15. Primal Scream Higher Than the Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHjVIBDYgXg At last, the band that talked the talk finally walked the walk. Having trudged through various incarnations that were pale imitations of bands they loved, from the twee indie guitar jangle homage to the Byrds to a misguided attempt to reinvent themselves as the MC5, Primal Scream finally found their true calling on Screamadelica. It fused contemporary dance music culture to their encyclopaedic knowledge of music and the results were breathtaking. Nowhere was this conceived more perfectly than the bliss out that is Higher than the sun, which brought the experience of Ecstasy to life in the words music and the video. Loaded started their resurrection, but that was largely the work and sound of Andy Wetherall the DJ come producer who showed them the power of the remix and sampling. Higher than the sun was their manifesto, because it spoke Primal Scream's language, here was a drug song that spoke about beauty and individuality.
Im beautiful, I wasnt born to follow, what Ive got in my head you cant buy, steal or borrow, I believe in live, and let live, I believe you get what you give.
What made it so wonderful was that it was the song that they always threatened to write, and once they did it finally placed them firmly in the visionarys camp, rather than that of the fanboys. The lyrics outlined their manifesto for pop, but they would never have arrived here without the influence of ecstasy. Whilst the Happy Mondays were preaching about the euphoria that E provided, this was far heavier; a literal trip, hence the unashamed euphoria of the songs title. Music and drugs have often been necessary but uncomfortable bedfellows, but here it was a marriage made in, well maybe not heaven, but probably Ibiza at six in the morning