The Beautiful Game (album)
The Beautiful Game was the tenth full-length album by Acoustic Alchemy released in 2000, and marked a turning point in the career of guitarist Greg Carmichael.
| The Beautiful Game | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 6, 2000 | |||
| Recorded | 1999-2000 at: Coast Recorders, San Francisco, U.S. Tiny Telephone, San Francisco, U.S. Higher Ground Studios, London, UK Hansa Haus Studios, Bonn, Germany | |||
| Length | 62:48 | |||
| Label | Higher Octave Music 48946 | |||
| Producer | Richard Bull Greg Carmichael Miles Gilderdale | |||
| Acoustic Alchemy chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
This album was the first without founding member Nick Webb, who had died two years previously due to pancreatic cancer; duties on steel string guitar were now filled by understudy Miles Gilderdale, who remains in the post to this day.
The album came as a stark change to fans of the group. Glossy production and radically different songwriting brought about a new 21st century sound, completely adverse to the style built up over a decade and a half up until this point.
Experimentation was certainly a prominent factor in "The Beautiful Game". Tracks like "The Last Flamenco" brought drum and bass style synthesised loops, whilst "Kidstuff" employed a repeated sample of a baby giggling.
One of the band's longer efforts, the album lasts over an hour including two bonus tracks, featuring Greg Carmichael and John Parsons re-recording two of the tracks with a country and western style backing.
Track listing
| # | Title | Writers | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Angel Of The South" | Carmichael/Gilderdale | 6:41 |
| 2 | "The Panama Cat" | Carmichael/Gilderdale/Felix | 5:04 |
| 3 | "Trail Blazer" | Carmichael/Gilderdale/Parsons | 5:00 |
| 4 | "The Beautiful Game" | Carmichael/Disley | 5:16 |
| 5 | "Hats Of Magic" | Carmichael/White | 5:03 |
| 6 | "Tête à Tête" | Carmichael/Disley | 4:43 |
| 7 | "The Last Flamenco" | Carmichael/Parsons/White | 4:20 |
| 8 | "Kidstuff" | Carmichael/White | 4:19 |
| 9 | "Big Sky Country" | Carmichael/Gilderdale/Parsons | 4:34 |
| 10 | "Hold On To Your Heart" | Carmichael/Parsons | 4:11 |
| 11 | "Jubilation" | Carmichael/Parsons | 4:39 |
| 12 | "Big Sky Country (Nashville version)" | Carmichael/Gilderdale/Parsons | 4:17 |
| 13 | "Trail Blazer (Nashville version)" | Carmichael/Gilderdale/Parsons | 4:41 |
Personnel
Studio:
- Producers: Richard Bull, Miles Gilderdale, Greg Carmichael, Steven Jones.
- Audio Mixers: Richard Bull; Steve Jones.
- Engineers include: Jim Sweeney, Richard Bull, Klaus Genuit.
Musicians:
- Miles Gilderdale (guitar, programming);
- Greg Carmichael, John Parsons (guitar);
- Jerry Douglas (dobro);
- Sam Bush (violin);
- Snake Davis (whistle, saxophone);
- Al Richardson, Pat Burgeson (harmonica);
- Guy Barker (trumpet);
- Terry Disley, Tony White, Simon Hale, William Richardson (keyboards);
- Frank Felix, Viktor Krauss (bass);
- Frank Tontoh, Geoff Dunn, Larry Atamanuik (drums);
- Scooter Delong (percussion);
- Richard Bull, Tony White (programming).