I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've played this record in the last five years, but I remember a while back in the day when you couldn't move for hearing Always: Your Way. That song was huge and, playing it now, it's still a tune. My main memory of listening to the album when I was 16 was that the intro and Always: Your Way were great and the rest had nothing about it that really stood out.
I don't ever remember being a huge fan of the band, and I'm quite surprised to see that I paid £11 for the cd. That was a lot of money back then. I guess I was more into them than my memory suggests. When I found the LP for £4 on my second-ever trip to Selectadisc in Nottingham I already considered the album a minor classic from back-in-the-day and was happy to add it to my armful of records. It's probably been horribly neglected in my record collection - the cd/mp3s have always been at hand for those very occasional plays I've given Finelines since 2004. One of the many reasons I started this blog was because I felt I was neglecting some of my records, and by listening to them and writing about them I'd give them their dues.
So what am I getting out of this record this time around? Mostly memories of studying for GCSEs and playing Nintendo 64. Between those strange flashbacks, there are songs I'd forgotten about. Grounded and Losing Touch are still good tunes, and Infantile made me think of Deftones, something it never did back in the day. Both bands have their shoegaze influences, but My Vitriol had way too much pop about them, and I always felt Stephan's guitar gave the 'Tones their heavier side. My Vitriol's attempt at heavy on C.O.R. was always out of place. The instrumental Tongue Tied is pretty good too, and I wonder how they would have faired as an instrumental band (not that there's anything wrong with the singer's voice, but it gives a better chance to pull away from "normal" rock songs, and you get the impression they're trying to). It's the sort of album you'd expect to have a huge closing number, and whilst the short drum outro to Under the Wheels is nice, I think leaving it on Falling off the Floor would've been better.
At 16 songs, Finelines was always too long, despite four of them being filler tracks, but overall it's been nice playing it again. This has been a nice trip down memory lane.
Format: 12", picture inner
Tracks: 16
Cost: £4 new
Bought: Selectadisc, Nottingham
When: 15/03/04
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
