Generation i - surprise CD of 2013

I must admit that I had never entertained the thought that there could be a new album by 1927 given it has been 21 years since the last one.

But a few days ago I bought Generation i and I've hardly been able to put it down.

For those overseas who may not know what I'm talking about, 1927 is an Australian band that were massive in the late 1980s largely due to the debut album called ...ish.

They released three albums  - ...ish in 1988, The Other Side a couple of years later and a self-titled album in 1992.

I was 13 when ...ish came out and it was one of those albums you could listen to the whole way through and not skip any songs. 'That's When I Think Of You', 'If I Could', 'Compulsory Hero' and 'You'll Never Know' were the hits and they are still great songs today IMO.

The second album is pretty good as well, the title track 'The Other Side' remains my favourite 1927 song and it also has some special meaning attached to it. I remember a mate of mine in high school telling me a story about how that song reminds him of a girlfriend he had who passed away a few years later.

The third release wasn't as remarkable and only has a couple of memorable songs and that's probably a good part of the reason why the band essentially parted ways.

I recall seeing 1927 in a pub in Sydney in about 1999 or so and they kind of disappeared after that until about 2008 when a 20th anniversary tour of the ...ish album happened. Then they supported Roxette in concert and formed part of what was my ultimate high school concert given they were my two favourite bands during school.

Back to Generation i.

As a fan I was always going to buy it but I didn't really have high expectations given I hadn't really heard anything new for 20 years.

On first listen it was strange but a good experience and I had the feeling it would be a 'grower' It certainly is. I haven't stopped listening to it either in the car on the ipod/ipad.

A sign of a quality album is the number of songs you transfer onto other devices and I moved eight of the 11 songs straight over, with another to come when I get around to removing it from the CD player in the car.

The stand out is definitely 'The Story Never Ends' but I'm very much liking 'City Talks', 'Nobody Knows', 'Fright Of Your Life' and 'Where You Are'.

The shame of this album is that it is likely to be largely ignored because of the amount of crap music out there that seems to be popular and clogging the airways. Hopefully some radio picks it up.

If you aren't familiar with 1927 then YouTube is your friend. If you look up any of the songs I mentioned earlier then you won't be disappointed.

Given the surprise nature of Generation i I wouldn't mind if they don't record another album, it is almost as good as ...ish I reckon.