S4L Presents: The Best Debut Albums #18 - All Change - Cast (1995)

John Power had previously been in The La's but had grown frustrated by the endless delay in getting back into the studios to record new music. During this time Power had begun himself penning songs and that came to fruition once he had left The La's in 1991 and by January 1994 the band were ready to perform their debut show in Hull. Within a short space of time Cast had secured support slots with Elvis Costello and then Oasis.

It was whilst touring with Oasis that they came to the attention of Polydor's Paul Adam, who was clearly stunned that they were not signed to anyone, of course he promptly signed the band to Polydor late 1994. The date of the sigining was quite a significant one for John Power because it fell three years to the date that he had left The La's (13th December).

Their first two singles (Finetime and Alright) both secured spots in the Top 20 Singles Charts and the release of their debut album was a real event as it became the highest selling Debut album on Polydor (a feat that is quite interesting when you see that they surpassed sales of: The Who, The Jimmy Hendrix Experience and The Jam).

Two further singles were released from the album (Sandstorm and Walkaway) and both were Top Ten hits for the band.

There are a bunch of albums that still get a regular airing at home and 'All Change' is one of them. There's not a single track on that I would ever skip because it is loaded with classy tunes from beginning to end.

'Alright' was apparently a song performed by The La's under the title 'Fly On' and I've often wondered what some of these other songs would have been like if Lee Mavers had decided to get his act together and take the band into the studio but in a way I'm glad he never did because I'm not totally sure if we would have seen all of John Power's lyrical and musical creativity being maximized to full effect.

Click on the links to enjoy the music of Cast.

All Change - Cast

Released 16th October 1995

Polydor

Produced by John Leckie
UK Chart #7

 The Band
    John Power – vocals, guitar
    Peter Wilkinson – backing vocals, bass
    Liam "Skin" Tyson – guitar
    Keith O'Neill – drums

 Track listing
All songs written by John Power.
   1. "Alright" – 3:37
   2. "Promised Land" – 4:37
   3.  "Sandstorm" – 2:41
   4. "Mankind" – 3:44
    5. "Tell It Like It Is" – 4:41
    6. "Four Walls" – 3:09
    7. "Finetime" – 3:06
    8. "Back of My Mind" – 3:04
    9. "Walkaway" – 3:51
    10. "Reflections" – 3:05
    11. "History" – 4:25
    12. "Two of a Kind"/"Instrumental (Hidden Track)" – 9:54

Singles from All Change

"Finetime" Released: July 1995 UK #17

 "Alright" Released: September 1995 UK #13

"Sandstorm" Released: January 1996  UK #8

"Walkaway" Released: March 1996 UK #9