Latin Quarter - Swimming Against The Stream (1989)

Latin Quarter were a british band, founded by Steve Skaith, Mike Jones and Richard Wright in 1983. They first split up in 1990, rejoined around 1993 and finally split up in 1998.

For its third outing, Latin Quarter served up more surprises for its fans. Trimmed down to a quartet (half the band it used to be?), the band was more musically focused on this album than ever before. Choosing to keep the world rhythms to a minimum, the album's backbeat was clearly lush acoustic pop with a few touches added for flourish and flavor. Without completely altering their approach, the bandmembers were able to simplify their sound without giving up their identity. In doing so, they finally created what could be considered the "Latin Quarter" sound. Steve Skaith (vocals and guitar) served up some his best melodies to date, while lyricist Mike Jones proved to be as thought-provoking as ever, challenging the listener with each song. "Blameless," "Dominion," "Race Me Down," "Wounded in Action," and the title track are some of the best songs that they had recorded thus far, although the general public at large ignored both what they had to say and how they said it. After all, lyrically intelligent, politically charged pop confused many people. Regardless of the lack of sales, this was perhaps Latin Quarter's finest album to date, and will someday be regarded as a classic.