the blue nile - a walk across the rooftops poll

impossible

it's "heatwave" but i'm still mad i have to choose bc "stay" is also the greatest song of all time

i have never heard, encountered, or read anything about this band anywhere but ILM.

i might go for "automobile noise", but right now i have it down to 7 choices

unlike "hats", there's no song that i can easily eliminate (even though i love you, "7 AM"). it took 5 or 6 tries but this has now reaches "hats" level for me and the blue nile are basically my favorite band of all time

i want to check this out at some point

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Nile-Story-Allan-Brown/dp/1846971381

this is quite hard for me. it's the eponymous opener vs. the singles + easter parade and maybe heatwave. going with the opener.

I know the guy who wrote it (xp)

btw i'm polling the AWATR/hats non-album tracks next :~O

i write a new book every day
the love theme for the wilderness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYr6djNfbQ

oh god the non-album tracks poll is gonna kill me (you should also include the peace at last b-sides imo just to kill me more)

the little bridge starting at 3:15 of "automobile noise" that abruptly transitions into another verse is one of my favorite blue nile moments

Going with "Stay" as that's what hooked me when I saw the video on MTV (!) in 1984.

Tempted to go for the title track. I really could be happy picking any of these songs though.

i want to check this out at some point

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Nile-Story-Allan-Brown/dp/1846971381

― nomar, Wednesday, April 26, 2017 2:37 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I got the kindle version and really liked it a lot. There are some moments in there that will really hurt you in your heart, though. And not in the way that making a choice for this poll hurts you in your heart.

voted rags to riches as that's the one I was singing most recently while cleaning the house

heatwave all day long. a masterpiece

i was wondering if you were a blue nile fan

The title track. It's such a wondrous, beguiling piece of music.

For the first decade of me loving this album it was "The Downtown Lights". For the second it was "Automobile Noise". As I embark on the third I think it's now "Rags to Riches".

one day this love will all blow over

Time... for leaving the parade.

Do I love you? YES, I love you! But it's easy come and it's easy go, and this talking - talking - is only bravado.

An all-time fave lyric.

Correction. "All this..."

Yeah, that's pretty much impossible. And 'Hats' would be even more so.

Probable the boring choice, but "Tinseltown" for me.

"tinseltown" i think is in my top 3 (along with "heat wave" and "automobile noise") -- what's struck me recently is the dissonance between the tempo of the vocals and that of the keyboards -- the latter being significantly quicker -- i don't really have the music vocabulary to describe it properly but it's mesmerizing. it's almost proto-house

and by keyboards i mean the percussion, i had "i love this life" stuck in my head as i was typing that

"i have never heard, encountered, or read anything about this band anywhere but ILM."

you must not go to steve hoffmann forums either

I have to give Julian Lennon credit: he's where I heard about "hats' back when it came out; in some article he noted it as his favorite album at the time.

Completely impossible to choose. Today I choose Easter Parade.

I have to give Julian Lennon credit: he's where I heard about "hats' back when it came out; in some article he noted it as his favorite album at the time.

Think the blurb's mentioned on one of the other BN threads, but bought _Hats_ unheard when released, because the cover looked cool and Phil Collins had a sticker quote recommending it. (Plus a memory of the as-yet-unheard AWAtR in the stacks of an admired art major friend.)

My Hats sticker had Peter Gabriel and Rickie Lee Jones quotes on it.

I'd always suspected that PG's "Red Rain" was heavily influenced by the Blue Nile, particularly his back-of-the-open-throat vocal sound. 3 years later, seeing Gabriel hyping Hats confirmed it, as far as I was concerned.

HEAT WAVE

HEAT WAVE

Heatwave

will i tell you
will you listen
if i tell you, what will happen?

Very cool album.

i've listened to this about 20 times since starting this poll and i think i'm relatively comfortable, at least for now, with this order. every song is amazing in one way or another

heatwave
tinseltown in the rain
automobile noise
from rags to riches
stay
easter parade
a walk across the rooftops

D-40 otm

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

so glad each song got a vote

"from rags to riches" -> "stay" -> "easter parade" -> "heatwave"

an entire lifetime of emotions in 20 minutes

easter parade just rocked me hard

OMG as if it is possible to pick a single best song from this LP

yeah it’s “easter parade”. or “heat wave”. or “tinseltown”

or “rags to riches” or “automobile noise”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_172cffdDJU

every time i hear "heatwave" i end up thinking i need to track down the late 80's paul schrader movie called heatwave that uses the song over the opening credits and must surely exist somewhere

"Regret", collected on the remastered 2cd AWAtR, is the one that kills me. "It's 3:30 and I'm thinking of you. Regret."

Hoping 2022 includes a new Paul Buchanan album.

same

more love needed for Stay

i have never heard, encountered, or read anything about this band anywhere but ILM.

― flappy bird, Wednesday, 26 April 2017 18:26 (seven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Amazing to think how different the position is now.

Also this is a perfect album.

Urgently need to relisten as Stay and TITR are the only ones I can remember at all

"Stay" was the first of their songs I really loved.

"Stay" is probably my second favourite after TITR, tho I can't quite get past the bassline being the same as the Police's "When the World Is Running Down"

every song here is perfect but “easter parade” and “heat wave” are the best I think

every time i hear "heatwave" i end up thinking i need to track down the late 80's paul schrader movie called heatwave that uses the song over the opening credits and must surely exist somewhere

― Clay, Wednesday, November 3, 2021 12:06 AM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

WHAT

oh I thought you were serious. smh

lol i do not remember posting that but i stand by it

A much-delayed x-post but thanks for the "Regret" recommendation. Will be drinking to that, this evening.

You're welcome! Way back when, was stunned to find "Regret" on a Glasgow artists comp in a Bellevue, Washington cd store.

A big reward from the days when the record collection was small and the knees could take browsing A - Z then side categories in their entirety.

2025 and still waiting for the new Paul Buchanan album!