This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
“There goes the fear,” proclaims Doves singer-guitarist Jimi Goodwin on his band’s second CD The Last Broadcast. Truer words were never spoken. At least not by this Manchester epic-pop trio.
After the bittersweet shoegazing depression of their 2000 debut album Lost Souls, The Last Broadcast finds The Doves entering the light and coming into their own brave new world. Their majestic, soaring pop and space-rock epics — perhaps best typified by There Goes the Fear, a seven-minute swell of U2-ish grandeur and yearning, equipped with a glorious melody and Goodwin’s dark, gorgeous vocals — manage to channel and combine the finest qualities of forebears such as The Stone Roses, Spiritualized, The Smiths, Radiohead and even Oasis at their most sincere. Last Broadcast? Let’s hope it’s just the opening notes of a bright new future.
