If you live in the UK and are of a certain age you will remember a terrible lunchtime programme on BBC called Pebble Mill. I must have been skiving off college and was lying on the couch when the presenter announced a song called Broken Land. This will be crap, its Pebble Mill.
Wrong again, it was great, melodic with a soaring vocal with traditional Irish instruments and was about the troubles in Ireland. It rightly went top twenty but sadly was their only top forty hit.
Sea of Love was their second album and was their commercial peak. It’s a mature sounding record lavish in production and musicianship with big atmospheric choruses throughout and as certain songs arrives you think, yes that could have been a hit
The opener Drowning in the Sea of Love highlights Terry Sharpe’s vocals and is catchy enough and should have been their second top forty hit.
Heaven Knows Which Way is upbeat with excellent backing harmonising from fellow band member Eileen Gribben and special mention must go to her husband, guitarist, and chief songwriter, Pat Gribben who crafted these songs and unleashed his guitar on Hold Me Now.
The album has a few standard songs You Don’t Have To Cry Anymore, The Sound of Summer and When Your Heart Was Young pass me by but ends strongly with One Step From Heaven.
The album is maybe a bit to polished for my liking, but they certainly deserved more commercial success and it was nice to take a trip down memory lane.
7/10
GIVE IT A STREAM: Broken Land