Trollheart

Random Track of the Day
Wednesday, September 14 2011
First we had metal, then classical, and today some pop/rock. Varied week indeed, and we're only halfway through. Random Track of the Day today comes from Robbie Williams, from his album “Sing when you're winning”, a decent track if not one of the best from that album, this is “Forever Texas”.


Forever Texas --- Robbie Williams --- from “Sing when you're winning” on EMI



A good swinging rocker, plenty of swagger and arrogance as in many Robbie songs. A good time is had by all! Great cheeky lyric as per usual: ”Everybody getting cash for the bung/ Everybody wants to know how I'm hung/ You can read it in the papers...”

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Ooh yeah, the worm likes to rock, and there's no mistake! Today's Daily Earworm comes to you courtesy of a real rock classic, the unforgettable beat of the Rolling Stones' “Satisfaction”. Who doesn't recognise that opening riff?

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Once again, the worm brings you another great track that will lodge in your brain and refuse to move out till you call in the bailiffs! This is the Waterboys, and one of their classic hits, the excellent “Whole of the moon”.

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Thursday, September 15 2011
More hard rockin' heavy metal to get us through the week! Today's track comes from Holland's Elegy, this is actually taken from their debut album, released in 1992, it's “I'm no fool”.

I'm no fool --- Elegy --- from “Labyrinth of dreams” on T&T



Haven't listened to these guys prior to this, but I do like what I hear. Good power metal, great vocals, excellent guitar solos, and a very decent melody. Rock and/or roll!

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Note: thanks once again to post character restrictions, and my running off at the mouth, this section has AGAIN to be split into two. Sorry about that.
Time to check out the solo career of another musician. The first edition of this section concentrated on Phil Lynott, which in a way was easy, as he only had two solo albums before his untimely death. Our next guest, however, is still very much alive and has produced, to date, eight solo albums, with more no doubt to come. We're going to concentrate on just four of them here, in order to give you an overall view of his body of work, and how it differs --- if at all --- from his work within the band.



Yes, it's that man from the Cars, he of the distinctive voice and the weird looks, and indeed weird name, Ric with a “c” Ocasek. In between guiding the Cars through a successful series of top albums and hit singles during the seventies and eighties, Ocasek has found time to record a slew of solo albums. Are they any good? Let's check them out, shall we?

Beatitude --- 1982 (Geffen)


The debut solo is always the hardest, especially if you've been --- or still are --- in a well-known band. Most of your fans or potential audience are going to buy your new album because they like your band, but that's a double-edged sword, as they are more than likely also going to want/expect to hear the same sort of music that they've liked hearing you play or sing in the band. And as a solo artist, you probably want to make a statement, stand out from your work with your fellow bandmembers and do something a little different. Will your legion of fans accept this? And should you then try to pander to their desires, or go your own way, in the hope they will understand, “get it” and follow you regardless?

“Beatitude” seems to follow the line of least resistance, at least in terms of commerciality, as it opens with a very Cars-like tune, “Jimmy Jimmy”, with thumping bass and handclap drums, and Ocasek's distinctive vocal, a melody which in fact sounds more than a little like “Shake it up”, from the Cars album of the same name; breathy synth, very new-wave. It almost sounds like a song getting ready to get going, which never actually does. No huge departure then, at least at first. Cars fans will be relatively happy: the band could have played this song. Next up is “Something to grab for”, with more guitars whereas the opener was driven by keyboards and synth. Again it's very much a track in the style of the Cars. No bad thing, to be sure, but it would be nice to see Ric stretching his creativity and (god how I hate this phrase, which has become so overused, but it is appropriate here) stepping outside his comfort zone. (Actually interesting, that, as one of his other solo albums is called “Fireball zone”...)

Ric sings, plays guitar and keyboards, and also produces this album, so it's very much his project, though he does call in one of his mates from the Cars, keyboard player Greg Hawkes, to help him out, and in fact Hawkes helps him write one of the songs, though in fairness Ocasek writes every other track on the album himself. “Prove” opens on a spacey, dramatic synth line then gets rather funky with slap bass and dancy keyboards. At least this is not something you'd hear on a Cars album! If anything, it resembles more closely something you might find David Bowie singing, and it's certainly a departure from the norm for Ocasek, the first time he's stepped out of the box and tried something new. There's also some real cool sax on the track, thanks to Deric Dyer.

It's back to the comfort of the Cars then for “I can't wait”, with sampled keyboard and tinkly digital piano, and the use of Linn drum machines throughout the album gives it a very Europop feel, not as soulless as their use on some other artistes' albums comes across, but still it would have been nice to have had a human drummer, even on some of the tracks. Next up is probably the standout, “Connect up to me” is also the longest track, coming in at just under seven and a half minutes, with pulsing bass and slithering keyboards, a nice fast beat, again quite akin to a Cars track, most notably I would say “Looking for love” from “Heartbeat City”, but no worse for its similarities. The synth samples work very well here, and the keyboard sections really are smooth and luxurious, building quite the wall of sound.

I've noticed that the Cars, both as a band and in solo projects, tend to --- borrow, shall we say? --- themes, melodies and riffs for their songs, and here you can clearly hear the opening riff from Joe Jackson's “Is she really going out with him?” in the opening bars of “A quick one”, which is a nice little song with definite Cars overtones but still individual enough to qualify as one of Ocasek's own. The next one up, “Out of control”, is that song I mentioned on which Greg Hawkes co-writes, and it's understandably keyboard-heavy, as both of them play keys, but with a sort of reggae beat and a little hint of Peter Gabriel in there somewhere. Interesting song, in that it more or less maintains the same melody all the way through, with no real verses or chorus.

“Take a walk” maintains and expands on the reggae influence, with keyboards that sound like the effects from an old eighties computer game and a heartbeat bass giving the song quite an infectious rhythm. Another recognisable melody opens “Sneak attack”, that of Billy Joel's “My life”. This time though it's not just the opening, as the basic riff continues throughout the track. It segues directly into the closer, the decidedly weird “Time bomb”. Carried on pulsing, ominous bass and wailing keyboards it moves toward a crescendo, with a good guitar solo, nice to hear after the over-preponderance of keyboards.

So, not a bad first effort, though a lot of it could certainly have been done within the framework of the Cars, but perhaps Ric just wanted more control over this project, or to make it more personal. Either way, I would say a good job, but nothing we haven't heard before really. Which is not a problem, as I see it.

TRACKLISTING

1. Jimmy Jimmy
2. Something to grab for
3. Prove
4. I can't wait
5. Connect up to me
6. A quick one
7. Out of control
8. Take a walk
9. Sneak attack
10. Time bomb

And so it's on to the next in his catalogue, which is in fact his second album, released four years later.

This side of Paradise --- 1986 (Geffen)


Ocasek's second album more or less picks up where the debut left off, with an unashamed rip-off of his own “Heartbeat City”: it's staggering how like the title track to their chart-busting album the opener, “Keep on laughin'” is. I suppose you can't be too hard on him: after all, “Heartbeat City”, and indeed most of that album and previous Cars output, was all written by him, so it's not like he's ripping anyone off, other than himself. It is a little disappointing, however, that there's a lack of originality from the outset.

Roping in more famous musicians for this album, Ocasek recruited the likes of Steve Stevens, Tony Levin and Roland Orzabal to help him create his second solo opus, as well as most of the Cars: Benjamin Orr sings background vocals, Elliot Easton plays guitar and Greg Hawkes reprises his keyboard and bass role from “Beatitude”, as well as again collaborating on one song with Ocasek, to push this album much closer to being a full Cars album than the previous one. “True to you” is another boppy Cars-like song, while “Emotion in motion” is the first ever solo ballad from Ocasek (“Beatitude has none), a lovely little track with a melody which would later surface in part on a track by Nanci Griffith, on her “Storms” album, released two years later.

Again, the album is very keyboard-oriented, with not too much guitar in evidence, despite the fact that there are, including Ocasek himself, six guitarists playing on the album! Not exactly an axe attack, though! “Look in your eyes” has a very Judie Tzuke vibe, with a decent amount of guitar, but despite the fact that this time there is a human drummer, Chris Hughes, the percussion on this track still sounds very mechanical, as if created on a Linn or somesuch drum machine. “Coming for you” is a big, brash, dramatic track with heavy, stomping drums and ominous keyboards, and some rather heavy guitar. Reckon that's our Steve Stevens there: has his sort of style and flair.

“Mystery” brings everything back to synth-pop/electronic with an inoffensive little tune without very much to remember it by, then we're into another standout, and the second ballad on the album. “True love” is a great little song, with many Cars touches, nice keys and samples, good little bass line and some great backing vocals, not to mention a gorgeous Spanish guitar solo. The really weird “P.F.J” --- stands for, would you believe, Pink Flag Joe? --- is very much a Ric Ocasek creation, as he sings ”Pink flag Joe/ With his wealthy lips/ He goes to movies/ That don't exist.”

“Hello darkness” is the one track not exclusively written by Ocasek, the one Hawkes helps him out on, but to be fair you wouldn't know, as it's not that much different to anything else here really. The title track closes the album, and it's a powerful and assured ending, the longest track on the album at just barely over eight minutes, and as such, the longest Ocasek solo song to this date. “This side of Paradise” comes in on gentle, almost Doors-ish keyboards with tom-toms and guitar, loping along at a nice mid-pace, with a really infectious keyboard hook. Some pretty frenetic drumming ensues about halfway through, and the track ends on a nice dirty guitar riff to fade, before there's a reprise of the theme from “True love” to finish off the album.

On balance, although “This side of Paradise” (the album) is better than its predecessor, it doesn't differ from it that wildly, in that most of the tracks could have gone on a Cars album, so we're not seeing any signs of Ric Ocasek suddenly breaking out into other genres or bringing in outside influences. Still, as albums go, and indeed as solo albums go, neither of these can be faulted really. Of course, there's nothing that actually marks them out or makes them stand head and shoulders above any others, but they're at least holding their own.

TRACKLISTING

1. Keep on laughin'
2. True to you
3. Emotion in motion
4. Look in your eyes
5. Coming for you
6. Mystery
7. True love
8. P.F.J
9. Hello darkness
10. This side of Paradise

(Stay tuned for part two, coming right up!)

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According to Wikipedia, what happened next seems weird. After his third album, “Fireball zone”, Ocasek was supposed to release “Negative theater” as his fourth, but for reasons unexplained his new record company refused to release the album in the US, taking only seven tracks from it and getting him to record a further eight, and releasing the result under the title “Quick change world” in the US, the same year as “Negative theater” came out in Europe, which is the only territory in which it was released. I guess artistic control over his project was not in Ric's hands!

Negative theater --- 1993 (Warner)


So here is where we pick up on Ric Ocasek's solo career again. The year is 1993, seven years after “This side of Paradise”, and we can see a big change in Ric's music. The opener, “I still believe”, is a short, keyboard-led intro really, less than two minutes long, and leads into “Come alive”, a heavy, fast, almost punk-like track that hurtles along, and would be reprised stylistically by him on the Cars' original last album (before they got back together again last year), “Door to door”. Ocasek seems to have dispensed with the “guest stars” that populated “This side of Paradise”, though it does seem as if longstanding contributor and Cars member Greg Hawkes is still on board.

The sound is definitely heavier, rockier, more urgent, relying rather more heavily on guitar sounds where his last two albums (at least, the first two, the ones covered above) were more or less saturated with keyboard and synth. Things go poppy, almost dancey for “Quick change world”, the title given by the record company to his previous album, I guess you could say the alternative or US version of this one. It's funky, boppy and somewhat in the mould of Bowie, with good guitar and handclap drums. Pretty damn catchy, to be honest.

“Ride with Duce” is more in the heavy rock mould, a good mid-paced rocker, guitar again leading the way, whereas “What's on TV” is pretty experimental, almost Porcupine Tree in its use of samples, recordings and snippets, but ultimately it comes across as a little laboured. “Shake a little nervous” is more funk, “Hopped up” is a sort of dance/rock crossover, a good fast beat and a decent melody, and “Take me silver” is general pop/rock with some nice guitar and keys.

A short track then based on nice echoey guitar, “Telephone again” lasts less than a minute, and is followed by “Race to nowhere”, the longest track on the album, and a new contender for longest solo Ocasek song, at just over nine minutes long. It's something of an opus, containing several different styles and themes, and coming close to standout track on the album. More keyboard and piano-oriented than previous tracks, there's still some very good guitar going on there. Weird Tom Waitsesque monologue near the end, too. Odd, quirky and very different.

“Help me find America” comes in on some beautiful synth and slide guitar, with a breathy vocal from Ocasek. A slow, majestic, entrancing song. Another contender for top spot. Sort of a cross between Woodie Guthrie and Michael Moore... It's followed by “What is time”, a sort of post-progressive industrial rock/pop track, if you can imagine such a thing, driven by a really funky bass line and some seriously cool organ. Closer “Fade away” is a nice atmospheric ballad with lovely violins and an understated vocal, taking the album out on a gentle note, similar to the way it began.

As a solo album then, this one stands far more apart from Ocasek's previous work, marked definitively as his own output: there's very little, if anything, here that I could see on any Cars album. I suppose in some ways a lot of it is quite experimental, for him, and perhaps that's why Reprise blocked his release of it in the USA. Still seems a strange thing to do. I'm glad he managed to get it released here though, and if you're from the US and haven't been able to obtain this album, I can tell you it is worth it.

TRACKLISTING

1. I still believe
2. Come alive
3. Quick change world
4. Ride with Duce
5. What's on TV
6. Shake a little nervous
7. Hopped up
8. Take me silver
9. Telephone again
10. Race to nowhere
11. Help me find America
12. Who do I pay
13. Wait for fate
14. What is time
15. Fade away

Our last look at his solo career is via his last album, released in 2005. There are of course eight albums in his catalogue, but I wouldn't have the space or patience or time to go through each one individually, so we're taking something of a cross-section of his output to give us an idea of where he is musically as a solo artist. This, then, is his latest.

Nexterday --- 2005 (Sanctuary)


After his disagreements and problems with Reprise records, detailed above, on his fourth album, Ric seems to have gone through a succession of labels for his next three albums, four if you include the Europe-only release, which was on the Warner label. This, his last and so far current album, released six years ago now, is on the Sanctuary label. What this constant changing of labels signifies I don't know: perhaps a dissatisfaction with some aspect of each one as he recorded for them, or maybe he's a hard artist to work with? Could be a number of things, I guess.

At any rate, “Nexterday” opens with “Crackpot”, a low-key mid-paced rocker, with again another “borrowed” riff, this time from Dylan's (well, Hendrix's, really) “All along the watchtower”. Greg Hawkes is once again on board, as is his guitarist from the debut album, Roger Greenawalt, though Ocasek himself as usual plays guitars and keys, and sings, and this time he writes every track himself. A much rockier track than some of the more pseudo-pop/electronica material that has characterised his previous albums, “Crackpot” is a good opener and something of a change of style for Ric, that rocky element retained for “Bottom dollar”, a more Cars-ish song, very in the mould of “My best friend's girl”, while “Don't lose me” kicks the tempo up a gear with a song in a sort of fifties vein, but yet modern enough.

Things get all reggae then for “In a little bit”, reminding me of nothing more than 10CC's “Dreadlock holiday”. Hey, I know I'm noting a lot of comparisons here, but take my word for it, Ocasek and indeed Benjamin Orr on his solo album, is not averse to borrowing the odd melody, chord structure, riff etc. They're usually used well --- they don't rip off full songs, they're rearranged and reused --- but it does unfortunately point to a certain lack of originality. This is a good song all the same, as is “Silver”, a slower, more introspective song with a certain Nick Cave vibe to it.

“Come on” gets things moving again, another Cars-type song, and “Carousel”'s ok too, but the problem I'm having with this album is that, so far, nothing has stood out, nothing has leaped out and grabbed me. The tracks are all good, none great and certainly none that I expect to remember later, unlike the other three albums I've so far reviewed for this section. Running out of steam? Too many changes of labels? Boredom? Ideas drying up? Who knows, but “Please don't let me down” is at least a nice little ballad, but again it could feature on any Cars album. As indeed could the closer, the boppy “It gets crazy”.

As a solo album, from what I've heard of Ric Ocasek's catalogue, this would be the most disappointing in my opinion. It's just basic Cars with a few bells and whistles (and sometimes not even that) --- there are no epic tracks, no quirky pieces, and frankly nothing that grabs the attention or stands out as anything special. Basically, this is as close as Ocasek has come to recording another Cars album.

TRACKLISTING

1. Crackpot
2. Bottom dollar
3. Don't lose me
4. In a little bit
5. Silver
6. Come on
7. I'm thinking
8. Carousel
9. Heard about you
10. Please don't let me down
11. It gets crazy

So, the conclusion then. There's no doubting Ric Ocasek's talent: he is after all the driving force (sorry!) behind the Cars. The trouble seems to be that a lot of the time he seems to be unable to separate his work with the band from his own solo material, and make his own stuff stand out on its own merits. There are of course exceptions, moments where his brilliance and innovation shine through: the title track to “This side of Paradise”, “Help me find America” and “Race to nowhere” on “Negative theater”, and “Connect up to me” from “Beatitude”, but the instances are too few and far between.

Of course, I have only sampled half his repertoire for this article, and there are four albums I haven't touched, but it seems rather unlikely that they are going to reveal anything these four have not, and “Quick change world” is, as mentioned, basically half of “Negative theater”, with the other half admitted Cars-styled songs, so I don't anticipate any huge surprises from that album at least.

There's nothing wrong, of course, with a solo artist carrying his band work into his own material: plenty have done so and very successfully. Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore and Fish from Marillion to name but a few, but then there are those who have forged a totally separate identity through their solo work than that which they presented when with their band. I'm thinking in particular of Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and yes, already-covered Phil Lynott. Listening to their solo albums is generally not the same as listening to them in the band, whether they're still with them or not.

Sometimes we buy solo albums to hear something different, sometimes in the hope of hearing “new material” from the band, as was basically the case with Fish's early albums, and indeed Roger Waters doesn't stray all that far from his work with Pink Floyd on his solo efforts. So there's nothing wrong with it at all. But it would certainly seem that, although he is capable of quite startling musical insights and expressions from time to time, the bulk of Ric Ocasek's solo work appears to be treading the same ground as his material with the Cars.

It's not a bad thing, especially if you're a fan of the band, but then, it's also fair to say that it's less than original.

Next time, we'll be looking at the work of Debbie Harry, and comparing her solo output to that practiced by her within Blondie.

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jackhammer

Memories of midweek BBC Sportnight in the 90's:


The Waterboys are one seriously underrated band and Dream Harder is one hell of an album. Great track:

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Blarobbarg

Just wanted to pop in an say I love this journal, dude. Always good, random stuff being posted.

Trollheart

Random Track of the Day
Friday, September 16 2011

Oh yeah, keep on rockin'! Another heavy track to bring the working week to a close, this is Savatage, from the album “Power of the night”, displaying none of the later prog-rock/metal tendencies that would surface on albums like “The wake of Magellan”, “Streets: a rock opera” and of course in a new incarantion as Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Nothing terribly special about it, a standard metal track, from a very early lineup.

Unusual --- Savatage --- from "Power of the night" on Atlantic



Not a lot to say really. In some ways, the title is misleading, as this track is nothing like unusual. Could have been recorded by any metal band of the time. Doesn't particularly stand out, but it doesn't suck either.

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Ah, class tells! Even twenty-five years later, this song still resonates as one of Queen's best songs from their later catalogue. And a great video too, taking them back to the top of the charts in 1986 with “A kind of magic”.

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