Please put all reviews for 'Vision Valley' and its singles that come from professional print and online sources in this thread so we can stockpile them. It will help if you copy and paste the review and the source.

BTW, I received an email from EMI saying 'Q' has given the album 4 stars!! It's expected to be out this week along with reviews in Time Out, Uncut, and The Fly.

The Vines
Don’t Listen to the Radio
Capitol
27/03/06
Single Review
David Adair

The troubled Craig Nicholls has been Australia’s answer to Pete Doherty, ever since the antipodean’s searching self-titled debut album of 2002. This was the biggest release of emotion since Little Mo’s court case in EastEnders. With their second album being too insular and a little scary for a lot of people to stomach, Craig takes a step back with a little help from the garage rock genre and polishes this offering off with a longing indie feel. ‘Don’t Listen to the Radio’ goes someway towards recovering Nicholl’s and the band’s powerful pitch and strong mindedness.

The wandering lyrics incite minimalism and drop a hint that their third album, ‘Vision Valley’ sees a return of the compelling eccentricity that once illuminated this colourful outfit;

“Don’t listen to the radio here’s something that you already know,
I, I, I, got no radio.
Don’t speak up on the telephone here’s something that you never show,
I, I, I, got no telephone.”

To paraphrase words of the great Danny McNamara; The Vines have gone back to what they know. On this showing alone, it appears to be working.

Source: http://www.contactmusic.com/

The Vines
'Vision Valley'
Australia
EMI
Review Date: 23/03/2006

It's been a rollercoaster ride for the Sydney band, but The Vines are set to shake off their critics with this third album. Singer Craig Nicholls has written some of his strongest songs yet for Vision Valley. He still has one of the best screams around, but can also combine that with bittersweet melodies. Recorded with Wayne Connolly (You Am I/Youth Group), "Don’t Listen To The Radio", "Dope Train" and "Any Sound" are some of the highlights. The group won't be touring at all for this new release.

Triple J
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/review/album/s1599319.htm

'Vision Valley'
Guy Blackman
March 28, 2006
The Age

The Vines' Craig Nicholls doesn't warrant the tag of mad genius.

The Vines' Craig Nicholls is a tortured artist. After the rapturous response to 2002 debut Highly Evolved was followed by disdain for followup, Winning Days, Nicholls' errant behaviour degenerated from precocious to disturbing.

The low point came when he kicked a photographer and smashed her camera at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney two years ago, resulting in assault charges and the departure of original bassplayer Patrick Matthews.

Then came a medical diagnosis - Asperger's syndrome, a kind of autism - which explained away Nicholls' volatile behaviour while at the same time conferring on him a kind of heroic status, that of a visionary artist struggling to overcome his mental demons through the healing force of music.

The thing is, Nicholls' simple songwriting doesn't quite warrant the tag of mad genius. Third album Vision Valley is a basic affair, with Nicholls alternating between punkish aggression and a kind of cocooned, dreamlike pop. It's the songs in the latter style which are the most effective, rather than his simplistic lyrics or riff-heavy guitar workouts.

Overall, Vision Valley has the unspectacular sound of a fragile soul coaxed into the studio with kid gloves. Most of all, it just sounds numb.

Key track: On their six-minute album closer Spaceship, Nicholls' voice has a world-weary, insulated pathos that conveys the last two years of his turbulent life more effectively than his simplistic lyrics or riff-heavy guitar workouts.




Source: The Age (Melbourne/Victoria)
http://www.theage.com.au/news/cd-reviews/v...3441131848.html

So far i have heird mixed reviews about VV. Maybe more bad then good but some people really didn't know what they were talking about. Kinda funny. And i am talking online reviews from regualr people.

*edit* I just searched vision valley reviews on google. I came to a site where 20 people reviewed the album. Lowest was 3 highest was 5/5. I know it really doesn't matter but it is good to see other people liking it.

The Vines, Vision Valley
4 stars (Heavenly)
Caroline Sullivan
Friday March 31, 2006
The Guardian


Focused, coherent, connected - not words you'd have expected to apply to the Vines' comeback album, which arrives 18 months after singer Craig Nicholls' Asperger syndrome diagnosis.

The press release makes such lurid play of his condition ("deranged yelps", "wailing wreck") that it seems miraculous he even persisted in writing songs, let alone was able to turn them into possibly the best 31 garage-rock minutes you'll hear this year.

This (rather than their mediocre second album) should be taken as the follow-up to their hyped-to-the-heavens 2002 debut, because with Vision Valley the Vines fulfil the promise they showed as the former "Australian Strokes".

Nicholls is detached and dreamy when the occasion demands it (Take Me Back and Going Gone exemplify the group's soft, harmony-drenched side), excitingly arrogant and Iggy Poppish when it doesn't.

The retro-rocking Anysound may kick off with Nicholls declaring, "I am a Vine, all twisted and frayed," but on this album, he doesn't sound in need of sympathy.

Source: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/st...1742847,00.html

CD Review: The Vines: Vision Valley
Vines' Vision clearly good
3 1/2 stars out of 5
by ANDREW CARVER
Ottawa Sun/Canoe Jam

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Vines
Vision Valley
(Capitol/EMI)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Australia's Vines continue to outgrow their Nirvana influences on their third album.

Vision Valley is a surprisingly poppy effort, and Craig Nicholls' vocals sound cleaner than ever, though he does revert to his howling younger self on songs like F*k Yeh and Dope Train.

The more melodic tunes suit the group well, with the restrained title track bordering on loveliness.

At the album's tail end there are two songs that sound like Supergrass at that band's most elegiac: Atmos and Spaceship deliver a real payoff for the band's growing infatuation with studio recording.

If this is a sign of things to come, there may be great things in store for The Vines.


Source: http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2006/03/29/1514048-sun.html

The Vines
Vision Valley
(EMI/Heavenly)
Review: Pete Clark
The Evening Standard

Among the least likely occurrences on planet pop was a third LP from The Vines. Leader Craig Nicholls disappeared into a paranoid void and it was widely assumed he would never be seen again. Thus Vision Valley must count as something as a blessing merely for existing, and almost makes it to the status of miracle for being so good.

The album was recorded quickly, which means that chunky riffers like Anysound and Fuk Yeh are free of obstructive production details, while Nothin's Comin' is pure punk nihilism. While most tracks come in at around two minutes and the supercharged Slade effect of Gross Out lasts just one, the closing Spaceship is an epic cosmic wig-out that takes it to the full six minutes.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/articl...ning%20Standard

The Vines
Vision Valley
The Telegraph (London)
Andrew Perry


The Vines enjoyed a brisk ascent with 2002's Highly Evolved album, which saw them hailed as the Australian Strokes. Their second album, 2004's Winning Days, was contrastingly ill-starred, as the media began to focus on singer Craig Nicholls's erratic behaviour. This reached crisis point at a gig in the band's hometown, Sydney, where, on stage, Nicholls kicked a photographer and seemingly broke down.

Soon afterwards, he was diagnosed with a mild form of autism. Alongside those mitigating circumstances, what will fully rescue him is this thrilling third Vines album. It opens with a moronically simple Kinks-y riff, and a punky pop song, Anysound, which drills into your consciousness with an immediacy that prevails throughout Vision Valley.

Nicholls had been self-medicating with excessive marijuana smoking, with the result that previous albums gradually descended into a dopey, overdub-heavy haze. Here, a back-to-basics sound throws Nicholls's songs into sharp relief. Don't Listen to Your Radio is, perversely, a massive, rowdy, Nirvana-ish radio hit waiting to happen. Live shows are unlikely. No matter - the album will be everywhere this summer, and deservedly so. Andrew Perry

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml...ixartright.html

Wild-boy frontman Craig Nicholls was recently diagnosed as mildly autistic, but his sucker-punching CD-31 minutes, no song topping 2:45 except for the psych-pop closer-shows his musical mind unimpaired. He's digested the Nirvana influences a bit more, and along side the glammy fops defining modern rock at the moment, his feral, melodic garage punk is refreshing. Extra points for a radio single titled "Don't Listen to the Radio."

B+ -WH Entertainment Weekly

The vines
Vision Valley
The Sun Herald
Christine Sams
2/04/06

The weeks most talked about release
When there was a massive hype surrounding The Vines' first album Highly evolved , Craig Nicholls told me: " you just want people to judge it for how they see it, how they hear it, without reading a bulletin beforehand."
After the release of winning days, Nicholls was in bulletins for all the wrong reasons: onstage meltdowns, violently kicking a Sun Herald photographer’s camera, attending court and being diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. The music- If there was anything left of it was completely overshadowed. With Vision Valley , Nicholls and his remaining band members (Hamish Rosser and Ryan Griffiths) have made promising comeback. Gone is much of the crazed mania that typified a Vines song- although there are occasional tastes of Nicholls as a wailing banshee. There is a fresh, melodic touch on this album, although some might question the overriding Beatles influence in the first half. Hard-core fans will think the Vines have gone soft, but this magnetic combination of pop rock and harder tunes should attract and even wider audience.

7/10

The vines
Vision Valley
1-2/04/06
Sydney Morning Herald
Bernard Zuel

Between the Extremes
It's remarkably early in a bands career for what could be the proverbial last throw of the dice, or at the very least a resurrection of some credibility. But this is what Vision Valley, album number three, represents for the Vines.
Its not fair, of course, but neither was the extravagant (and unsought) overreaction to a decent- promising, even- but short of outstanding- debut album in 2002, which drew millions-plus sales, endless magazine covers and elevation to "new rock messiah" status.
The somewhat bitter critical reaction, and considerably cooler public response, to their average second album was probably no surprise. Nor was what appeared to be a band implosion that saw one founding member leave and the vultures circle.
While it would be good to consider Vision Valley on its merits, this history and a subsequent diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome (a mild form of autism) for singer/songwriter Craig Nicholls do hover in the background. As such, the first reaction to Vision Vallet may be a surprise: it is no disaster at all. The second reaction is that it is typically concise and contained- its 13 songs are over in less than 32 minutes. The territory essentially remains the mid-late 60’s (principally the psychedelic Beatles but know a gnarly garage band element, too) and the early 90's (Nirvana and, um, Nirvana)
The third reaction is that Nicholls' song writing ability has improved, whether with the dreamy chorus (the very pretty take me back, vision valley, and particularly the expansive Going Gone) or with the threshing vocal assault on what is still a pop melody (F-- Yeh, Nothins' Comin', Dope Train)
What's more, he has now added a middle ground between his extremes (Anysound, Futuretarded and particularly the glitter band meets the Sonics pleasure of the single Dont Listen to the Radio)
So, does this album put the Vines back at the head of the queue? The short answer is no, because that’s the wrong question: anyone with any sense would not want them back in there just yet. But this album at least puts the Vines back in contention


edit: excuse the poor grammar and spelling.. i typed them quickly

Allmusic got their review of Vision Valley.
As i expected they make comparisons with Winning Days, which they seemed to hate.
They should review the album just as a free-standing record, and i think it would have got a 3,5-4/5.

Vision Valley
Allmusic
by Heather Phares

After 2004's lackluster Winning Days and Craig Nicholls' subsequent breakdown, it certainly seemed like the Vines were never to be heard from again. Surprisingly, though, the band persevered: Nicholls was diagnosed with and treated for the neurobiological disorder Asperger's Syndrome, and guitarist Ryan Griffiths and drummer Hamish Rosser stuck by him (bassist Patrick Matthews left to play with Youth Group). The trio recorded Vision Valley in a few small studios around Sydney, and the album has the back-to-basics sound of a band getting back on its feet again. The Vines have consolidated their strengths, sticking to their formula of wound-up, grungey rock and pretty, psych-tinged ballads. Fortunatey, they still do both well, as outbursts like "Anysound" and "Nothin's Comin'" keep it spare and simple, while the title track and "Take Me Back" show that Nicholls and company's softer, lusher songs have nearly as much impact as the harder ones. Especially on the first half of Vision Valley, everything is tight, focused and shiny, particularly on the playful pop of "Candy Daze" and the insidiously catchy single "Don't Listen to the Radio," both of which offer a more bubblegummy take on their rock sound. If anything, Vision Valley almost feels too tightly-constructed, lacking the messiness and loose ends that made the Vines sound like they had so much potential on Highly Evolved. However, "Gross Out" captures some of the freewheeling spirit they had on their debut, and when they stretch out on the lengthy, atmospheric rock of "Dope Train" and the floaty, Pink Floyd-esque album closer "Spaceship," it feels like the Vines may still regain the momentum they had earlier in their career. Vision Valley might be a little predictable, but at least the Vines sound like they're back in control of their lives and music again.

*choice tracks - 'Anysound,' 'Candy Daze' & 'Don't Listen to the Radio'

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:eptxlfjedcqi

^ thanks for adding reviews guys, and wow, ava, for taking the time to type yours up! and i agree with you negativecreep - review the album, not previous ones or the lead singer's behavior.


The Vines - Vision Valley (Heavenly)
- Jamie Harper
MusicOMH.com


2004's Winning Days was somewhat indifferently received after The Vines' über-successful debut, Highly Evolved. With third album Vision Valley and after two years away from the limelight, The Vines will hope to cement their reputation as a major force in punk rock, something that Winning Days failed to do.
The first offering from Vision Valley was the arguably confusing Gross Out. Clocking in at just 78 seconds it was, for some, a strange single release. In the context of the album however it is far more understandable. Sounding like a collision between Nirvana and Sex Pistols, Gross Out perfectly summarises the kind of adrenaline fuelled, temperamental ferocity that has defined The Vines' career thus far.

The opening assault too is rather fleeting, before you know it Anysound, Nothin's Comin', and Candy Daze have flown past in a mere five and a half minutes and we're into the middle of the album. Anysound is a brilliant opener, based around a quirky, kitsch guitar riff it hints at a return to form for the wizards of Oz. Nothin's Comin' sees a disturbing verse swell to classic Vines territory for the chorus where Nicholls' guitar sounds like it's just made the transition from caged animal to wild beast. Candy Daze is again boisterous in nature and sees the employment of a retro sounding organ to add a different element to the sometimes predictable Vines sound.

It isn't until the title track that we see some respite from the anarchy. String-laden, acoustic guitar, beautiful. It represents a welcome dose of change after being half pummelled to death by the first three songs and exhibit's a growing maturity in The Vines' songwriting.

Other highlights include the rampant Don't Listen To The Radio, Fuk Yeh, and Dope Train. Take Me Back is another go at something more downtempo but rapidly grows tiresome and is ultimately disappointing, whilst Going Gone is highly reminiscent of Highly Evolved's Autumn Shade.

If one thing is underlined, highlighted, and spelt out in capital letters its that The Vines are very much better at raw, rowdy, energetic rock songs than they are at slowed-down, stripped-down ballads - which just sound void of any real passion. Its as if The Vines are writing these songs because they feel they have to, not because they want to, but if they're going to sound as half-arsed as they do then why not stick to what they do best and release an album full of frenzied anarchic rock songs?

It is, however, brilliant to hear the voice of Craig Nicholls again, his spasmodic, snotty delivery more spasmodic and snotty than ever, a "fuck you" delivery sneered to anyone in it's path. His voice is something drastically underrated by the media and the public alike, but can you really imagine The Vines without the voice of Nicholls?

Apart from developing on the stock Vines sound a bit, Vision Valley doesn't really offer anything new or exciting. There's nothing here that you can't obtain from either of the previous albums and it's still some way off the musical gem that is Highly Evolved. That record is poppy by comparison, with an unexpected slow burn that renders it still exciting today. Vision Valley's biggest problem is that it has very few songs that grab you and bury themselves in the core of your memory. Could be better.

http://www.musicomh.com/albums5/vines-3_0306.htm

Artist / Band: The Vines
Album: Vision Valley
Record Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: April 04, 2006
Grade: B+

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Review:
Once part of the new rock explosion with the Strokes and the Hives, the Vines got derailed by frontman Craig Nicholls' erratic public appearances. It turns out he wasn't just being a jerky pop star but actually had a mild form of undiagnosed autism. The revelation came too late to help the Aussies' Beatles-esque second album, Winning Days. But the band's recovery on Vision Valley is nothing short of remarkable. Having narrowed down its influences to Nirvana and John Lennon (mainly) and refocused its energy, the band comes up with a handful of big-chorused rock songs such as "Going Gone" and "Take Me Back" to win back the hearts of even the most scorned fans.

http://www.eonline.com/Reviews/Facts/Music...07,3679,00.html

Recommended Album - SAIN Magazine, Australia
"A slam of shredding rock and catchy hooks makes The Vines hot new offering"

The Vines
Vision Valley
(EMI)

So they're back - who would have thought? And their return is heralded by a slam of shredding rock and catchy hooks on their third album, Vision Valley. Sans their old bassist, the band itself is stripped back to three and, with Nicholls' history of violence brought on by his diagnosed medical condition, we're lucky to even get the chance to hear them make this record! The first single "Don't Listen to the Radio", is a noisy rock anthem that is a perfect sum-up of their current style, but our fond pick is "Nothin's Comin'" which was originally just a demo but (apparently) it wouldn't be left off. It's smooth harmonies are a welcome reprieve and definitely get you in. This is classic Vines crazy-rock genius that needs very little definition. One listen and you will be hooked.
OUT NOW

The Vines Vision Valley (Capitol)
Rolling Stone
Brian Hiatt

Four years and several cultural shifts ago, the Vines were the MTV-friendly face of a neo-garage movement that was supposed to save rock. Now, after a failed second album, canceled tours and a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome for their lead singer, the Vines' labored-over, over-ingratiating third album sounds like the work of a band that would be content to save its own career. Following the aimless experimentation of 2004's Winning Days, Vision Valley is a blatant return to the poppy Nirvana-isms of the band's 2002 debut. There are signs that frontman Craig Nicholls' songwriting chops are improving: The self-defeatingly titled single "Don't Listen to the Radio" is a lean, uncharacteristically Cars-like potential hit, and the punchy "Dandy Daze" nails a Nuggets-ish vibe. But as in the worst of latter-day Weezer, a certain emotional hollowness creeps in, from pretty but rote ballads like "Take Me Back" to Cobain-o-matic rockers like "Fuk Yeh." And then there's the numbing "Futuretarded," which is even worse than its title -- if that's possible.

'Dandy Daze'? when are they gonna effin' get that right?

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/956...has-player=true

THE VINES

Vision Valley (Capitol)

Nothing dies more often than rock 'n' roll. In 2002, it experienced another resurrection with The Vines debut "Highly Evolved." The three boys from down under had a penchant for writing punchy power pop but it was front-man Craig Nicholls' erratic and violent behavior that ruined any momentum the band may have had. He was later diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, and the future looked bleak for the Vines. But, like a rock zombie, they wouldn't stay dead. Call it a comeback, their third album is anything but apologetic. Instead, it rips through a sweaty half-hour of no-frills guitar rock as if nothing ever happened. (Shawn Telford)

GRADE: B

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/265314_n...html?source=rss

Vines
Vision Valley
[Capitol; 2006]
Rating: 3.4
Pitchfork
-David Raposa, April 3, 2006

If the first time is tragedy, and the second time is farce, then what would you call it the third time around? Around these parts, the Vines have been a farce from the start-- adding up the numbers Pitchfork writers attached to their first two albums would barely get them past 6. Well, here are some points to get these sassy kids over the ever-loving ten point oh mark. If these three albums get released on one CD, it will be so awesome.

As it stands, what the Vines offer on their third album is permutations and refinements on what they've been doing since whenever. On the stupid loud songs, Craig Nicholls sounds like a bored Kurt Cobain. On the stupid slow songs, Craig Nicholls sounds like a bored Liam Gallagher (which is pretty impressive, given Gallagher's innate inertia). To the group's benefit, the exhibitions of ennui available on Vision Valley cut out before the 3:00 mark. (That excludes "Spaceship", the group's six-minute Pink Floyd Stadium Tour moment.) A lot of tracks barely make it past two minutes, which works great for the hyper-ironic first single, "Don't Listen to the Radio", and "Nothin's Comin'", one of the better Nirvanabee tracks. Brevity does not help when you call a song "Futuretarded"-- cowbell or no cowbell.

Of course, track length is immaterial when your trippy dippy psych-psoaked buzz ballads are wearing out their welcome before they find that confounded bridge. "Take Me Back" is country-fried Vines, complete with twangy guitar lead-in. "Going Gone" is wonderwalled Vines, complete with string section. And if one's source of inspiration is the overworn "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (as it is on the title track), then one needs to go back to the drawing board and chuck the tracing paper.

And that's the short of it. This album's greatest failing is that there's nothing here. There's nothing remotely offensive about Vision Valley that can inspire any sort of righteous fury about the musical hegemony. Unless you're offended by the f-bomb-- there are bits of f-shrapnel sprinkled throughout, to provisionally lend proceedings a certain edge that no amount of power chording can truly hone. And there's nothing musically offputting about this record, unless relentless mediocrity in the three-chord arts is a capital crime.

Subjectivity being what it is-- the Vines are the Vines are the Vines. They're good at what they do, even if what they do isn't all that good. They have their fan base. They have inroads to get a song into some commercial and on Jack FM stations. They have a budget to make videos that will get them face time on MTV2's Subterranean. And, in two years, they'll have another album out that (if previous efforts are any indication) will sound a lot like this one. Maybe they'll tap into some unforeseen creative vein and surprise everyone with their Brave New Direction, or actually write more than one or two decent songs per album. Until that happens, though, you know what you're getting if you're buying this album. And you're probably not going to like it.




guess again, ya loser.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-revie...on-valley.shtml

Vision Valley
Released: 03/04/2006
Megastar

If you're a Vines virgin, on the first listen, this album is solid, but nothing remarkable. Half an hour or so of inoffensive tracks which touch on a selection of genres.

The title track, Vision Valley is begging for a summer release, with its light poppy tones. Spaceship, on the other hand, is a rock-tinged punkfest.

But when you're given an insight into the story behind it, the collection strikes you as an ambitious achievement.

The Aussie band peaked with their debut album, Highly Evolved, back in 2002, which was well-received in the UK and across the pond.

Music bods had high hopes for the Sydney foursome, but frontman Craig Nicholls' increasingly temperamental and erratic behaviour was the band's downfall, after a meltdown on stage in which he lashed out at a photographer.

Nicholls has since been diagnosed with a form of autism - Aspergers Syndrome. Working together again, with knowledge of how to control Nicholls' behaviour, the fact that they have been able to produce another album at all is an achievement in itself.

The Vines should be proud that they can still confidently hold their own again the new kids on the block.

[url] http://www.megastar.co.uk/essentialmusic/n...DE2NTQyOTg.html[/url]

Vision Valley
Released: 10/04/2006
NW
The return of The Vines!
PICTUER THIS An Unknown Sydney Band are discoverd by the hottest managment team in town. Signed to US giants Capital, they're whisked away to America to record their debut album. Instant fame and huge sales follow. But a ''difficult'' second album ant the volatile frontman's meltdown (later explained by a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome) mean they may never play live again.

SOUND LIKE THE END? Tha's what most people thought of The Vines -Australia's most Successful rock export in years. But Craig Nicholle and his two remaining cronies (bassist Patrick Matthews left to join Youth Group) have regrouped and recorded Vision Valley. The album is gaining good reviews and you may soon see them live. '' Im copeing.'' says Craig.'' Im looking forwared to doing the shows.''

''Sorry if it has already been posted but im to tired to look.''

The Vines
Album Vision: Valley
Label: Capitol/EMI
Released: April 4
***1/2 (out of five)

At a time when it seems just about any second-rate pop tart can score a record deal, it’s easy to be cynical about the titanic music-recording machine. That’s why albums like Vision Valley, the third from Australian rockers The Vines, are so refreshing.

Frontman Craig Nicholls (guitars, vocals), Ryan Griffiths (keys, guitars) and Hamish Rosser (drums) work hard here to shake early comparisons to Nirvana. With some tracks, like the six-minute cut Spaceship, they prove they’re comfortable taking risks, yet they also continue to churn out the punk, grunge and garage sounds that put them on the map in the first place.

Nicholls has written some of his strongest songs for Vision Valley. He can scream like the best of ’em, but he also knows how to channel his voice into bittersweet melodies.

Take Me Back, Don’t Listen To The Radio and the title track are some are some of the highlights.

Jarrett Churchill/Metro Toronto

http://www.metronews.ca/entertainment_cd_review.asp?id=15224

NME issue 8 APRIL 2006




Oh, and that flash on the picture isn't my camera flash by the way, it's part of the picture.

THE VINES - Vision Valley
X-Press Online
_ROBERT PENNEY

For a while there it seemed like The Vines' bubble had well and truly burst. Following the release of their shaky second outing Winning Days, Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with the socially crippling Aspergers Syndrome, had the group permanently banned from Triple M's airways for reckless behaviour at a sponsored show and eventually he even alienated bassist Patrick Matthews to the point of leaving the band. Amazingly, despite the politics, The Vines have resurfaced with a surprisingly focused third offering Vision Valley.

With not nearly as many holes as Winning Days, no track on this make-or-break album (aside from the longwinded Spaceship), makes it past the three minute mark, putting a strong emphasis on snappy melodies.

Opener Anysound confirms that the chunky riffs are back with a vengeance, while elsewhere Candy Daze is textbook sunshine pop. If the dreamy Goin' Gone is this album's Homesick, then Don't Listen To The Radio is unquestionably the new Get Free. Generally, the Beatles-esque moments outweigh the Nirvana inflections, though somehow the throat shredding rock-outs don't seem as exciting as they did back in 2002. Vision Valley's psychedelic-acoustic moments support the theory that The Vines have actual substance outside the public freak show of on-stage-pants-wetting and nervous breakdowns. With a selection of such high calibre tunes on offer, whether or not Nicholls is a cheeseburger-obsessed headcase in 2006 thankfully seems irrelevant.

http://www.xpressmag.com.au/archives/2006/...vines_visio.php



The Vines Come Back Bigger, Better and Balanced.
I’m sure you’re familiar with Highly Evolved, the 2002 album from Australian band The Vines that for many people picked up the baton that Kurt Cobain put down in order to pick up a shotgun. Get Free was one of the standout rock singles of the year and much was expected of this volatile three-piece from Sydney, and their highly talented talisman Craig Nicholls. You may even be familiar with disappointing follow up album Winning Days, an album so sonically confused that many wondered if the first album had actually been nothing more than a homage based blip. What you may not be familiar with is what happened next, in the lead up to the making of third album Vision Valley, a record that not only has the band returning to form, but also puts forward The Vines’ credentials for one of the releases of the year thus far. However, it is an album that very nearly wasn’t.

The Vines had always been an unstable outfit at the best of times, but their rapid accession up the rock and roll hierarchy heaped a great deal of pressure on a band that simply couldn’t deal with it. As the expectations got bigger, so did the strain under which the band were operating. Winning Days was receiving a critical mauling, Nicholls and his bass player Patrick Matthews were at each others throats, Nicholls’ taste for junk food and weed were having a hugely detrimental effect, and what had previously been lauded as classic rock and roll behaviour was now proving tiresome, raising the ire of much of the industry and press. A backstage fight between Nicholls and Matthews continued onto the stage during a live broadcast of The David Letterman Show. The stage was trashed, along with the dressing room, and more importantly The Vines reputation in The States. The chaos finally peaked at a live performance at the Annandale Hotel for Triple M, Australia’s biggest commercial radio station. After only two songs, Nicholls launched a boot at a photographer before descending into a yelping mess on stage: he was having a breakdown on stage in front of a disbelieving audience. Matthews could take no more and got the bus home never to play with the band again. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Nicholls was charged with assault for his attack on the photographer, and people thought that The Vines’ star had crashed out of its brief trajectory.

What had happened to Nicholls was truly tragic, but many believed that there was more to it than met the eye. Eventually, it was discovered that Nicholls suffered from a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. Lifestyle changes were made, and the first things expunged were the mammoth weed and junk food intakes. For Nicholls the most important thing at this stage was to lead a healthy, balanced life, and music was certainly far down on his list of priorities.

However, by September 2005, after a spate of creativity in the preceding months, The Vines returned to the studio to record some tracks. Gone were the huge studios with budgets to match. The songs that eventually became Vision Valley were recorded in a tiny Sydney studio, and have a greater honesty and intimacy than anything the band has produced previously. No longer are The Vines a band riding high on bravado; this album is the sound of a band in love with making music and nothing else. One suspects that they never liked nor expected much of what had happened previously. Equally, Vision Valley sounds like a band getting back in touch with why they started in the first place: making great songs.


What is instantly striking about this collection of songs is exactly how much more accomplished The Vines now sound as both writers and performers. There is a hazy psychedelic fug surrounding many of the tracks, but it is most evident on Futuretarded and the sublime Spaceship.. On an album packed with two minute gems, this six minute wig out is gloriously indulgent, not least for the mesmerising guitar solo. There is also a sensitivity here on tracks like Vision Valley, the lilting Take Me Back, and Going Gone that many would not associate with these riffing rockers. However, lest we all allow ourselves to get too comfortable, we should remember that this album is based around the kind of two minute gut-punchers that got people excited about The Vines in the first place. Opening with the hollering rock of Anysound being chased by the woozy delight of Nothin’s Comin is a sure fire way to raise the heart rate. However, it is probably the West-Coast acid surf rock of Candy Daze, and the perfect punk-pop of Don’t Listen To The Radio that will gain this band a whole new legion of admirers, while previous admirers will be bouncing off the walls to visceral little numbers like Gross Out and Fuk Yeh.

Vision Valley is an album of great depth and variety, combining a more accomplished musical maturity with the urgency of a teenage garage band. If life experience inspires great art, then we can probably expect more great records like these in the future from The Vines. Just don’t let them know, as they seem to work best when left to do things their way, on their terms. The fact that this album was conceived from such hellish conditions makes the listener appreciate it, and the band, so much more. However, to truly enjoy this album, don’t come to it as a Vines album; come to it as an album from a new band. There is much here for old fans to sink their teeth into, but the changes through which the band have gone were so huge that they cannot help but have an impact of equal proportions on the outfit’s sound. The Vines are dead. Long live The Vines.

Vision Valley is released 3rd April.

For more information on The Vines, why not go to www.thevines.com?

Then, once you’ve done that, tell us what you think in our forums.

http://liveonstage.org.uk/reviews/releases...ger_bette_1.php

*originally posted by whyme?

A few reviews, some of which aren't that exciting, but hey they're reviews....



The Vines' Come Full Circle…

Australian trio's emotional return with new album 'Vision Valley'

Vines' singer Craig Nicholls was diagnosed a form of autism in 2004. However, with professional assistance, he has responded well to his treatment and his previously much publicised marijuana and fast food intake is now a thing of the past.
In September 2005, The Vines were able to enter a tiny Sydney studio with Australian producer Wayne Connolly (You Am I) and recorded a set of tracks Nicholls had written during the previous couple of months.

They have nothing to lose because they find themselves at the bottom again. The major triumph is that Craig Nicholls has managed to overcome the odds to make 'Vision Valley'.

There are no big production values, LA studios and hours of overdubs on this record. There are no touring plans. What there is are 13 new songs from the band that has given us stone wall rock gems such as 'Ride', 'Factory', 'Get Free', 'Highly Evolved', 'Winning Days' and 'Outtathaway!'.

This new set offers up some great scatter-gun punk moments ('Gross Out'), gorgeous summer pop ('Vision Valley'/'Take Me Back') and psychedelic rock that climaxes with the glowing Floyd-esque 'Spaceship'.

Tracklisting:
01. Anysound
02. Nothin's Comin'
03. Candy Daze
04. Vision Valley
05. Don't Listen To The Radio
06. Gross Out
07. Take Me Back
08. Going Gone
09. Fuk Yeh
10. Futuretarded
11. Dope Train
12. Atmos
13. Spaceship

The album 'Vision Valley' is out on April 3rd.

http://www.vmg.co.uk/news3025
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The Vines Vision Valley
Sunday, 02 April 2006


Vision Valley is the third album for Aussie band The Vines and it’s the one that so nearly didn’t happen following singer songwriter Craig Nicholls’ with Aspergers Sydrome, a form of autism. However, all that is dealt with and put behind them and at last they release their follow up to 2004’s Winning Days, and even managing to better their previous efforts.

There’s a divide between the hardcore and softer side of The Vines and we go from the punky yelp out loud numbers like Anysound and Gross Out to the more soothing west cost sounds of Take Me Back. Going Gone drifts along nicely and album closer Spaceship is one you can imagine the whole crowd lifting their lighters to. At the end of the day, after all that they've been through, it's good to have them back.

Rating: 3/5

Release date: 3rd April 2006
Label: EMI

http://www.ukmusic.com/reviews/rock-and-in...ion-valley.html
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The Vines - Don’t Listen to the Radio

Released: 27th March 2006
Label: Capitol


The troubled Craig Nicholls has been Australia’s answer to Pete Doherty, ever since the antipodean’s searching self-titled debut album of 2002. This was the biggest release of emotion since Little Mo’s court case in EastEnders. With their second album being too insular and a little scary for a lot of people to stomach, Craig takes a step back with a little help from the garage rock genre and polishes this offering off with a longing indie feel. ‘Don’t Listen to the Radio’ goes someway towards recovering Nicholl’s and the band’s powerful pitch and strong mindedness.

The wandering lyrics incite minimalism and drop a hint that their third album, ‘Vision Valley’ sees a return of the compelling eccentricity that once illuminated this colourful outfit;

“Don’t listen to the radio here’s something that you already know,
I, I, I, got no radio.
Don’t speak up on the telephone here’s something that you never show,
I, I, I, got no telephone.”

To paraphrase words of the great Danny McNamara; The Vines have gone back to what they know. On this showing alone, it appears to be working.


Review by: Dave Adair

http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/index2.php?db=n...,review&id=2869
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The Vines - Vision Valley (Heavenly)
**** out of 5
Scott Zverblis


IN 2002 The Vines released their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Highly Evolved’, and after a healthy succession of sold out tours and respectable chart positions the band seemed poised for world domination.

The much-anticipated second album ‘Winning Days’ also received rave reviews, with the record gaining a modest chart position.

The future looked bright for the Aussie 3-piece back then, but boy, how things changed. You see, The Vines are about to release their long awaited third album ‘Vision Valley’, which could have been easily been the last.
Advertisement your story continues below

In 2004, during that infamous gig in Sydney, Singer Craig Nicholls argued backstage with bass player Patrick Matthews. These arguments, led to unfortunate onstage fighting between the pair. This onstage bust up wasn’t just a one off either, Nicholls behaviour was getting even more erratic with every show they did.

Health problems

It was clear to other members of the band that Craig had serious health problems and needed medical help. Asperger’s Syndrome was the doctor’s diagnosis, which explains his feelings of anxiety and anger. Thankfully, the band is back together and is about to release their best record since ‘Highly Evolved’.

Don’t worry folks; ‘Vision Valley’ isn’t a boring, complicated concept album, which deals with Craig’s previous feelings of angst, frustration, and helplessness. It’s just a fantastic rock record, which will have you on your feet dancing within minutes.

Candy Daze

Highlights include the opening track ‘Anysound’ which, to put it simply, rocks out! ‘Candy Daze’, which sounds like The Beatles gone punk and ‘Don’t Listen To The Radio’, which is surely this generation's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". It is heavy, but not as angry as you might imagine, with a strange hybrid of trashing guitar, happy handclaps and Craig Nicholls warm and rich vocals.

With a fast, infectious guitar riff that guitar legends of yesterday could only wish for comes ‘Gross Out’. Closing track ‘Spaceship’ is a beautiful ballad, full of emotion and feelings of abandonment - gripping and compelling stuff.

‘Vision Valley’ is made up of songs that when taken apart are still solid, but it works best when played from start to finish. It surprises me how a band on the brink of splitting up, can recorded something as good as this.

The Vines have recorded the ultimate comeback album, without even going away.

Released on April 3

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/entertai...y_heavenly.html
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The Vines: Vision Valley (Heavenly) ** The fact that there is a new Vines record at all is a surprise. There has been barely any publicity, Craig Nicholls's recently diagnosed Asperger's means touring is not wise and last album Winning Days was disastrous. Vision Valley feels more like a triumph against the odds than a great collection of Beach Boys-meets-Nirvana pop songs, but it makes for an uninspiring half an hour during which Nicholls has nothing to say other than 'people are full of hurl'. It proves The Vines can ally angry punk with summery pop – but they did that back in 2002 with Highly Evolved. Ben East

http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/article.h...28&in_page_id=9
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The Vines
Vision Valley
Album Review
Mark Moore

So the third album is out from The Vines, surprisingly! Why surprisingly? In short if we consider the fact that Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, who would of thought that the band of even carried on. Could it be the true professional in him, or maybe it is just his love of music that is spurring him on. If it was down to the diagnosis Craig was not waiting around, he was like a man possessed and wrote the whole of the album in a matter of months.

The album starts out with ‘Anysound’, which starts out as a proper Rock n Roll record, with a brilliant guitar solo in the middle. This is what The Vines are about sounding a tad like Nirvana in this track, but for me it really is that guitar solo. I wouldn’t say that this album is a hit n miss; rather say that in places it is all out living it large. At the same time though you are brought back down to earth with the more chilled out songs such as ‘Vision Valley’ that is actually the title track. The energy is still there, but not quite sounding like The Vines. The Vines have taken somewhat a different approach, but lets face it, surely for the better. Still a sound track though, and if these tracks are to go by then Mr Nicholls should blast out his quick writing albums a lot more often. ‘Fuk Yeh’ is again another Full on Rock track. The whole trend really is that this album is I would say 60% of magic noise through the guitars blasting out and then, 40% of bringing you back down to earth. The more chilled out tracks! Think of it as a rollercoaster giving you the buzz when shooting down and spiralling, and slowing ya back down as the coaster slowly travels back up for the next buzz.

The one thing that I will say for a thirteen-track album it does seem to be over very quick indeed!! I don’t if it is just me, but some of the songs seem to be over before they have even started. All in all a good buy for anyone out there.

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/w...evinesx04x04x06

THE VINES
Vision Valley (alt rock)
Australian garage rockers the Vines bear unripened fruit on their latest CD.

The Vines dont waste much time racing through their third CD: Thirteen cuts clock in at little over 31 minutes. One track, the raw, raging "Gross Out", is done in 75 seconds. As this album shows, however, sometimes less is just less. Although in keeping with the punk tradition of brevity, some of these songs feel unfinished, as if they were plucked off the vine too early. Oddly, the Vines go to the other extreme for the disc's psychedelic closer, the 6 minute long "Spaceship". Still, the Australian trio displays a knack for combining garage garage rock and Beatles-esque pop. Vision Valley hits its peak with "Dont Listen to the Radio", a hand-clapping stomper that is just catchy enough to land these mates on the airwaves.
-C. A.
2.5 stars of 4.
DOWNLOAD THIS!: "Dont Listen to the Radio"

These guys are such idiots.

The Vines, "Vision Valley" (Capitol/EMI)

After The Vines lead singer was charged with assault for kicking a photographer at one of his band's concerts in Sydney, ending a spat of oddball behavior fans had pegged to just wild ways — all signs pointed to the band to dry up and wither away.

But a year after the incident, countless mea culpas and attorneys claiming Craig Nicholls suffered from a form of autism, which was responsible for his behavior, The Vines have returned from rock bottom with "Vision Valley," an angsty punk album that often tilts close to pop.

The album starts with a wonderfully raucous punked-out assault on "Gross Out," sounding every bit like the garage band fans know and love. But lasting just over a minute, the song is over before the album turns, unfortunately, to lighter music.

Where does it go? To a sound more bubble gum than basement punk.

"Candy Daze," for example, is too sweet for comfort with beats that make you think of more of four mop-top boys from overseas than hellions who shook the charts just years ago.

That mellow mood continues with "Don't Listen to the Radio," an acoustic ballad that is forgettable and out of place.

In fact, the entire album, The Vines' third and a follow up to 2004's "Winning Days," follows an up and down pattern of aggressive, driving songs such as "Dope Train" — which is as wild of ride as it sounds — with let-down ballads like "Spaceship" to end the album.

Still, "Vision Valley" may be appropriately named. Nicholls' nearly tore the band to shambles with his shenanigans before he was diagnosed with Asperger's, a condition characterized by social and communication deficiencies.

The Vines may have a long way to go out of this valley — and they're going to need some serious creative vision to get there.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060405/ap_en_...iew_the_vines_1

^ 'don't listen...' is now a ballad? what an idgit.

VISION VALLEY
THE VINES; CAPITOL/EMI
London Free Press
Darryl Sterdan

"I am a Vine," sings Craig Nicholls, "all twisted and frayed." No kidding; the last couple of years haven't been all that great to these young Aussie power-popsters. First, their optimistically titled sophomore CD, Winning Days, tanked. Then frontman Nicholls -- whose erratic, aggressive and destructive behaviour was earning him a bad reputation -- was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a neurobiological disorder related to autism that basically prevents him from touring. So it's probably no wonder that the third Vines disc, Vision Valley, is a darker, unhappier affair than its predecessors. From the stark black-and-white cover art to song titles Nothin's Comin', Futuretarded, Going Gone and Take Me Back, the 13-track disc brims with images of depression, frustration, alienation and isolation. All that disaffected angst is mirrored in the music, which may or may not be a good thing. The 31-minute Vision Valley is constructed of simplistic, bare-bones songs that average two minutes in length (aside from an epic closing ballad) and fall into one of three categories: Nirvana-style grunge grenades, melodic Beatle-pop singles and Cheap Trickish power-pop fuzz-bombs. Granted, it's lean, mean and direct; but at times it also feels underwritten, as if Nicholls dashed these tunes off in one go and didn't care enough to flesh them out. And granted, it has its moments; hooky pop-rockers such as Anysound, Don't Listen to the Radio, Gross Out and Dope Train may not top Get Free, but they do kick up some serious dust. But ultimately, they all whip by so fast that they barely have time to sink in before they're forgotten. We can only hope that Nicholls and the Vines don't end up the same way before too long.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Music/20...525524-sun.html

Kinda mixed but mostly positive...


The Vines –
‘Vision Valley’ (EMI) Released 03/04/06


by Lee Glynn


The Vines were once legends to many. Nicholls and his cohorts created a buzz that echoed through the whispers of music journalists and music lovers alike with their debut single ‘Highly Evolved’ and achieved in 90 seconds everything that many bands took years to realise. Although critically acclaimed debut LP ‘Highly Evolved’ had its faults it’s still a classic. Fast forward a bit and you’ll find them on the front cover of the Rolling Stone, trashing gigs and getting bigger by the second. The recording of ‘Winning Days’ was underway before Nicholls had a chance to settle the dispute and growing hostility towards his bass player Patrick Matthews. ‘Ride’ was released in all its glory to a worldwide audience who had waited patiently for two years for the next Vines gem and it was received with open arms. The band fights got a little worse. David Letterman’s dressing room was trashed before the band were due to appear live on the show. Then that set was trashed live on air after a fight with Matthews ensued. The achingly beautiful pop classic ‘Winning Days’ was released and would be the Australian Band’s last single for what looked like indefinitely.

In a last ditch attempt to secure the hearts of their fans, The Vines’ management scheduled a live radio performance at the Annandale hotel Sydney. The band imploded on stage. Nicholls kicked out at a photographer and his increasingly erratic behaviour came full circle. He was left a wailing, yelping wreck on stage. Matthews walked out and The Vines were finished. The pressure took its toll. They were thrown into the deep end and they didn’t know how to swim yet. They had the songs, but they just couldn’t hack it.

Enter ‘Vision Valley’ – Nicholls’ make up sex to the world. Passionate, yet gentle, stripped down for all the world to see. It sees a hesitant return to the world of music for Nicholls, as a life adjustment on his part due to him being diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, takes Nicholls down a less urgent road. ‘Vision Valley’ is in essence a chilled out album, there are no ‘Get Free’s and there are no ‘Outtathaway’s. It is more subdued than ‘Winning Days’ as the more rocky songs are even quite calm. There are heavier songs, but even these seem to lack that crazed manner that graced The Vines’ repertoire once. Although comparing this album to anything else that they have done would not be entirely fair as The Vines as a whole are different as Nicholls has changed and the collaboration with Matthews is no longer - The Vines have lost their original aesthetic yet are still recognisable to those who look deep. Just don’t be expecting an instant classic. To experience ‘Vision Valley’ fully, it is best to approach the album as if they are a completely new band.

Opener song ‘Anysound’ is a balls to the wall rocker yet almost recorded entirely on four tracks, giving warning to the new direction of The Vines-overdubs and layers are out, stripped down rock and pop is in. With highlight tracks in the form of the ‘Nothin’s Comin’ and the beautifully string laden soul search of a title track ‘Vision Valley’ the good tracks are early recognised as tune after tune wins over the listener the 13th time round. Yes it’s a grower, but the sooner you let it grow the sooner you realise there isn’t one bad track here, even first single ‘Gross Out’ doesn’t sound that bad anymore, as psychedelic pop (‘Don’t Listen To The Radio’, ‘Candy Daze’) is mixed in with a more familiar heavy Vines flare (‘Fuk Yeh’) and as Nicholls laments on first line of ‘Take Me Back’ there’s no point in doing what I’ve done it’s obvious he knows that the old Vines are finished.

The Vines have created their best and in the same sense their worst album. The song writing gels more and there are no throwaway wishy washy tunes overshadowed by two key hit-singles. Yet that is just it, there are no hit singles here, nothing sticks out on this album as a hit single. The whole album needs to be heard as a whole to fully appreciate what they have done, and they have done well, so to slag it off would be wrong as everything is different now. It is a triumphant return, yet a sad moment when one thinks about what these lads once had.


http://www.gigwise.com/contents.asp?contentid=15320

^ i kind of get what that reviewer is saying though. the album does work beautifully as a whole piece, but there's no 'get free' or 'outtathaway' so to speak on it - and singles are what help sell an album to the masses.


The Vines - Vision Valley
Entertainment Ireland
CD Review by Lauren Murphy
3 stars out of 5

When The Vines first thundered onto the scene in 2002 with their much-lauded debut Highly Evolved, singer Craig Nicholls was catapulted into the fiery depths of international fame and portrayed as a slightly wacky - alright, mad - character who lived on McDonald's meals, constantly behaved erratically and often 'lost it' on stage. All well and good if it's merely a front for the press or a clever, if cynical marketing ploy; but Nicholls was no fabrication. The breakdown of the band on stage at what should have been a triumphant homecoming gig (Sydney, 2004) culminated in bassist Patrick Matthews walking; and the news that Nicholls had been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome led to the cessation of The Vines as a touring band. With such a dramatic past, Vision Valley, their third album, is very much a make or break outing; will they fade away permanently, a brilliant debut, a patchy second album and a plenitude of unrealised potential all that remains of their legacy? Or will they rise from the murky lagoon of troubled bands and make a decent go of recapturing the magic of Highly Evolved? Well, they've made a darn good effort with Vision Valley, anyway. The shortest of their albums yet - clocking in at just over half an hour - VV incorporates a satisfying balance between the straightforward wig-outs they've always excelled at, and melodic, harmonious ballads that decrease the pace when required. Nicholls' throaty rasp remains as engaging as ever - whether it be the angsty yelps demanded on wall-of-guitar effort Fuk Yeh, the Nirvana-influenced Gross Out or the warm garage riff of Candy Daze - or his gentle drone on Vision Valley, on the delightful slices of mellow summer pop (Take Me Back) or on the ironically radio-friendly Don't Listen To The Radio. Vision Valley is an album of mostly short, snappy blasts of energetic indie-rock which admittedly don't stray far from the tried-and-tested formula, but are incredibly likeable nonetheless. Something tells me that The Vines are the ripest they've been yet.

http://entertainment.ie/reviews/review.asp?ID=4412&SubCat=CD

The Vines
Vision Valley
USA TODAY
Edna Gundersen
3 out of 4 stars

The Vines, Vision Valley (* * *). After zooming to fame on the high-test punk of 2002's rave-worthy debut, Highly Evolved, Australia's answer to The Strokes seemed to be veering toward a career flameout as frontman Craig Nicholls' behavior grew increasingly erratic. He was finally diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism particularly unsuited for the rigors of rock stardom. Nicholls chose fight over flight, and the result is this 31-minute blast of grunge-bolstered garage-rock bliss. Less deliciously messy than Evolved and more melodic than 2004's Winning Days, Valley has plenty of punk-pop peaks, starting with Don't Listen to the Radio, a flippant, double-meaning spiel on toxic technology and Nicholls' need for retreat. The psychedelic title track, bubblegum pop of Candy Daze, country twang in Take Me Back and Pink Floyd trippiness in epic closer Spaceship show The Vines stalking fresh twists.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews...listen-up_x.htm

*i love that line about craig choosing 'fight over flight'!

http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=790

Album Review: The Vines, "Vision Valley" (Capitol)
April 11, 2006 10:37 AM
by GF Sheffer
liveDaily Contributor

On album opener "Anysound," The Vines (music)' lead singer, Craig Nicholls, screams, "I am a vine / All twisted and frayed." For the 13 tracks that comprise "Vision Valley," the Aussie group's third album, much of Nicholls' twisted psyche is on display. If only there were some compelling sounds to frame his mental and emotional struggles.

The Vines aren't breaking any new ground here--and, in fact, they sound bored. Nicholls' voice is thin, mixed in evenly with the drums and guitars. That seven of the 13 tracks clock in at under two minutes apiece doesn't help matters. Not that there's anything wrong with that--The Vines just ain't The Ramones.

Like "Highly Evolved" and "Winning Days," The Vines' two previous efforts, much of this set features quick punk songs interspersed with a few acoustic ballads. And it is the mellower stuff that stands out. Not necessarily because those songs are so good, but simply because they're not nearly as disposable as the harder material. Title track "Vision Valley," "Take Me Back" and "Going Gone" each exude Beatles-style harmonies and melodies--even if their lyrics are more Noel Gallagher than John Lennon.

While the band's earlier hits included deep hooks that beckoned your return, most of the music on "Vision Valley" holds no such appeal. "Futuretarded" is a monotone, three-chord drone featuring the remarkable couplet, "I don't know how the future started / We might as well all be retarded." Then there's the nonsensical "Gross Out," which revisits that loud/quiet dynamic made famous by The Vines' forefathers, but offers nothing innovative.

"Dope Train," which clocks in at 2:36, is the album's best track. Sure, its rhythm guitar totally snakes R.E.M.'s "Can't Get There From Here," but at least the payoff is a catchy song.

http://www.livedaily.com/reviews/Album_Rev...-9904.html?t=98

dicks..

i know!! i'm ready to start getting in some of those glowing UK reviews. these US ones depress me.

but your new av, angie, cheers me even in my nether regions.

oos, erm, sorry about that. back to reviews.

Thanks

thats rude...... can they saw that about them

Here's another one:

http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-200...ion-valley.html

The last few years have been difficult for The Vines, so much so that many fans had wondered if the band was going to be forced to call it quits. It all began when its sophomore effort Winning Days was met with mixed reviews, though it was front man Craig Nicholls’ erratic behavior that proved to be its biggest problem. He trashed the sets of both The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; he routinely tossed verbal abuses at his audience; and he was charged with assault after an altercation with a photographer. Many thought it was simply idiotic, rock star behavior, but Nicholls subsequently was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. In the midst of it all, bass player Patrick Matthews fled the chaos to join Youth Group, but by this point, the ensemble’s demise seemed almost certain.

With the release of Vision Valley, however, it’s safe to say that not only has The Vines returned, but it also has a new lease on life. Though the band (sans Matthews) still seems hellbent on rummaging through its record collection — in particular, allusions to The Kinks, Cheap Trick, and The Beatles abound — the album contains more clarity and focus than its predecessor. It also is a considerably darker affair, as Nicholls’ situation undoubtedly impacted the emotional content of his lyrics and cast an air of frustrated alienation upon the set. As songs like the gooey, bubblegum groove of Don’t Listen to the Radio; the driving, Jane’s Addiction-fueled frenzy of F*k Yeh; and the chugging, pop-charged Nothin’s Comin’ suggest, The Vines remains capable of delivering an adrenaline-soaked onslaught of garage-punk. Nevertheless, the collection’s most interesting moments come when the group slows down the tempo and attaches more texture to its ruminations of which the country-influenced Take Me Back; the harmonic bliss of Atmos’ latter half; the fusion of Oasis, Radiohead, XTC, and The Beatles on Going Gone; the string-slathered loveliness of the title track; and the epic, Pink Floyd-ian coda Spaceship are prime examples. Unfortunately, only the latter tune feels complete, but taken in total, they all provide evidence that The Vines’ creative spark, once again, has been ignited.

I have an Australian review that will cheer everyone up

Tsunami Mag April 06
The Vines
Vision Valley
(EMI)

10 out of 10

This is my fourth year of writing for Tsunami and I have never given a ten before. Why now? Well, when your prodigal singer/songwriter Craig Nicholls is diagnosed with a major disability like Aspergers Syndrome, takes time out to get his life sorted and returns with an epic musical odyssey like this, it really gives you faith in the capability of Aussie rock. It's hard to pick favourites as virtually every track is flawless but standouts include: 'Nothin's Comin'', 'Going Gone', "F*k Yeh' and the title track. The lyrics may be simple, but musically the album manages to 'out-Oasis" Oasis, rival the Beatles for pretty ballads and forge an even more impressive, melodic garage rock sound than ever before. There's also a limited DVD with seven music videos and a studio walk through with producer Wayne Connoly. Due to the crucial rountine-keeping that benefits Nicholls' health, The Vines won't be touring at all for Vision Valley, and doing minimal press. I was skeptical that a record could sell by word of mouth, but a sound like this is destined to be big.

Nice!!!

The Vines - Vision Valley
Double vision.
IGN.com
by Chad Grischow

April 12, 2006 - The Vines have seen the incredible highs and damning lows a music career can have, in the short span of six years since the Australian band's first album. Highly Evolved shot the band to the top of everyone's "next Nirvana" list. Confusingly erratic behavior by lead singer Craig Nicholls caused much of the music press to turn on them, as the band's leader appeared to be spiraling out of control down a path of self-destruction. Nicholls' reached his breaking point at a Sydney show, where he kicked a photographer. Shortly after the incident, Nicholls went to see a neurologist and finally received an explanation. Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, was the source of his increasingly bizarre behavior. Just two short years after the diagnosis and loss of their bass player (Patrick Matthews), Nicholls and his band triumphantly release Vision Valley.

The band is no longer content with just trying to become the "next Nirvana". The album features a balance of aggressive punk bravado and reflective psychedelic pop songs. Unfortunately, most of the punk is too standard and lacks the punch needed to grab the listener's attention. On the more mellow pop songs, the band sounds bored with themselves and never really take the songs to the next level. For the majority of the album, the band sounds as though they are just going through the motions, which is more than most expected from them with all their recent difficulties.

Vision Valley is somewhat of a hill for listeners to climb. The album starts with "Anysound", a punk song that is sorely missing the band's bass player. The crunchy guitars and angst-fueled vocals are solid, but the lack of bass on the song leaves it without a backbone. Thankfully, the band does have Andy Kent (You Am I) sit in as bassist for the remainder of the album. The album continues down the typical punk path with "Nothin's Comin'". The track pulls back the guitars for the verses, instead featuring a thumping bass, and slams them back into gear for the chorus. After opening the album with punk, the band takes a u-turn with "Candy Days"; channeling their inner sun soaked surfer on the breezy summer pop song. The band kicks up their feet and lay back even further on the title track, "Vision Valley". Adding an orchestra to the mix, the song takes the trio back to the days of '60s classic rock. The album starts pedestrian, and builds to the climax.

Finally, with "Don't Listen To The Radio", The Vines sound interested in what they came to the studio to do. A curious blend of punk and pop, including handclaps, it serves as the first sign of life on the album. The band's energy and rambunctious beat turn the simple song into a winner. "Gross Out" follows next, again feeding a simple song enthusiasm, angst, and fire to create the album's most engaging song. The band rips through the compact punk explosion as though they have a plane to catch. The light acoustic pop song, "Take Me Back" continues the string of inspired material with the best evidence that the band's sudden affinity for psychedelic pop may work for them.

Unfortunately, after the high of these three brilliant tracks, the album looses its way and starts the trek down the hill. Remaining tracks again feature a band that does not sound interested in the material. Airy pop songs ("Going Gone") and uninspired punk ("F*k Yeh") waste away the remaining minutes of the album. Another attempt at classic rock, "Spaceship" closes the song with The Vines doing their best Pink Floyd impression. The spacey song never takes off, and drags on for the last six minutes of the album.

Vision Valley is an average album overall, however the peak of the album hints the band may still posses the promise that originally caught the music world's attention. It will now be a matter of how well the band moves forward from here; releasing this album after the two years of tremendous turmoil is definitely a step in the right direction.

Definitely Download:
1. "Don't Listen To The Radio"
2. "Gross Out"
3. "Take Me Back"

http://music.ign.com/articles/701/701425p1.html

Ok, that cheered me up, but 10 out of 10? That's too far in the other direction....or am I the only one who thinks so (and yeah, I know this is the Vines site, so there's a certain amout of bias...).






Here's the text so you don't have to go to his site and read his 1 star, piece of crap review. What is with all the Nirvana references anyway? That doesn't seem, to me, to be as big an influence on The Vines as it is made out to be in these reviews. Is this just a groupthink, clusterf*ck thing?


---

Having worked with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders for the better part of eight years makes it something of a challenge to approach Vision Valley, the third album from Australian garage outfit The Vines, with any kind of critical objectivity, since it's the band's first offering since frontman Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which is characterized less by developmental language delays than by social anxiety and limited, even obsessive interests. Nicholls's public meltdown after The Vines' second album, Winning Days, bombed does give credence to possible social difficulties, and fully 12 of Vision Valley's 13 tracks suggest that, rather than the trains or dinosaurs that are commonly of interest to children with Asperger's Syndrome, Nicholls devoted his exclusive attention to a copy of Nirvana's Nevermind, to the point that it seems like that's all he knows. The rest of the band, however, doesn't have that excuse. Without a real gimmick to distinguish themselves from other heavily hyped garage acts—The Strokes' independently wealthy disaffect, The Hives' idiosyncratic grasp of the English language and matching ties—The Vines ultimately come off as nothing more than a proficient Nirvana cover band, lacking a perspective of their own or a voice that really demands attention. Vision Valley is just so rote and so juvenile—offhand, there isn't any band recording today who could get away with a song like "Futuretarded," pronounced "future-'tarded," thereby pulling the punchline of its stupid, stupid joke—that the only productive way to read it is as a deliberate, calculated kiss-off, an un-callable bluff from a band who never felt comfortable with the tireless promotion they received from MTV2 and the popular press and who never found a way to respond to that promotion in an artistically interesting way. Which, realistically, is giving Vision Valley and The Vines entirely too much credit, since the album's only true saving grace is that, with one exception ("Spaceship," derivative of either Pink Floyd or Oasis's "Champagne Supernova," depending on one's feelings of generosity), none of its terrible, obnoxious songs hits the three-minute mark. Its brevity, thankfully, makes Vision Valley just that much easier to ignore.

^ what an ass - he claims to have worked with autistic children yet takes a snide swipe at them?

and yes, this whole nirvana knock-offs thing has run it's course and is the mark of lazy journalism. if you don't like the album, fine, but stop referencing the vines' pillaging of the nirvana catalog as the reason. i'd say two songs at most off VV are kurt-like.

...some peoples kids...

The boy who was forced to grow up can still find some magic in music
The Vines
Vision Valley (Heavenly)
Rating: 3 stars
Rock & Pop CDs: By Leon McDermott

Petulant, childish behaviour is the norm for rock stars. Their every whim indulged, they can act the brat as long as they like and few will pull them up on it. Such was the case with Craig Nicholls, the highly-strung frontman of The Vines, whose debut album, Highly Evolved, sold 1.5 million copies back in 2002 and had breathless music hacks comparing the band to The Strokes and Nirvana.

Nicholls was Pan-ish, in both the Greek and the JM Barrie sense: an overgrown kid who existed on a diet of Big Macs and fearsomely strong marijuana, his stage performances were erratic and scattershot. As the band grew in stature – hitting it big in both the UK and in the usually-impenetrable American market – Nicholls crumbled. He abused audiences in Japan; he attacked his own guitarist, Patrick Matthews, on stage in Boston. They destroyed David Letterman’s set; Jay Leno’s fared no better. The final meltdown, though, happened in the band’s home town of Sydney in May of 2004.

Playing a show sponsored by the country’s biggest commercial rock station, Nicholls – broken and shattered from a gruelling tour schedule – taunted the audience. “Why the f*** are you laughing?” he snarled. “You’re all a bunch of sheep. Can you go ‘baa’?” He smashed a photographer’s camera; the gig ground to a halt. Matthews went home, saying he would never play with Nicholls again.

We’re already primed for rock stars’ public self-destruction, and the press love it; witness the thousands of wallowing column inches on Pete Doherty. But Nicholls, it turns out, was something different. In fact, he was a high-functioning autistic, suffering from Asperger’s syndrome.

For someone whose needs – routine, familiarity, stability – clashed so heavily with his chosen career – the hectic unpredictability of touring; a different city and different people every single day – it’s a wonder Nicholls didn’t crack earlier.

Two years later, The Vines are back (though Matthews remains absent), and Nicholls, through medication and therapy, is on a more even keel. Though he may be less traumatised , the music on Vision Valley is no less urgent. At barely more than half an hour long, its 13 songs are a breakneck trip through the punkish Beatles territory Nicholls has always favoured. Only one track, the swaying closer Spaceship, makes it past the three minute mark; the album’s lead single, Gross Out – a furious blast of Ramones-loving punk – is all over in under 90 seconds. Fuk Yeh [sic], meanwhile, is a threatening rumble, during which Nicholls gives Kurt Cobain a run for his money in the stripped-paint howling stakes.

It all begins rather ominously, though. “I am a vine, all twisted and frayed,” sings Nicholls over jaunty handclaps and a buzzing riff on opening track Anysound, before declaring “show me any sound / kill me I’m dead”. By the end of this brief blast, though, he’s happier, declaring “damage your health or manage your brain”. The following songs are shot through with the optimism of one who has seen the worst and come through it.

Vision Valley doesn’t always hang together. Nicholls’ songs are either all-out assaults or lilting daydreams, and never the twain shall meet, save for Don’t Listen To The Radio, which sounds, implausibly, like both Kim Wilde’s Kids In America and prime grunge-rattlers Mudhoney. Spaceship, meanwhile , is a shuffling ballad, full of la-la-las and minor key melancholy, with Nicholls gazing at the stars as he contemplates his mental disintegration.

The singer’s frailties are all over Vision Valley, located in cryptic couplets and throwaway phrases, but for a man who was barely capable of dealing with other people a couple of years ago, he’s made a remarkable recovery. There are, it was once famously said, no second acts in American lives. In Australia, however, they obviously do things differently.


Recommended download:

Don't Listen To The Radio

http://www.sundayherald.com/55153

Are they out of their mind?

Pop The Vines
Village Valley
(Capitol, ***)
Philadelphia Inquirer
- David Hiltbrand

Australia has always been a repository for both American and British pop culture. That dual influence is quite evident on the often-excellent third album from the Vines, the Aussie rock outfit fronted by the volatile Craig Nicholls.

The best songs - crunchy, tightly coiled nuggets like "Anysound" and "Gross Out" - are drenched in a Yankee flavor reminiscent of the Romantics. Go a little deeper into the CD and the dank English mood descends with blowsy quasi-ballads like the title track and "Going Gone," which recall Oasis. When the Vines cling to America, they're unstoppable.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/enterta...nt/14342879.htm

Ya, that's hilarious. On the upside, he didn't make the Vines-Nirvana comparison, and I'll give points for this:

"...The Vines, whose debut album, Highly Evolved, sold 1.5 million copies back in 2002 and had breathless music hacks comparing the band to The Strokes and Nirvana."

Blender
May 2006
3 stars
Tim Grierson

Since his band's much-hyped 2002 debut, Craig Nicholls has endured enough personal drama for an Oprah special: critical backlash, slumping sales, personnel changes, and onstage freakouts provoked, according to his camp, by his recently diagnosed Asperger's Syndrome, a neurobiological disorder that impairs social interactions. Despite those setbacks, the trio's third record barrels ahead with their usual short-and-catchy garage-rock corkers, but a new liberating vulnerability marks the more reflective songs. The mournful title track slows down Bruce Springsteen's 'The River' and adds multitracked ooohs as Nicholls wanders 'through the vision valley, waiting to be found.' And on the campfire ballad, 'Take Me Back,' he bids farewell to a culture 'getting high on trends,' grateful to have survived his It-boy status with sanity (mostly) intact.

Download: Vision Valley, Take Me Back

***

Blender
May 2006
20 Songs You Should Download This Month

'Don't Listen to the Radio' - The autistic aussies are back, offsetting their trademark grungesplosions with sleek new wave and a title that doesn't bode that well for Billboard chart success.


so the whole band's autistic now?