Secret Codes & Battleships

I recieved Darren Hayes: Secret Codes And Battleships about a week ago and I seriously cannot stop listening to this album. I like to call this record Savage Garden's Unofficial third release. It has that whole vibe to it and It brings back memories when I was like 16yrs listening to such songs as "I Knew I Loved You" and "Crash And Burn" . I'm not going to say how this is the BEST Darren Hayes album but, its Brilliant, Beautiful, and Then Some just like everything else he has released.I love EVERY song on this album and they all get straight to the point and pull you right in. "Nearly Love" and "Hurt" are just okay song, but I still love them and are better than most songs we hear on the radio. "Taken By The Sea" OMG, this song is just AMAZING!! The chorus is so Savage Garden-like: "And I want you and that's so terrifying, And I want you to help put out the fire" I can't get it out my head. "Don't Give Up" is great Gem as well about not giving up on a relationship. "Black Out The Sun" has that Michael Jackson vibe with the tribal drum beats, it just Brilliant all over."Talk Talk Talk" the first single, is just a great song to dance to and it has that 80s thing going on with it, I love it. "Bloodstained Heart" when I first heard this song I was blown away by the lyrics and Darren vocals. "God Walking Into The Room" all I can say about this song is "WOW!!" This song reminds me of Madonna's "Like A Prayer" This has to be one of Darren's finest song on this album. "Roses" sounds like one his songs from the Spin album, its a beautiful ballad that gives me goosebumps. "Stupid Mistake" is my favorite song on this ablum, I have listen to this song over a 100 times and counting. Darren hits his signature fassetto when singing, "I got lazy on the wrong side of love, now I'm searching every face in the crowd for you, for you" Its so catchy and addictive."Cruel Cruel World" and "The Siren's Call" are the last two tracks and they are both soothing to the soul especially the latter song. I am listening to the album as i right this review and I can't stop listening. I probably be listening til Darren fifth record comes out. He has so many songs and I can't get enough of them. Go out and get this album if you haven't already. I'm always searching and downloading his b-sides and demos, he has so many its insane. Thanks for reading my review, hope it helped.

I've listen to Darren's work throughout the years and I could never sit through one of his solo career albums. There would be one or two nice tracks per record and the rest would not grab my attention. Secret Codes and Battleships is different. Darren hit it out of the park with the hooks this time around. The production is slick. The album is pure pop through and through. The composition and sound felt full and rich. Darren's voice is as powerful as ever. The only complaint I could come up with are the lyrics are pretty weak and cliche-ridden. I'll forgive him for this as the hooks are just too good and he stepped up his game in terms of production. There's a couple electronic tracks on here -- Talk Talk Talk probably being the best of them. The album cover artwork is gorgeous.Don't Give Up, Nearly Love, Black Out the Sun, Talk Talk Talk, Stupid Mistake, and Cruel Cruel World are the songs I find I go back to the most often. The other tracks are nice. The only one I couldn't really get into is Roses. Secret Codes and Battleships is easily his strongest work.The bonus tracks/B-sides on disc 2 are pretty interesting, too. Not quite on par with the material on the record, but still nice. Explode and Perfect with a bit of tweaking could have easily fit nicely on the record. Actually Perfect would have been an excellent addition.Pop fans and Darren Hayes fans alike, give the record a listen. It's a real treat.

Let me start the review by just saying: "The Best Darren Hayes Album to date!!!!". The thing that makes this album absolutely amazing is that it was done by Darren Hayes, who is one of the most complete artists of the century.....he is to POP music in the 21st Century what Pet Shop Boys and Erasure were in the 1980s and 90s!!! I wasn't a fan of Savaga Garden, specially after Affirmation, but his solo carrer has been very succesfull with all the merits!!! His firt album Spin, was his weakest, although it has some great tracks in it! Then he released Tension and The Spark, which I thought was the best pop album in many years....perfectly produced, written and reminded me a little bit of Depeche Mode (one of the best band ever in history of music). When you thought that there's nothing much around left to impress a music fan, he releases Delicate Sound We Made....It just blew my mind! A POP Double Album with such consistency throughout the entire album. Amazing songs from beginning to end and it became my fave in the first round of listening. A truly POP Masterpiece!!!!I think Secret Codes is his best effort yet for one reason: it has songs that sound like the best songs in "Tension" and in "Delicate", without one "ok" song....it's filled with beatiful songs, his vocals are unbelievable as usual and the lyrics seem to perfectly translate what the melody is almost deperate to say....!!!My only complaint is the time to release it......I don't want to wait more 4 year for another album!

The sound on this album is much more "radio friendly" than a couple of his previous solo efforts. It's not as if he has sold out, as so many have done. It's almost like he felt like he owed his original fans an album that was more to their liking. His voice has certainly matured, but the songwriting and music take you back to a day when spiked hair and baggy jeans were still cool.Here's the bottom line. If you are a fan of Savage Garden, this album is for you. If you are more into the indie-electronica sound Hayes featured on his This Delicate Thing We've Made, then you might not enjoy it quite as much. Don't get me wrong. He has certainly grown as an artist. This album certainly has elements of both styles, but, even so, it tends towards the "pop" genre.Some of us love Darren Hayes and would enjoy anything he put out. His vocals and lyrics are enough to compel me to purchase anything he creates. If you are one of this group, you already have the album.

'Spin' Darrens 1st album was a classic pop album the two inbetween 'The tension and the spark' and 'This delicate thing we've made' weren't so much now with 'Secret codes and battleships' he has gone back to his pop roots and now for me this is his best album yet. Lets begin - 'Taken by the sea'- A very haunting tune that starts the album off very well, 'Don't give up'-A song with a very catchy chorus and the title song on the album', 'Nearly love'- I love this song its very poppy and catchy it has a slow verses with a faster chorus ' Now I love you, love you' starts off the very catchy chorus. 'My hearts a mess' is my favorite lyrics of the song how many time have we all thought that.'Black out the sun'- The 1st single that plays on the album. A very dark song that speaks volumes cause its a place we have all been. Broken hearted and lost at sea. 'Nobody else could hurt me like you hurt me' that lyric in its self says how at one time we have all felt over a break up. 'Talk talk talk'- Another single very catchy and a true pop song. Has a good beat and fades in and out at the start which give a good effect to the song, 'Bloodstained heart'- the only other single off album at the moment. A ballad love the lyric 'you hit me like a subway train and I'll never be the same', 'God walking into the room'- I didn't know if I liked this at first but I do, its a very good song I love the chorus and lyrics, 'Hurt'- My favourite a very haunting track with such emotion and amazing lyrics. When your down on yourself and think your no good for anyone this is the song you would sing, 'Roses'- A song about the end of the world Makes you think if it was who would you spend it with and where would you chose to be, what would you be thinking? 'You only get one life to make it right' and 'You can't smell the roses when your gone so live every moment like its the last moment on earth' are lyrics that make you think yes life is short and it needs to be lived. What about all the things you never said and did it gets you thinking a very powerful tune, 'Stupid mistake'- We have all made mistakes in life and love this is about them. 'I got lazy on the wrong side of love' is a lyric that makes us know we have all done that, 'Cruel cruel world'- Love these two lyrics 'Nobody gets me like you' we all have someone who just gets us. 'The only one who gets me through' we all have someone who pulls us through everything,'The sirens call'- Sounds like another song that I have heard. A lovely haunting ballad great finish. Fav songs- 'Taken by the sea','Nearly Love',Black out the sun','Talk talk talk','Dont give up' and my fav has to be 'Hurt'. An amazing album all in all from a great artist I always look forward to his albums and this was well worth the four year wait. A POP CLASSIC.

......but this guy simply has one of the best voices - he could sing a daily newspaper and it would be fantastic - I would say that since going solo, his other albums have contained some songs that stand out a little more but that is partly because they contain some songs that haven't fully played to his talents,but I feel that this album is '...the bee's knee's...' from start to finish - there isn't a track or two that I skip past.I am only on my third listen, so I know my love of this album wil grow and grow and I will enjoy for years to come - at the moment I have Roses on repeat.Thank you Darren and long may you enjoy success.

To be honest I didn't expect to be so smitten with this album - I liked Savage Garden in the past but I haven't followed Darren's solo career. I came by the album by chance (and a year after it was published) and I am really happy I did. I love the album, it has many really good songs which tend to follow you around (singing Stupid Mistake when cooking, anyone? :). When listening to the album it just seems so obvious to me that Darren loves what he is doing. It is one of those cds that you put into your player on a loop. Some feel-good music that may brighten your day. I definitely will follow Darren's career from now on!

From a Savage Garden lover in my childhood, through to following Darren's Solo career; this is by far his best album yet as a solo artist. His earlier albums were okay, a good listen, but his two disc 'this delicate thing we've made' I felt was a bit strange and a bit off the rails through most of the songs.This album though is brilliant. I feel like Darren's touched back to who he is again, and there is a hint of the Savage Garden era in the music. I think this is an album that even non-Darren or Savage Garden fans could enjoy!

I think Darren Hayes is one of the most original musicians around. I loved him when he was still part of Savage Garden, but since he has gone independent, his music is much better. I don't even read the reviews when anything new comes out and order it straight away, as I know I will not be disappointed. And I never am. Another amazing album from Darren.