Hi everyone - I'm new to IM and only have one of their CD's, Innocence Mission. Can someone please tell me what their best stuff is, and what they think of that CD??? I'm impressed by how passionate you all are about their music, and want to hear what you think.
It's hard to make recommendations, since it really falls down to taste. There are no really bad IM records.
IM spent the first part of their career on a major label (3 albums), and fine as the first album (IM, the one you own) may be, there's a general consensus that the other two (Umbrella, and Glow) are better. IM and Umbrella were both produced by the same person, so sonically they share a lot of common ground, but Umbrella was/is viewed as an improvement in terms of songwriting; Glow came several years later, during a transitional period, and has a distinctly simpler sound, but the songwriting was similarly stunning. In the early days, they were a four-piece band with drums that played rock venues.
In the years since, they've gone the indie label route, and their drummer left the band; the records that followed are extremely sparse in production terms, often just guitar, piano, and vocals, with minimal or no percussion; for concerts, they play as a trio without drums in folk venues. Fan opinion continues to be divided over the merits of one era of the band over the other. From this later period, Birds Of My Neighborhood, Befriended, and the rarities collection Small Planes are the records you want to seek out first. The title track of Small Planes is especially essential.
mick
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