For those a-ha fans who were once moved by "Take on Me" or "Touchy", this album was something of a shock, and was not appreciated as it should have been. Those who were prepared to see beyond the second verse of Daylight's Wasting and spent a little time adjusting their ears to what has been described as a more trashy sound, were generally, pleasantly surprised to find a new level of Mr Waaktaar's musical talents.

Missing from most of this album were the soft melodies and tender lyrics that so frequently characterised a-ha tracks, the influence of Frode Unneland and Lauren Savoy was clear. Passionate drumming and rhymes that probably wouldn't have been seen dead on an a-ha album were all in evidence, and help create an album that rocks from beginning to end. Emotional stuff it isn't. A damn cool album, it is! The lyrics are simple, yet effective. Pål's voice may take a while to get used to, but has a unique tone all of it's own. Although some have said that there are rifts taken wholesale from other bands, this does not noticeably detract from the quality of the album as a whole.

As always, yes, there are weak tracks, but these vary with the individuals interpretation. Personally I don't dislike any track, although if I had to pick one that I feel uncomfortable with I would plump for Velvet more than any other track, and having seen the band kick some serious butt live have revised my opinions of Get Up Now and Mary Is Coming. These were both tracks which I did not appreciate fully until I had seen Savoy perform on stage. I know people who claim that the album is faultless, which I have to dispute, but each to their own.

Mary Is Coming represented a venture into a new sort of genre for Pål, the music he has said he's always wanted to make. Tracks such as Tears From A Stone and Foolish can legitimately be compared to both a-ha and Bridges, but the comparison is a favourable one, they stand head and shoulders above the work of both previous bands. Pål it seems was fully in his element during the making of this album.

It is a difficult album to review. As yet, the easiest way to sum up the whole Mary Is Coming album is merely to say "It rocks!" In some senses, with the benefit of hindsight, and writing this after the release of Lackluster Me, the feeling has become entrenched that this first album by Savoy was merely a stepping stone, an experiment for the band, that has led onto much greater things. There is no question in the minds of most which album is the best, although Mary Is Coming does have it's moments of glory.

The raw and rocking Daylight's Wasting is complimented by Underground with it's catchy chorus and rift that can lodge and stick in the brain for hours at a time. (It's a good track to listen to just before work, I've spent whole days in a good mood singing "So take me down, Underground" under my breath and pissing off my colleagues, who are now heartily sick of hearing about Savoy!) The other uptempo classic that is, incidentally, heavy enough to headbang along to, is Raise Your Sleepy Head, another track that converted well during the live set when Lauren took lead vocal.

Mary Is Coming, that Lauren claims is written from a woman's perspective (we're still trying to establish whether she meant she wrote it, or if it's actually about lesbian sex ... ;) is slow, exhibiting a vocal from Pål that is the perfect compliment to the backing track and completes the depth of the song. The lyrics are not especially explicit, but at the same time manage not to leave a great deal to the imagination. I laughed when I heard that the album was called Mary Is Coming, but the piss-taking stopped when I heard the title track and realised that Pål, Lauren and Frode knew exactly what they were implying when the album was so named.

Tracks like We Will Never Forget, Still I'm On Your Side and Half An Hour's Worth although they may not stand out and grab you as some of the aforementioned ones do, have their own unique qualities. Pål's slightly distorted vocal on Half An Hour's Worth completely makes the track, We Will Never Forget stood up to being put on one track repeat for two days exceptionally well and includes a guitary bit in the middle from Mr Waaktaar-Savoy that can still bring me out in goosebumps (or is that because I forgot to turn the heating on this morning?), and Still I'm On Your Side has a mood all of its own that is not duplicated anywhere else on the album, or on the one that was to follow.

All in all the album was a complete surprise on first hearing, and should have been acknowledged as one of the greats of 1996. Instead a lack of promotion and publicity meant that only a select few became aware of it. I only discovered Savoy about 18 months after this was first released, but it hadn't dated at all. There are still copies of Mary Is Coming floating around in the UK record shops, but you'll have problems ordering it because it's been deleted from the Warners/WEA back catalogue, although I understand HMV will order it from the States at a cost. If you can't find one, try CDNow (that's where I got my copy) ... or failing that go to Norway and see if you can pick up a copy when you buy Lackluster Me. Trust me, it's a worthwhile investment!

Anna/Annut/Wensleydale
23rd November 1997.