Paradise In The Picturehouse (44/100 Greatest Irish Albums)

There was a point at the turn of the ‘90s when — much like Something Happens! a year or so before — it seemed to be the law to like The Stunning, and in the summer of 1990 the question was not whether you had the album, but what was your favourite song on the all-conquering Paradise In The Picturehouse: that is, there was Stunning snobbery. So, ‘Brewing Up A Storm’, ‘Got To Get Away’ and the mellifluous tones of ‘Half Past Two’ all had their supporters — but for the connoisseur there could be only one choice. ‘Empty Feeling’ —“From paradise in the picturehouse/We spill out on the road/Got an empty feeling deep inside/Hit me when she said goodbye”— remains the best thing the Walls have done. A subtle, piercing, stoical song of regret, it deftly marks the moment you emerge from the escapism of art and remember just how badly your world has gone wrong. Sadly beautiful.