Published on Oct 6, 2004
The Smiths were undoubtedly one of the most influential bands of
the 1980s. As a matter of fact, huge and obvious traces of the
Smiths’ sound could be seen in a lot of young British alternative
bands formed post-1985, which had the ‘Morrissey’-feel to their
music styles.
Released in the year 1989, the eponymous album by The Ocean Blue
has the typical ‘Manchester’ sound, which it shares with a lot of
other British bands of its period. So, The Ocean Blue is just
another album by just another ‘Brit’ band, having the same
stereotypical ‘Brit’ sound. The Smiths had an edgy sound. Beneath
all its melodious music and Morrissey’s seemingly innocuous singing
were powerful words, influencing a whole generation of musicians
and fans alike. The same is not true with The Smiths-influenced
bands, and The Ocean Blue in particular.
As an album,
The Ocean Blue has just superficial vestiges of the sound,
The Ocean Blue, so desperately tries to fit itself into. The album,
however, does have the sweet winsome quality to its music, but
unlike The Smiths, its lyrics just don’t have the spunk to make the
lyrics worth anything. The fact of the matter is that the lyrics
are puerile, not in the sense that they are unimaginably
irreverent, but are puerile in the literal sense. They are
innocent, yes, but it seems as though a lot of them were written
by/for ten-year olds: At the lowliest point of the album, “Love
Song,” with hilariously juvenile lyrics, with “ya oh oh” for
chorus, is an ardent beau ideal of this fact.
Childish, yes; innocent, very much; but the well-mannered nature
of The Ocean Blue is worth appreciating, and to some extent, worth
an encomium or two. This album has some of the most beautiful and
melodic rock songs ever. Amongst the others, “Between Something And
Nothing,””Drifting Falling,””Just Let Me Know,” “Ask Me Jon” and
“Myron” are worth treasuring, by any standards. The singles,
“Between Something And Nothing” and “Drifting Falling” are two of
the 1980s’ most memorable singles. Actually, even the rest of the
album is not bad at all, either. Mild, pure, and refined,
The Ocean Blue is a great rock/pop album, with the five
aforesaid irresistibly charming songs, as added perquisites of
possessing this album.
The Ocean Blue may not be one of the 1980s’ most memorable
albums, but it is one of the 1980s’ most overlooked ones,
especially since it has a few of the best songs of the ’80s. The
band doesn’t want to make serious statements through its music. It
doesn’t at all want to complicate matters, and wants to keep things
as simple as possible. With this album, the clan of The Ocean Blue
simply means to create genial rock/pop songs.