Rocktrospectiva: The Shinning "All Change" Turns 30

Released on 16 October 1995, "All Change" was the debut album by the English band Cast. It spawned four singles: "Finetime", "Alright", "Sandstorm" and "Walkaway". It became the highest selling debut album in the history of the Polydor label.

Back in the mid nineties when Brit pop held the UK charts and music scene hostage with the likes of Oasis, Blur, Charlatans and Kula Shaker all playing their part in the rise of the genre, then one band made a considerable impact very early on. Cast emerged from Liverpool in 1992 and their debut release, All Change, put the spritely quartet on the musical map with numerous hit singles and record breaking sales. 

It sold over 1 million copies and went on to become the fastest selling release in Polydor's history. Top 20 singles in the form of Walkaway, Sandstorm, Alright and Fine Time helping this band climb to the peak of the indie top sellers in the nineties. Due this reason, Cast were oftenly seen as pioneers and founders of the genre that assisted in the rise of a phenomenal league of A-list acts in the proceeding years, many who cite Cast as influences in their own music.

All Change served as the perfect dose back then to the inner rage US alternative rock, there you had a incredible guitar pop record beaten'em up, and this record appealed  to the eternal adolescent in each of us. The group's line derives from good stock, founder John Power having served time with another fine Mersey combo the La's.  But Cast transcends the hackneyed expectations of its environment, structure, and genetics through sheer, relentless quality of songcraft and performance. No sooner has one wide-eyed, hook-infested injection stormed the synapses demanding total capitulation than another of equal potency lines up to take its place. 

This album was a delight in every sense. Cast vocals recalled Small Faces-era Steve Marriott fused, in places, to Suede's Brett Anderson. There's a soft-psych feel to several tracks lik "Sandstorm" all was positively cheery, anthemic stuff about truth, honor, living well, having fun and getting the girl, delivered exuberantly enough to strip away several coats of accumulated cynicism and almost make you believe it's possible. Think about "Tell It Like Is" and the ballad "Walk Away"

With super producer John Leckie at the producers helm, the record was always destined for the top. Leckie had already secured success for the likes of The Stone Roses and Radiohead and with his super producer skills mixed with the enthusiasm and eclecticism of Cast and front man John Powers ability to write truly iconic and melodic indie gems, All Change was born.

Critics said that "All Change" had all the ingredients which made Cast's predecessors such a brilliant pop prospect: jangly riffs, heavenly hooks and a pervading sense of being wonderfully out of time. The album had the most to offered and delivered highlights such as "Alright", "Sandstorm" and "Finetime"; This was classic 90s britpop fell in love with the indie 60s sound of this underated band. All killer, no filler, the spirit of the '60s fused with the attitude of the '90s. And yes, in some ways, Cast were John Powers' tribute to the memory of the La's and more specifically, their temperamental genius of a front man.

 

All Change Track List: 

 

1. Alright

2. Promised Land

3. Sandstorm

4. Mankind

5. Tell It Like It Is

6. Four Walls 

7. Finetime

8. Back Of My Mind 

9. Walkaway

10. Reflections

11. History

12. Two Of A Kind