Here’s something different. Since I haven’t had much time for the long review format but have been taking advantage of my new walkman to listen to CDs I’m not actually familiar with I thought I’d give out some “short” review, meant only to convey my first impressions of CDs I’ve either not heard or only heard once ages ago. As usual, YouTube is my friend. Whether I’m enamoured of the albums or not, here they are and here you go:
12 x 5 by The Rolling Stones: At its best the sheer sophistication of this album easily beats out what The Beatles were up to at the time (Congratulations and Time is on My Side, especially). The rest of tunes are pleasant but do not carve out so distinct a niche for themselves and therefore I am not transfixed by the Stones in this era. Three and a half stars.
Anuna by Anuna: A band mainly interested in recreating early polyphonic arrangements, yet they are somehow too serious on one hand and not traditional enough on the other. Sanctus, Silent O Moyle and Media Vita are the only tracks that took my breath away. Three stars.
Sound Affects by The Jam: I want to call this dream-punk music. Every song is a gem but songs like That’s Entertainment combine angry verses with a gorgeous chorus. Total classic. This one I will surely review sometime. Five stars.
Strange Days by The Doors: My first Doors album. I’m not really sure about it. The trouble, I suppose, is that I was promised “darkness” and what I mostly got was some reasonable psychedelic pop. Nick Cave has spoiled me. I think the CD might grow on me with further listens. Three and a half stars.
Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk: Totally groundbreaking, I suppose, but really boring. Europe Endless is rather interesting and The Hall of Mirrors has great atmosphere but after those first two tracks it gets formulaic. Where are the variations? Disappointing. Maybe further listens will reveal what I’ve missed? Two and a half stars.
Another Time, Another Place by Bryan Ferry: Laughable. Not as insulting as These Foolish Things but still relentlessly corny. You Are My Sunshine? And it’s six minutes long? An It Ain’t Me Babe shellacked into oblivion? (What a) Wonderful World? (Hint: it’s not the Louis Armstrong song). Ugh. And this was 1974, the year of Country Life. The mind reels. I’ll offer up the best track for you, however, complete with its fake Manzanera solo…. One star.
Now! by The Rolling Stones: More consistent than 12 x 5 and with a bluesier atmosphere. I didn’t take notice of any highlights other than Heart of Stone but none of the songs were trite this time round so I would say it’s the better of the two. Four stars.
The Stooges by The Stooges: We Will Fall is prime boredom material after the first three minutes. I Wanna Be Your Dog is the best VU imitation I’ve ever heard. Between these two extremes we get Iggy the teenage malcontent. It’s not a very interesting record overall, but they improved quickly so I’m lenient. Three stars.
Future Days by Can: One of the most sublimely beautiful instrumental CDs I’ve ever heard, bested only by Another Green World for its loveliness. I heard it years back but it didn’t so strongly affect me then. Five stars.
Primitive Guitars by Phil Manzanera: Some funky numbers, some with awesome Link Wray vibes. The slower stuff did not approach the same level of interest for me. Too much noodling, not enough melodicity. Three stars.
Those are the last ten. I will now set to work on some proper long reviews for your consideration…
Concept: An album bound together by that oldest of miseries, the abandoned lover, the love abruptly unrequited, the “same old blues” everybody winds up singing about.
Cover Critique: Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Here we have Bryan Ferry looking dark, handsome and a little bit…bitter, maybe. His jacket is a hideous faux-leather vinyl travesty but the placement of the text gives a sense of dimension to an otherwise totally blank backdrop; plus, the title is memorable – it’s an erotic and (to judge by Bryan’s expression) venomous statement and it’s also based on a surrealist painting by Marcel Duchamp. This cover rates a strong four, but I’m giving it a five based on the back cover. Roxy Music’s trademark image is the glamorous model, the sophisticated but inherently trashy cover girl. This is my favorite of the bunch – there’s something macabre and ritualistic about it. The last Roxy girl? No idea but this album art gets five stars.
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There are two things you need to know about this album.
A: Bryan Ferry recorded it in the wake of lover Jerry Hall’s departure, an incident that left him feeling rotten enough to sing with bite and conviction, a trait long missing from his voice.
B: This is all the Bryan Ferry you need. I only speak for the 70s era, but I am dead serious. For your music collection be sure to get everything from Roxy Music to Siren, Brian Eno’s Jets/Mountain/World/Science quartet and The Bride Stripped Bare. These are the essentials. The rest is up to you.
You see, Bryan is, next to Paul McCartney, the greatest contender for the “most talented guy who totally squandered it in his solo career” award. In some ways, his is a more baffling case than Paul’s. Paul at least had a few years to invent indie-pop before going belly up somewhere in 1973. But ’73 was Roxy Music’s heyday and the year Bryan released his first and worst solo record, These Foolish Things. Some people (AllMusic!) will tell you it’s the best of Bryan’s solo work, an ingenious reimagining of classic songs, from Bob Dylan to oldies like the title. In truth, it’s abysmal. With a backing band trying to be as corny and artificial as possible and with Bryan singing in the most plastic and insincere way he could, these songs die a miserable death – oldies, after all, require hot arrangements and genuine singing to work, otherwise you might as well watch The Lawrence Welk Show as listen to These Foolish Things.
His followup was Another Time, Another Place and I haven’t listened to it. It contains Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, a song slick enough to be a clarion call for the 80s…in 1974. Bryan, Bryan, did we need that? Therefore, his first respectable album was Let’s Stick Together, an uneven record that nevertheless contained a stunning rework of the old Roxy chestnut Sea Breezes. In Your Mind is one I haven’t heard yet but individual songs make me doubt. Therefore: 1978, when Roxy Music was unequivocally on the skids, was the year he finally made his great album. He wrote four good originals for it and did a bunch of covers that he sang as if meant something. This ties back to Exhibit A.
There is nothing remotely innovative about The Bride Stripped Bare, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good music. Bryan certainly is the leading light on it – the arrangements are tasteful but rarely colourful, so he provides the spark and bang, proving that when he’s on he can carry a record, no problem. From R’n’B to chic pop to Irish laments he’s the star attraction and he does a fine job.
Sign of the Times gets things going on a fast-paced and unusually cynical note, the imagery a bit more visceral and hard-hitting than in the typical Ferry song. “Here is a taste of here and now/red is the bloody sign of the times/the bride stripped bare/of all despair/we’re cut but we don’t care.” Bryan sings it with a degree of intensity last heard on Country Life. A hysterical existentialist is probably an oxymoron but this rock song conveys the condition if it does exist and ends with fitting abruptness.
Can’t Let Go is almost obnoxiously slick with its dramatic strings, barely there electric guitar and Bryan pouring forth clichés with every breath. It skirts dangerously close to the edge and yet it works. A bit of frenzy carries over from the last track and somehow makes this genuine, its clichés not subverted but treated as if they still have meaning after all.
Bryan next takes on the Sam and Dave number Hold On (I’m Coming), which the soul duo used as an excuse for vocal exhibitionism and Ferry follows suit. The beat and singing take precedence over the lyric but Bryan takes better care with his enunciation. Trumpet and sax; lots of fun all around.
Next up is his great take on J.J. Cale’s Same Old Blues, another one with an awesome beat. Where Cale sang it with pure laid-back indifference, Bryan sounds infuriated, venting his spleen in another excellent vocal showcase.
Strings take precedence on When She Walks in the Room for some chamber music balladeering. Second-person narration portrays disenchantment and wistful regret, old standby subjects in the Ferry canon. Lyrically, it’s all over the place with puzzling metaphors, but it makes a nice-sounding interlude.
Take Me to the River is a dopey song – I mean, this guy is infatuated with a teenage girl who stole his wallet and Chesterfields and now he wants to get baptized? But the beat is awesome (notice a trend here?) and Bryan sings in his best trembling pretty-boy voice, which suits the subject, I must say. Fun times.
The only cover that doesn’t hit the mark is What Goes On. Covering The Velvet Underground is a daunting task for anyone and since the original is sublime this is uninteresting (though respectful) and superfluous. And yet, being a generic rock song it showcases something overlooked in the original – it is Lou Reed at his most generic, so you can see how muchpersonality that band possessed that they could make this tune fascinating and unique. In that way, this cover is very enlightening.
A radical shift with Carrickfergus, a traditional Irish lament about being homesick for love and country. Stripped down to just guitars and Herbie Flowers on string bass, it’s out of left-field but very nicely done – completely inauthentic and yet capturing the pathos, a requirement far greater than an Irish accent. Not at all the sort of song you’d associate with Bryan Ferry – shows what an interesting guy he is.
Soul standard That’s How Strong My Love Is is next. Ugh, an unforgiveably drippy lyric. I don’t believe anyone could ever carry it off without sounding silly but perhaps I’m wrong. At any rate, though there’s nothing else wrong with it, that lyric makes it the weakest track.
And then there are keyboards for This Island Earth, a haunting and gorgeous finale and the closest this album comes to the old Roxy Music sound. The lyric captures alienation very well and the melodic hook is subtle but incessant – in stark contrast to all the danceable tracks earlier. It makes for a great, evocative and unexpected finish to a very strong record indeed.
So there’s my endorsement of an underrated CD. I don’t know what later Ferry sounds like – most of it gets compared to Avalon so I’m not in a big hurry to find out. Though of course I want a copy of his genuinely retro As Time Goes By standards album. Until I get that, this will be my go-to disc for Bryan Ferry.
See Also: Oooh, Talking Heads did Take Me to the River that same year! On More Songs about Buildings and Food with Brian Eno as producer! Dare I suggest it?
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Sound and Vision
This is easy. Someone went and uploaded all the album tracks. Ooh, the album design on their edition is all kinds of ugly. The Same Old Blues:
And here’s an equally boring video featuring a more attractive picture, at least. This Island Earth: