grindy

Wondering whether you chose that one intentionally for the movie it's from.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

#OfficeGate

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Trollheart

Time to step into the Unbelievably Stupid and Blinkered World of Young Trollheart again, as I reveal that though I had never listened to this band, I resented them because they were using the name chosen by Marillion for their second album. It was only the second time I had heard the word, so I assumed they had stolen it from Fish and the boys. Of course, it has its origins in the Vietnam War, where it was a GI acronym for Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In. And so we begin the discography of




Album title: Repeater
Artiste: Fugazi
Genre: Post-Hardcore
Year: 1990
Label: Dischord
Producer: Fugazi, Ted Niceley
Chronological position: Debut album
Notes:
Album chart position: Unknown
Singles: None
Lineup:
Ian MacKaye: Vocals, guitar, piano
Guy Picciotti: Vocals, guitar
Joe Lally: Bass
Brendan Canty: Drums

Review begins

With a sort of wailing guitar chord we head into the opening track, “Turnover”, which has a nice sort of midpaced tempo to it, vocals (shared between Guy Picciotto and Ian MacKaye) are this first time out courtesy of the former, with a sort of raw, harsh quality but very understandable. Quite a catchy song really, with a lot of power and aggression but still almost commercial in its feel. Not anywhere near as radio-friendly is the title track, on which the vocals are switched to MacKaye, whose style I don't feel as attracted to. This is closer to what I would think of as punk, whereas the previous track was more indie rock, maybe. This feels very raw, the percussion is kind of hollow, tumbly? I assumed with a title like “Brendan #1” this would be a drum solo. It kind of is, but more an instrumental really. It's quite good, in fairness.

“Merchandise” takes us back into the realm of MacKaye's singing, and has that sharp, snappy punk feel to it. Not feeling it here guys, not at all. Much prefer the more laidback style of “Blueprint”, with its softer guitar intro and the harsh, powerful but somehow more palatable vocal of Picciotto. I really like the riff in this. I see he's on the lead vocal for the next three tracks, which is good, though I have to admit “Sieve-fisted find” (?) sounds more like your other man. Like the guitar in it, but it's again a little bit chaotic. I also don't hear, so far, any piano, though it's credited. Maybe later. Good bassline here but overall I'm not as impressed with this track as I was with the one that preceded it. And “Greed” is just terrible, a total mess. I'm almost wishing for MacKaye to come back. Almost.

Sounds like “Two beats off” might be better. Very simple, acoustic style guitar then electric kicks it up, and a lovely scratchy bassline. Not an awful lot in it though, and “Styrofoam” doesn't do it for me either. It's all just a little too shouty and raw. I was getting into some of the tracks, but overall the album is not winning me over. Think I finally hear the piano on “Reprovisional”, could be wrong though. It's a better track overall than most of the more recent ones, good melody running through it. That brings us to the final track, perhaps appropriately titled “Shut the door”, where things seem to slow down for the first time I think on the album. Oh but it doesn't stay that way. What a surprise. The vocal is pretty manic, and seems to concern someone having accidentally killed someone when he says “She's not breathing! She's not moving! She's not coming back!” so I guess that would be appropriate. Nice bass in the midsection then a pretty cool guitar solo before the end.

TRACK LISTING AND RATINGS

Turnover
Repeater
Brendan #1
Merchandise
Blueprint
Sieve-fisted find
Greed
Two beats off
Styrofoam
Reprovisional
Shut the door


Afterword: Not quite what I expected, though to be honest I'm so unversed in hardcore or post-hardcore that I would not really have had a clue what to expect. Little too raw for me, too close to punk maybe. Some good tracks but as you'll see from the ratings above, not that many and there were so many that were simply Meh. Again, it's a debut album so maybe they improved, or, I should say, maybe I'll find them more palatable as the discography goes on, but for now, really not my particular cup of poison at all.

Rating:

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Album title: Bathory
Artiste: Bathory
Genre: Black Metal/Thrash Metal
Year: 1984
Label: Tyfon
Producer: Quorthon, The Boss
Chronological position: Debut album
Notes:
Album chart position: Are you fucking serious? A Black Metal album in the charts???
Singles: None
Lineup:
Quorthon: Vocals, guitar
Stefan Larsson: Drums
Rickard Bergman: Bass

Review begins

If there's one thing Bathory are famous for round here, it's for allowing our own Batlord to misread the name on the album and thus come up with his own username. Hey: it's easy to do! Those crazy Gothic letters, eh? Apparently famous by accident, Bathory's breakthrough came when they were included on a Black Metal compilation album after one of the bands had pulled out, and as a result of hugely positive feedback got to record their own album. This was it, and it led to a career spanning twenty years, and changing from Black Metal to Viking Metal (which Bathory are said to have invented) as they became favourites among the extreme metal community.

This was recorded, literally, in a converted garage, so I don't expect any great overall sound, perhaps taking the term lo-fi to its epitome, but let's see how it sounds thirty years on. I've heard some Bathory, but it's been more on the Viking Metal side of things, so this will be my first real acquaintance with their original and much rawer sounds. Cellos? Nope. Flutes? You kidding? Mandolin? Not on your life, mate! And it opens with every sound that has become a cliche in Black Metal: pealing bells, sound of wind and rain, thunder as “Storm of damnation (intro)” kicks us off, very atmospheric and dark, kind of almost atmospheric black metal, and I'm assuming at this point an instrumental. Yep, it is. “Hades” then ramps up the proper black metal influences, but my god (sorry Quorthon!) that production is just awful! I can hardly make out what the guy is singing, and though this is often the case with black metal, that's usually due to the singer's style - screech or growl or hiss or snarl - but here I'm sure I would be able to understand the vocals if I could hear them properly.

The drums sound like someone is hitting tin cans, though at least the guitar is front and centre. Good fast powerful headbanger for sure, giving Slayer a run for their money here, but it's hard to pick out anything specific about the track. Fretwork is excellent, but now it's over and we're into “Reaper”, where at least the drums sound fuller and stronger, and in fact yeah, I can hear the vocals fine now. Well, they come and go. I like this one better than “Hades”; at least I can make out what the song is about here. Not sure if “Necromansy” is meant to be spelled that way (Wiki says it was a mistake due to Quorthon running out of press-on letters, but I guess it's become known as that now) but it rocks nicely, and with somewhat less of an edge than “Reaper”. Some really nice riffs here and a great melody. Fantastic solo at the end.

Didn't Elton John do a cover of this? No? Must be another “Sacrifice” I'm thinking of then. Man, this rockets along like a good thing. Makes Motorhead sound slow and plodding and Slayer lethargic. That missing C in his Letra-set (TM) comes up again for “In conspirasy with Satan” which hammers along on rails of fire, punishing guitar and pounding drums, the vocal evil as all Hell. Another excellent solo, possibly one of the best on the album so far, and into the appropriately-titled “Armageddon” which destroys all before it. Quorthon's voice is a little lower-pitched on this, not a growl or anything close but definitely a lower register. The dark pealing bells return, accompanied by a slowing heartbeat to usher in “Raise the dead” with a Sabbathy riff to open, then it rocks and boogies along like nobody's business, and I think this may be my favourite track on the album. Love this. This is more the thrash metal side of Bathory, I guess. Love the solo.

That leaves us with two tracks, but one really, as the closer is only seconds long. “War” just goes for the throat, taking no prisoners and ploughing a furrow across your brain that will make it impossible for you to sit still again. You have to headbang to this song: it's mandatory. Sure it's simple and almost throwaway, but it's such fun! How can you resist? Then we have as I say a few seconds of ambient noise to close in “Outro” and we're done.

TRACK LISTING AND RATINGS

Storm of damnation (intro)
Hades
Reaper
Necromansy
Sacrifice
In conspirasy with Satan
Armageddon
Raise the dead
War
Outro

Afterword: It's all a little raw and unfocussed for me, and hard to get at any actual real tunes, so hard to praise this album that much. Having said that, it's an impressive debut for something that was pretty much thrown together, and with better production or remastering this could have turned out to be quite an album. As it is, it's a cult favourite and a legend among black metal devotees, so I'm not going to say anything negative about it.

Rating:

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Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

Such a great album. I'm glad you at least, to some extent, recognize the brilliance of Reaper, one of my favourite Bathory tracks.

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Trollheart

Album title: Rush
Artiste: Rush
Genre: Hard rock
Year: 1973
Label: Anthem/Moon/Mercury
Producer: Rush
Chronological position: Debut album
Notes: The one and only Rush album not to feature longtime drummer Neil Peart
Album chart position: 105 (US)
Singles: “Finding my way”, “In the mood”
Lineup:
Geddy Lee: Vocals, bass
Alex Lifeson: Guitar, vocals
John Rutsey: Drums

Review begins

Although Rush would go on to become identified with the emerging progressive rock movement, this, their first album, is far more on the Zep/Purple side of hard rock, and you can hear Geddy Lee channeling Robert Plant in the opening lines of “Finding my way”, which would find its own way into their live set for years afterwards. Already though you can hear their particular sound being created, and it would be hard to hear this song and not realise it was Rush playing. It's a punchy and rocky opener, with great work from Alex Lifeson, and “Need some love” keeps everything hopping along nicely, even if it's hardly inspired lyrically, but at least it's short, then the first kind of smatterings of prog rock come through in the fade-in to “Take a friend”, though the song itself seems more a CCR or Steppenwolf idea. However there's really not too much to talk about until we hit “Here again”, where the boys break out their best blues chops, and at over seven minutes there's plenty to enjoy. Whether I'd call this a ballad or not I'm not quite sure, but it's slower than anything that has come before it anyway. This is the first track where it becomes clear what a guitar god Lifeson is going to turn out to be. Standout so far for sure.

Some more great guitar histrionics in “What you're doing”, with very much a Zep vibe but again the proggy influences were creeping in there, while “In the mood” is, surprisingly, not a cover of the Glenn Miller standard (!) but a decent rocker which nods towards songs like “Something for nothing” and “Bastille Day”. Nice gentle intro then into “Before and after”, and it sounds like it might be a proper ballad, maybe. Actually, I think now it might be an instrumental. Hmm. No to both. Vocals just came in and the tempo kicked up in the third minute of the five it runs for. I guess the “before” in the title was the laidback guitar instrumental part and this is the “after”. Odd, though. “Working man” then closes the album, going back to the Zep/Free sound but slower than much of the rest of the album. Some very good guitar work on it, certainly. Great jam there at the end and a powerful conclusion. Again, I can hear little progressive elements leaking in.

TRACK LISTING AND RATINGS

Finding my way
Need some love
Take a friend
Here again
What you're doing
In the mood
Before and after
Working man

Afterword: Not, to be sure, an album to set the world on fire, and it didn't. In fact, it would take three more albums before their genius would finally be realised and Rush would be on the way to proper stardom. To achieve that, they would basically leave the blues and rock influences prevalent on this and their next album to one side, and concentrate on the burgeoning progressive rock themes beginning to surface here, and which would also come through on Fly by Night, as Neil Peart joined and pretty much took over writing the lyrics. With a big progressive suite on that album, this would be the direction Rush would follow for the next three years as they produced classic albums like Hemispheres, A Farewell to Kings, Caress of Steel and of course 2112.

Rating:

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It would appear that no self-respecting music fan would give Journey the time of day (16:04, fellas) but they say that about Bon Jovi too, and that doesn't stop me listening to them. Journey have gained a reputation for soft rock balladry, mainly thanks to hits from their biggest albums, but they began life as a progressive rock band, and back in 1975 they released their debut album. And this is it, without a Steve in sight.

Album title: Journey
Artiste:Journey
Genre: Progressive Rock
Year: 1975
Label: Columbia
Producer: Roy Halee
Chronological position: Debut album
Notes:
Album chart position: Unknown
Singles: “To play some music”
Lineup:
Neal Schon: Guitars
Ross Valory: Bass, piano
Gregg Rollie: Keyboards, vocals
George Tickner Guitars, bass
Aynsley Dunbar: Drums

Review begins

Nice soft guitar sets us on our way with “Of a lifetime” already demonstrating the skills Neal Schon would parlay into a successful career with the band and even a solo career too. Sonorous organ from Gregg Rolie joins proceedings, and then it's he who takes the vocal, sounding very competent indeed, and very much in the progressive rock mould. Nicely laidback and with the odd sudden jump into life from time to time. A nice opener, and the guitar motif from Schon suits the song perfectly. Even here, this early, he's establishing himself as a major focal point for the band, and it's almost, though not quite, the Neal Schon show from day one. Nothing wrong with that; he's a great guitarist as he proves here, as if he had to. Certainly a star in the making. Sounds exactly like the opening notes to “Yellow brick road” by Elton John opening “In the morning day”, but of course it changes and becomes its own tune. Nice powerful organ and piano meshing as Rollie and Ross Vallory collaborate, Schon's squealing guitar rising into the ether and Rollie's soulful voice holding court over all.

Suddenly takes flight as Schon and Rollie power up the tempo and it heads off on something of an instrumental jam which takes it out to the fade. “Kohoutek” comes in on a slow, almost dramatic piano and guitar line, with pretty explosive drums, stops for a moment then picks up again, turning a little jazzy in the third minute, bopping along, oddly enough without too much in the way of guitar histrionics from Schon ... oh, there they are. Knew he wouldn't be able to rein himself in for too long. Back into the slow piano in the fifth minute as the piece winds towards its end, and it's pretty clear here that we're dealing with the first instrumental. Ends a bit abruptly, and into the only single from the album, this being the more uptempo, keyboard-led and almost a precursor to their later AOR days “To play some music”. Very strong organ line holding this together, and you can definitely hear echoes of the future drifting back in some of the rhythms and melodies that would surface years later on albums like Escape and Raised on Radio. “Topaz” is another instrumental, with a soft guitar opening it and then kicking up into another jam, this time very much guitar driven. Some very good piano however from Ross Valory. Kind of a feeling of southern boogie in some of the guitar work.

Get a blues idea from “In my lonely feeling/Conversation”, with a nice striding bassline and thick organ, the vocal this time almost reminding me of Steve Perry; suppose that's just coincidence. Schon takes control here in no uncertain terms, and what I assume to be the second half (the “Conversation” part of the title) is taken by him almost solo, and then we're into the closer, which I'm told survived into their later stageshows and became a fan favourite, presumably the only one from their early days that did. “Mystery mountain” has a good driving rock beat, and again foreshadows the kind of direction they would later pursue, so it's not too hard to understand why this was more acceptable to, shall we say, the Escape generation than to the older fans. I find the vocal a little muddy here if I'm honest, not always but at certain points; Rollie just is not as clear as he has been up to now. It's also notable for being the only song on the album co-written by an outsider, as it were, this being Diane Valory, whom I take to be the wife or sister of Ross, who wrote it with her. Again very southern boogie running through this. Good work from Schon, who plays his fingers off.

TRACK LISTING AND RATINGS

Of a lifetime
In the morning day
Kohoutek
To play some music
Topaz
In my lonely feeling/Conversations
Mystery mountain

Afterword: It's certainly a great album, but it's hard to see how Journey made the switch from okay progressive rock band to stadium-filling AOR and hitmakers. Still, as I keep saying, this is their debut and it would be another two albums before Steve Perry would arrive to take over vocals and a staggering six more before Jonathan Cain would complete the classic Journey lineup that would record their greatest and most successful albums. Quite a long journey, indeed, but a very promising start.

Rating:

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rea
I've been a fan of Chris Rea ever since I heard “Nothing's happening by the sea” from his fifth album, Water Sign, and having bought that album I followed him not quite religiously, but did purchase his albums up to 1989, left off and picked up again in 1999, and more or less stopped listening to his new material from 2002 on, which is odd really, as that's when he released the epic double album Dancing Down the Stony Road. Then again, shortly afterwards I began downloading more albums than I could ever be realistically expected to listen to, and the idea of collecting further material from one of my favourite stars of my youth slowly receded. Well, I may have downloaded them but never listened to them.

As for his earlier material? I know of the four albums that come before Water Sign, but have only heard Tennis once, though I do own and love Deltics. But it all began with something of an inside joke...


Album title: Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?
Artiste: Chris Rea
Genre: Soft Rock, Pop
Year: 1978
Label: Magnet
Producer: Gus Dudgeon
Chronological position: Debut album
Notes:
Album chart position: Unknown
Singles: “Fool if you think it's over”, “Whatever happened to Benny Santini?”
Lineup:
Chris Rea: Vocals, guitar, keyboards, synth
Robert Ahwai/Eddie Guy/Paul Keogh: Guitars
Phil Curtis/Pat Donaldson/Dave Markie/Eoghan O'Neill: Bass
Rod Argent: Keyboards, electric piano
Pete Wingfield: Keyboards, piano
Max Middleton/Kevin Leach: Keyboards
Steve Gregory: Sax
Dave Mattacks/Norman Nosebait/Adrian Rea: Drums
Gus Dudgeon/Frank Ricotti/George Woodhead: Other percussion
Doreen Chanter/Stuart Epps/Irene Chanter: Backing vocals

Review begins

I used to think, when I would see this album in a record store and never have any interest in buying it (and I never did) that the title referred to some old sports legend - a baseball player, rugby or soccer icon, or maybe a cricket hero. But it turns out that when Rea signed for Magnet Records, they thought his name was too boring and uninteresting, and wanted to rename him, you guessed it, Benny Santini! Now that sounds baseball to me. That, or Italian Mafia! Anyway, it would appear Rea persevered and retained his old name, so the title is probably an irreverent finger to his label, which perhaps might have worked better had this album been more successful. Mind you, it did yield him his biggest hit, a signature song for him, although it too bombed in the UK, being only successful in the US of A. Nevertheless, as time went on Chris Rea would have other big hits and would become moreover a household name and a respected musician. Not sure Benny would have done as well.

It's a nice acoustic rocker that gets the album underway, and it is in fact the title track too. Sort of a Country feel to it, loping along nicely and you can hear right away that this is a new talent in the making as Rea's raspy voice, slightly reminiscent of a younger Rod Stewart, greets us. A catchy song, it's nothing terribly special but it does open the album well and features a fine sax solo from Steve Gregory. “Close as you get” is a kind of blues number with soul edges and some really nice piano from Pete Wingfield. It continues the rock nature of the album, and foreshadows the likes of “Hey you” on his later album with its basic “looking for a girl” idea in the lyric, while the first ballad comes in the shape of “Because of you”, but I have to admit it's pretty barf-inducing and nothing like the kind of thing he would later write. It's the first track on which he plays piano, so I guess there is that. Oh, there's a fantastic guitar solo too, though I think it's Eddie Guy and not Chris.

Back to blues rock for “Dancing with Charlie” and it's an okay song but again it doesn't quite stand out. There's something in the main guitar riff that reminds me of one of his later songs, though I can't place it. A really nice powerful organ surge brings in “Bows and bangles”, some lovely electric piano sprinkled across the tune, and it appears to be another ballad, sung in an almost folk style, with some really great vocal harmonies. Like many of his later songs, this one tells a story and is populated by characters whom we end up caring about. Things begin to take a serious upswing then with the song that is, apparently, credited with keeping him in the music biz. Depressed at the lack of attention his debut album was receiving, and thinking of quitting, Rea came home to find a cheque on his doormat for the royalties from the only single taken from the album. Written to help his sister get over a love affair and show her it wasn't the end of the world, “Fool (if you think it's over)” is sung from the standpoint of an older man, trying to explain to a younger girl that these things happen, worse is to come and she'd better be ready for it. It's a dour song really, sung quite downbeat for most of it, and with a sense of perhaps not quite mocking but pragmatism about it.

Running on a slow organ line and muted guitar, even the vocal is laconic as Rea stresses the unimportance, in the grand scheme of things, and compared to the rest of her life she has yet to lead, of her breakup when he sings “Save your tears, got years and years” and advises her “The pains of seventeen's unreal, they're only dreams.” It doesn't come across as a very comforting song, and I wonder what Rea's sister thought of his attempt to cheer her up, but it certainly cheered him up when he started receiving money for his efforts and could finally think of forgetting about jacking in the music career. It also provided later quite a hit for Canadian songstress Elkie Brooks. Rocking again then with “Three angels”, on which Rea shows his prowess on the guitar, while Pete Stanley (I assume no relation to the Kiss guitarist) adds some oddly appropriate banjo of all things.

Another great track then is “Just one of those days”, which almost takes the bassline and rhythm from songs like “Tie a yellow ribbon” and “Kisses for me”, and trots along really nicely. Short little song but very nice. Next we have a Gerry Raffertyesque “Standing in your doorway”, which again sounds like one of his later songs with what sounds like accordion (guess it's synthesised, as in the rather exhaustive credits list no accordion player is mentioned). It's a nice sort of semi-ballad and leads into the closer, a steaming blues rocker called “Fires of spring”. Great bassline chugging along and with a certain sense of ELO in it

TRACK LISTING AND RATINGS

Whatever happened to Benny Santini?
The closer you get
Because of you
Dancing with Charlie
Bows and bangles
Fool (if you think it's over)
Three angels
Just one of those days
Standing in your doorway
Fires of spring

Afterword: Really, in fairness, it's not a bad debut, and it's weird to think that had “Fool” not made it 'cross the pond Chris Rea may have never recorded another album. I guess it just takes that one shot of confidence to tell you that you're actually on the right track, and he has gone on to record over twenty albums and sold over thirty million units in his so-far thirty-five year career. So I guess you can say, fool if you thought it was over, it had just begun. Sorry.

Rating:

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Album title: The End of an Ear
Artiste: Robert Wyatt
Genre: Free Jazz
Year: 1970
Label: CBS
Producer: Robert Wyatt
Chronological position: Debut solo album
Notes: Robert Wyatt was a founder member of Soft Machine, one of the lynchpins of the Canterbury Scene in progressive rock during the sixties and seventies
Album chart position: n/a
Singles: None
Lineup: Robert Wyatt- Drums, Piano, Organ, keyboards, harmonica
Neville Whitehead- Bass
Mark Charig- Cornet
Elton Dean- Alto Saxophone, Saxello
Mark Ellidge - Piano
Cyrille Ayers - Assorted Percussion
David Sinclair- Organ

Well thank you indeed Plainview for recommending not only a free jazz artist, but an album of totally instrumental music. This will be fun. I wasn't totally blown away by the two Soft Machine albums I reviewed in the History of Prog journal, so I can't say I'm particularly looking forward to this, but let's just get it done.

Review begins

Opens just as I feared, more like a tune-up than any real music, with Wyatt doing some vocalise singing of some sort, sounds like a swarm of bees being chased by a ghost playing bongos. Sigh. There's a piano in there too, but it fades out to leave us with experimental sounds and some vocal histrionics. Man I hate this, and it's only the first track. Apparently it's called “Las Vegas tango part one”, though what it has to do with either is anyone's guess. “To mark everywhere” has at least more of what I would call structure to it, with a pounding drum and wailing sax, and now there's some sort of weird shimmery thing going on, like a UFO landing, with increasingly insistent percussion and then whistling brings in “To Saintly Bridget”, which has something of a rhythm to it at least. Oh, and there's more squealy sax, just to annoy me further.

It kind of transitions directly into the next track, with a fast running bass and wibbly sax. I really don't care any more. This is boring the hell out of me. It will be a long slog, that's for sure. And now a nine-minute track of what seems to me to be more or less the same disjointed melody, mostly carried on percussion and sax. Yawn. Some bassy piano joining in now, but I'm basically just enduring it and waiting (praying) for it to end. I bet Frownland loves this stuff. Not for me. Not by a long way. Oh my god, sounds like this might actually be a recognisable tune! “To Caravan and brother Jim” does have its mad, free jazz moments but I can follow the melody, most of which is driven by piano and organ. This is the first track I haven't hated: will it be the only one? Yep, it seems like we're back to the sound of a kazoo stuck up someone's arse. Sigh. Robotic sounds which I guess were innovative for the time, but just bore me.

The next one is short, a nice piece of piano music which doesn't set my teeth on edge, though he can't leave it alone and starts messing with the melody, ruining it for me. Still, it's better than a whole lot of this album has been. The final track is a whopping eleven minutes long, but at least it is the last one. In fairness, it's a little more settled than some of the earlier tracks, but it's still something of a struggle to get through it. Discordant melodies, dissonance, whistling and seemingly off-tune tones, none of this does anything for me but make me wish this was over. And now it is.

Track Listing and Ratings

1. Las Vegas Tango, part 1 (repeat)
2. To Mark everywhere
3. To Saintly Bridgid
4. To Oz Alien Daevid and Gilly
5. To Nick everyone
6. To Caravan and brother Jim
7. To the old world (Thank you for the use of your body, goodbye)
8. To Carla, Masha and Caroline (For making everything beautifuller)
9. Las Vegas Tango part 1

Afterword: Look, there was nobody expecting me to like this, was there? Once those two words popped up I was sunk. I don't like much jazz, and the little I can stomach does not include the word “free”, so while I try to keep an open mind whenever reviewing, I wasn't gambling on there being much here for me. And there wasn't. Which is not to say this is a bad album, or that Wyatt doesn't have talent, because obviously neither would be true. To those who can appreciate and enjoy this kind of thing, I'm sure it's amazing, transcendent and a lot of other praiseworthy adjectives. But to me, with my limited capacity to enjoy melody that is not pleasing to my ears, it is none of those things and I did not enjoy it. Apart from a track here or there.

Rating:

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Album title:Rock Bottom
Artiste: Robert Wyatt
Genre: Folk
Year: 1974
Label: Virgin
Producer: Nick Mason
Chronological position: Second solo album
Notes: Between this and his previous, debut solo album, Wyatt suffered a terrible, life-changing accident that paralysed him. He subsequently began to think about his life and this album contains his reflections on same.
Album chart position: n/a
Singles: n/a
Lineup: Robert Wyatt– vocals, keyboards, percussion,slide guitar(2)
Mike Oldfield– guitar (6)
Gary Windo–bass clarinet,tenor sax(5)
Ivor Cutler– voice (3 and 6), baritone concertina,harmonium(6)
Alfreda Benge– voice (5)
Mongezi Feza– trumpets (3)
Fred Frith–viola(6)
Hugh Hopper– bass guitar (2, 4 and 5)
Richard Sinclair– bass guitar (1, 3 and 6)
Laurie Allan– drums (2 and 6)


Review begins

Much as I hated the previous album, it's in a way gratifying to see that Wyatt himself later dismissed it as “juvenilia”, this mostly I guess being due to his new way of seeing the world, due to the accident related above. So from his, and many of his fans' point of view, this is really his debut album, though in a more, real way, it isn't. You can hear much more of an attempt at serious music in the opener, “Sea song”; the noises and effects of the previous album are nowhere in sight, and this is more folk or even prog rock, probably more something fans of Soft Machine would have expected. The music still tends to be annoyingly discordant at times, but at least I can distinguish it as such this time around. The vocalise puts me off still though, but it's a hundred percent improvement on The End of an Ear. You can definitely hear more of the prog rock influence on “A last straw” though it's more kind of jazz/avant-garde for much of “Little Red Riding Hood hit the road”, with screeching horns and what sounds like loops (though I guess those weren't around in the seventies) but apparently are multi-tracked arrangements. There's a vocal halfway through, by Ivor Cutler. Does add something to the composition, though I'm not quite sure what. He sounds a bit like Bowie. Okay, now he's just talking.

“Alifib” on the other hand features some beautiful classical guitar, is a nice little laidback piece, quite pastoral and relaxing, and it kind of continues on into “Alife”, which introduces some little effects, piping horns and acquires a darker texture. The closer then, and the companion piece to “Little Red Riding Hood hit the road” is called “Little Red Robin Hood hit the road”, driven mostly by a droning synth, screeching guitar and a repetitive vocal. Halfway through we get a recitation by Cutler of some nonsensical poem. Apparently, his vocal work here and on the first part gained him a recording deal. Go figure, huh? Violin coming in now over a harmonium (it says here; I would have said uileann or bagpipes, but there you go) setting up a kind of Celtic feel to the end part.

Track listing and Ratings

Sea song
A last straw
Little Red Riding Hood hit the road
Alifib
Alife
Little Red Robin Hood hit the road


Afterword: Yeah. Better by miles than the previous effort, but it's still a little freaky for me. Some nice moments, some decent music and some clever ideas, but nothing here that makes me want to hear more. Though as part of this overarching project, I have no choice but to do exactly that.

Rating:

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