The House Of Love – The House Of Love

I'm so glad to hear this on vinyl (at an affordable price)
My copy was very clean right outta the wrap and sounds awesome.
'Great underrated band!

I listened this album to death on CD throughout the 90s and early 00s and prob know it better than the back of my hand. This far surpasses the original CD and high-def streaming (Tidal) with depth, clarity and bass response. I always felt those earlier versions to be a bit tinny, and this pressing adds that low register which fleshes out the sound. No issues with pops on my copy. Grab this lost classic from the 90s. Recommended.

My copy sounds fantastic. No issues at all. Wet cleaned and played on Technics 1500c with rigB540ML cart. Great album and happy to finally have it in my collection.

My pressing had incessant ticks on SGTLY so I have returned it. The vinyl roar was fairly high, married to a low level cut, so during quiet moments, the noise floor was apparent. My girlfriend’s copy had ticks on two tracks and my Babe Rainbow copy had the same problems on one track. All albums came in a non polylined inner sleeves. I cannot recommend these titles as a result, despite the great sound quality. My 33-year old original copy is quiet and without ticks or pops!

I am so glad I picked this up. It sounds excellent—not an audiophile pressing, but blows my old CD out of the water. Thank you!

Contrary to the opinions voiced elsewhere, I believe this record was far from "over-looked" or "under-rated". It was very hotly anticipated for a long time, since their previous LP had hit home so hard. The songs are less potent, both the chord progressions and sounds more mainstream and less original. Where Chadwick's lyrics were cryptic before, they now became outre and cringe - "The Beatles and The Stones sucked the marrow out of bones, put the V in Vietnam" etc.
The over-production on this LP smooths out too much of the friction of this band, leaving them sonically somewhere between Siouxsie and the Banshees and Dire Straits / U2. It's clear they were going for a cleaner, more "professional" sound than on the preceding album, but lost the soul of these songs in all the careful decisions and expertly applied reverb. I guess the idea was to polish the record up for chart success. Too much too soon, for what was still an indie band.
It's a beautiful production job, but on the wrong record. This was not overlooked, it was a disappointing misfire. Not without some charm, but such a let down after the build of their singles and first LP. So precipitous in fact, that it all but finished them. Their place as heirs apparent to the Smiths, was taken by the Stone Roses, whose record was perfectly produced by John Leckie. Where the production on this record is too mature, comfortable and MOR, making the House of Love suddenly sound very middle class and safe, Leckie's gave the Stone Roses' brittle elements swagger and class, without losing their urgency and working class soul. After burning so bright, the HOL had become obsolete in just over a year.

My inner sleeve of butterflies is hand stamped 197739

We’re they all numbered ?

On my Cassette side one is the listing for side two and the reverse same barcode and pg number

Amazingly great groups miss the mark for a variety of reasons, but one of those reasons should never be because an album lacks a title. Such was the case for The House Of Love, who’s initial outing was self titled, as was this, their second release, which also went by the name The Butterfly Album, The Beatles & Stones Album, and if that weren’t enough, it was also referred to as the Fontana Album, which was the name of their recording label.

So they missed the mark with the name thing, that's certainly no big deal. What was a big deal was the sound that came from this unknown band, who found themselves in America in support of this outing, where they found their stride and laid claim to a space on the time line of neo-psychedelic music that belongs to them alone. Before the tensions of drugs were to shatter several of the founding members, the lineup read thus: Guy Chadwick holding down guitar and vocals, Terry Bickers also on guitar, Chris Groothuizen on bass, Andrea Heukamp pulling double duty with guitar and vocals, along with Pete Evans on Drums. Together these guy gave us some of the very best psychedelic music of all time, perhaps yes, of all time. Simply listen to "In A Room," where I'm breathless just listening to it as I write.

The music is thick, lush, swirling, dark and deep, with a warm resonance that flows into and out of you as the record weaves it's way into your soul. Single notes have the feeling of lasting for minutes, while the lyrics grab a hold and tempt you with their complexity, demanding your attention in a comforting nurturing manner, then go on to caress you from the first to the last chord on this album. There's a contextual flow to this release, drawing deeply from the sounds, visions and sensibilities born from those heady wasted summer days and cool nights of the mid 1960’s, where House of Love have designed a record with those days in mind, yet in doing so, have created a body of work that to my way of thinking, stands equal footing when compared to my fav Beatle album Magical Mystery Tour. It’s easy to forget how good this record is, leaving me fearful of overplaying it, where this release will always have a place of prominence in my music library.

I happened to see House of Love on tour in support of this outing, in a comfortably small club in Philadelphia. I managed to speak with them prior to the show and even so, was totally unprepared for what was to unfold on stage.  Swirling guitars meshed together will elegance and precision, blending and infusing with each other as one song moved into the next, all to a driving rhythm that while understated, certainly carried everything forward, where as if that weren't enough, the entire event was set to a dazzling light show that tripped me right back to my days at the Fillmore in San Francisco, reminding me that I was still very young at heart.

Sometimes I have the feeling that I'd been waiting on this album for my entire life, that I simply needed to make it to that point in 1990 to have my dreams realized, where this record unfolds in response to every musical need I could have ever imagined.  

The Beatles and the Stones
Sucked the marrow out of bone
Put the V in Vietnam
The Beatles and the Stones
Made it good to be alone
To be alone ...

*** The vinyl was never released in the States and is a rather pricey affair if one wishes an exceptionally clean copy.

Review by Jenell Kesler

Vastly underated offering that sounds like it was recorded in a closet (just listen with headphones on!) but is filled with some of the most gorgeous and dreamy songs recorded in the 90's. These tracks definetly deserve a reworking. Timing is everything and as this came out during the madchester phase it appears it was overlooked. A+ record.