Coral Island is an ambitious record that never topples under the weight of that ambition. Unusually for a double album there’s barely any filler and the songs have a timeless quality that keeps you returning.
Coral Island is the band at their best, effortlessly conjuring up the glorious ghosts of rock & roll's past and turning those sounds into something timeless and instantly rewarding at once.
On Coral Island, the band have created what could well be their opus ... It’s a whole world within a world, an escape from reality that resonates deeply, fantastical yet altogether real.
They have deservedly thrown any caution to the wind and produced a true, modern masterpiece with Coral Island. It sounds like an album they have always wanted to make and truly enjoyed the ride.
Nostalgic without bitterness or regret, the melodies pour out of this double album themed around the titular resort.
While Coral Island's concept is unusually robust ... it's the melodic strength of its 15 'proper' songs that's the real mindblower.
The band are having fun, and it shows in a carnivalesque cornucopia of strange delights – even if it never quite escapes its contrivances.
Coral Island could easily be considered as The Coral’s White Album. Both records are an expansive, epic collection of tracks crammed with fresh ideas and astonishing heights of creativity.
What gives blood and muscle to the conceit ... is The Coral’s abiding pop craft.
Coral Island, a double record, recounts the faded glory of an imagined funfair isle. It’s a project in keeping with this enduringly impish group’s adventurous DNA.
this starts off really nice, but it gets pretty boring really fast. also, the interludes are unnecessary and don’t add to the confusing story of the album at all
Es difícil reinventarse en un noveno disco, y Coral Island es el claro ejemplo de que ello no es imposible, claro, es una ayuda el tener un amor inconmensurable al respectivo arte, como lo ha demostrado The Coral desde su primer álbum, el homónimo, hasta este "último" (entrecomillo último porque es el último de ellos hasta ahora, pero no deseo que sea el último, aunque si lo fuese, no habría mejor manera que con uno de tus ... read more
Welcome to Coral Island. An album about a once popular band that is loved for a short period of time, forgotten and left to fade into obscurity, sorry did I say band, I meant seaside location. The concept helps to add to the interest of the album in a big way, and is littered with witty interludes. My main problem lies that the interludes and songs don't match up? Just seems to be a collection of normal, sometimes very bloody good, indie songs with seaside interludes. Whilst I won't fault them ... read more
1 | Welcome to Coral Island 0:54 | |
2 | Love Undiscovered 3:29 | |
3 | Change Your Mind 3:07 | |
4 | Mist on the River 3:35 | |
5 | Pavilions of the Mind 1:21 | |
6 | Vacancy 2:43 | |
7 | My Best Friend 2:33 | |
8 | Arcade Hallucinations 0:32 | |
9 | The Game She Plays 3:22 | |
10 | Autumn Has Come 3:00 | |
11 | The End of the Pier 1:07 |
1 | The Ghost of Coral Island 1:04 | |
2 | Golden Age 2:41 | |
3 | Faceless Angel 3:26 | |
4 | The Great Lafayette 1:09 | |
5 | Strange Illusions 3:06 | |
6 | Take Me Back to the Summertime 3:10 | |
7 | Telepathic Waltz 0:53 | |
8 | Old Photographs 2:21 | |
9 | Watch You Disappear 2:38 | |
10 | Late Nights at the Borders 0:30 | |
11 | Land of the Lost 3:52 | |
12 | The Calico Girl 2:42 | |
13 | The Last Entertainer 0:49 |
#7 | / | MOJO |
#21 | / | The Guardian |
#22 | / | Uncut |
#43 | / | musicOMH |
#62 | / | Piccadilly Records |
#66 | / | Louder Than War |
#92 | / | God Is In The TV |
#95 | / | Albumism |
/ | AllMusic | |
/ | The Economist |