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Good one for today, from the interestingly-named Four Non Blondes, this is “What's up?”

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Sunday, December 4 2011
The Want Ad --- Pandora's Box --- from "Original sin" on Virgin
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For the oldies (like me) and to perhaps educate the younger 'uns, this section will feature only the best in true classic rock. For many of us, these are the songs and the bands we grew up with, the ones that got us turned on to music, and the music that showed us there was more to life than just the charts. These are the songs that defined generations, that continue to do so, and that deservedly hold a place in the annals of rock history. It's not stretching the point to say that had some of these songs not been written, rock music today might look a whole lot different --- and who knows? Some of us may not have been born...!

So let's salute the pioneers of classic rock, the men and women who wrote what would become for many of us the soundtrack of our lives, and lead to a permanent and abiding love for this music we call rock!

And what else would we choose to get us underway than the classic of classics? No-one can hear this acoustic guitar and flute opening and not know what's about to come their way. Timeless.


And after that let's really rock it up with Steppenwolf, and “Born to be wild”.


And now, the pride of the South, it's Lynyrd Skynyrd with the classic “Freebird”.


The Who? The Who, that's who! Er, yeah...


And let's end up with those jolly rockers, the Grateful Dead, with one of their classics, this is “Touch of grey”. That's about as much classic rock as the journal will stand for the moment: don't want the fabric of space/time ripping, do we? More to come soon...

Body language --- Kylie Minogue --- 2003 (Parlophone)
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Last time I reviewed a Kylie album it was her current one, “Aphrodite”, and I was extremely disappointed with how far from what I had hoped it would be it fell. Kylie has changed her sound, or more correctly, reverted her sound to that which made her name in the early eighties, namely disco, dance and pop music, and there was little of the innovator I had come to admire in the new album. But I still love her, so I'm going to have a stab at what I would consider a more well-rounded (no smutty jokes, please!) release by her, “Body language”.

I know some of the songs off this album, having watched her in concert and also seen the videos on TV at the time the album was out, so I am confident that there will be at least a few good tracks. Whether the rest of the album will measure up to the quality of what were, I guess, the singles, is a question I now intend to get an answer to, but one thing is for certain: it has to be better than “Aphrodite”!

It gets going with one of the best tracks, the sultry, sexy “Slow”. With its low bassline and warbling keys it's almost addictive, Kylie's breathy vocal suiting the song perfectly. An understated song, it's possibly a strange choice for an opener, maybe even for a single, but Kylie's voice sells it and it becomes a real prayer to burning passion. One of only four on the album on which Kylie has input to the writing, it was, as it happens, exceptionally successful as a single, charging to number one, while the other singles from the album also each made it into the top ten. “Still standing” is another slow song, though not a ballad, with a solid beat and certainly more dancy than “Slow”, but even so not an out-and-out dance track. It's quite restrained, not exactly in the same way its predecessor was, but lots of clever work on synth and drum machines ensures the song stands out, but doesn't overpower you. Again, it is as ever Kylie's sultry, almost whispery in places voice that provides the most effective vehicle for the song.

Kylie has been known for using literally bunches of producers on her albums (I think I remember “Aphrodite” has something like nineteen!) and here again she uses different producers on nearly every track, but I don't think I ever recall nine people being involved in the writing of a song. That however is the case with “Secret (Take you home)”, more a dance number than either of the previous two, but still mid-paced with lots of synth and fiddly guitar going on. Good backing vocals, another of Kylie's hallmarks, and something of a rap, which frankly I could have done without, presumably from Ms. Dynamite, who is credited as one of the nine writers.

“Promises” sounds more like something from the likes of “Light years”, very dancefloor, grungy bass, stabbing synth and what sounds like guitar synth, with Kylie singing at her brightest and most cheerful. Of the songs so far, this is the most uptempo, and it's followed by “Sweet music”, the next song on which Kylie has a writing credit. It's more bass-led mid-tempo dance with some nice keyboard runs, very funky, where I wonder if Kylie is paying a small nod of appreciation and memory to her late lover, Michael Hutchence, when she namechecks INXS's “New sensation”.

Two big singles follow next, the first being the excellent “Red-blooded woman”, which we all remember for the image of Kylie in that sexy red dress! It's a great little song, very catchy and with a clever little vocal line, Kylie back to her best as sultry vixen refusing to take no for an answer as she sings ”I'm a red-blooded woman/What's the point of hanging round?” I find the melody more than a little reminiscent in places of Coolio's “Gangsta paradise”, but it's a good contender for standout of the album, except I've probably already awarded that prize to opener “Slow”.

It's nice though to see that, unlike on her current release, here Kylie keeps the fast disco/dance numbers to a minimum, and the overall feeling I get from the album is (so far) slow, sultry and yeah, it's kind of like making love. No need to rush it, take your time and enjoy it. “Chocolate”, the last single on the album, reinforces this to the max, as Kylie turns the sexy siren image up to ten, and just sinks into a blissful cloud of indulgence and passion. If you're not turned on by this you must be dead: it's the closest you can get to having sex within a song. This is the voice that launched a thousand fantasies, and it's sounding in perfect shape, as indeed is her body, judging from the sleeve!

It's easy (and very nice) to sink into the arms of Kylie's voice and just let yourself be drowned in that lovely ocean, and “Chocolate” does indeed do its best to drag you in and pull you down, and no-one would blame you if you stayed there, but your reviewer has a job to do, and another five tracks to go, so reluctantly I resist the siren song and push the tiller hard to port, heading away from that lovely, entrancing voice and the delights promised by her, and towards the next track up.

Phew! In need of a cold shower, I find “Obsession” to be a little less sexy, though not that much! It's a slightly faster song, though as yet there are still no out-and-out dancefloor numbers --- not for the fast set, at any rate. Nice bass and some tinkly piano carry this song, but you almost ignore them, concentrating only on Kylie's sultry voice, and the angel draws you back in with “I feel for you”, which opens with the sounds of thunder and falling rain (just the thing needed after all the hot and heavy action that has been going on up to now!) and becomes a fairly straight disco type song. I thought it might have been a cover of the old Rufus and Chaka Khan number, but though it bears some resemblance to that disco classic in the chorus, it's a different song. I must say, the shouted backing vocal in the verses really annoys me, very jarring and I don't feel it adds anything to the song at all. Not sure who she is, but I wish she'd have kept her mouth shut. Her interference, as I see it, makes this the first weak track on the album, but then, we're nearly through, so that's not bad really.

Kylie's next songwriting contribution comes on “Someday”, a slow, reggae style with pulsing bass and nice bright keyboards that for some reason gives me the impression of ELO, which I'm sure they won't appreciate. Nice song though, if a little simple. Actually, the simplicity of the melody works in the song's favour, and it's one you can just kind of relax to. Also shades of Lighthouse Family about it, very laidback, very cool. She also helps write the next track, a nice little ballad called “Loving days” with an interesting mix of 90s and 70s about it. Very effective string section provided by the London Session Orchestra, with some nicely restrained guitar help to craft a really lush little song, with Kylie back to singing like a siren yearning for love.

Closer “After dark” is kind of mid-paced funk, a lot of the old seventies Motown sound in it: you could nearly hear the Jacksons singing this. It's not bad, but a far weaker closer than “Loving days” would have been, and I think it's maybe one track too many.

“Body language” promises a lot from its cover, and in general the album delivers on that promise. It never really rises to the tempo of “Light years” or even “Impossible princess”; there are no totally dancy numbers on it, and most of the tracks are, if not slow, at least quite laidback. It is, however, a better album for this difference to her other outings. It's not an album you would put on at a party (I hear people have them?), except maybe for the slow dances. It's more an album you listen to with the lights out, maybe in the company of someone special, and just let it wash over you.

That's the only thing you can do with this album. You don't so much listen to it as breathe it in, and let it swirl around inside you, making you feel all fuzzy and warm and relaxed. It is, in a phrase, sex on a disc, but never so in-your-face that it gets tacky or inappropriate. Tasteful, elegant, sultry and erotic, on this album Kylie is the classy call-girl compared to the twenty-dollar hooker you get with the likes of Rhianna (no, I know: I don't like her!) --- satisfaction is guaranteed.

TRACKLISTING

1. Slow
2. Still standing
3. Secret (Take you home)
4. Promises
5. Sweet music
6. Red blooded woman
7. Chocolate
8. Obsession
9. I feel for you
10. Someday
11. Loving days
12. After dark

Later 80s, she definitely wasn't part of the sound of the first half of that decade.

Oops! My bad! Well, I was more interested in albums like "Number of the beast" and "Wheels of steel" around that time, so I guess I inadvertently moved Kylie to the wrong part of the decade! Better go get her back, afore someone notices....! :D

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Anyone remember Double? Pronounced, the worm believes, “doo-blay”, this was their only major hit, “The captain of her heart”.

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Monday, December 5 2011
Come into my world --- Kylie Minogue --- from "Fever" on Parlophone
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Who remembers a-ha? If you do, you're likely (unless, like me, you're a fan) to shout out “Take on me” or “The sun always shines on TV”! Those with a little more interest may say “Cry wolf” or “Manhattan skyline”, but after that most non-fans will be hard-pressed to list another song from this band, which is sad, as they are now disbanded but over the course of their almost thirty-year career put out nine great albums, and had a string of singles, most of which, not surprisingly, went to the top or did very well in their native Norway. One or two hit wonders? Think again.
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Part I: The sun always shines when you're taking on the world
Formed in Oslo in 1982, a-ha (their name is spelled with a lowercase “a”) have never changed the lineup that they began with, a trio comprising Morton Harket on vocals, Magne (Mags) Furuholmen on keyboards and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (who went by the shortened name Pal Wakktaar) on guitar. They were first discovered by producer John Ratcliff when the guys relocated from Oslo to London in search of a career in music. Their first single, the by-now-famous (too famous?) “Take on me” was their first hit, but not the first time out. In fact, the song had to be released three times before it attained the success and exposure it deserved, and helped elevate the three young lads from Norway to superstar status. It was seen to be the groundbreaking video that accompanied the third release of “Take on me” that got them noticed, and the song raced to number two. Although not their most successful single, it is still remembered as their best, and in some cases only one.

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The album that followed the single, their debut, 1985's “Hunting high and low”, was also a huge smash, earning triple platinum status and yielding five singles, four of which charted, three of which were big hits. As a debut it really couldn't be much better. Kicking off with the huge hit single that made their name, it powers on into the third single, the China Crisis-sounding keyboard-driven “Train of thought” and then into the title track, a slow, ethereal ballad with nice masking tracks of seagulls and waves, some really effective crying guitar and Harket's soulful vocal all making this a shoe-in for a single release, which it was.

But it's not just the singles that make this album, though later we hit their second single, and their biggest hit, the bombastic “The sun always shines on TV”. I'm sure you know it, considering how big it was, but it's a great song, starting off with deep keyboards, which then get more strident and insistent until the drums kick in and the guitar gets going, and it's about as close to a rock song as any pop band I know have got. Great stuff, and I had it flagged for a number one the moment I heard it. However, it's songs like the Human League-like “Living a boy's adventure tale” and the wonderfully europop “Dream myself alive” that really lift this album out of the realms of just a collection of hit singles, while the dramatic, powerful closer “Here I stand and face the rain” gives just a hint of the quality songwriting a-ha would engage in over the next thirty-odd years, marking them as much more than just a fly-by-night pop sensation. “Hunting high and low” showed, in no uncertain terms, that a-ha were here for the long haul, not just the quick money.

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They followed up the powerful debut one year later with “Scoundrel days”, which even today ranks as one of their best albums. There are about two weak tracks on it, but the rest of the material is so top-notch that you can almost overlook those. The album also yielded them further singles, in the songs “Cry wolf”, “Manhattan skyline” and “I've been losing you”, but as with their debut, it's the songs that weren't released as singles that stand out the most. From the opening keyboard arpeggios of the title track, the almost whispered vocal to the sudden breakout of drums and solid keys, it's obvious that the debut was not just a flash-in-the-pan, and a-ha are back, in a big way! “Scoundrel days” is a fast bopper with a very urgent sound, almost desperate, and it's a great opener, things not let down at all by “The swing of things”, another fast track with a great middle eighth where everyone pauses for breath before attacking the song for its powerful conclusion.

Whereas Morton Harket had some songwriting input into “Hunting high and low”, on this album he concentrates on doing what he does best, and leaves the writing to the other two bandmembers, Pal Waaktaar in particular, who solo pens four of the tracks. It's an album full of gems, and not just the singles, though they are excellent. Some stirring ballads like the moody, almost not-there “October”, which takes understatement to new levels, Harket's voice almost a whisper throughout and yet very effective, as he allows the combined sound effects of wind and tolling bells do the singing for him. Indeed, the opening of the song has virtually no music until about fifty seconds in, sound effects carrying the mood perfectly.

“Scoundrel days” is the perfect follow-up to an excellent and successful debut, and neatly avoids falling into the trap of “second album syndrome”. A-ha don't seem to be all that bothered about writing a successor to “Take on me” or “The sun always shines on TV”, instead concentrating on just writing excellent songs, almost any of which could have been chosen for the radio or charts, and allowing natural selection to do its work. The only weak tracks I find on this album are the Mags Furuholmen solo effort “Maybe maybe”, with its frankly silly and annoying lyric (Maybe it was over when you/ Chucked me out the Rover/ At full speed”) and its pseudo-reggae melody, and “We're looking for the whales” (on which both have to accept responsibility as writers), but as I say, the quality of the remainder is so high you can ignore these little bumps on the road.

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1988 saw what would be seen as the last “big” a-ha album, “Stay on these roads”. While a great album, there is a small fall in quality from the first two: perhaps we had just been spoiled by the previous offerings! Again, very few weak tracks and some great ones, including the title track, more hit singles in “Touchy”, “The blood that moves the body” and my favourite, the totally-feelgood “You are the one”. Balanced against these are more sombre, downbeat songs like “This alone is love”, “There's never a forever thing” and the immense closer, “You'll end up crying”, which is almost carried completely on strings and close to acapella vocal, if that makes any sort of sense. You have to hear it.

The album also features their longest song to date, almost seven minutes of “Out of blue comes green”, as well as the theme to the James Bond movie, “The living daylights”, written in conjunction with film composer the late John Barry. This helped bring the music of a-ha to a new audience --- filmgoers and in particular Bond fans --- and took the single to number five. Harket helps out on the title track, otherwise, apart from Barry's collaboration, the album is entirely composed by Pal Waaktaar with some help from Mags, but it's mostly his songs on the album, as he emerges as the main songwriting force behind a-ha.

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And that was more or less it for “the golden age” of a-ha. After three albums and some very successful hit singles, their fourth album, released in 1990, largely passed the charts and the general record-buying public by. “East of the sun, west of the moon” is not a bad album, but it probably suffers commercially from the decision by the band to eschew the pop charts song prevalent on the last three albums and opt for a darker, more mature tone that almost moves entirely away from pop and more into the spectrum of rock. Apart from the cover of the Everly Brothers' “Crying in the rain” (on which they do a passable job), which opens the album, there are no obvious singles, no dancy numbers, no simple songs. Pal, who by now was married to Lauren and adopted her surname Savoy into his, becoming Pal Waaktaar-Savoy, shares most of the writing duties with Mags, and the result is a somewhat confused collection of songs, some good, some bad, none terribly great. On this album, it was clear that the heady days of “Take on me” and “Manhattan skyline” were long gone.

The only track that comes close to the pop sensibilities of their previous output really is the second one, “Early morning”, but even that is infused with melancholia and darkness, Morton singing now more as a serious vocalist than just the frontman of a pretty-boy pop trio, which was essentially how he had been seen up to now; many teenage girls (my own sister included) had his poster on the wall and swooned over him at night. The new, darker, grittier approach of “East of the sun” did not appeal to those sort of fans, and consequently it seemed they deserted a-ha in droves, the album selling well but nowhere near as well as previous ones.

What “East of the sun” did demonstrate amply however was the brilliant musicianship of the band, talents which, although certainly evident on the last three albums, had been somewhat overshadowed by the success of pop singles and their own cult of personality among the fickler of their fans. It was obvious that Mags was a great keyboard player and a fine pianist, while Pal's expertise on the guitar, never challenged, began to shine through on songs like “Sycamore leaves” and “Cold river” . At this point, a-ha began to become very popular in places like Brazil and indeed they headlined the Rock in Rio II festival in 1991, but even though they drew the largest crowd (breaking records and beating out big hitters like Prince, George Michael and even Guns 'n' Roses) they were largely ignored by the music press, the curse of “Take on me” and their perception by the media as a pop and not a rock band dealing them a devastating blow, from which they would really never recover.

A-ha had always written obscure lyrics, mostly shying from the standard fare of pop singles --- even big hits like “Cry wolf”, “Train of thought” and “Manhattan skyline” have odd lyrics that aren't immediately obvious --- and this practice evolved even more as their albums became more mature and less polished pop. Tracks like “Slender frame”, “Sycamore leaves” and the excellent but simple “(Seemingly) Nonstop July” are examples of the thought and care a-ha would put into their writing: mostly, it has to be accepted, Pal Waaktaar-Savoy, who wrote the lion's share of their material. Lyrics like ”Can't stop thinking 'bout it/ It fills me with unease /Out there by the roadside something's buried/ Under sycamore leaves” and ”So many lifetimes /You've been waiting for it / All through the good times/ When you tried to ignore it / You hesitate/ It's come too late /You hear the sound /Of when wheels engage” just didn't sit well with fans more used to the often bland pop lyrics of certainly the first two albums, and the new, darker sound did not attract them.

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So the stage was set for the partial decline of a-ha, or to be more accurate, their abandonment by their pop fans in favour of more hardcore, serious listeners who would take the band on the merits of their songs and their albums, not just their hit singles. “Memorial Beach”, released 1993, sold even more poorly, leading to the band deciding to break up temporarily while they pursued other projects. Another dark album, “Memorial Beach” has some great tracks on it, including the opener, “Dark is the night for all”, “Angel in the snow”, written by Pal as a gift to his wife on their wedding, and “How sweet it was”. It also features a song which beats out “Stay on these roads”'s seven-minute opus “Out of blue comes green” as the longest a-ha song to date, “Cold as stone”, coming it at almost eight and a half minutes.

With Pal again taking over most of the songwriting duties, “Memorial Beach” continues the more adult, measured approach seen on “East of the sun, west of the moon”, and with the exception of the boppy “Move to Memphis”, there's very little about this album that's not dark and moody. Well, “Angel in the snow” is a gorgeous and touching little ballad, yes, but the whole album other than those two is heavier, crunchier and grittier than any a-ha release to date. Cue more pop fans fleeing in dismay!

In 1994, disappointed with the reception their last album had gained, and interested in trying out solo projects, the band split --- or more correctly, went on hiatus --- until 1998, when they made a comeback at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in their hometown of Oslo, and soon afterwards they got back together properly, releasing at the turn of the millennium their sixth album, “Minor earth major sky”.

Part II: Afternoon high in the summers of our youth
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Perhaps it was the long time they had spent away from the studio, perhaps it was the eagerness of their many faithful fans to hear new music from their heroes, but either way their comeback album sold far better than the previous ones, giving them four hit singles, and in point of fact, each of the singles went to number one. A-ha had not been so popular since the days of “Take on me”, and the no doubt vindicating factor for them was that they had not only become in demand again, but had done so on their own terms. They had not gone back to writing pop songs in a desperate attempt to recapture former glories, or brought in guest or star writers to help them craft a hit single. They had remained true to their own vision of the band, and people had understood and agreed this was the way to go.

The only real differences, in terms of songwriting, was that Mags got more involved, writing four of the thirteen songs on the album, one of which was one of the number one hit singles, and Morton wrote two, one with Ole Sverre-Olsen and another with Havard Rem. Also, Pal's new wife Lauren Savoy wrote two songs with her husband, again both of which were number one hit singles. The good times certainly seemed to be back for a-ha! Their internet homecoming webcast in 2001 garnered over three million hits, the third largest of its kind ever. “Minor earth” is a marvellous album, and it's easy to see why it did so well. In addition to being a well-crafted, serious, mature album of thoughtful rock songs and aching ballads, the album was now aimed towards and appealing to the older fans, who had grown up now. It was fifteen years since the first keyboard arpeggios of “Take on me” reverberated around the discos and the radios of the world, and the people who had danced to the tunes on “Hunting high and low” were older and wiser, looking for something more mature from a band previously only known as a pop act.

“Minor earth, major sky” came just at the right moment, when a-ha teenage fans were becoming a-ha middle-age fans, and it captured the zeitgeist all over again. Songs like “Barely hanging on”, “To let you win”, “Summer moved on” and “I wish I cared” see a-ha make the often difficult transition from pop band to (semi)-serious rock band in really two albums. “Memorial Beach” had been the midway point in that transition, leaving albums --- albeit great ones --- like “Stay on these roads” and “Hunting high and low” behind for more mature shores; with “Minor earth major sky” the transformation was complete. A-ha were now an internationally respected rock band, if still retaining some pop sensibilities. Some people were, and are, always going to see them as “those guys that had that song”, but a-ha had successfully reinvented themselves, and never sounded better.

Also their longest album, “Minor earth”, clocking in at just under 59 minutes, also has the most tracks on an a-ha album, thirteen. Unlucky? It would seem not. They even felt comfortable enough with their won-back fame to flirt with controversy for the video for “Velvet”, tying in with the darker themes of their “new” music. The video --- dealing as it does with the very dodgy subject of necrophilia, apparently --- certainly puts an extremely creepy slant to what is otherwise a beautiful ballad. I'd really rather not think about it, thank you.

To come back from basically the abyss of obscurity with an album that gives you not only four singles, not only four hit singles, but four number one singles --- think about that: every track released as a single went to the top --- is a huge achievement, and no more than a-ha deserved. They were very much an underappreciated band and were finally getting the recognition they were due, after being dismissed as one-hit (or even three-album) wonders. And there was a lot more to come.

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The guys did not hang around after the success of “Minor earth”, and the next year saw the release of “Lifelines”, their seventh album. Although the singles taken from it were nowhere near as successful as those from the previous album (hardly at all, other than in their native Norway, bastion of their popularity and fanbase) the album sold almost as well, and it continues the mature and considered approach the band had taken since their reformation, and indeed prior to breaking up. With a much broader songwriter base --- Morton writing or co-writing five of the tracks, Mags writing four solo, including the title track, and Ole Sverre-Olsen renewing his songwriting partnership with Morton on two of the tracks, it's one of a-ha's strongest albums, and one of my own personal favourites.

The title track, written by Mags, is a great opener, and really it justs gets better from there. It certainly boasts some of the weirdest --- even for a-ha --- lyrics in their repertoire, with lines like ”When your colleagues can't recall your name/ Time and time again/ There's a reason for it/ When your name's the butt of every joke/ Just about to croak/ There's a reason for it” or ”We have seen the rain before/ Not like this - It's flooding every shore /People come and people go/ I can hear their laughter through the door / But no one's keeping score”.

It's much more of an upbeat album than the previous two, perhaps fuelled by a-ha's restored public acceptance and their triumphant return, and songs like “Forever not yours”, while melancholy in its lyric, bounces along at a pretty happy rate, as does “Afternoon high” and the extremely odd “Oranges on appletrees”. But a-ha have not ditched their darker side, and it's evident on songs like “Did anyone approach you” and "You wanted more". In between there are the usual stunning ballads --- “Time and again”, “White canvas” and “A little bit” stand out here --- along with something of a return to the happy pop of the first three albums with tracks like “Afternoon high”, “Oranges on apple trees” and "Dragonfly". “Lifelines”, though less popular and successful than its predecessor, is nevertheless the album of theirs I consider the most rounded, a heady mix of ballads, pop songs and rock songs, something for everyone.

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Taking some time out to tour, the next album released by the guys was not until 2005, and would prove to be their penultimate. It would also, in my humble opinion, turn out to be their best and most cohesive effort since “Scoundrel days”.

This is, quite simply, an album with not one single bad track, and an absolute slew of excellent ones. If this had been a-ha's swansong, it would have been quite fitting and appropriate, though there's nothing of the sense of a farewell about “Analogue”: it's a band at the very top of their game, having reinvented themselves and essentially conquered the world --- twice --- there seemed to be no stopping these three guys from Norway. A mixture of boppy uptempo rock/pop and searing ballads, there just is so much to love about this album.

Highlights, by their very nature, can't apply to this album, but the tracks that stand out as even better than the really good ones, for me, are “Over the treetops”, “White dwarf”, “Cosy prisons”, with absolutely some of the very very best ballads a-ha have ever written in “A fine blue line”, “Birthright” and the simply stunning “Summers of our youth”, where Mags gets to sing (only the second time ever, and far better than his initial effort) with Morton on the choruses adding quite literally the voice of an angel on Earth to an already perfect song, and a wonderful closer, as well as what could have been the last ever a-ha song.

But special mention must also be made of “Halfway through the tour”, which clocks in at seven and a half minutes, making it into the top three longest a-ha songs, and as close to an epic as this band have ever recorded. Starting out fast and boppy, very much an uptempo pop song, it morphs about halfway through into a lush, gentle little instrumental that just takes your breath away. I must compliment the songwriting of Mags Furuholmen, because here he writes more than half of the songs --- either solo or with another person --- and they're without exception excellent. In fact, four of the really great songs --- “Don't do me any favours”, “Cosy prisons”, “A fine blue line” and the closer “The summers of our youth” --- are all written by him solo, with the opener “Celice” and the unutterably brilliant “Birthright” are co-written by him. Pal, in contrast, writes only four, with one other co-written with Mags and Max Martin.

Mind you, it is Pal who writes the wonderful epic “Halfway through the tour”, which just shows they all can write amazing songs. Even Morton writes co-writes two. This album is a total triumph, and can be seen as the very pinnacle of a-ha's creative and lyrical prowess, their musical expertise never having been in doubt throughout their long career. It's such a great album that I wish there was another like it, but there isn't, and that's how it should be.

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Ending on a high note, as indeed their final live album was titled, a-ha released their ninth, and last, album in 2010. “Foot of the mountain” brought their sound right back full circle, with synthy pop songs more in the mould of “Hunting high and low” and “Scoundrel days” than the later, more mature albums. Perhaps they felt that they were finishing up, so there was no need to expand their musical boundaries any further, or maybe they actually wanted to return to where it all began before it all came to an end, but either way I find it a bit of a disappointment that, having come so far from the tag of pop band and having carved out their own niche in music, beating the odds and reinventing themselves, the guys decided to go back to their beginnings.

Consequently, “Foot of the mountain” was, for me, a bit of a letdown after albums like “Analogue” and “Minor earth major sky”. There's nothing wrong with it, just as there's nothing wrong with the early albums, but I do see it as something of a step backwards, and there is no longer any chance that there will be any more steps forward, unless a-ha decide to reunite in the future. For now, we're left with an album of pretty standard pop songs, the deep writing and themes utilised on previous album mostly discarded in favour of more radio-friendly fare, though “What there is” is a nice little song, and the title track is very good too, different in temperament to most of the rest of the album. Lyrically, it's quite similar to Glenn Frey's “River of dreams”, with the idea of leaving the city behind to live at one with nature.

Songwriting duties for this last album are more or less shared equally by Mags and Pal: Morton has no input this final time. Not surprisingly, as it was widely known to be a-ha's last album to be released, “Foot of the mountain” did very well in the charts, in fact giving them their best placing since “Stay on these roads”. This despite the fact that “Analogue” is a far, far superior album in every way. I guess you can't overestimate the power of something being the last of its kind. There are some good tracks on it, some great ones even. “Nothing is keeping you here” (a note to self, perhaps, on their retirement?) has an opening piano riff very reminscent of Harry Nilsson's “Everybody's talkin' at me”, and bops along nicely with a sort of bittersweet air of farewell, and thanks perhaps.

“Sunny mystery” is nice too, and “Start the simulator”, the closing track on the album and technically the last ever a-ha song (though they did release one more single after this) is interestingly different, a love song written using only technical terms, but in general I don't get the same feeling from this album that I do from “Analogue” or “Lifelines”, and as it's their swansong it is a pity: I would have preferred them to have gone out with a fantastic album, their best ever, but for me, that's not the case and it's more a damp squib than a firecracker. Ah well, such is life.

The final new a-ha song was released as part of the compilation “25”, their last recording, and was called “Butterfly, butterfly (The last hurrah)”. They appeared as part of the memorial services for the massacre in Norway earlier this year, playing “Stay on these roads”, and that was, to date, their final appearance together. It's likely they will release further solo material, as each has their own project and albums already released, but whether or not we will see a reunion in the future remains to be seen.

For almost thirty years a-ha flew the musical flag for Norway, a country previously ignored by the music world. They essentially put Norway on the map, and are and ever will be heroes in their home country. They also influenced later bands like Coldplay and Keane, and showed the world that a pop band can expand beyond those sometimes limited horizons, change and evolve, and come back stronger. They showed us that just because the band is made up of three “pretty boys” doesn't mean that they have to rely on their looks alone, and also that a trio can write their own excellent songs without input from major songwriters, and still carve a successful and varied career over the course of three decades.

Those who want to dismiss them on the basis of “Take on me” will probably continue to do so, but that is just their ignorance. A-ha were always more than just one or two hit singles, and for those prepared to put in the time and dig into their catalogue, the rewards are there to be heard. Not a boy band by any means, a-ha were always in control of their own music, and their own destiny, and they remain a shining example of dogged perserverance and talent shining through, in this age where the band is often just a tool for the record producer or label to use, a means to an end, a source of revenue. They epitomised the brighter, more optimistic side of pop music, and left behind them a musical legacy that will last long after other, more currently popular acts have been long forgotten and dumped in favour of the next big thing.

They came, they took on the world, had their scoundrel days, stayed on these roads and can now happily retire to live at the foot of the mountain.

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A good boppy one to bounce around in your ear for some time today, this was quite controversial when released back in '73, dealing as it does with the touchy subject of police brutality. It's 10cc with one of their all-time classics, “Rubber bullets”.

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Tuesday, December 6 2011
Midnight blue --- ELO --- from "Discovery" on Jet
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Cold winds on timeless days --- Charred Walls of the Damned --- 2011 (Metal Blade)
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Now there's an album title and band name that belongs right up there with the greats! The brainchild of ex-Iced Earth's Richard Christy, “Cold winds on timeless days” is the second album from this kind of spinoff from that band, with their former vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens also involved. The name of the band, it appears, came from a phrase used by the host of one of those fundamental Christian radio stations, on whom the guys had played a telephone prank; it's a reference to Hell, of course, as seen by the Moral Right, a place where the ungodly will apparently be putting their “nails in the charred walls of the damned”. Nice.

It starts off with deceptive laidback guitar before the title track, as such --- it's actually titled “Timeless days”--- kicks in with exploding guitar solos and stomping drums, Owens' vocals cutting through the cacophony with the power of Dickinson and Dio combined. There's great melody though, and it's clear this is no hastily-thrown-together project, all musicians complementing each other and melding together almost as one as Steve DiGeorgio lays down solid basslines alongside Jason Suecof's burning guitar, Christy's pounding drums hammering out the rhythm as the song, actually the longest on the album, goes along. It's followed by “Ashes falling upon us”, another fast pounder, with a real anthemic chorus --- I can imagine this going over well live. Great guitar solo from Suecof, like the metal gods of old. Don't hear that too often these days.

This album is odd in that it really has two title tracks: there's “Timeless days”, as already mentioned, and then you get “Cold winds”, so either could lay claim to being the title track. Good stuff, but nothing is really standing head and shoulders above the rest yet, marking itself out as truly great. “Lead the way” is a lot faster than previous tracks, veering close to speed metal territory, with a pretty dramatic feel about it --- speed metal opera? “Guiding me” is also a decent song, but so far I'm waiting in vain for anything special, something that lifts this album out of the ranks of the ordinary and makes it something more than just another metal outing.

Okay, for just a minute “The beast outside my window” sounded like it might have been the track I was waiting for. Started with nice acoustic guitar intro and seemed like despite the title it might have been a slow song, but then kicked into high gear and became another more-or-less-indistinguishable from the rest. Ah well. “Bloodworm” has some nice ideas and an interesting melody; probably qualifies as the best track so far, though to be fair that's a pretty short list, sadly.

And that's about it really. The closer, “Avoid the light”, comes and goes without making any real impression on me, and the album is over, having had a similar lack of effect. A real pity, as I had hoped this would be a great album. But I guess sometimes a great name and title and a decent pedigree doesn't necessarily guarantee that the product is going to live up to that promise. Not a bad album, per se, just nothing special. I wouldn't say avoid it like the plague, just as I wouldn't advise anyone to rush out and buy it.

TRACKLISTING

1. Timeless days
2. Ashes falling upon us
3. Zerospan
4. Cold winds
5. Lead the way
6. Forever marching on
7. Guiding me
8. The beast outside my window
9. On unclean ground
10. Bloodworm
11. Admire the heroes
12. Avoid the light

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It's particularly depressing when an album starts out really well, and you get yourself all geared up for a really great experience, then like a football match with one spectacular goal in the second minute, the rest is as boring as watching paint dry. But you keep watching, just in case something good happens. And now and again there's an individual flash of brilliance: a close shot, a great tackle, an incredible save, but the end result is the same. The score remains at the final whistle the same as it was when that wondergoal was scored, and though yes, it's been worth it just to see that moment of genius, you could really have just switched off or left after that, as nothing that followed has ever come anywhere close to emulating that one moment of magic.

So it is with certain albums, this being a case in point. The first track is great, then it dips seriously sharply in quality, and the next few tracks are nothing great. Halfway in or so there's another pretty good track, but by the time it's over your opinion is that the album was not worth listening to all the way through, and had you hit “stop” after that one track you probably would feel a lot better than you do now, having suffered through the rest of it.

Can't look away --- Trevor Rabin --- 1989 (Elektra)
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On the face of it, this should be a good album. Guitarist with Yes on three of their biggest later albums, "90125", "Big Generator" and "Union", Trevor Rabin brought a freshness to that band that had for some time been sorely lacking, and there's no doubting his ability as a guitar man. Nothing wrong with his voice either, and though he didn't sing on any of the aforementioned albums, this is his fourth of seven solo efforts, and he has gone on to compose the music to literally dozens of films, including the likes of “Gone in sixty seconds”, “Con Air” and “Enemy of the state”. In fact, that seems to be where he's plying his talent mainly these days, and good luck to him.

The opener and title track just hits all the right spots. Starting off with a powerful guitar intro, as you might expect, it ploughs into a big cinematic opening, betraying Rabin's leanings and future career as a composer of movie soundtracks. When the singing begins it's through some sort of vocoder, which catches you offguard and you think this could be a problem if all the vocals are like this! But then after just two lines it settles down and Rabin's voice is clear and strong. The song is a joy, packed with guitars, keys and pumping drums, and ending with a great guitar solo and dramatic close to fade. Oh yeah, bring it on! More of this please!

Unfortunately, that's not what we get. Not at all. As an opener, "I can't look away" is also the high point of the album, and it's all pretty much downhill from there. After such a powerful start, the only way the rest of the album can be described is as anticlimactic.

The rest of the songs on “Can't look away” are, for the most part, pretty dire. Naturally, being a guitarist first and singer second, he includes a few instumental workouts on the axe, like “The cape”, which is lovely and reminds me of Mike Oldfield

though I find “Sludge” a little confused

While “Etoile noir” never gets a chance to get going, being only a few seconds over a minute long.

But the only other really good track on the album that stands out and makes it worth having plugged on is the excellent “Hold on to me”

(This, and the title track, both incidentally co-written with someone else). But then you have “Something to hold on to”

“Promises” I find quite weak

and “Sorrow (Your heart)” just doesn't work for me. I know he's a South African, but this is too Peter Gabriel for me.

“Eyes of love” is okay, but could have been so much better

And when he tries to be like Robert Palmer in “I didn't think it would last”, he's right...


It's not that it's a terrible album, but with a pedigree like Rabin has, and with the promise of the opening track, I just expected it to be so much better than it turned out to be.

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Wednesday, December 7 2011
Have a nice day --- Bon Jovi --- from "Have a nice day" on Island
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Hah! The worm guarantees you'll never get this tune out of your head! A
n boppy little instrumental from way back in 1972, could it qualify as the first ever techno song? Make up your own mind. It's called “Popcorn”. Yum!

Windows and walls --- Dan Fogelberg --- 1984 (Full Moon)
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Okay, I've been threatening to review a Dan Fogelberg album for some time now, and it's about time I did so. Trouble is, it's so hard to choose. Almost everything he's put out is exceptional, but I've decided to go for this one. Can't say why: I could have reviewed almost any album by him and been happy, but I've gone for “Windows and walls”, and here we are.

Like most of Dan's music, this album explores the human condition, from the title track, which considers the aching loneliness and sense of abandonment and futility that comes with advancing old age, to the craving to leave a pointless, unfulfilled life behind, if only for a while, as in “Tucson, Arizona (Gazette)”, or even the love which is only found through enforced absence, in “Sweet Magnolia (and the travelling salesman)”. Love, of course, is a strong current that runs through most of Fogelberg's songs, whether it's the quest to attain same, the loss of it or even the glorying in having it, but he was also very strongly eco-active, as the closer, “Gone too far” shows.

But I get ahead of myself. Let's go track by track, shall we? It opens with “The language of love”, a rocky, powerful track which explores how contradictory a thing love can be. ”I say leave” he sings ”When I mean stay/ But she don't see/ And so she moves away/ And what we really mean/ We rarely say.” It's got some great guitar, nice piano and organ, and a great drumbeat that just makes you want to tap your foot. A heavier track than perhaps people unfamiliar with Dan, and only aware of his ballads such as “Run for the roses” and “Same old lang syne” might expect, but he could rock with the best of them.

He also plays just about every instrument it's possible to play. On this album, in addition to singing he plays guitar, bass, percussion, piano, synth, electric piano and tambourine. That's a lot of instruments! He still has a full band backing him though, and the sound is certainly full, though on the title track, up next, it's as sparse and fragile as the lyrical content of the song demands. Already featured in our "More than words" section last month, it's a truly heartbreaking account of how one old woman, left behind and forgotten by her family, tries to fill her days, it's a sobering tale of how people can be “out of sight, out of mind”, but they still have their feelings. Carried on a gentle plucked acoustic guitar accompanied by low organ and gorgeous violin and cello courtesy of Katherine Burden, the lyric speaks for itself:

”The clock on the mantle/ Chiming the hours/ Must be the loneliest sound/ She washes the dishes/ Waters the flowers/ And afterwards has to sit down/ Sometimes she still can remember a child/ Playing with china dolls/ Now all that's she's left are these memories/ And windows and walls.” The fade-out low chorus of ”Day after day” and the ticking clock (he uses a real clock in the song!) serve to underline the crushing loneliness old age can be. After hearing this song, you experience a sudden urge to ring up your old mother, or go check on that elderly neighbour, and that can't be bad.

Back to rocking then for “The loving cup”, and an exploration of the reasons people fall in, out of and back into love, the things they'll do for it and the sacrifices they'll make to attain it. ”Still the lovers in the backseats crawl” Dan observes wryly, ”And still their wives wait up.” Some great guitar work in this song, particularly at the end, with the rather mad, intense scream of the guitar to its very abrupt end. A depiction of frustration, perhaps? Or just a guy enjoying himself letting rip on the guitar?

Like most, if not all of his work, every song here is composed by Dan, and they all contain his trademark humanity and honesty, something that tended to single him out from other songwriters in the same field. Although his songs may not always have been autobiographical, you always got the sense that he was putting something from his own life, some experience, some observation, some part of him into every song, so that each one sounded personal and intimate in a way others' songs often do not. A true craftsman.

The other standout on the album comes next, with the tragic “Tucson, Arizona (Gazette)”, which tells the story, to a rather incongruously bop-a-long beat and uptempo melody, of two lost souls, a girl who has come out from her hometown to make it big in the movies, but has never got any further than the desert town of Tucson, and a boy, who spends his nights cruising the lonely streets in his Chevy, the one true thing he loves. These two meet up and go for a drug-fuelled ride in his car, which ends in tragedy. The song's principle vehicle is acoustic guitar and piano, with a vaguely folk feel, Dan's anguished voice relating the tale of these two doomed lovers as he picks out the chords on his guitar, like some sort of latter-day Rod Serling telling one his many cautionary tales.

At just over eight and a half minutes, it's not only the longest song on the album by far, but also one of the longest compositions Dan has ever written. And yet, with its storytelling style, typical of Dan's songs, it doesn't seem that long before we're hearing the fade-out, as ”The neighbours speculated/ On what could make a good boy/ Go so bad” and Dan advises ”It might have been the desert heat/ It might have been the home he never had.” Powerful stuff, great orchestration and a fine, desperate piano melody during the denoument and then to the fade.

After that, “Let her go” sounds like a rather ordinary rock song. Dan ramps it back up, cranking up the guitars and the keyboards, the thumping drums as he tries to convince his lady that his past love affairs mean nothing, and should remain in the past. Yeah sure, Dan, we've all tried that one: “Honest honey! She meant nothing to me!” They never believe you --- why should they? At the end he throws up his hands, declaring to his lady ”I told you the truth/ How much more can I do? /Now my love it's up to you.” I'm sure she appreciated that! I, however, do appreciate the rather tasty guitar solo that takes the song to its fade-out. Nice.

Two ballads follow, the first the bittersweet tale of a man on the road who longs to get home to the woman he loves. “Sweet Magnolia (and the travelling salesman)” is carried mostly on a piano melody with lovely string arrangement, with some really nice clarinet --- not that often you can say that! --- a simple song as many of Dan's are, but sincere and heartfelt, as is the penultimate track, “Believe in me”.

Another sumptuous ballad, it's a real love song where the orchestra get to really stretch themselves, while the main melody is kept by Dan on his acoustic high-string guitar (it says on his website) and a lovely little acoustic piano. Keep it simple was often Dan's way, and it certainly works here, where the pure love shines through in a ballad that manages not to be trite, sugary or formulaic (Boybands, take note!) and retraces the theme of “Let her go”, when he sings ”Those other loves that came before/ Mean nothing to me anymore/ But you can never be quite sure.” Finally, Dan declares that as a songwriter the one thing he would like to do is calm his lady's fears through song: ”If I could only do one thing/ Then I would try to write and sing/ A song that ends your questioning/ And makes you believe in me.” Sublime.

That would probably have been a nice enough ending to the album, but then the electric guitars churn and crank with a truly heavy rock opening to the closer, “Gone too far”, where Dan bemoans the waste of natural resources and what we're doing to our planet. There are some really heavy moments on this, and it rocks along at a great pace, with some great slants on the lyric: ”Or have we gone too far?/ Are we just wishing on a dying star?” later changes the second line to ”Are we just living on a dying star?” Effective. With just one word, he changes the whole meaning and strikes a note of fear into our hearts.

The track ends with a lot of cacaphony and noise, winds and the sounds of a perceived coming destruction, which I believe makes the point admirably.

Never less than honest, not afraid to take chances, always with his finger on the pulse of human emotion and always championing good causes, the world lost a real gentleman, a rare talent and a wonderful singer, songwriter and musician when Dan Fogelberg died in 2007. This is just one small part of the huge legacy he left for us to remember him by, and it's a fitting tribute to the man and his music.

TRACKLISTING

1. The language of love
2. Windows and walls
3. The loving cup
4. Tucson, Arizona (Gazette)
5. Let her go
6. Sweet Magnolia (and the travelling salesman)
7. Believe in me
8. Gone too far

Suggested further listening: “Souvenirs”, “Phoenix”, “The innocent age”, “Nether lands”, “The wild places”, “Exiles”

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Thought it might be time to have another look at the first album released by an artiste, go right back to the beginning of their career and see either if the debut album foreshadowed their later work, or if it was completely different. We'll be looking at the first album and anaylsing the differences or similarities between the band's other albums that followed this, and seeing just how their musical style has changed, or remained the same, over the span of their career.

Parachutes --- Coldplay --- 2000 (Parlophone)
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These days, it seems Coldplay have been around forever --- especially to those who hate the band! --- and you can't turn on the radio or MTV without hearing their songs. They feature in many television advertisements too, so there really does seem no escape. Yet they only released their debut album eleven years ago now, and at the time, although it went to number one, it's probably fair to say that no-one expected Coldplay to become the gargantuan music force and commercial property they turned into over the course, really, of two albums. Their second, “A rush of blood to the head”, released only two years later, catapulted them to international stardom and spearheaded a serious assault on the charts. Soon, everyone was playing or listening to --- or avoiding! --- their music, and whether you liked them or loathed them, Coldplay were quite obviously here to stay.

The album starts (and indeed, for the most part, remains) low-key, with Chris Martin's now instantly-recognisable drawl, with that East European lilt that belies the fact that he was born in Exeter and seems to have no foreign blood in his family. Not sure where that came from, but it's always been very evident in his singing. “Don't panic” is a short, mostly piano styled song, quite laidback and easy, while “Shiver”, one of the singles taken from the album, is more upbeat (though not a lot), and more guitar driven, but always with Martin's shimmering piano in the background. Johnny Buckland's signature guitar licks come more to the fore in this track, and Martin's voice is more a falsetto at times than on the previous.

Initially released as the lead single from the album, “Shiver” did not do well, and even on its re-release only just about made it into the top forty, while “Spies” gives something of a hint as to the greatness this band were to achieve, with a tight, dour little song that's mostly acoustic. Despite its somewhat sad and at times drab production, it's quite infectious, especially when the electric guitar, and drums from Will Champion punch in, giving the song a vaguely U2 feel. Six out of ten of the tracks on this album have one-word titles, allowing perhaps the perception that the band didn't put much thought into them, but the songs themselves are all expertly crafted, and for a debut album there are few if any duds.

“Sparks” --- perhaps an odd choice to follow “Spies”, being so similar in spelling, or maybe that's just me --- is another signpost to the development and evolution of this band, with a lovely, waltzy ballad on acoustic guitar, Martin's lonely vocal sounding like someone composing the song in a bedsit. The addition of some choice organ notes just before the chorus is inspired, and does a lot to fill out the song, which then falls back on the guitar, joined by rhythm guitar to add an extra dimension to the music as the organ fills come back in later, giving the sense of a tightly-written and controlled song; the instruments are used sparingly, but with proper economy, never overdone.

One of the bigger hits from the album then comes in the form of “Yellow”, which you probably know, as it's remained one of their most well-known songs, and has been used in some ad campaigns, promos and so on. It's a harder song in ways, opening on sharp insistent guitar, with Chris Martin's voice more lifted from the often murmur or mumble he evidenced on the previous tracks. Almost a case of Martin --- and Coldplay --- coming to life, waking up in fact. It's the most upbeat of the songs so far, very catchy and not at all surprising that it went into the top five on its release, and was instrumental in making Coldplay's name in the early days.

“Trouble” turned out to be another huge hit for them, not only from its chart placing of number ten, but for its use in everything from teen drama background music to promotional videos, particularly for charitable causes and so forth. A much lower-key song than “Yellow”, it's the turn of Martin's piano to again take centre stage, his vocal almost lost and lonely on the song, plaintive and yearning. The main riff though is on the piano, and has become very iconic as part of the Coldplay sound. There's also a hint of country in the use of the guitar, which sounds like pedal steel, but isn't, I think.

The title track is extremely short, less than a minute, and consists of a simple acoustic melody with a short vocal by Martin, then we're into “High speed”, which starts off with a very ELO-themed sound, another low-key song with Martin singing much louder and more insistently than on other ballads on the album. “We never change” sort of revisits the melody of “Sparks”, another laidback mostly acoustic ballad with Martin back to drawling the vocals, while closer “Everything's not lost” (an upbeat message to finish on, if ever there was one) is in fact two songs, one of which is a “hidden” one, making the total song length over seven minutes, but really it's two songs of about five and two minutes each.

“Everything's not lost” itself is sort of a piano blues song with a touch of gospel in it, nice guitar cutting in and a precursor to the sort of songs we would see later from Coldplay, while the “hidden track”, which isn't really hidden as it comes in one second after the closer fades out, “Life is for living” has again quite a strong country flavour, and in fact comes across to me as similar to the very early work of Tom Waits. Nice use of what sounds like an accordion to end the track, and therefore, the album.

“A rush of blood to the head”, their next album, and the one that would once and for all break Coldplay commercially, sees a move away from the acoustic, low-key numbers and more into high-powered pop/rock, and after that they would of course never look back. While “Parachutes” is not immediately indicative of the sort of work that would follow it, you can certainly see the seeds beginning to germinate, and as a debut, while not perfect, it's pretty darn close.

The odd thing I find about the album is that a lot of the songs, once you've heard them --- with a few notable exceptions --- tend to go out of your mind, but remain in your ear. That is to say, when you look at the tracklisting on the album at a song like, say “Spies” or “High speed”, you find it hard to remember what the song was like, and yet, when you spin the album it all suddenly seems very familiar again. Which is just one way I guess of saying that the songs from “Parachutes”, while perhaps not making a huge first impression, stay with you and reverberate around inside your brain, even if you're not consciously aware that they're there.

You may not hum some of the songs from this album, but they're in there, waiting to get out again. One way of getting into the national --- and later, international --- musical consciousness. Since the release of “Parachutes”, Coldplay have been nominated over a hundred and thirty times for various music awards and have won over forty of those, including six Brit Awards, seven Grammys (with three more pending for this year) and eight MTV awards. Their albums have sold a combined fifity million records and their last four albums all went straight to number one.

Whatever you think of them, Coldplay are not about to go away any time soon.

TRACKLISTING

1. Don't panic
2. Shivers
3. Spies
4. Sparks
5. Yellow
6. Trouble
7. Parachutes
8. High speed
9. We never change
10. Everything's not lost (incorporating “hidden” track “Life is for living”)

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Thursday, December 8 2011
March of time --- Helloween --- from "Pumpkin tracks" on Noise
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Before Trevor Horn went on to produce a whole new sound for Yes, he was in a duo with ex-Yes and Asia man Geoff Downes. Together they were known as the Buggles, and had a huge hit single in 1979. But why is the worm telling you this? You all know the song!

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I'm in the mood to listen to some more nice instrumental music, so … that's what we'll do!
Here's a good one to start us off, from one of my favourite bands, Mostly Autumn, and the first album I ever heard from them, “The last bright light”, this is “Helm's Deep”.


Not too often you get instrumentals from Peter Gabriel, but when they appear they're damn good! This is from the album “Ovo”, and it's called “The nest that sailed the sky”.


And to finish this selection, a nice little piano piece from Rick Wakeman, from “Music inspired by The Lord of the Rings”, this is his interpretation of “Rivendell”. And that's it for another edition of “Words get in the way”. Hope to see you all again soon.

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Classic from Billy Joel today. Once you hear those helicopter rotors in the distance, you know it's “Goodnight Saigon”.

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Let's have a look through all these albums I've amassed and have yet to even listen to, let alone review. What's this right down here...? Oh yes! This will do nicely!

Ever since I were a lad and made weekly trips into the city centre (“into town”, as we colloquially knew it) I would always go to the second-hand record shops. These were, for you young 'uns to whom even buying music in a physical format is a totally alien experience, and seems something the cavemen would have done, shops where people who were hard-pressed for cash would bring albums they no longer wanted or liked, and the shop would give them a paltry sum, then mark up the record considerably from the price they had paid for it. Nevertheless, it was always less than you would expect to pay in the shops for the record new (usually somewhere around a half to a third as cheap, depending on how old/rare/coveted it was, and what condition it was in), and often the kind of albums you could find in these emporiums were not available anywhere else, unless at the fabled super-high “import” price.

One of the shops I used to frequent was called Freebird (yeah, that's why) and I remember on many occasions going in there, flipping through the literally thousands of albums (many of which were the same --- you wouldn't believe how many people wanted to get rid of their copy of Peter Criss's solo debut!) looking for something to buy. This was in the days when money was not tight, and you literally went into town with a walletful of notes, happy to spend anything from £20 to £40 on albums, which would often mean that at the higher end of the scale you might be able to buy enough that your arms would be somewhat aching as you made your way home, weighed down with several bursting bags!

In any event, I always came across, and passed, this album, leaving it in favour of bands I knew, perhaps ones I was slowly building a collection of, but I always had this sneaking desire to know what the music on it was like. I thought the name of the band was cool, the album title cooler, yet somehow I never shelled out what I think was about £2.50 for the album, to satisfy my curiosity if nothing else. Ah, the heady days of youth!

The cutter and the clan --- Runrig --- 1987 (Chrysalis)
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Many, many years later, in the course of buying or downloading music online, I came across the album again and I thought, right, I'll have this! Of course, I've now had it on my computer for months and still have not heard it. The mysteries from my teenage days remain, and I'm no wiser about this album, or this band, now than I was then.

So, it's time at last. Let's fire it up and see what it's like. Oh, take me back to the eighties....!

A Scottish band, formed on the island of Skye in 1973, Runrig began their career as a wedding band, and have always been keen to incorporate their national heritage, and language, into their songs. They in fact wrote what is said to be the only song in Scottish Gaelic to hit the charts, which is included in this album. The album itself is their fifth, and proved to be their breakthrough after they were picked up from their independent label by giant Chrysalis.

From the off it's exceptionally celtic, a kind of fusion of Big Country and the Waterboys, with opening track “Alba” sung in their native language. Alba means Scotland, so they're obviously singing about their own country here, but as I know little Irish and less Scottish Gaelic, I couldn't tell you what the actual lyric is about. There's a rugged quality nevertheless about Donnie Munro's vocals, and the mix of instruments Runrig use certainly stays close to their Scottish roots, with mandolins, accordion and yes, bagpipes. Malcolm Jones and Rory MacDonald do a great job on guitars, while Peter Wishart's keyboards lend the whole thing a very atmospheric air.

Title track, as such, “The cutter” shows Munro's accent as even more Scottish than on the opener, and it's a mid-paced rocker very in the mould of Big Country, with slightly less frenetic guitars. Good organ line keeps the song going, and it's quite anthemic in a restrained sort of way. Runrig are a little different to most bands in that they employ two drummers, or at least two people are tasked with percussion, and this adds a very solid backbeat to the songs. Ian Bayne is one of the drummers, Calum MacDonald, brother of bass player Rory, and a founder member of the band, is the other.

“Hearts of olden glory” has some great pipes on it, though I think they may be oileann rather than bag, but the song is very powerful and almost hymnal, slow and measured with very little percussion, the pipes and keys driving the melody, with some great backing vocals that would put many a Welsh male voice choir to shame. There are female backing vocals in there --- good ones, but they're not credited on the album so I can't tell you who they are. “Pride of the summer” marches along on a parade-style beat, and you can almost hear Rory MacDonald's heart bursting with national pride as he belts out the vocals and cries ”Beat the drum/ Like a heartbeat/ Loudly and strong!” And yes, there are those bagpipes! Oh, how I hate bagpipes, but I have to admit even my heart is stirring at the moment. This is powerful stuff!

Runrig certainly know how to punch the air and stomp in pride, but they can bring it down several notches too, as the tender “Worker for the wind” demonstrates ably, with a crying guitar and low keyboards and mandolin all backing Munro's touching, bittersweet and tragic vocal. It's quite a stirring song, elegant and restrained but passionate and powerful, the more for the paucity of instrumentation used, the very merest of touches on hi-hats and tom-toms, then “Rocket to the moon” kicks everything back into high gear, with some stunning mandolin (!) from Malcolm Jones, powerful drumbeats, Munro's vocal a little fainter and echoey here, almost as if he's standing a little way from the mike. He comes properly forward for the strong chorus though.

And the vocals remain strong for “The only rose”, with some nice slide guitar and pipes painting a really impressive backdrop to what is the second ballad on the album, busier than the other slow song, with lots of instruments contributing to the overall sound, but no less powerful, showing that Runrig can handle ballads two completely different ways and still come up with two gems. Really nice guitar solo to take the song to its fade, then we're into “Protect and survive”, mid-paced with a lot of the Waterboys, mandolin again adding its own flavour courtesy of Jones, and nice pipes there too. Very traditional sounding, with the electric guitar getting in plenty of licks too, and Wishart's organ adding its own sense of colour to the sound.

“Our earth was once green” opens with strong guitar and drums, keyboards laying down a fluid melody as the song rocks along nicely with what seems to be a fairly powerful eco-message, in case you didn't get that from the title. Closer “An ubhal as airde” (pronounced “on uv-il oss ard-ya”) translates as “the highest apple” and is cleverly positioned, so that the album both opens and ends on a native-langauge song.

Backed by swelling organ (ooer!) and gentle guitar, Munro sings in his native Scottish Gaelic about what I have no idea, but it was certainly a coup for Runrig that they managed to get this first released as a single, then into the top twenty! I would have to assume that it got there on the basis of being a novelty record, by which I intend no slight to Runrig, but rather like Clannad's “Harry's game” --- which admittedly got into the charts off the back of that TV series --- you can't really see people having danced around to this at the local disco! Aided by great and stirring backing vocals that sound like an actual choir, the song is certainly emotional and pulls at the heartstrings, and if anyone was ever in doubt that Donnie Munro can sing, here is your answer, as he hardly even needs the musical backing, carrying the song virtually on his powerful, emotive voice and helped by the choir, who remain uncredited.

So, after thirty-odd years of waiting, has it been worth it? What's the verdict? Well, while I would not call this a “Meh” record in any way, it hasn't blown me away either. It's certainly good, and the musicianship is first-rate, but maybe it's that I'm coming to Runrig too late, as it seems others have tackled this sort of thing before. Or possibly after. It's different to the usual fare, certainly, and a worthy effort. Had I bought the album back in those sunny days of my youth, what would I have thought? Would it have been worth the price? Well, hard to say, as back then I was a lot more naïve and considerably more ignorant about, and insular in, music tastes, so perhaps I would not have liked it.

Do I like it now? Yeah, it's good. Do I feel a sense of why didn't I listen to this before? Is it thirty years wasted, when I could have been listening to the rest of Runrig's catalogue? Nah, it's not that good. Well, it is. But it's not fantastic, it's not a revelation and I wouldn't feel cheated, not having listened to their music up to now. I am, though, glad I listened to it, finally, if only to quiet that youthful inner voice inside me that just won't shut up....

TRACKLISTING

1. Alba
2. The Cutter
3. Hearts of olden glory
4. Pride of the summer
5. Worker for the wind
6. Rocket to the moon
7. The only rose
8. Protect and survive
9. Our Earth was once green
10. An ubhal as airde

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Repeat offender --- Richard Marx --- 1989 (Capitol)
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A real heart-throb of the eighties, Richard Marx released his second album on the back of successes scored with his debut, including a US Number One single. As a follow-up this is pretty good, containing some great rockers, some fine ballads and the odd filler track. Opener "Nothin' you can do about it" and the next one, "Satisfied", I feel fit this bracket, though the latter was a number one hit! Shows what I know!

Another number one was his tender ballad, which became his signature song, "Right here waiting", with its beautiful piano melody and his impassioned vocal. Marx isn't one of those who wants to do everything himself, and on this album he sensibly sticks to singing, drafting in top talent like Steve Lukather, Michael Landau and Randy Jackson to take care of the music. It works very well.

Personal favourites for me are "Wait for the sunrise", good boppy rocker with a sense of urgency about it, and the truly majestic closer, "Children of the night", where Marx tries to highlight the plight of homeless children, with a lovely choir on the last chorus.

A popular album then? Well, he pushed Prince off the number one spot!

TRACKLISTING

1. Ain't nothin' you can do about it
2. Satisfied
3. Angelia
4. Too late to say goodbye
5. Right here waiting
6. Heart on the line
7. Real world
8. If you don't want my love
9. Wait for the sunrise
10. Children of the night

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At one stage they were going to be bigger than the Beatles, but then, how many bands since the Fab Four have made that claim, and has it ever been true? There's no denying though that during the early to mid-eighties the Police were a hot property, even if they did in the end sort of just springboard Gordon Sumner aka Sting to international fame, and then sort of fade out after that. This is one of their bigger, and better, tunes, from their early days. It's “Walking on the moon”.

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Hello everyone, Stacey-Lynn here again, back with this month's edition of “Journal News”. Christmas may be coming, but here at the Playlist of Life there's no slowdown, and Trollheart is feverishly working day and night to make this the most interesting and popular journal on Music Banter. Long way to go yet, but we hope to get there.

You've no doubt already noticed the changes to my own section, “Random Track of the Day”. Troll gave me full authority to do the place up, as it were, to my own liking, and you know what we girls are like for decorating! Hope you like the new look, and remember you're always welcome to let us know what you think, of this or any other section, any time.

Right now, here's the first of our reports for the Christmas month. Over to you, Kate! (News from Kate)

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Thanks for that girls. Trollheart has promised us a big Christmas party tonight, so we're all off to get ready for that. I'll be back as usual tomorrow though with the Random Track of the Day, and although this will be the last Journal News before Christmas, we'll all be popping by a little closer to the 25th just to wish all our readers a Happy Christmas.

Until then, enjoy the journal and don't get run down by mad Christmas shoppers!

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As the month, and indeed the year, begins to run out in the last desperate charge towards Christmas and the hot-on-its-heels advent of New Year and 2011 becomes 2012, I thought it was about time I kicked myself up the arse and started reviewing these current albums more frequently. Therefore, expect to find this section hopefully more than once a week, as I try to wade through the large collection of this year's releases I've accumulated. Lots of work ahead (to say nothing of the rest of the journal: see the latest reports from Stacey-Lynn's NewsFoxes for details of the other things going on at the moment) so let's plug ahead.

Hell on heels --- Pistol Annies --- 2011 (Columbia)
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A country supergroup? Well, so they style themselves, but I have to admit I have never heard of any of these three ladies. Then again, I'm not a huge country fan and I hardly keep my finger on the pulse of country music, so what do I know? But apparently Miranda Lambert was a finalist on the Nashville Star contest in 2003, has three albums and two number one singles (presumably in the country charts only) to her credit. Ashley Monroe is a singer/songwriter with one album released in 2009 (doesn't sound like qualification to the “supergroup” club to me) and Angaleena Presley, despite the famous surname, does not appear to be related to the King.

But whether or not they're a supergroup, or even well known outside country circles, it is, as always, the music that does the talking. So talk, ladies!

Well, it starts with the title track, almost a Bon Jovi “Wanted dead or alive” vibe with nice acoustic guitar, joined by really nice combined vocals with of course that recognised country twang endemic to most of the female country singers. The combination of the singers is very effective, howevber the song is a little restrained, and I would have expected something more in-your-face from three sassy ladies and a title like that. “Lemon drop” is basic country bopalong, with nice guitar. I'm having trouble finding out who plays what, but I see on the sleeve of the album one of the girls has a guitar, and checking on their website it turns out to be Angaleena, the only brunette, who goes by the nickname of “Holler Annie”, with the other two being called “Hippy” (Monroe) and “Lone Star” (Lambert).

I could certainly do without the twee whistling on “Lemon drop”, and the end-line where they all chorus ”I know there's better days ahead/ Thank God” is just barf-inducing, but “Beige” is a nice steel guitar-led ballad very in the mould of Nanci Griffith's best, nice measured percussion keeping the beat perfectly. Vocals on this track are taken by Ashely Monroe, and she does a great job. Is it anything new though? Is it exciting? Will it light the world on fire? Well, so far I see no evidence to support that.

Let's give them credit though: Pistol Annies write all their material themselves, and there's not a single cover or song written by anyone else on the album. It's fairly standard country fare though, as far as I can see: lots of songs about men, trailers, agriculture and the simple life. Nothing wrong with that, but what marks this out from any of the other good country female artistes out there? Nothing much so far, other than the novelty factor of having three hot women in the band. “Bad example” is a Willie Nelson styled bopper, with the expected high notes on the gee-tar, double bass and tap-along drums, the three girls singing it must be said like angels, but is it a triumph (or defeat) of style over substance?

“Housewife's prayer” is another ballad, with an interesting opening line: ”I've been thinking about/ Setting my house on fire/ Can't see a way out / Of the mess I'm in/ And the bills keep getting higher.” Well, we can all identify with that sentiment from time to time, regardless of gender. Pedal steel is to the front again, with some nice acoustic guitar adding a little flavour of semi-rock to the proceedings, and as a song this is probably the best so far, with Presley taking the lead.

You also have to admit they know their market. There are no long songs on this album, no epics. Only half of the ten tracks are over three minutes, some of those only by seconds, and the songs are short, snappy and catchy, for the most part. “Takin' pills” is good fun, while “Boys from the south” goes back into steel guitar balladry, with what sounds like a banjo or mandolin doing its thing too. Could be a smattering of violin in there: lot going on. Lambert takes the vocal for this one, and it's the first time we hear her singing on her own. She certainly has a nice voice, sweet and sexy but with that raw, tough edge no doubt honed in the bars of west Nashville.

There's an interesting mix of moods on the album, and to be honest I think Pistol Annies are best with the slower, or even mid-paced ballads, though when they rock out, as on the abovementioned “Takin' pills” or the next one up, “The hunter's wife”, they really hit the mark. There's a kind of a rockabilly feel to this track, seems to be the story of a woman sick of her man spending so much time in the woods away from her. The old “golf widow” story, transplanted to the country setting, where the top male solitary pastime is huntin', shootin' or fishin'.

Lambert is back then for the next-to-last track, “Trailer for rent”, a Neil Young-ish half-ballad as the woman prepares to leave home and her man behind. To be fair, there's a deep sense of earthy honesty about the songs, and you get the feeling that these women have either lived the stories played out in their lyrics, or know someone who has. This is why I prefer artists to write their own material --- makes it so much more personal. Of course, it may not be, but it definitely lends an authenticity and a certain heart to the songs. This could be another standout really.

And then we close with the uptempo “Family feud”, with all three girls again singing. Reminds me in places of the Eagles' “Get over it”, the fast vocals, the melody and the beat. It's a good, if somewhat downbeat despite the boppy tempo, closer as the girls sing ”She's only been in the ground/ A day or two/ I'm glad momma isn't here/ To see this family feud.” All too true, sadly.

So, country supergroup? Your guess is as good as mine, but this is not a bad album. When I say that, it should be clear that it is also not a great album. I must say, given the fanfare I expected more, but it's just okay. Good songs, good songwriting, sexy ladies. Guess in some ways you could find it hard to ask for more. I just had hoped there would be something, some spark, some difference that would mark this album, and this band, out from the hundreds of other country artists out there making their way in the world. Maybe it's my fault: maybe this rocker just ain't enough of a country boy. But Pistol Annies leave me feeling vaguely disappointed.

TRACKLISTING

1. Hell on heels
2. Lemon drop
3. Beige
4. Bad example
5. Housewife's prayer
6. Takin' pills
7. Boys from the south
8. The hunter's wife
9. Trailer for rent
10. Family feud

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Girl power, eh? Before there was the likes of Girls Aloud and even the Spice Girls, divas like these two were ripping it up bigstyle and doin' it for themselves (see? The worm can be down with the kids too!) --- superstar of the disco scene, Donna Summer and the legendary Barbara Streisand, with “No more tears (enough is enough)”. Sing it, ladies!

Quick question about avatars
 

Don't know if anyone can help me, but I see everyone is "Christmassing" up their avatars, but mine is really small (no personal comments, please!) and although others have much larger and distinct pictures the user CP says it's to be restricted to 80 x 80 pixels. Most of the avatars I see are much larger than that, so how to get around the size restriction?

If anyone knows, I'd be indebted to you for the tip.

Thx

TH

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I'm a real fan of prog rock, so intricate compositions, out-there solos, deep lyrics, changes in tempo, signature and style all fit into what I like in a song. But I'm also aware that sometimes the opposite can be just as effective. Sometimes you don't need all the hi-tech wizardry and mile-a-minute lyrics, the sagas and epics, the fiddly guitars and extended keyboard solos, ten changes of pace within one song. Sometimes, like the title says, it's better, even advisable to keep it simple.

This all came to me when I listened to a song I've loved for years, but only really listened to in terms of its composition recently. It's by a band called the Korgis: you probably know it. It was their big (only) hit single, but it's so simple and stripped-down it's almost amazing, when you start deconsructing the song.

Everybody's got to learn sometime --- The Korgis --- 1980
Music and lyrics by James Warren
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It has only four lines. That's all. Four. In total. And one of them serves as the chorus. The whole chorus. The same melody plays throughout the song, and the only real deviation from it is in the middle, where the bridge is taken by a sumptuous sax solo. The first two lines are essentially the same, with the replacement of one word, and the fourth, the title, is the chorus. You wouldn't think it would work, but it does. One verse, one chorus, one verse, one chorus, bridge and final chorus. And that's it.

A simple, almost insanely simple piano line opens the song, then a little synth run, the addition of some guitar notes and a sitar (sounds like), the keys getting a little more solid as the piano fades a little into the background. Then you hear the drums for the first time (if they've been there previously they've been very quiet) and then the superb sax break with synth backing, and then keys and the sitar to fade. Just wonderful.

It's a short enough song, but the impression it leaves is long-lasting, and if any song is an exercise in peeling away the fat and only leaving the bones, this is it. But it's an incredible little tune, which really passes you by on most levels until you start to think about it, and then, wow!

Here it is, for you to sample, and remember how it's constructed, and then listen to how it turns out. Without question, as in most things in life, the simplest way is often the best.

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What better way to begin your week than with a dash of Blur? (The keyboard kept typing "e” instead of “r”, but the worm said, no way! No Blue on THIS journal!)

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Marc Cohn --- Marc Cohn --- 1991 (Atlantic)
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Something of a throwback to the early seventies, Marc Cohn's debut album reminds me of those singer/songwriter albums from the likes of Paul Simon, James Taylor, Harry Chapin and Justin Hayward. Simple, personal songs played with passion and sincerity, no real push to get a hit single but more a desire to make an album that is intimate and means something. And yet, the very first track off it became a huge success, though after that not so much.

With its flowing piano melody, “Walking in Memphis” reminds me of nothing more than Bruce Hornsby, until that is Cohn's deep, soulful voice comes in, and you kind of wonder, looking at the picture of him on the sleeve, how can such a guy have so deep a voice? It's almost impossible to associate the two. But he does a great job on the opener, with a great organ solo and some really effective gospel singing as the song goes on. I don't really need to go into too much detail, do I? It was a huge success and was on the radio for longer than I care to remember. Great song.

But as sometimes happens, “Memphis” was a two-edged sword. Yes, it got him noticed by the mainstream (including me: I had no idea who he was till that single, but then, no-one had, as this was his debut album) and scored a hit in the charts, gaining massive radio airplay, but when it came time to follow that hit up, it just didn't happen. His next single only got to the number 63 slot, and the one after that fared even worse. To many people then, Marc Cohn was a “one-hit-wonder”, but people like that only buy singles, and had they shelled out for the album and took the time to appreciate Cohn's songwriting they would have discovered that here indeed was a rare talent, who did not deserve to be judged on one, admittedly hugely successful, song.

Though he's had four albums since this one, and survived an attempt on his life in a carjacking, Cohn has been largely forgotten by the mainstream music press, despite the fact that he won an American Music Award AND a Grammy for this album in 1991, plus a nomination for a Grammy in 1992. But there is so much to enthuse about on this album, and very little, if anything, disappoints.

“Ghost train” is nicely understated, with a great bass line and a nice soul beat, while “Silver Thunderbird” evokes the best of early Springsteen, with memories of his father and his coveted car set to a nice piano and keyboard tune: ”Don't you give me no Buick/ Son you must take my word/ If there's a god in Heaven/ He's got a silver Thunderbird.”

Very country/bluegrass opening to “Dig down deep”, acoustic guitar carrying the tune, helped along by some fine mandolin from Robin Batteau, Cohn's organ coming in slowly and gracefully as the song builds and then fades slowly away, bringing in the gentle sway of “Walk on water”, ghostly keyboard ushering the song along, joined by bright piano, Cohn's sonorous voice rising above it all, taking command and focussing the ear on his pitch-perfect singing, a faultless delivery which can whisper or shout with equal effectiveness.

The first really uptempo song is “Miles away”, where Cohn gets to unleash the full power of his assembled band of musicians, creating a very radio-friendly song which should have got more attention, and might have, had it been released as a single. It has a great sense of fun and escapism about it, in contrast to the more or less introspective style of the preceding tracks. In essence, if the bulk of Marc Cohn's album is folk rock, then “Miles away” is his full-out rock track. Where the rest make you think, make you listen, this one makes you tap your foot, which can never be bad.

“Saving the best for last” goes back to the gentler, folk-influenced style, with jangly guitar and light percussion, a nice insistent bass keeping the rhythm fresh. “Strangers in a car” is a lovely little piano-driven ballad, another song of escape mixed with possible danger, whether it's the danger of accepting the lift from the stranger, or that of missing out on the chance to get away. ”It might be the highway to Heaven /And it might be the road to ruin.”

The only track not written by Cohn is a cover of Willie Dixon's “29 ways”, sung acapella except for drums and with great acapella backing vocals, low organ in the background until Cohn rips off a pretty funky solo and then finishes the song off with a flourish on the organ, bringing in “Perfect love”, a fine acoustic ballad with definite shades of early Dire Straits, and guest backing vocals from the legendary James Taylor, and finishing off with “True companion”, a gentle little piano ballad whose melody recalls parts of the opener, his big (and only) hit, “Walking in Memphis”, and features some lovely violin and French horn, bringing a really fine debut album to its satisfying close.

As I say, there really are no bad tracks on this, and Cohn hardly ever puts a foot wrong. Perhaps it might have been better had he not had his big hit, as it became, as these things often do, something of a millstone around his neck, a standard he could never again reach. But I would argue that there are tracks on this album that certainly do reach the quality of “Memphis”, though sadly the record-buying public and the label didn't seem to think so.

Cohn is still recording, and doing well, but his one-time shot at the charts definitely seems to have scuppered any real chance of his continuing to appeal to a wider audience, and his albums are more enjoyed by fans now than the mainstream. A pity, but that's how it goes. At least people are still enjoying his music. Why not join them?

TRACKLISTING

1. Walking in Memphis
2. Ghost train
3. Silver thunderbird
4. Dig down deep
5. Walk on water
6. Miles away
7. Saving the best for last
8. Strangers in a car
9. 29 ways
10. Perfect love
11. True companion

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What's on the box today? Let's listen to some more great TV themes. Expanding on the so-far obvious, here are some ones you may not have heard, or seen, but they're definitely worth lending your ear to.

This first one is from a drama that was on BBC a while back called “The shadow line”. It's actually called “Pause”, and is by Emily Barker. Very atmospheric.


This one you will know, more than likely. It's the theme to HBO's magnificent “Game of thrones”.


An absolutely fantastic trilogy that aired some time back, starring the late Sir Ian Richardson, this is “House of cards”.


Without question the very best documentary ever made on World War 2, with the most dramatic theme, this is “The world at war”.


This was incredibly hard to find! One of the best shows of the last ten years, it's the theme to “24”.


And sticking with shows whose titles are numbers, this is the excellent theme song to the sci-fi series “The 4400”.


Another great sci-fi show with a wonderful theme, this is the haunting opening to “The Dead Zone”.


BBC's “Hustle” is a great show but sadly they changed the theme, and I much preferred this one, the original.


A great rockin' theme from a great show, the original “La femme Nikita”.


And to finish this time, just because I love the show so much, here's “Futurama”!

The Ultimate Collection --- Neil Diamond --- 1996 (Columbia)
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I almost never review compilations, greatest hits or the like, but I'm going to make an exception for this album, for two reasons. One, it's a great collection and two, I want to talk about Neil Diamond but I don't have any of his albums bar this double. But it's a great way to get a feel for the man's best music, even if it's hard to squeeze over fifty years of that onto two small discs.

Pretty much all the greats are there, and even if you hate Diamond you'll know the likes of “Sweet Caroline”, “Love on the rocks”, “Beautiful noise” and “Cracklin' Rosie. He gets a lot of stick (often from me, I admit it) as the pensioners' choice, watch out you don't trip on any zimmers at the gig, grannies throwing their knickers and so on, but the fact can't be ignored that Neil Diamond has been recording and gigging since the early sixties, has sold over 115 million records worldwide and has had almost forty hit singles. His songs have been covered, imitated, sampled and referred to, and he's worked with the best in the industry. Everyone from Cliff Richard to Deep Purple have interpreted his songs, and they're internationally recognised: even those who say they hate him have no doubt danced to “Song sung blue” or “Red red wine”, or performed dodgy karaoke versions of “Sweet Caroline”.

Whether he's writing uptempo boppers like the aforementioned “Sweet Caroline” or “Cracklin' Rosie”, glorying in life with the excellent “Beautiful noise” or being an “ordinary guy” with a song like “Forever in blue jeans”, Diamond is as good as his name, creating timeless gems every time he sets pen to paper or plectrum to guitar. The hits roll on, and it's hard not to get caught up in the infectious enthusiasm of his music. Even slower, more introspective fare like “I am, I said”, “September morning” or the aching “You don't bring me flowers” hit just the right spot, while thumping anthems like “America” and “Holly holy” just make you want to throw your fist in the air and shout “Yeah!”

The first disc is, in my opinion, the best, crammed as it is with his more recognisable hits. My own personal favourites, the broken-down ballad “Love on the rocks”, with its powerful, swelling string section that takes the chorus to new levels, the exuberant, almost madly happy “Beautiful noise” and the insistent “Play me” all make me wonder really why I don't listen to his music more? But like many artists of this type, I enjoy his hits but would I sit through a whole album? It's unlikely. Like Barry Manilow, ABBA and a few others, I can listen to a greatest hits and enjoy it but not consider myself particularly a fan. Fooling myself? Maybe, but I'm willing to bet good money I'm not the only one with a Diamond CD tucked, even hidden, away on my hard drive. Guilty pleasure, anyone?

There are some --- many --- of his songs I can live without. “Heartlight” comes across to me as a deliberate attempt to cash-in on the “ET” fever of the time, and I've never liked “Red red wine”. I also hate “Cherry, cherry” with a passion, but on an album with a total of forty tracks on it, I can honestly say I really like thirty, and a few more are okay: that's not a bad percentage. I know these are his hits, but still..

You do of course have to question the validity of a man who is a multi-millionaire singing about being happy with the simple things in life, as in “Forever in blue jeans” --- yeah, top designer, no doubt, Neil! --- but then who doesn't write songs like that, and if he's got rich penning songs of that quality, sure why not? Fair play to him, as they say. There's nevertheless a sense of honesty and reality that shines through in Diamond's songs, both in the lyrics and in their execution. Like recently-reviewed Dan Fogeberg, he really seems to put a lot of himself into the songs, and you really can't imagine him writing anything he hasn't lived.

Disc two is a little weaker, with a lot of cover material, though even then they're good covers. His version of the Hollies' “He ain't heavy, he's my brother” has gone down as a classic, and songs like “You've lost that lovin' feeling”, “The sun ain't gonna shine anymore” and Cat Stevens' classic “Morning has broken” sit well alongside his own songs. There are some great tracks on disc two, in particular I would single out “I am … I said”, “September morn”, “America” and “You don't bring me flowers”, but as I say, it's not as chock-full of instantly recognisable classics as the first disc is, and perhaps if the covers had been left off and a few of the weaker ones from disc one removed they could have made this a really killer album of just one disc.

Mind you, there are covers on disc one too, though fewer in number. He does a fairly decent version of Harry Nilsson's “Everybody's talkin'” with an interesting banjo and harmonica accompaniment, and the Drifters' “Up on the roof” gets the Diamond treatment too, with full orchestra, but the bulk of the first disc is all his own work, and the better for it. “Girl, you'll be a woman soon” has a very sixties vibe to it, with almost country and western guitar melding with rock, “If you know what I mean” is as powerful, passionate and tragic as it ever was, and “Longfellow serenade” only improves with time.

Probably the song that affects me most though is on disc two, and in fact the closer. Performed with the great Barbara Streisand, the tale of love gone sour in “You don't bring me flowers” hits a chord seldom achieved by others. The voices of the two lovers as they each accuse the other of giving up on the relationship, taking the easy way out and coasting on, sear the heart. Diamond snaps ”You don't say you need me”, Streisand counters with ”You don't sing me love songs” and both complain ”You don't bring me flowers anymore.” A tale sadly all too familiar to many a couple who married in the blush of first love, and then have to watch in dismay as the rose wilts and the love poems stop, and they wonder how they got themselves into this mess. Such a simple complaint, but getting right to the heart of the matter: you don't bring me flowers anymore. You don't love me.

I may listen (and I do) to Iron Maiden, Marillion, Tom Waits and Bon Jovi, but there'll always be a little place in my record collection for Neil Diamond, no matter what. His songs are timeless, human stories and they touch the hearts of so many people across this world that even at the age of seventy, his presence is still requested, demanded and swooned over onstage all over this planet of ours, and I somehow think this situation will remain for many years to come.

TRACKLISTING

DISC ONE

1. Sweet Caroline
2. Song sung blue
3. Cracklin' Rosie
4. Love on the rocks
5. Beautiful noise
6. Forever in blue jeans
7. Hello again
8. Red, red wine
9. Everybody's talkin'
10. Girl, you'll be a woman soon
11. I'm a believer
12. Heartlight
13. Up on the roof
14. Desiree
15. If you know what I mean
16. Longfellow serenade
17. Play me
18. You got to me
19. I (who have nothing)

DISC TWO

1. I am … I said
2. Solitary man
3. He ain't heavy, he's my brother
4. Cherry, cherry
5. Walk on water
6. Soolaimon
7. The sun ain't gonna shine anymore
8. Stones
9. You've lost that lovin' feeling
10. Morning has broken
11. Chelsea morning
12. Mr. Bojangles
13. Yesterday's songs
14. Thank the Lord for the night
15. Brother Love's travelling salvation show
16. September morn
17. Kentucky woman
18. I got the feelin' (Oh no no!)
19. America
20. Holly holy
21. You don't bring me flowers

For some reason this guy's vocals remind me a hell of a lot like John Lennon. As for the song it demonstrates that minimalism can work quite well; certainly this song really conveys a very dark, broody feel with it.