For newbie All About Eve listeners, the self-titled debut is perhaps a good starting point. "All About Eve" is a strong release in that it has many "single" oriented songs. (The Winter Words compilation released in 1992 had six tracks from it, a third of the album!) While it's hard to categorise what type of music the band played, it combined elements of rock, folk, and English pop (the better stuff, I might add).

Most of the songs on the debut are very enthusiastic, with a good blend of bright guitars, lovely overdubs of Julianne's voice, and delicate melodies. The opening song, Flowers in Our Hair, starts with a cruising guitar part, while Julianne goes on about hippies... :) This fairly straight forward rocker sounds just as good live (check out the BBC Live in Concert CD) as well as in studio.

The most recognised tune would have to be "Martha's Harbour," a hauntingly beautiful song with just Tim Bricheno on acoustic and Julianne in a crystal clear voice. AAE wrote other songs in the same vein as "Martha's Harbour" (such as "Wild Flowers" and "Scarlet"), but it was this song that drew them the most attention. Another acoustic song on "All About Eve" that is underrated is "Like Emily". Awash with descending acoustic chords and layered with vocal overdubs, I can't imagine that this song could ever be pulled off live.

While lyrically much of the album seems to be variations on a theme, AAE's music is rather eclectic. Songs like "Every Angel" and "Flowers in Our Hair" display a good sense of rock, whilst "Wild Hearted Woman" has almost country slant. "In the Meadow" could be regarded as bordering on progressive rock, with its changes in tempo and riff. Much of the album is permeated with folk. When I hear this album, I can't help but think of how "English" it sounds. :) All About Eve have been described as "folk-rock" which is not totally inaccurate, but they incorporate a more modern style as opposed to keeping to more traditional paths. The song "She Moved Through the Fair," a classic Irish ballad, is done in a much more ambient style, more akin to Enya than, say, Altan.

The two points that really attracted me to All About Eve when I first heard this album was the guitar work and vocals. Tim Bricheno plays with a lot of melodic arpeggios and open chords on both acoustic and electric.