This is an excellent debut. Most first offerings are mired in a cloud of one melody or rhythm spread over ten to twelve tracks. Harcourt succeeds in making every song sound different than the one that preceded it, and in doing this he shows his gift.

As a songwriter, Harcourt has a lot to say. These are not your standard songs of teenage angst. He actually seems to poke fun at this trend in "Hanging With the Wrong Crowd," a superb track.

Of course, the fans that critics like to lump together as liking Radiohead, Buckley, fill in a contemporary British band, etc. will probably like this album a lot. The opening track is clearly influenced by 'No Surprises." But what intelligent band or artist isn't conscious of what Radiohead are up to?

The bottom line is that the music is great, the instrumentation is varied, the lyrics are clever, and in Harcourt the States have received another great British artist a year late.

This has to be one of the most engaging LP's I've listened to this year. I heard it playing at a small record store in Madison, WI, and had to have it immediately.

From the first notes, these mouth-watering slabs of pure indie-pop reach out and weave their way into your soul. I'm not sure where Ed has been all these years, but he was worth the wait. And I thought nothing could hold a candle to Pete Yorn!

"She Fell Into My Arms" ranks right up there with anything in recent memory, and immediately following is "Those Crimson Tears," a song that makes you want to cry a few of your own.

This album is going into my top 10 for 2002!!

"Here Be Monsters" is an amazing mixture of the best music genres that give birth to a unique style. He uses sorts of vocal jazz ("those crimson tears"), easy listening ("like only lovers can", "Wind Through The Trees"), pop ("She Fell Into My Arms"), folk ("Something in my eye") and proper rock n roll ("Shanghai", "Apple of My Eye") to create a style of his own. He achieves creating his own musical atmosphere on every song especially on "Beneath The Heart Of Darkness". Ed performs every song with soul and honesty. Not only he shows that he is a great singer-songwriter but also a great instrumentalist. His lyrics deliver the goods and don't go round in circles. What I like the most is his honesty as an artist, the kind of honesty that is missing from lots of todays music. Lyrics like 'I need to build a wall around me' on "God Protect Your Soul" 'that's the way I am made I'm afraid' on "Those Crimson Tears" and 'I've reached a low don't you know?' on "Apple of my eye" show the blossoming of a great artist (a musical genius). There are no fillers in this record. I recommend this record to anyone who enjoys good music. Congratulations on doing an excellent record Mr. Harcourt and I hope you do many more. Thanks for showing that artists are humans. I thought I was crazy but "Here Be Monsters" showed me that is ok to 'fall on your knees and beg like a dog'. "Apple Of My Eye" is simply one of the best songs ever written. Amazing, words aren't enough to describe it.

An album just dripping with emotion. It's dark and atmoshperic, yet underneath it all is a hope that things will get better. Harcourt's voice is the glue that brings all the songs together. It targets the emotions living inside the song and points them out to the listener whether they realize it or not. The best thing about the arrangements is the trumpet in almost all the songs. It's shocking to hear in this era of music when everything is muddled with over-production.

The first c.d. proper from the much hyped multi-instrumentalist Ed Harcourt shows signs of a very promising future.This is a vast improvement on last years mini album Mapplewood as the song-writing is full of ambitious arrangements.The versatility shown on this c.d. is also excellent.You can hear elements of Jeff Buckley,Elliot Smith and Tom Waits in many of the songs.

This isn't just another gentle acoustic album as I'd sort of expected.I mean it isn't just one man and his guitar.Harcourt is credited with playing everything from guitars to piano,wurlitzer,organ and even sax.There's also plenty of full brass and string sections also.The music ranges from the melancholy like the beautiful Those Crimson Tears with it's piano and simple cello backing a voice so smooth but is filled with sorrow.There are quite a few very up-beat numbers such as 'Shanghai' which sees Harcourts vocals sounding full of fun and mischief.Songs like 'God protect Your Soul' are very reminiscent of Jeff Buckley without the falsetto.Piano and a shimmering drum machine added to drums,guitar and a full blown brass section which explodes around the chorus.Some of the songs have simpler arrangements like 'Hanging With Wrong Crowd' which is a simple 4 minute almost pop song driven by acoustic guitar.Track 7 'Beneath The heart of Darkness' is quite an epic,slow and laid back 7 minute song.Harcourt gives us the full range on this excellent song-piano and bass dominate the song-yet all the time trumpets and strings drift in and out to give this song a really atmostpheric feel.Then suddenly the sound takes you by surprise when loud,heavy distorted guitars create a sonic blur.

Like many of the songs on this c.d. it's a song that is written by an ambitious and very creative artist.It's music of the highest quality and Harcourt is certainly an artist worth keeping an eye on.Not a truly great album,he may yet record one,but a very good debut.