Crossed the graceful waters of THE BLUE NILE only to meet up with a different shade of blue on the other side. That would be the Scottish band called DEACON BLUE, whom I'd only had the chance to listen to once or twice in all the years they've been performing since the late 80's. Never had any of their complete albums until last night when I would get my copy of their second one, "When The World Knows Your Name". Didn't realize that it's been so long since I heard DEACON BLUE that I'd forgotten what they sounded like. I do recall reading in several places that they were placed in the same sophisti-pop music sub-genre as groups like SPANDAU BALLET, JOHNNY HATES JAZZ, THE BLOW MONKEYS and ULTRAVOX (for some reason, I had difficulty remembering that band when I wanted to insert them here, though I knew it was 'ultra' something), so I did expect something similar out of DEACON BLUE. The very first track, however, came as a total surprise; it sounded so unique that I had to give it my own personal classification: Celtic folk rock. I may've heard something similar to it before.....quite recently, actually, by the North Carolina alternative rock outfit, JUMP, LITTLE CHILDREN. Was it just me, or did this song seem to 'speed up' towards the end? No, it did speed up—so much so that I thought the music and the musicians, whose arms and fingers undoubtedly had to be sore and exhausted after that power-packed jam session, were all gonna come crashing through my headphones! A good foot-pattin' adrenaline rush all the way through, but nothing else on this album sounds like it, as immediately thereafter, the music switches to a less alternative pop/rock sound that resembles something you're more likely to tune in to on the radio channels. No crashin' and burnin' going on with "Circus Lights", but I had to play it three times in succession before I could move on; I loved that song very much! Thought there was so much heart put into delivering that one. And although there was nothing bluesy happening with "Fergus Sings The Blues", I thought I felt a bit of a subtle jazz vibe (coming from the accompaniment of the bass guitar, perhaps) in the background; I loved this song too! Then it's on "The World Is Lit By Lighting", my fourth favorite overall, where we find this album's meaningful title embedded in the lyrics. Finally, I would get a lot of comfort from the warming ambient piece called "Orphans", which very well could've been a BLUE NILE song; guess I didn't totally make it to the other side of the river after all:
1. Queen of The New Year
2. Wages Day
3. Real Gone Kid
4. Love And Regret
5. Circus Lights
6. This Changing Light
7. Sad Loved Girl
8. Fergus Sings The Blues
9. The World Is Lit By Lightning
10. Silhouette
11. One Hundred Things
12. Your Constant Heart
13. Orphans
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