| Blood | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 31 reviews)
Sales Rank: 91713
Category: Music
Artist: This Mortal Coil
Publisher: 4ad / Ada
Studio: 4ad / Ada
Manufacturer: 4ad / Ada
Label: 4ad / Ada
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 71005
UPC: 652637100525
EAN: 0652637100525
ASIN: B000009NC7
Release Date: July 7, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 One of the greatest albums of all time July 26, 2002
33 out of 36 found this review helpful
I've read through all the reviews posted before mine, and can't fathom how the more prolific reviewers somehow disliked this album. I've been surfing around amazon to make up a silly list of all-time masterpieces, and this is the first disc I checked up on.First off, background: TMC is the baby of producer Ivo, main man at 4AD records, which has released a lot of great music from a lot of great musicians: we're talking Pixies, Breeders, Throwing Muses, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, Wolfgang Press, Colourbox (aka M/A/R/R/S - of Pump up the Volume fame), etc. This is not a tiny indie label that is built around one decent artist; 4AD rocks. TMC is Ivo reigning in various 4AD artists and using them in (sadly only three) albums of uncategorizable, moody music. Most TMC tracks will involve stringed instruments, ambient electronic, piano, diverse percussion, the occasional bass, guitar, choir, and then a ton of sumptuous vocals, almost always female. The first two albums ("It'll End in Tears" and "Filigree and Shadow") feature 4AD artists more consistently; "Blood" is largely a tighter group of instrumental musicians, with vocalists being: predominantly Deirdre Rutkowski; then Caroline Crawley; and then a couple by Alison Limerick, and the excellent "You and Your Sister" with Kim Deal (Pixies/Breeders) and Tanya Donnelly (Throwing Muses/Breeders/Belly). As for the first two albums: the first (IEIT) was a single LP, and like the next (F&S) was more varied in direction throughout the songs. F&S and Blood are 2xLP, full-length CDs, yet Blood is far more consistent in mood, and flows beautifully. I should mention also, that these two albums feature a decent amount of instrumental material, which at their worst are decent segues between songs, and at their best, sound as if they're soundtrack material for a very moving or otherwise excellent film. Both these latter two albums are continuously mixed. But Blood is by far the most consistent effort in terms of maintaining a mood, and in the worthiness of the individual songs. There is not one track here I would skip. For those wondering if this is a "goth" album; no, it isn't, but it IS melancholy, and that's why a copy of this album is on most Goths' shelves, as they're the pretentious and melancholy representatives in the grand scheme of scenes, cliques, sub-cultures, and stereotypes. But TMC is rarely pretentious; it's very heartfelt, and this album in particular will likely stick out in your collection for years. I first heard it in... 1989? and still listen to it as often as just about anything (and I have a TON of CDs). And in my list of masterpieces - albums which I think of as flawless - it was the first one that came to mind. I'm a very eclectic listener, and this disc is a beautiful representative of an aspect of myself, my musical interests, and my emotions. End note: old Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett fans might want to take note of the cover of Barrett's "Late Night." Barrett's original recording is marred by his dysfunctionality; here, it's a total work of art.
dreams are like water.... May 26, 2002
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
excellent coda to the tmc trilogy. Like "filigree and shadow" it plays like goth opera. beautiful, mesmerizing stuff.
Beautiful and very contemporary March 26, 2002
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Possibly the best of This Mortal Coil's albums. At the vanguard of all the 'chill-out' music of today, it has aged rather better than its predecessors, more firmly rooted in their time; one doesn't need to be a nostalgic Goth to succumb to these beautiful and haunting melodies.
 Worst in the Series October 26, 2001
6 out of 13 found this review helpful
Each This Mortal Coil album is a collection of collaborative efforts by (mostly) artists signed to the 4AD record label. For example, their first album, "It Will End in Tears" has such contributers as the Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Modern English, etc. The results are always mixed, largely depending upon who producer Ivo Watts talks into contributing. However, with each subsequent album, the collaborative efforts of This Mortal Coil decreased in quality with the artists. Whereas "It Will End in Tears" is an often beautiful and inventive album, and the second album, "Filigree and Shadow", is an uneven effort that still occassionally reaches the first album's heights, with the exception of the song "I Come and Stand At Every Door", none of the songs on "Blood" (which are mostly covers instead of original songs this time) reach the standards previously set. Part of the problem is that some of the artists, such as Kim Deel of the Breeders (she and Tanya Donnelly being the only "big names" on this one), have a style more suited to quirky pop music. Also, while all three albums have a certain level of pretentiousness (something often unavoidable and forgiveable when the artists in question are trying to take risks), the third album is mainly nothing but pretention with little real talent shining through. While listening to "Blood", instead of being moved, I keep getting comical pictures in my head of things like mustached men in berets saying "I am an ARTISTE!" This album is the musical equivalent of junior high school level poetry: sure, they're trying, and that's admirable, but it doesn't make the result any more palatable. Give the first album a try instead if you are into the better works of the Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance, but avoid this one.
Like carressing your favourite piece of dark velvet.... August 24, 2001
It's the music, the imagery, the voices, the mystery.... I just adore the photography for this album - the actual record sleeve has a larger picture on the back that you can see the person's bedroom wall and all the dark photos of desperation and moodiness of that haunting girl's expression, captured by the photographer. The Rutkowski sisters have the most darkly seductive and emotional voices I've ever experienced. 'Carolyn's Song' makes me fall apart everytime, esp when Louise R. sings that 'aah' part repeatedly at the chorus. Long live beautiful Caroline Crawley too with her angelic warble (I'm a Shelleyan Orphan lover). Each LP by TMC is part of the story - don't judge. Love until death and beyond, what else is there...... The half moon is aching.......... Justin
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