Fiction Factory is one of those bands whom I’ve always read about since they came and went in the early ’80s, but never actually heard until a few years ago. You know how certain bands just don’t interest you for whatever irrational reason, be it their name, appearance, whatever? For some reason Fiction Factory just fell into this category for me, and honestly, I couldn’t tell you why. Total Blind Spot Band for me.
My loss, since their one significant single, “Feels Like Heaven”, is an absolute (retroactive) classic. Evocative of Depeche Mode with a bit of Heaven 17 while sounding somewhat unique, thanks to some real piano, “…Heaven” is a deceptively simple song that reveals its complexity with repeated listens. For example, it sure seems like a love song, until you dig deeper:
See how we planned for saddened eyes
And tears to pave the way
I fought the fever as I knew
My hair it turned to grey
Study your face and fade the frame
Too close for comfort now
We can recall the harmony
That lingered but turned sour
Feels like heaven
…and you realize this dude is ecstatic because he’s finally leaving a drama queen bee-yotch that he can barely stand to be near. Neato!
Unfortunately, Fiction Factory had trouble following up this non-hit-in-the-first-place single. Another album, the pffft. Their debut, “Throw The Warped Wheel Out”, is still in print however, albeit as an import, and that’s pretty darn impressive for an album released in 1984 that never charted.
And am I the only one who sort of hears “Feels Like Heaven” every time I hear follow one-hit wonders When In Rome’s “The Promise”? Hmm. Feels like plagiarism.
“Feels Like Heaven” did not chart.
Get Fiction Factory music at Amazon
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