP, now over 30 years old. Also brings to mind the more contemporary Fatima Mansions--frequent visitors to the bargain bins. I guess I have a hard time deciding where the critics see the strength in this recording? In the musicianship? In the songcraft? In the lyrics? In their "[rehash] Radiohead" song motifs? Surely not. Since I was really let down after the strength of the single, I know much of this sounds like griping. But I wasn't prepared for the "Rage Against the Machine" posturing either--middle class Welsh blokes unhappy with the ills of western society. Happy to reveal flaws in politics/society; far too alienated to offer solutions. The targets are too easy: religion (with Tammy Faye as one object of ire in their full-length video) and politics (Bill Clinton and Monika tackling oral sex). Where's the cutting edge here? Even so, bad lyrics can be overcome with a handful of decent songs. Unfortunately, this CD does not warrant repeated listens because sixty minutes of quirky, excessive personalities exposed from song to song simply wear you out. It will sadly collect dust along with those other "Critics Rave!" CDs that seemed like a good idea one day, but with a bad aftertaste immediately after. For those duped into this work by the single, stay clear.

Still excellent but not their best.......2001-08-03

Another album the critics (at least in the UK) have been hailing as their best ever. But in fact it is a retread of old ground: a quiet instrumental opening giving way to a harder second track: a bit of weird techno breakdown around the middle of the album and some nice ballads afterwords. The Furries still do it better than anyone else around, but both Guerilla especially Radiator were better (and stranger) albums by far. Sounds like they need some new inspiration to stop them the turning tide washing away their castles in the sand.

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8. Songs from the Last Century
9. Soundsystem [Explicit Lyrics]
10. Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live [Limited Edition] [Live]

Rap Music

rap music

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