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Old 17 Apr 2019, 21:10   #1
Mart
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Afternoons In Utopia=Concept Album

For many years I have listened to AIU. It's simple melodies, chord changes and lyrics are heavenly. I have come to the conclusion that AIU is a concept album. A Concept album is one of which a theme runs through it. Every track contains the theme, and is seamless. The theme of AIU is post war dreams. Where everybody is happy and the world consists of melodies and harmonies. Overcoming the fear and desolation of war runs through the album, and the word S.M.I.L.E is in the lyrics of 4 or five tracks on the whole album. I cannot count how many times the word DREAMS is repeated on the album also.


It makes a concept album because at the end of LADY BRIGHT, Marian stops singing after the word PRETTIEST, the album finishes with an ad lib. At the very beginning, the song IAO, the ad lib begins with the word NIGHT. Because the album loops, it makes it a concept album.


There is also a hidden track on the album, but you need the proper software to play it. You must open an edit programme (Audacity, Sound Forge) and enter the track Afternoons In Utopia into it. Then you must add the other track I A O on top of the 1st one. Move IAO track to where the chorus is and align them. Hence the hidden track. Afternoons In Utopia with a fuller chorus.


You can also do this to Afternoons In Utopia (Instrumental). Just add the track I A O onto the track, and place it where the chorus should fit.



And there you have it. AIU is one of my favourite albums pre Dreamscapes. It is a beautiful album and should not be outshone by albums that were released after. The musical and vocal harmonies are just so brilliant, every track makes your heart skip a beat, and for you just to smile


I'm gliding in the distance and watch the world go by
An orbit full of questions, a perforated sky
Last edited by Mart; 18 Apr 2019 at 00:43.
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Old 18 Apr 2019, 09:02   #2
Ana
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Mart,you have made a very good work here.Congratulations!!!I agree with your idea its a concept album and above all a beautiful one with a superb quality
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Old 19 Apr 2019, 07:53   #3
shapeseven
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Hey Mart, indeed AIU is a concept album, I remember that it so was announced as concept album back then by the band.
As for lady bright: the final word is “Previous”, not “prettiest” - and for me it took over 20 years to discover that the first word on the album is nothing bit a “loop” as it connect to the last song. Pretty clever concept ;-)
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Old 19 Apr 2019, 13:08   #4
Mart
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I wasn't aware that the band announce it as a Concept. Thanks for the info. And my hearing is not what it used to be, so you are right with PREVIOUS


I'm gliding in the distance and watch the world go by
An orbit full of questions, a perforated sky
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Old 04 Jun 2019, 15:12   #5
TobiasMal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mart View Post
I wasn't aware that the band all used rangefinder binoculars and announce it as a Concept. Thanks for the info. And my hearing is not what it used to be, so you are right with PREVIOUS
I didn't know this was a Concept album either. Do you think this changes things drastically?
Last edited by TobiasMal; 07 Feb 2024 at 10:12.
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Old 20 Dec 2020, 13:35   #6
jetset
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"Lyrics written by Alphaville except Lady Bright - Faster Than Light: written by Albert & The Heart of Gold".
Actually the credits, as such, are wrong:

There was a young lady named Bright,
Whose speed was far faster than light;
She started one day
In a relative way,
And returned on the previous night.


is a short text written by A. H. Reginald Buller, published in Punch (19 December 1923).

he wrote this second verse later on:

To her friends said the Bright one in chatter,
"I have learned something new about matter:
My speed was so great,
Much increased was my weight,
Yet I failed to become any fatter!"


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Old 21 Dec 2020, 12:27   #7
Kaz
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Weren't there plans for a musical / opera or something of that ilk a long while ago?


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Old 23 Dec 2020, 02:53   #8
russharvey
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaz View Post
Weren't there plans for a musical / opera or something of that ilk a long while ago?
That is what I remember Marian saying many years ago.


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Old 10 Jan 2021, 13:04   #9
lunarclair
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Absolutely Love this Mart ...yes I first had it on cassette and the last word was to tell you turn tape and repeat cycle of this story. I have the CD now too..if I had to save one AV thing in a disaster, it would be this,and remember Marian signed it too . Couldn't survive without it and it's impossible to listen to on Shuffle,it has to in order exactly as it is �� never knew about the hidden track
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