Tag Archives: British

Elton John In His Own Words (Susan Black) – Book Review

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Elton John IHOW

The Front Cover Of The Book

Compiled by Susan Black, this book was released by Omnibus Press in England in the year 1993. As in other “In Their Own Words” titles it gathers assorted quotes from all through the years and mashes them together by theme. I used the verb “mash” deliberately, as the book could use some editing – there are quotes that appear multiple times under different headings, and such a thing can turn out to be certainly annoying.

Some of the featured chapters include “Songwriting”, “”Money & Possessions” and (of course) “Clothes & Accessories”. The most comprehensive section is thankfully the one named “The Records”, and we can see facets of Elton that are not necessarily palpable through his music in the chapters “Sports” and “Politics”. Continue reading →

Black Sea (XTC) – Album Review (Part 1)

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On Of The Original Names For The Album Was Gong To Be "Work Under Pressure". The Photo Session That Produced The Album 's Cover Was Based On That.

One Of The Original Names For The Album Was Going To Be "Work Under Pressure". The Photo Session That Produced The Cover Was Inspired By That, Hence The Diving Suits. The Title Was To Be Scrapped, But Not The Shot.

“Black Sea” was the fourth album released by XTC. The record was issued in the year 1980, and it garnered unanimous praise. It is now considered as their first truly indispensable album. Critical reaction was so fabulous that Andy & Colin were compared for the very first time to Lennon & McCartney. Such a comparison was sure to elicit a reaction, for the mere fact that even thinking about placing someone on par with the two timeless composers is sacrilegious to many. In hindsight, it showcases what a lukewarm response the Swindon boys were eliciting from critics even in those days. And – maybe most importantly – they were starting to reach a broader public. The album had another Top 20 hit, and this time it was a song penned by Andy. Success, at last. Or was it? Read on…

The main denominator of the songs contained here is the toughness and density of the sound. Andy insisted on recording only arrangements that could be replicated live. That meant that if they included a keyboard, that would be at the expense of a guitar and so on. This worked on their advantage in the long run, as the songs were free from unnecessary embellishments (“The Big Express”, anybody?) and could be reproduced onstage naturally. Continue reading →

Elton John – Album Review (Part 2)

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(This is part 2 of the review. It discusses the remastered version. The original LP is dealt with in Part 1.)

All the “classic” Elton John albums were re-released in the mid 90s, remastered and with some bonus tracks to offer fans an incentive that would justify the purchase, as well as giving both fans and newcomers a sort of parallel overview of the songs that were released concomitantly yet left off each particular album.

The “Elton John” album is considered one of the best bonus-tracked releases along with the “Captain Fantastic” reissue. It includes three additional tracks: the b-side to “Border Song”, and a single of its own (Rock & Roll Madonna/Grey Seal). Of course, the name Grey Seal rings an immediate bell as the song was to be recorded anew with Elton’s classic band for the successful “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” album in 1973. The consensus is that the later-day version is more cohesive, yet this early take has historic value since it stands as Elton’s recorded debut on electric piano. Continue reading →

Elton John – Album Review (Part 1)

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A Somehow Enigmatic Cover, Don't You Think?

A Somehow Enigmatic Cover, Don't You Think?

Elton’s rise to fame was not that immediate as many often think. He had been covering other people’s songs for some time, not to mention being a paid songwriter along with Bernie for longer than was fulfilling. His first solo album went unheeded, despite oozing enthusiasm from every fiber.

If anything, his career was a matter of different pieces falling into position – his lyricist, his producer, his arranger and finally his classic band. On this, his second album (and the one that broke the commercial apathy) we see the addition of two of these figures, namely producer Gus Dudgeon and orchestral arranger Paul Buckmaster. They all had some heavy names on their resumes such as David Bowie and Eric Clapton, and the moment they agreed to work with Elton anything he would put out was to be digested differently, because their experience was to be felt in the final product . Continue reading →

Tommy (The Who) – Album Review (Part 2)

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(If you haven’t done so already, read Part 1 of this review where “Tommy” is introduced, and the context in which it was created is detailed)

The album had 20 tracks. It was the first double album the band had released. The operatic connection was made evident through a formal overture and an “underture” which was mostly the extension of a theme called “Sparks”, also featured on the album and derived from a chord pattern found on “Rael” from the previous record.

Highlights included “Pinball Wizard” (the first single from the album) and “See Me, Feel Me”, a prayer sent to the most private space within the soul of every listener, a pronunciation of faith and endearment like no other within their repertoire. Other songs which merit mentioning are “The Acid Queen” and “I’m Free”, both very fine rockers. (“I’m Free” was to be released as a single too, and some time later an orchestrated version would be a minor hit.) Continue reading →

Joy Division – General Introduction

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Joy Division

There is something about Joy Division that is impossible to apprehend or even hope to comprehend. Is that because they beget a caterwaul of emotions when you listen to them, and these emotions turn to be the ones we want to keep our distance from yet at the same time the ones we want to have as a permanent fixture within our lives?

The band formed in Manchester in the year 1977. Its members were singer and occasional guitar player Ian Curtis, drummer Steven Morris, guitarist Bernard Albrecht and bass player Peter Hook. They were going to release one EP and two full albums, as their career was to be truncated by Curtis’ suicide in late 1979. He suffered from epileptic seizures, but his lyrics made it clear there was so much more going on, that his frail health was the tip a devastating inner conflict. And the real tragedy is that maybe what happened could have been avoided – the band members readily admitted they never paid his lyrics any heed, and after that fateful day whenever they listened to the old songs something always clicked. Continue reading →

The Queen Is Dead (The Smiths) – Album Review

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The Front Cover

The Front Cover

If you have read the general introduction you already know I regard this album as The Smith’s crowning achievement. In a certain sense, it does what was done in the previous albums. But the difference is that what was previously done either good or very good now is done in an excellent fashion. With the sole exception of “Vicar In A Tutu” (a rockabilly number that is best left alone) and the acceptable “Never Had No One Ever”, all the songs hit hard. Generally speaking, they make a solid point out of solid disappointment: “I Know It’s Over” and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” deal with the anxiety of a love that ends and takes life away with it, and a love that ends without ever having started respectively. For its part, the bouncy “Frankly, Mr. Shankly” takes the form of a resignation letter from a disgruntled employer to his boss, in which (as much as he tries to refrain from doings so) he must finally “speak frankly, Mr. Shankly” and call a spade a spade. Continue reading →

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols – Album Review

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A Classic Cover For A Classic Record

A Classic Cover For A Classic Record

I mentioned in the general introduction that I published yesterday that no band encapsulated the punk movement like The Sex Pistols. As an obvious result, no album stands as a better snapshot of the era than their one and only “true” release, “Never Mind The Bollocks – Here’s The Sex Pistols”. It was released at the height of the movement, in 1977. The singles up to that point were included along with songs like “No Feelings” that had acted as b-sides. Continue reading →

The Sex Pistols – General Introduction

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I know no single band that encapsulated so much what a musical movement was all about than The Sex Pistols, England’s most remarkable punk rock outfit. Every characteristic feature was palpable in them: the musical abrasiveness, the rampant political stance, the self-destructiveness, and the instrumental lack of prowess. I thought the last part of the previous statement over and over. I did not want to use an expression like “musical ineptitude”, but the fact remains that the true identity of those who played on their one and only album (“Never Mind The Bollocks – Here’s The Sex Pistols”, released in 1977) remains unknown. Continue reading →

The Clash (US Version) – Album Review

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Rocking The Town To The Clash City Rockers

Rocking The Town To The Clash City Rockers

In the same way that the first albums released by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were revamped and even drastically modified for US release, The Clash’s eponymous album underwent the cut-and-paste treatment when it was released in the States in the year 1979.

Every person who has listened to the original album (released in 1977, obviously) arrives at the same conclusion: the original has a more organic flow, whereas the American edition features better individual songs. That is nothing surprising – the US edition ended up resembling a sort of mini compilation of their best songs up to that point. Songs that were added to the American release (which boasted 15 songs, as opposed to the 14 the British release included) featured the hits “Clash City Rockers”, “Complete Control”, “White Man In Hammersmith Palais” and “I Fought The Law”, a song which stuck out like a sore thumb because the production values were so much higher. That is something to take into account – the original LP was recorded in a dilapidated warehouse, and it sounded like that. You put something like “I Fought The Law” in the middle, and it feels like placing a scene from “I Am Legend” into “The Omega Man”. Continue reading →