Disco de Ocean Colour Scene: “Marchin' Already”

I can't believe that this album was never released in the US - it is OCS's best, as well as one of the best of the

decade. This album has everything that's great about classic rock. It will remind you of the Beatles, the Stones,

Badfinger, etc., without sounding like an oldies revue.

If you don't think any great albums have been recorded since 1972, you haven't heard "Marchin' Already."

"Marchin' Already" is a very strong singles album, songs like "Hundred Mile High City", "Better Day", and "Travellers Tune" will make a fans out of its listeners on the first listen. The rest of the album can be redundant in certain spots and not as strong as the previous songs. If there is one thing Ocean Colour Scene can do is, they will make you exuberant about life and sing-along to these songs in a drunken haze.

My favorite songs are "Better Day" and "Debris Road". "Better Day" starts out with a Let It Be like piano and explodes in an average OCS sing-along chorus while "Debris Road" reminds and makes you want to visit old English country. The first side of "Marchin' Already" makes the album worth getting but unfortunately the album digresses around "Tele He's Not Talking". Whenever I listen to this album, I usually just listen to the first side and rarely listen to the rest. I personally think the songs are so good that it makes it worth it but if you want a purely solid album with every track, you may be disappointed.

Overall this album could have been a masterpiece but it still passes the test. "Mosley Shoals" is still their best album.

I had never heard of this group. How I chanced upon it was kinda special. I was in a small video shop in Tokyo that specializes in old movies and the song 'half a dream away' was playing over the sound system. Because the shop was busy, I had to stand under the ceiling speakers in order to hear anything. I think I looked rather strange standing in the middle of the floor pretending I was looking for something way up on the shelf. At the end of the cut I was hopeing to catch the name of the song but couldn't, so I had no choice but to ask the guy at the counter if he knew. As I thought I had been listening to a radio station, I was surprised when the fellow pulled out the album from his CD collection behind the counter.

The next day I went down to Virgin Records (that's before I knew about amazon! (still like Virgin though), and tried to search the name.. all I could remember was it was something about an ocean and a colour so naturally I checked under Blue. Lots of blue...! finally switched to Ocean. Just like that, out of the blue, I found it and have been listening and enjoying for the past two years. The muscians have great skill, I particularly like the drumming, the lyrics are poetic and magical. In fact,the whole thing is rather like being submurged under the blue, green ocean... with no threat of ever drowning.

I learned about the existance of OCS from Colin Larkin's All-Time Top 1000. The review was that it was derivative, but still highly palatable. Well, it is far more than that. It is extraordinary, well-crafted solid rock staff in the best 60-is traditions: reminds you of all good music that you ever heard. Somebody tells it's just a pastiche. Well, try to sue them for plagiarism. No tune is licked from anywhere. Just the spirit of it may remind you of the Beatles (Harrison in particular).

Well, I highly recommend this album for all classic rock fans. A good shot of adrenaline.

As soon as I heard this album I knew I would like it. Its' catchy songs are still diverse enough to listen to over and over again. This is one of the few albums I put in the upper echelon of my collection (right there with Appetite for Destruction, Let's Go (Rancid), and along with a few others). Who knows why Oasis hit it big and Ocean Colour faded off, but this is one cd you'll want to buy.