After a brief tour through some selected rock music albums, I'm ready to switch back to some music on the lighter side. Climbed up some stairs, crossed over some rooftops and over to THE BLUE NILE—a Scottish new wave outfit I haven't quite gotten into that much, even though I've had "Hats", their second studio album from 1989, sitting in my music collection. One of my favorite BLUE NILE songs can be found there, yet I wanted to step back six years prior to that with their 1983 debut tonight because I wanted to hear what they sounded like in the very beginning.....and because, as many of you well know, my heart is always lost somewhere in the 80's. "A Walk Across The Rooftops" has just about the same ambient synth-pop sound that I experienced with "Hats"....or what I remember from that album, anyway, as it's been so long since I've heard that one; it's as light as vocal music can get. The lead singer Paul Buchanan reminds me of Peter Gabriel—an airy yet tender voice that's so soft that it sounds like he's talking to you instead of singing. Actually, he sounds exactly like him, especially on the two songs with the dreamy instrumental backdrops—"Stay" and "Heatwave". The instrumental accompaniment again is responsible for me loving Track #2's "Tinseltown In The Rain", primarily the sharp cinematic score provided by the orchestra. I'm reminded of another familiar artist on this song—Kate Bush. That distant, high-pitched 'ferry boat' sound effect—one that sounds like somebody's launching a digitized missile up into outer space—is featured in her breakout 80's hit, "Running Up That Hill", and it can also be heard at several points during the main chorus of "Tinseltown In The Rain". The song I adored the most was the magical "Easter Parade"; loved the peacefulness and the serenity of the piano playing above the atmospheric sound waves rushing back and forth throughout. I may have made it through THE BLUE NILE this time, but it wasn't without getting swept ashore a few times and getting myself drowned by the music:
1. A Walk Across The Rooftops
2. Tinseltown In the Rain
3. From Rags To Riches
4. Stay
5. Easter Parade
6. Heatwave
7. Automobile Noise
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