Impure

The Essence - Purity [CHIME 011CD UK 1988 FLAC]

Originally a vinyl album in 1985 on Midnight Music.

Many will likely recall Rotterdam's The Essence for their singles Endless Lakes and The Cat during the mid-eighties. To make just one single sounding a lot like Seventeen Seconds Cure could normally be considered a fluke, however to do the very same over eight singles and four subsequent long players has to be copycat. I blame front man Hans Deiner for this Robert Smith fixation as he tunes his own voice and lyrical style to that of the back-combed one throughout.

Musically, The Essence pull off some great tunes and it is those which makes this album enjoyable, however the vocal attempts at mimicking Robert Smith become a tad annoying after a while. Thank heavens our Dutch chums didn't progress to Love Cats for inspiration.

01 The Last Preach
02 A Reflected Dream
03 The Cat
04 The Blind
05 Never Mine
06 Endless Lakes
07 Forever In Death
08 Salvation
09 The Waving Girl
10 Purity
11 Confusion
12 From My Mouth
13 The Swaying Wind