Sense Show Notes

I’m flying high on a load of podcast links and show notes, because the latest episode of the Lightning Seeds podcast is live and ready to go. Somehow, and can you believe it, Mat and I find fifteen reasons to talk for even longer than we did before! In this episode, we talk about the halbum Sense which features such niceties as The Life of Riley, Sense, AAAAHHH Cool Place and a Small Slice of Heaven.

Catch the episode on Spotify:

Catch the episode on YouTube:

We begin proceedings with a tribute to Steve Wright who sadly recently passed away. Here’s Steve phoning into Ian on Radio 2

As far as differences between different releases and formats, there aren’t any (except for the release that was big in Japan). The LP, cassette and compact disc all share the same 10 tracks. US release is exactly the same in regard to tracklisting, though the compact disc is a much nicer picture disc. As mentioned, only the Japanese release differed in tracklisting, as the Japanese market demands extra stuff. Extras included the addition of B-side Thunderclap Newman cover Something In The Air (from The Life of Riley) and Fifteen Reasons. We’ll cover Fifteen Reasons when we get to the rarities episode. Yes, really, Hilda. You’ll have to be patient!

The tracklisting as we know it wasn’t always thus. Mat got his hands on some old brilliant old artwork which showed a very different track listing and it’s a running order that, quite frankly, doesn’t work.

Mat fiddled about on Spotify and created a playlist including the original running order. The original running order is just wrong. Change our minds.

We agree that Blowing Bubbles is an absolute killer track and that AAAAHHH Cool Place is boss. We both also agree that Happy is a bit “meh” and really could do with being spruced up by being played live. Do you ever wonder about how the live versions of Blowing Bubbles, AAAAHHH Cool Place and Happy sound? Of course you do. Wonder no more, Mat has digitised and uploaded this gig from the London Astoria, 27th January 1995. It features performances of Blowing Bubbles, A Cool Place and Happy. Watch it below

Got an hour to spare? Watch these unedited rushes of the Sense video Mat managed to find. Look out for the cameo of Becky and Terry.

We talk about Terry Hall quite a bit, as Sense is the first album that Ian collaborated with Terry on. Easily one of my favourite lyricists, he was one of the all-time greats. Here’s one of the funny moments I picked out on the podcast: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/xs5nXaf6Sj5yKkqE/

Have a bonus live version of Sense from TFI Friday featuring both the Lightning Seeds and Terry

A Small Slice of Heaven is a song that stops both of us in our tracks. Those lyrics really resonate, and the instrumentation is beautifully recorded and produced. We talk about this song in great length, so I won’t waffle on too much. In the mean time, enjoy this live version with Riley found on YouTube (not filmed by Mat shocker – you’ll hear why in the podcast):

We talk about Thinking Up Looking Down and it’s one of our favourite songs from the album, it means a lot to both of us. But it wasn’t always the tick tock of a clock under delicate acoustic guitar picking. Firstly, it was a song called Upside Down, which is a song that was recorded for the Skinner Session in 1990. It’s a more upbeat song musically but most of the lyrics and themes remain the same. Was supposed to be the third Lightning Seeds single, even had a catalogue number assigned. A proper version never saw the light of day and it remains unreleased. We’ll cover it on depth on the rarities / B-sides episode somewhere down the line. In the mean time, listen below:

By the sound of it, no: