The Church - The Blurred Crusade

Import edition of the Aussie alternative rock act's 1982 album that's out-of-print domestically. Album Description

Just for You

Fantastic. The Church have had time to let time test their value. No question that they retain their invaluable status. This album is proof positive that they had a great lead singer (Kilbey), great production (Gilbey), great guitar (Willson/Koppes), and great ambiance. "Just for you" is the killer track on this album: fantastic acoustic lead in that builds into a full rock head of sound, BRILLIANT. I have loved this track for 20+ years. December 1, 2008

Brings out the Hippie in me

Ive been a church fan since I first heard "under the milky way tonight" some 20 years ago, so I got this one 6 years ago out of curiosity and I have to say....WOW! Gr00vy man!! TBC is by the BEST example of 60s revivalist music of the 1980s. You can Really hear the influence of The Byrds on this album. What is so unique about TBC is despiste the fact that its pretty much entirely in major key, it still retains a somewhat sentimental, gloomy, melacholic feeling to it-with songs like "field of mars", "secret corner", "dont look back" but also has that psychedelic sparkle with "interlude". I SO totally dig the first song. TCB combines that jangly folk rock with a more progrock sound. This is a Must-Have for church fans and for fans of psychedelic rock February 18, 2008

A delight

This is a solid CD start to finish. I bought it 15 years ago and it's now one of my 20 favorite CD's. Terrific mix of music and easily the best Church CD that I own.
January 16, 2007

Nearly Perfect

This is probably the best Church album. I remember saving and saving to buy the import vinyl version of this - I don't believe that it was issued domestically until Arista tried to cash in on "Starfish" by re-releasing the first 5 Church albums in 1988. Lovely, lovely. December 25, 2005

(four and a half stars) No sophomore slump here

I'm a huge Church fan, and have all their studio albums of original material (13 at latest count). "The Blurred Crusade," has always been one of my favorites. The songs are consistently high quality, and begin to define the signature sound of the band, which one reviewer astutely describes as "space-jangle-psychedelia style." This phrase is as good as any to describe the unique swirling sound of this guitar driven, extremely underrated band.

One of my favorite songs on the album is "Almost With You," with its fine acoustic guitar solo. I can't figure out why this listener-friendly song never received radio play. Another favorite is "Interlude" with its curious lyrics, and several changes of pace. The two short songs, "Secret Corners" and "Don't Look Back" are poignant, as is the album's love song "To Be In Your Eyes." The eight minute "You Took," reminds me of "Is This Where You Live" from the band's previous (debut) album "Of Skins and Heart."

What prevents me from giving this excellent album five stars is, what I believe to be, the absence of a truly knock-out song. Later, the band would cut such masterpieces as "Shadow Cabinet," "Myrrh," "Reptile," "Anesthesia," and several others that I would put in this category. However, all-in-all, "The Blurred Crusade" is one of the best of The Church's body of work, and displays Kilbey, Koppes and Wilson-Piper in top form. July 20, 2005

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