Embrace:The Good Will Out

Embrace are:
DANNY MCNAMARA (Vocals)
RICH MCNAMARA (guitar)
MIKE HEATON (drums)
STEVE FIRTH (bass)
and MICK DALE (keyboard)

THE GOOD WILL OUT by EMBRACE:
A Masterpiece!

by Karena Bernard

Embrace and Oasis have often been mentioned in the same breath, as both bands hail from northern England and include two brothers. So what. A more meaningful basis for comparison is the sound. The Good Will Out, Embrace's debut release on the Dreamworks label, is, at times, an early Oasis-like onslaught of distorted power-chords and soaring, layered vocals. But vocalist, Danny McNamara, can deliver a smooth ballad in a hushed whisper with just as much credibility. There is a certain Radiohead-like quality to the slower, more delicate material.

However, Embrace's emotions escape the modern-day urban alienation and hopelessness that Radiohead's Thom Yorke sings about. On the contrary, Embrace seem to have a grasp on the ubiquitous truths that help us transcend our very human shortcomings. There is an intrinsic optimism and confidence to the material, hope for the future with an understanding that there will be a heartache or two along the way.

The song that make up The Good Will Out are simply exquisite, from the delicate and sensitive, Retread - which builds to a celestial chorus - to the Charlatans-like, bass-line anchored One Big Family and the hymn-like Fireworks. There are no bad songs on The Good Will Out; nor are there are any 'just OK' songs on the CD. Each one is nothing short of magnificent.

The lyrics touch on such topics the magnitude of a simple act of goodness, or the vulnerability and fragility of an emotional bond. The slower material on The Good Will Out will wrap around your heart.

And, Oh, then there's Danny McNamara's voice, a virtual plethora of emotions, capable of perfectly executing a precisely placed whisper as well as a sustained high note which seems to encompass his entire being. Also, there is something about his vocal quality - and perhaps his phrasing - that implies something of an esoteric wisdom.

The songs that make up The Good Will Out are simply exquisite, from the delicate and sensitive, Retread - which builds to a celestial chorus - to the Charlatans-like, bass-line anchored One Big Family and the hymn-like Fireworks. There are no bad songs on The Good Will Out; nor are there are any 'just OK' songs on the CD. Each one is nothing short of magnificent.

The Good Will Out is every bit the prodigious work that as it was built up to be. Embrace have been characterized by the British press as cocky to the point of arrogance, but when you've got something this good, you should - indeed - flaunt it!

Go to: TransAction Magazine: June 98 issue

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