spacer

Blog

Blog
Rediscovering Glo
Last modified: 27 May 2005

Glo (UK Cover)Next week see's the fifth round of the Ultimate Delirious? Song Poll in which we will be voting for the best song on Glo. (Incidentally, the poll title is meant to imply that this is a poll to find the 'ultimate d: song', not that it is the 'ultimate poll' - just thought I'd clear that up!). I might be jumping the gun a bit, but I thought I'd write about Glo today ahead of next week's vote.

My drive into work each day takes about 20 minutes, and this morning I put Glo into the CD player and spent the journey rediscovering a fantastic album. I've always thought it strange that the first thing you hear with Glo is something completely unrepresentative of Delirious? The first minute or so of track 1, God You Are My God, features chanting monks. I've often imagined someone picking this CD up, never having heard Delirious? before, sticking it in their stereo and wondering what on earth they'd purchased. For that reason I think it's a curious choice for an opening track, but hopefully most people listen on beyond the first minute and discover what a truly amazing album it is.

GYAMG (as we like to abbreviate it to) turns into a rocking masterpiece of music which eventually morphs into the second song, Gods Romance. I've always put this song down to being a good track live, but forgotten how great it was on CD. It probably helps to have seen it live, but I just love the few seconds of drums between the end of "Now's the time for the saints to shine..." and the starts of "...Everyone here is the kingdom come".

Glo (US Cover)Glo is perhaps most famous for the track Investigate which is one of the most incredible d: songs you could ever witness live at a gig. But the band also did such a good job of capturing the enormity of this song on CD. Towards the end of the song the band just kick off into a stunning jamming session, seeming to get completely carried away with the song. It seems to last forever and today I found myself nodding my head in time to the thrashing guitars and feeling completely immersed in the music.

My journey came to an end half way through What Would I Have Done? This is another song that I've often skipped over in favour of some of my more preferred songs on Glo. But forcing myself to listen to it today I found myself noticing all the extra little touches that I'd forgotten. Things like the strings in the background which all go into making the song what it is.

That's as far as I got with the CD this morning, but my journey home tonight should be a good one. Of all the d: CDs so far, there is no better run of consecutive songs than the next 3 on Glo. My Glorious, Everything and Hang On To You. They are some of my favourite ever d: songs, and to get all 3 in a row makes this part of the CD one of my most listened to sections of music. Then there are the 4 songs at the end of the album. Well, maybe I'll listen to those next week.

Anyway, I realise this post has probably read a bit like a review of an album now nearly five years old (wow, was it really that long?). But listening to Glo again this morning was like discovering a new album for me. I've listened to it so many times in the past, although not so much in the last couple of years as the newer d: albums have grabbed my attention, and yet I can still listen to it and smile and get excited just as I did when I first listened to it. What an album!