The Christians are a musical ensemble from Liverpool, England, who had the highest selling debut album of any artist at Island Records and international chart hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The name of the band refers to the surname of the three brothers that were originally in the line-up, and is also coincidentally guitarist Henry Priestman’s middle name.
Garry Christian (born 27 February 1955, Liverpool) (lead vocals), Roger Christian (born 13 February 1950; died 8 March 1998 from brain tumour) (vocals, instrumentalist), Russell Christian (born 8 July 1956) (keyboards, saxophone, vocals), and Henry Priestman (born Henry Christian Priestman, 21 June 1955, in Kingston upon Hull, brought up in Liverpool) (keyboards, guitars, vocals) formed the band in 1985. Paul Barlow (drums), Mike Bulger (guitar/vocals) and Tony Jones on bass were also early members. Because of a reluctance to tour, Roger left in 1987.
In Rock: The Rough Guide, critic Charles Bottomley, described them as “The Temptations in ripped jeans, producing gritty-centred songs in a sugary vocal shell”.
Colour is the second album by British soul group The Christians. It was released in January 1990 by Island Records and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart. It also reached the Top 20 in several European countries due, notably, to the success of its lead single “Words”. (by wikipedia)
Given the obvious talent at the Christians’ disposal, it’s odd how uninspiring their music is. Gary Christian has a remarkable voice, soulful without resorting to the showy mannerisms that derail so many lesser singers. In his previous band, the Yachts, keyboardist Henry Priestman revealed himself to be one of the wittiest and most melodically subtle songwriters of the post-punk age, as well as one of its most immediately distinctive instrumentalists. The subtle melodicism is still there on 1990’s Colour, but the cleverness and distinctive personality are pretty much gone. The lyrics are uniformly po-faced and mushily inspirational, with none of the sparkling wit of the Yachts, and Laurie Latham’s ultra-slick production doesn’t even have the over-the-top sonic gimmickry of his earlier albums for Squeeze and Paul Young, making Colour musically indistinguishable from the likes of Phil Collins and Simple Minds.
Worst of all, the songs are absurdly elongated, stretching three minutes’ worth of musical and lyrical content into tracks that tend to stretch into the five- to seven-minute range. Despite the title, Colour is stultifyingly monochromatic. The closing “In My Hour of Need” is a charming sendoff, though, by far the most memorable track on the album. (by Stewart Mason)
Personnel:
Garry A. Christian (vocals)
Russell Christian (saxophone, vocals)
Henry Priestman (keyboards, guitar, vocals)
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Steve Ferrone (drums)
Pino Palladino (bass)
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The London Community Gospel Choir (on 09.)
Tracklist:
01. Man Don’t Cry (Priestman) 4.46
02. I Found Out (Priestman) 4.30
03. Greenbank Drive (Priestman) 4.25
04. All Talk (Priestman) 4.37
05. Words (Traditional/Priestman) 7.04
06. Community Of Spirit (G.Christian) 5.13
07. There You Go Again (Priestman) 6.00
08. One More Baby In Black (Priestman) 5.42
09. In My Hour Of Need (Priestman) 6.24
The labels of the vinyl edition
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