Plankton

Always been one of my favorites (I guess I never read the initial review after it's release). I can still sit and listen to The Necromancer and get lost in it's brilliance and beauty. It's another musical novella after seeing what they could accomplish with By-Tor, then later they used that same approach with 2112.

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Trollheart

Damn straight.
I just bought it at the time (think it was with 2112 and AFTK) and just loved it pretty much right away. Back then I didn't pay much attention to reviews anyway, just went out and bought what I wanted. Ah, youth. And also money.

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Trollheart

Album Title: Raintown
Artist: Deacon Blue
Year: 1987
Genre: Pop/Rock
Position in Discography: 1 of 8 (ATOW)

Although hailed by many as their greatest album (and I'd probably agree), this was not the one that quite briefly pushed Scottish band Deacon Blue from obscurity into almost superstardom. They would have to wait for their second release, When the World Knows Your Name, for songs like “Real Gone Kid” and “Wages Day” to open the charts for them. WTWKYN is, by its very nature, a more upbeat and happy album, as Deacon Blue celebrate their newfound fame, but the debut, here, is more down-to-earth, stark and in some ways depressing, though you can't really say that about the majority of the music. The lyrics? Well, that's another matter, and one look at the cover tells you this is not meant to be a feelgood album.


Born in a Storm
A very short introduction to the album, with sparse piano notes and a mournful vocal by frontman Ricky Ross, it leads the way into the opening and title track, and runs for a mere minute and a half, but it's a very effective prologue I guess to the album proper.

10/10

Raintown
After a pretty downbeat, dour opening the piano fizzes and sparkles, rippling down into thumping percussion and the title track gets underway. If you ignore the lyric, it's a very cheerful, upbeat song, with a great hook in the melody, though you can hear Ross's frustration on some of the pronunciations of “raintown” “frown” and some other words. This also introduces the backing/co-vocal talent of Lorraine McIntosh.

10/10

Ragman
Another uptempo track, about what I have no idea but possibly some character from the urban wasteland Ross tends to inhabit and write about on this album. There are, admittedly, some pretty esoteric lyrics on it. Lorraine comes more into her own here, whereas on the title track she was pretty much only adding in backing vocals, here she takes on some of the actual singing, though Ricky will always be the main man. Great bouncy piano here and a nice fading end.

7/10

He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now
Remember what I said about esoteric lyrics? This one contains references to, I think, Hiroshima, and I have no idea why, but it's the first proper slow song since “Born in a Storm”, if you can call that a song. Love the slow soft percussion intro and the bells (sort of reminds me of Band Aid). Seems to me that this song foreshadows “Dignity”. Another great hook in the chorus, even though it's only one line. A very downbeat and dour song and no, I have not the slightest clue what it's about.

8/10

Loaded
The first of only three songs not written by Ross alone, this is a more uptempo, poppy song and seems even upbeat in its lyrical matter. Kicks off with the main melody from the next song, too, which was one of their singles. More of a contribution by Lorraine here too. Like most of the better Deacon Blue songs, it's driven on James Prime's breezy piano, with some nice guitar licks around the edges, just where they're needed.

9/10

When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)
A gospelly ballad, the first proper one, and as I mentioned it was a single, though it didn't exactly set the world on fire, only gaining any sort of significant hold in the charts after the album had been released, and it was re-released. It does, however, showcase their versatility as a band, with some really nice backing vocals.

10/10

Chocolate Girl
Could have been badly misinterpreted as a racist song, but the lyric explains the title: “He calls her the chocolate girl/ Cos he thinks she melts when he touches her.” Quite a bitter little song, which sees a relationship from both sides, one the arrogant guy who thinks he's it, and the side of the girl who knows she's just being used. It, too, was a single, and moderately successful. I'm not mad about it though. There's a nice guitar riff in it. Meh.

6/10

Dignity
The tale of the little guy who realises his dreams, it's a nice cheerful little song with a very catchy melody, resulting in it being another single, their most successful from the album, breaking the top twenty. Again, it's Prime's bubbly keyboard and piano that create the atmosphere for the song. And again, oddly, there's a similarity in its opening to another song I know, this time Chris Rea's “Ace of Hearts”. Odd why? Cos Rea plays on one of the tracks, though not this one.

10/10


The Very Thing
The last uptempo track on the album, it somehow gives me the idea of kids running away from home and hoping to have a great adventure. Hey, it's probably in the lyric. Good song.

9/10

Love's Great Fears
I really love this track. It's just got something about it, and Lorraine's contributions just make it. The solo at the end is lovely, and yes, it's the one I mentioned earlier, with Chris Rea on guitar. Who? **** off. Oh yeah: the piano line is almost certainly filched from Nik Kershaw's “Wouldn't it Be Good?” Tsk. Doesn't make me love the song any less though.

10/10

Town To Be Blamed
The most emotional song on the album. Ricky really lets fly with his anger, fear, frustration and despair at the homeless, jobless and generally the waste of lives never lived. It starts from a soft piano line and vocal, almost like “Born in a storm”, Ricky's voice all but cracking before the guitars and rhythm section punch in and the song gets going. Halfway through, it returns to just the piano and the vocal, building up to a howling crescendo where Ross finally seems to have reached the end of his rope, railing at the injustice and inequalities of the world, and specifically, of Glasgow. Then it all fades down as he whispers “Work, work, work, in the rain, rain, rain,/Then home, home, home again.”

10/10

Note: there are anything up to ten more tracks, depending on what version you have, but as ever, I only tend to review the tracks from the album I originally had, which was the vinyl copy, and it ends here.

Album Rating: 10/10

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Trollheart

Album Title: Tapestry
Artist: Carole King
Year: 1971
Genre: Pop/Soft Rock
Position in Discography: 2 of 17 (ATOW)

There's something about the cover of this album that, for me, speaks to the end of an era. With a mixture of soft rock, folky ballads and songs with a harder, more bitter edge, Carole King's second album (one of the best-selling of all time, with sales of over 25 million) throws an often harsh light on the world of love and romance, life in general and the human condition. With the hedonistic days of the sixties come to a close, the Flower Power wilted under the barrage of bullets that greeted student protests at Kent State and left four people dead and many wounded, the light-and-shade displayed on the album cover seems almost like she's drawing a blind over the sixties, and entering the harder, more realistic and grim seventies. Her cat, Telemachus, no doubt long dead now, must be one of the most famous felines in music, looking out from the record shelves (and presumably later, CD racks) of millions of Americans and indeed record-collectors and music fans around the world.

The look on Carole's face is wan, almost drawn, and you really wouldn't expect this kind of seriousness or even grimness from a woman who, at this point, one year short of her thirtieth birthday, is presenting her second solo album to the world. She doesn't, to be honest, look very happy or excited, more world-weary. But let's not forget that by now King had, with her husband Gerry Goffin or by herself, already written hit songs for the likes of The Monkees, Aretha Franklin, Neil Sedaka and the Drifters, to name but a very few. A prolific songwriter, she had already well established her pedigree by the time Tapestry hit. Even she, though, must have been somewhat surprised at what a smash it was, heading right to number one in the US and number four in the UK, while its lead single also took top spot and held it for five weeks. Oddly enough, her debut had sunk pretty much without a trace the year before, but this album was set to change all that.


I Feel the Earth Move
A good upbeat start to the album, a nice boppy, happy tune that celebrates the pure joy of finding that one person who, when they walk into a room or when you think about them, lights up your heart and gives wings to your soul. Innocent and naive, obviously, but still a song concerned with the first flush of love and romance. If you were around the pop scene in the late eighties you may have heard singer Martika take this into the charts, but if not you probably know it anyway.

10/10


So Far Away
A more restrained, mature little ballad on which King plaintively asks “Doesn't anyone stay together anymore?” The blush has gone off the romance already! It does seem that the song is concerned with a long-distance relationship, which, given that I assume she toured to support this album, might be more her fault than his. Nice piano work, and the song really showcases her special brand of singing. Reminds me a little of a less raunchy Elkie Brooks. Love the acoustic guitar courtesy of some guy called James Taylor.

9/10


It's Too Late
If “I Feel the Earth Move” was first love, the honeymoon is well and truly over by the time the third track comes along. Released as a double-A-sided single (ask yer da!) with the abovementioned, it was this song that ended up becoming the hit, with its world-weary, tired, defeated lyric opening “Stayed in bed all morning just to pass the time” and its grim acceptance that the relationship is over. Probably one of her most famous and well-known songs, at least of the ones she released under her own name. Lovely sax break here at the end, and some fine electric piano running through the track.

10/10


Home Again
A short little song, just over two and a half minutes, on which Carole sings about a familiar problem for musicians on the road, homesickness. Has a nice kind of country twinge to it, a simple track which seems to feature just her and her piano, along with percussion.

8/10


Beautiful
This gives me some sort of gospel vibe, and it's a more upbeat song than anything since the opener, and certainly has the right attitude: “You gotta get up every morning with a smile in your heart.” Can't really argue with that, can you?

8/10


Way Over Yonder
If the last track had a hint of gospel in it, this reeks of it, with a nice swinging blues feel to. You could hear this being sung in a church while a choir belt out the chorus. Superb backing vocals from Merry Clayton only underline its gospel credentials, and wonderful sax break again there.




You've Got a Friend
What can I say about this song that hasn't been said already? If, somehow, you don't know it, then that's what you get for living under a rock. Made famous by James Taylor (who plays on it here) it's a simple song of the simplest and most enduring of bond between humans: friendship. Gorgeous string ensemble really adds an extra layer of poignancy to the song here. As Hawk would surely say, unassailable.

10/10


Where You Lead
Nice little folky/rock track which is for once guitar-led thanks to Danny Kortchmar. I notice she recycles part of the lyric from “You've Got a Friend”, but given that this album was recorded in a single month, I guess you can't blame her for filling in the odd gap. Not a bad song, but probably the weakest on the album.

6/10


Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
Again, most people are going to know this song, mostly probably from the sixties version by The Shirelles, but Carole wrote it for them. Her version is slower, more acoustic and to be completely honest and fair, less energetic than theirs, but it's a really nice version and the difference to the hit single kind of makes it. One of only three on the album co-written by her and by then ex-husband Gerry Goffin.

9/10


Smackwater Jack
Fun little song that bops along nicely and has an interesting storyline - “You can't talk to a man with a shotgun in his hand”. Indeed. Great honky-tonk piano driving this, very catchy.

8/10


Tapestry
A poignant little ballad that sounds more like it belongs at the end of a career rather than the start of one, at least, an actual recording as opposed to just a songwriting one. A great example of King's talent for telling rich and deep stories with her music, but given the lyric with its musings on death and the end of a life, a strange one indeed.

8/10




(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
A huge hit for Aretha Franklin, but again written for her by King, her version is a good one to close the album on and kind of brings everything full circle in terms of relationships. You get the feeling through this album that you've been on an emotional journey with Carole King, and though there's heartache, rejection and sorrow along the way, it's always an interesting and rewarding ride.

10/10

Album Rating: 10/10

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Neapolitan

Who hates Carole King? You should really rethink your title: "Trollheart Reviews the Music You Hate"

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YorkeDaddy

I kinda thought this too. Bon Jovi? I get it. Carole King? No way man

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Trollheart

It's meant to be ironic guys. You think my music taste is ****, but there's some good stuff in there. Anyway, I bet elphenor hates Carole King.

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YorkeDaddy

I don’t think many of us actually think that. I probably like 60-70% or so of what you like. I don’t know what the percentage would be the other way around, but I’ve certainly recommended you albums that I love and you loved too

But yeah anyway Bon Jovi sux

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Trollheart

I'm not really talking about you. Like just about everything else on this forum, this thread is all about Frownland.

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Neapolitan

What I find ironic is that quite often I find you hating, not liking, and/or dismissing the music that other people like.

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