| CD REVIEW The Scene |
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Band : The Scene I’m afraid I have to admit that, in spite of the fact that I hold this Dutch band to very high esteem, I still haven’t bought any of its albums (which are, to date, 13 in total, not counting 2000’s compilation album Rauw, Hees, Teder, but including the self-titled live album of 1994), not even their 1990 platinum selling Blauw (which I’ve always sworn I would get some day, as I’ve truly tender feelings about the album’s title track). For several reasons, the band ceased to exist between November 2002 and 2006, a period in which frontman Thé Lau concentrates on his solo career, both as a performing/ recording artist (he’d already done several solo tours through Holland before; his first solo album De God Van Nederland had already appeared in May 2002, and was followed by 2004’s DVD The Show and 2006’s album Tempel Der Liefde) and as a writing poet (3 publications by him are issued in this period). During different Summer festivals in 2006, both bassist Emilie Blom van Assendelft, keyboardist Otto Cooymans, and drummer Jeroen Booy happened to play in Lau’s band, each with an enthousiasm not seen since earlier The Scene days. The last in the row of his former collegues to play with, Booy asked Lau whether it wouldn’t be possible to try and have a go at The Scene again, and after considering for a while that the gathering with the others had been equally positive, Lau called a meeting. Everybody apparently felt the same, and after more than positive response from friends, the band reforms. The Scene makes it recorded return with 2007, featuring re-makes from several of their hit songs, three with several guest singers (including K’s Choice’s Sarah Bettens in the new version of “Blauw”, Blöf’s Paskal Jakobsen in “Iedereen Is Van De Wereld” and dEUS’ Tom Barman in “Rigoureus”), and two new tracks (one of which the lyrics were written not by Lau, but by Neeltje Maria Min). reactions from both media and fans to both the album and ensuing concerts were so positive, it convinced the band members of the fact that they had made the correct a good choice in starting up The Scene again…and after the necessary time they wrote and recorded this album of all-original new songs! With Lau’s typical raw vocals, the enchanting soft guitars whaling on a bed of keyboards (both organ and piano) and the foundation laid down by the rhythm section, and the frontman’s poetic lyrics to boot, the band sounds as mesmerizing as in their top days of old! I first found myself falling in love with the somewhat dark album opener “Mijn Land”...simply because it was the first song on the album and the first of the band to discover after a long absence in my own existence…and then going from appreciating the 11 following songs on a high level, to gradually falling in love with them too as I gave the album consequent listening sessions! This not only comes from the fact that The Scene brings a musically very strong album, but also from an appreciation of Lau’s lyrics…and appreciation for poetry which I didn’t have yet, some 20 years ago! In other words: here‘s an album for anyone who can apprecciate both good (soft and fairly simple, but not without its subbtle progressive complexities) Pop Rock music with thought-provoking poetic lyrics (heh…the music will lull you into a well-being hypnosis, the lyrics will keep your mind going). An album which the listener will like more and more with every session he spends with it. The fact that the lyrics are completely in the Dutch tongue may be somewhat of a hinder for people not understanding that language, but even théy may appreciate the way the music sounds overall, because although The Scene’s music is best appreciated as a whole, the sounds of it may very well hypnotize people who don’t understand a word of Dutch! I mean, that’s how captivating The Scene’s music actually IS! Obviously, Liefde Op Doorreis (roughly translated as “Love Passing Through”, the “passing through” bit as in travelling) gets a well-deserved nomination into my “Best Albums Of 2009”-list! 98/100 Tony. |