I was looking back at my CD lists, and realized I first got this CD 13 years ago yesterday! My friend in high school sold it to me for $5, and this being my second taste of The Church, I was just excited to hear ANYTHING I hadn't heard by them yet. Immediate favorites were "Metropolis", "Terra Nova Cain", "Russian Autumn Heart", "Essence", "You're Still Beautiful", "Fading Away", and "Grind". I remember thinking that "Russian Autumn Heart" would be the perfect song to have blasting on the radio while driving down a highway with the windows rolled down (and I wasn't driving yet). That was the CD of my Spring that year (as "Starfish" was my CD of Summer that year).

This CD was almost ruined for me 10 years ago, when I got back into it while I was going through a difficult time, and it was quite a few years before I ever played it again. I had to stop associating it with March 1996.

So now, here we are, 13 years later, and I have the remastered version with the bonus disc. I have put March 1996 far out of my mind, and hearing the remastered version for the first time late last year was almost like hearing the album for the first time all over again. The sound is so crisp and clear, and now, rather than being a CD I associate with 1993, or 1996, I just think of it as part of the collective genius of this band, who have released an impressive discography in the past 26 years. I can once again appreciate this CD for what it is. I also have a newfound appreciation for "Pharoah" since I watched the DVD of them performing it live at the Enmore in 1992. It may not be the best Church album ever made, but it is one of my favorites, especially recently, and is full of great moments.
"Fly, the sky is your friend
And its holding you up again and again,
High over the night
Where I labour and write this song once over again..."