Track Listing

1. I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)
2. This Is the Day
3. Sinking Feeling
4. Uncertain Smile
5. Twilight Hour
6. Soul Mining
7. Giant
8. Perfect

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48079 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

a true milesone
i would recommend this cd to anyone, but be warned... the title could not be more fitting. this is not background music; it requires involvement, and preferably a dark and lonely outlook (at least for about 40 minutes). there are bands out there that convey their anger, frustration, loneliness, and hopelessness through loud, obnoxious guitars and/or screaming, scratching, and wailing vocals. not matt johnson. he scrapes the bottom of his soul (and yours) with the most simple soundscapes and understated, biting lyrics. if this music were accompanied by any one else's voice the meaning would be lost. the utter purity of emotions revealed here is staggering, and it's matt johnson's hushed and anguished voice that conveys them more effectively than anyone in pop music since. (think nin's pretty hate machine stripped to the core, and ten times more neurotic) this is the naked essence of electronic pop music. nothing johnson released subsequently stands up to this classic, but some come close. listen to it, and do so more than once.

incidentally, i have read that this was the first album to be based completely on loops and synthesizers, so it has historical value as well..

What the The F**K?
I can no longer recall how I stumbled upon this gem back in the mid 80s, but it was my first exposure to Matt Johnson AKA the The. Since then, I've acquired just about everything he's done. I just recently heard "this is the day" again, appropriately on a beautiful sunny day on the ski slopes, and realized I'd never bought this CD in spite of the LP sitting in my LP collection for the last 20 years and only occasionally seeing the light of the turntable. This is truly the The's masterpiece. On the surface, it's got a danceable beat through most of the album, but make no mistake, Matt Johnson probes and confronts every aspect of the Jungian shadow with incisive lyrics and genre bending musical influences. Guitars sound like synths and synths like guitars. The real beauty of this album is that it can be played as background music, or, if you dare, intimate, personal mind exploring journeys.

This Is The... Album of My Life
I don't remember when I heard "This Is The Day" or "Uncertain Smile" for the first time... but there are 2 things I'm certain of these days: from then on I became a devoted admirer of Matt Johnson's music and, secondly, the passion for those 2 songs has remained unhurt since then - and that's probably the attribute I distinguish most in this band: as they say about good wine, The The's music sounds even better with the passing of the years.
That uncommon magnetism for those 2 epics motivated me to purchase "Soul Mining" back in the mid 90's - as soon as I was aged for doing so. From then on, it became gradually the album I enjoy the most from all the ones I have. "Soul Mining" perfectly combines Matt Johnson's amazing song-writing abilities ("How can anyone know me when I don't even know myself" - gosh, this line is simply brilliant!!) with a universe of sounds and rhythms totally adapted to his voice and lyrics. "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)" or "Sinking Feeling" are probably the 2 finest illustrations of this unique mixture on this album. As for my feelings about "GIANT"... there's no need to say anything - the title speaks for itself!
Although my favourite The The's song is not in here - "Out of the Blue (Into the Fire)", I've always regarded "Soul Mining" as The The's finest masterpiece and it's no surprise to see it as a best-ever album for so many people.