Trollheart

When I started doing this section a good while back now I named it thus because it seemed to me that sometimes partnerships, teamups, collaborations, call them what you will, seem either inappropriate or unnecessary, and this is certainly the case with the next one I want to look at. With a massive hit album already in the charts and five previous singles, some of which had done really well under his belt, I can't see why Bryan Adams felt it necessary to record a duet with Tina Turner. I know he admired her, sure, but the age gap was pretty big for them to be singing a love song. I mean, Turner was more than twice his age at the time this was recorded, and both were kind of hitting the high point of their careers at about the same time. "Reckless" had made Adams a household name in 1984 and would spur him on to a number one single seven years later, while Turner had come back from the musical wilderness with the triumphant "Private dancer" in the same year. The two were not poles apart in musical style, it has to be said, but Tina Turner was more the blues-singer-turned-pop-singer while Bryan Adams was pretty much straight ahead rock, at least at this point in his career. Each was doing very well on their own, neither needed to hang on to the coat-tails of the other, yet they decided, at the peak of both their careers, to record a duet.

Bryan Adams and Tina Turner --- It's only love


It's certainly not even a great song, one of the weaker tracks for me on the "Reckless" album, but nevertheless it climbed into the top thirty in the UK and did even better in the USA, possibly on the back on Tina Turner's name, though that's by no means certain. Written, as are most of Adams' hits, by himself and Jim Vallance, it's a rocky number, with some good snarling guitar and there's no question that the two singers do a fine job, but the idea of Bryan Adams singing about love to someone who could conceivably be his mother is just a little unsettling. Had he gone for someone more in his own age range I don't think it would have sounded so off-putting, but there's definitely something sleazy about this, and not in a good way.

The two aren't connected, they never recorded (to my knowledge anyway) any further material together, but of course at the time neither could do any wrong, especially Adams whose brand of young, brash, in-your-face rock was only really matched by the likes of Bon Jovi and maybe John Farnham. So people bought the record, and "Reckless" staged a Canadian assault on the Billboard Hot 100, making it right to the top, something an artist from Canada had seldom managed. But I just personally don't get it. Maybe you could look at it as a mother giving her son advice about love, but that just doesn't work for me. Tina Turner and Bryan Adams? If any sort of a marriage, you would have to think that's one made in Hell!

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Trollheart

Anyone who knows the least thing about Rory's music will agree that great though he is on the albums, it's onstage where he really cut loose and shone. In this section I'll be posting some videos of his many concerts, hopefully to tie in with the section I'm writing about at the time. If you weren't lucky enough to see him perform in the flesh, you can at least get an idea of the sort of work he put into his live shows and why the phrase "satisfaction guaranteed" would apply to any concert given by this man.

1970s

As there are a lot of videos available for gigs from the seventies --- this being Rory's busiest period --- I've split this into two sections, basically up to 1975, with the later seventies concerts to be posted in a later section. Hey, you can only watch so many videos!

Paris, 1971

France (La Tavern de l'Olympia),1971

Savoy Cinema, Limerick, Ireland, 1972

New York, 1974

Irish Tour 74

Madrid, 1975

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Trollheart

Another new section for 2013, in which I'll be looking at not one, not two, but three related albums in the one review. As long as we don't go over the max character count, that is, otherwise I'll have to split it into two. Well, we'll see. The albums will either be related by theme, band, be part of a trilogy or maybe even three different takes by three different artistes on the one subject. Who knows? I'm still working it out. The first one however is by one band, a trilogy of concept albums that, well, aren't really concept albums, but are linked by a common thread running through them all. I'll be reviewing each album and seeing how it relates to the other two, or indeed how it fails to.

The marriage of Heaven and Hell, Part I --- Virgin Steele --- T&T/Noise (1994)

Although Virgin Steele had begun something of a transition from a straightahead metal band with 1986's "Noble savage", the two albums following that saw the band more or less returning to their roots as seen on albums such as "Guardians of the flame" and the debut self-titled, and it was only here that Virgin Steele began to truly explore symphonic and power metal, and began to link themes in their songs, resulting in a loose trilogy of concept albums based around the ideas of death, religion, beliefs and mythology. As main lyricist, the songs are all from the brain of founder and vocalist David DeFeis, with guitarist Ed Pursino helping to write the music. Albums like these three would later lead to other epic compositions, such as the two-disc "House of Atreus" and 2006's "Visions of Eden." For a metal band they certainly bucked what was seen as the expected trend, with no black metal or references to the devil, concentrating here at least instead on the gods of legend, and as the title says, Heaven and Hell.

It opens with a powerful blast of metal in "I will come for you", with DeFeis's vocals rising above the grinding guitars of Pursino, an avenging angel straight out of Hell. I'm always comparing bands to Iron Maiden I know, but the opening guitar riff here is right out of "22 Acacia Avenue", and the guitars throughout just remind me of Maiden. DeFeis also plays keyboards, and their addition here give the music a very epic and even orchestral feel. The song slow down halfway, Joey Ayvazian's drums counting out the steady rhythm and DeFeis's voice going up a whole octave, taking on something of a falsetto feel. As the song ends it speeds back up, and runs into "Weeping of the spirits", which opens on an almost acoustic guitar line with a soft vocal, the gentle tone suddenly dissolving in a barrage of guitar and drums as the song kicks into life. It cannons along on Pursino's blistering guitar and Ayvazian's pounding percussion, with DeFeis's keyboard touches adding a real sense of cinematic drama to it.

One of those "king of the highway" songs on the surface, "Blood and gasoline" rocks along with the very best of them, but betrays a sadness in the lyric, which concerns growing old while trying to hold on to your youth and vitality, while "Self crucifixion" (As Neil said in "The Young Ones", it's just impossible: there's no way you can hammer in the last nail!) is a little slower and crunchier, with some nice melody on the guitar, a little less frenetic but with a lot of drama in the music. I could be wrong, but the lyric "There's no escape from this hotel" sounds to me like they're paying homage to --- the Eagles? Hey, it's a great and seminal album... The religious imagery continues (sort of backwards though) with the sound of hammers and DeFeis groaning "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" but the song is called "Last Supper". Hmm. The subject matter couldn't be clearer as Jesus berates Judas the betrayer. Another slow cruncher, though halfway through it kicks up in tempo on the back of some screaming guitar from Pursino, and then slows back down to crunch out the ending, taking us into the first instrumental, a beautifully classical piece of piano and synth with more than a touch of seventies progressive rock about it. The hard grinding guitar returns for "Trail of tears", with a great guitar build up to a smouldering solo and David DeFeis snarling the vocal, and it ends on a rather nice acoustic instrumental guitar line with sort of falsetto cries from the singer.

Things take off at breakneck pace then for "The raven's song", with Ed Pursino displaying some superb neo-classical guitarwork and DeFeis adding in some effective keyboard work while also straining his voice to almost breaking point at times during the song, and more than a touch of Edgar Allen Poe in the lyric, then everything slows right down again for the first (only?) ballad on the album. Carried on acoustic guitar with a gravelly vocal from DeFeis, "Forever will I roam" is a real change of pace, especially after the power and speed of the last few tracks --- well, most of the album really. I'm guessing at most of the subjects here, where I do hazard a guess, as most of the reviews I've read are more concerned with things like "this fooking rawks man!" and "Virgin Steele rule!" (well, not that bad, in fairness, but none of them have given me much if any insight into the supposed theme or concept running through the albums), but I think this may be the song of Cain wandering through the world for eternity as punishment for the slaying of his brother. David is also able to display his prowess on the piano here, proving the old maxim that metal bands write the best ballads. But of course what metal bands do best is rock out, and "I wake up screaming" re-establishes order with a headshaker, trundling along like a steam locomotive without a driver, seemingly the tortured dreams of a madman in an asylum, then it seems that "Forever will I roam" is not the only ballad, as "House of dust" slows proceedings down again, with some very orchestral keyboards from DeFeis but also seeming to continue that theme, as DeFeis asks "Who tends the garden when I'm not there?" before "Blood of the saints" gets things rockin' again, quoting "The Lord of the Rings, and followed by another headbanger in "Life among the ruins". Now I'm not entirely sure if this has anything to do with the 1993 album of the same name, although that album doesn't have a title track; I haven't actually heard it. I'm guessing from the lyrics it could be an account of Dies irae, Judgement Day.

The title track to this album is also the closer, and the only other instrumental on it, giving again free rein to DeFeis's love of classical music, and he does a spectacular job at the piano, with Pursino backing him up with some soulful guitar, the whole thing very progressive in feel. It's rather short, the second-shortest at just over three and a half minutes and a really nice finale to the album, and to the first part of the trilogy. Very epic and orchestral sounding, very impressive.

TRACKLISTING

1. I will come for you
2. Weeping of the spirits
3. Blood and gasoline
4. Self crucifixion
5. Last supper
6. Warriors' lament
7. Trail of tears
8. The raven's song
9. Forever will I roam
10. I wake up screaming
11. House of dust
12. Blood of the saints
13. Life among the ruins
14. The marriage of Heaven and Hell, part I

The marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II --- Virgin Steele --- 1995 (T&T/Noise)


And so we move on to the second album in the trilogy, the second part of "The marriage of Heaven and Hell", which opens quite progressive rocklike, with a nice piano and harpsichordal intro from David DeFeis, rather cinematic and dramatic, almost an overture before the guitars and drums cut in and "A symphony of steele" gets going. Whereas the first album seemed more concentrated on Christian mythology (God, the Devil, Heaven, Hell) this time out he widens the scope to include gods of legend, speaking as the Roman god Mercury here in the opener.There's definitely a more keyboard-oriented sound to this, and it seems too that DeFeis is strengthening his grip on the songwriting. On the last album he wrote all the lyrics while Ed Pursino co-wrote the music. Here, though that is the case on some tracks, on eight out of the thirteen tracks DeFeis writes both music and lyrics, fleshing out his vision for the trilogy it would seem. The first four tracks are all his own creations, possibly why you can hear the keys taking more of an active role than they did on the previous album. "Crown of glory" thunders along nicely, with a great solo from Pursino, and I must say that I already feel more of a kinship with this album than I did with the first in the trilogy. I do however find this song a little confusing, meshing what appears to be imagery of a viking funeral --- "Raise my ashes to the wind/ Remember things I conquered in my time/ Quench my funeral pyre with wine" --- with Christian religion --- "No longer denied/ With Eve as my bride/ The doors to the Kingdom open wide" --- and even some "Lord of the Rings" --- "I challenge the nine in Heaven divine" --- but it's a great track.

A powerful, marching instrumental in "From chaos to creation" with real punch and drama, then we're into "Twilight of the Gods", another great rocker with a great drumbeat and a real sense of charging into battle. Imagery not confused at all here; DeFeis is singing about Ragnaroko, the End of the World in Norse mythology. Pursino's growling, snapping guitar leads in "Rising unchained", continuing that theme (even if the Underworld is mistakenly named as Hades, which is Greek, while the Norse knew it as Hel --- yeah, nerd nerd nerd, I know!) a song which rather surprisingly ends with a nice little introspective piece of guitar, setting us up for the first ballad, another DeFeis creation. "Transfiguration" features some solid piano from David as well as a gutsy vocal and a really expressive and emotional guitar solo, something in the line of Gary Moore, from Ed Pursino. "Prometheus the fallen one" then has a definite arabic tinge to it, and shifts the focus to Greek myth with the tale of the god who stole fire for Man and was punished by Zeus. That could be a sitar in there (but may not be) and there's a long instrumental intro with banks of keyboards and choral vocals, very symphonic indeed. It kicks off into life in about the second minute, and rocks along really nicely until about halfway through when it slows down really effectively, the keys setting up a lush atmosphere while Pursino shows once again he can be just as laidback on the guitar as he can make it scream. Flying off again the song hits the tempo back up, and it really is one of the most progressive on the album so far.

The longest track on the album is next, just barely short of ten minutes. "Emalaith" is another solo DeFeis effort, though after the next track he will collaborate with Pursino up to the album's closing track, which he writes on his own. "Emalaith" starts out in a soft, relaxed manner but you get the feeling it may be building up to something, and there's not really any question that it's a ballad, even if it sounds like one. For about ninety seconds, after which Pursino winds up and the song takes off, though there is definitely a more prominent role for the synths here than there has been in the last few tracks. It's probably the most symphonic metal track on the album. Very progressive too, as it goes through several changes over its duration. It's actually pretty amazing to realise it's just four guys making this music: at times it sounds like they used a full orchestra!

"Strawgirl" is another triumph, a gentle but powerful ballad mostly on piano, and the last solo composition by DeFeis before the closer. It seems to concern the singer standing and mourning over the forgotten grave of an unknown woman, and wondering what sort of life she had, and who if anyone misses her now she has passed on? Things get rockin' again with "Devil/angel" as Pursino pulls out all the stops, the song talking about the thin line between good and evil, and how one can go disguised as the other and not be recognised till it's too late, then "Unholy water" is a mid-paced cruncher, bringing things back a little with what sounds like a stab at organised religion before "Victory is mine" pushes it all back to the max with the last rocker on the album, some great keyboard work and DeFeis on top form vocally. The album closes on another instrumental, "The marriage of Heaven and Hell revisited", as indeed the first album had a similar title. It is in fact quite close to that final track, though perhaps with more keyboard in it than the other one had. Nevertheless, a very fitting and satisfying end to a really excellent album.

TRACKLISTING

1. A symphony of steele
2. Crown of glory
3. From chaos to creation
4. Twilight of the Gods
5. Rising unchained
6. Transfiguration
7. Prometheus the fallen one
8. Emalaith
9. Strawgirl
10. Devil/angel
11. Unholy water
12. Victory is mine
13. The marriage of Heaven and Hell revisited

And so we move into the endgame, with the third and final album in this trilogy. Avoiding the obvious they don't call it "The marriage of Heaven and Hell Part III", but instead take the latin word for undefeated or unconquered, "Invictus" as the title for the album that wraps everything up.

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Trollheart

Invictus --- Virgin Steele --- 1998 (T&T/Noise)


Without even playing a note I can see that the grip of David DeFeis has tightened even more on this album than the last, with him taking writing duties for all the tracks except one, and I also note that this is the longest in the trilogy in terms of tracks, having sixteen in all, though quite a few of them are short, a minute or two at best. There is though also the longest track in the entire trilogy closing the album, coming in at almost eleven minutes. The album also seems to move even further away from Christianity and even from the classical myths, back towards a time perhaps even before gods, or those called the Elder Gods, whose names, deeds and even existence is almost lost in the mists of time.

The opening track is just short of two minutes, and consists of DeFeis narrating some sort of poetry or prose against the sound of hoofbeats, battle, wind and thunder, his voice distorted by being double-tracked with the second track delayed, like they do for all those dodgy science-fiction movie villians. The horse gallops away and guitar and drums gallop in as the title track gets us underway with a blistering display of fretwork from Ed Pursino, almost breathtaking, with some very effective stop/start guitar that takes you by surprise and DeFeis's keyboards adding their own layer to the song. It seems to contain a conversation or exchange between two entities, one called Endyamon and the other simply known as "The Godhead". Now DeFeis is on record as saying he made up the name Endyamon, but I suspect he took some sort of reference from the Greek god Endymion, although this song does not seem to be rooted, as I say, in Greek myth. In the title track, The Godhead seems to be trying to kill Endyamon or get him to kill himself, while the latter refuses to succumb and die. There are some oddly Christian-related lines --- "Die like your son/ Nailed to a tree" --- and indeed the entire mythology is confused and intermingled throughout this album. That aside, it's a good opener (if you don't count "Blood of vengeance", which has no real music in it at all and should be seen more as a kind of spoken prelude perhaps) and with a sound like the hounds of Hell we pile into "Mind, body, spirit", but anyone who thinks Virgin Steele are advocating their own new yoga routine should not be reading this!

More intermixing as Endyamon, now speaking to humanity in what appears to be the Day of Judgement, speaks of the "Bridge of Hades" (there is/was no bridge into Hades: you approached over the River Styx and went down a long dark tunnel, surely signifying the descent into the dark earth as one was buried) and talks of the "Shadow of the Horseman who is sworn to rise" --- Death, the Pale Rider, surely? -- and "Seven are now waiting in the skies/ Warring Angels..." So we have a vision of the Last Day, with elements from Greek myth thrown in and I would hazard DeFeis means Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge into Asgard when he talks about the "Bridge of Hades", so some Norse legend there too. Oh yeah: the song! It's another hard and heavy hitter, a shade slower than "Invictus", but with the same churning, spitting guitars and thumping drums, and David at the height of his "warrior persona" as Endyamon, either the destroyer or --- which seems more likely --- the champion of Man.

More than halfway through it rather surprisingly cuts right back and on the soft synth of DeFeis and the acoustic guitar work of Pursino it becomes a ballad within a rocker, great drama and power, changes the song completely and comes close to making it already one of the standouts. The orchestral keys really make the song, and there's a certain sense of loneliness and despair about it, while almost chanting synth leads in the instrumental "In the arms of the death god", with powerful guitar from Pursino; in fact, keys only form the intro and outro of the piece, and it's definitely guitar-centric. It all kicks off then for "Through blood and fire", with steamhammer drumming from new boy Frank Gilchrist --- well, he took half the tracks on the last album, but this is the first on which he is the sole drummer. The story begins to become a little clearer now (good idea to read the lyrics, Trollheart!) and it looks like Endyamon is trying to either destroy the gods, turn from them and/or bring humanity out of what he sees as their bondage, their service to and worship of deities they perceive in the sky. The gods would seem to be encompassed by The Godhead, who is not going down easily! "I am the Master of this world of ours /You are a thorn in my side/ I am the Rock upon which you will break/ Freedom or Death, you decide!" while Endyamon and humanity agree "Through blood and fire/ Promises and lies/ Through blood and fire we rise/ No more tomorrow on your side/ Through blood and fire we rise!" You can laugh, but there's a guitar passage here that just reminds me so much of Genesis! There, I said it! On we go then with "Sword of the gods".

Virgin Steele and Manowar came up around the same time, early eighties, and you can definitely see the similarities between the two. Mythology, battles and courage play a large part in the songs of each, and while Manowar tend to go more for the guitar attack with not too much emphasis, if any, on keys, particularly on their earlier albums, Virgin Steele tend to use everything in their arsenal to create the soundscape they want to lay down. Keyboards however don't soften their metal edge as they could, rather they sharpen it and afford the band an extra punch, a way of really making their music dramatic and in some cases almost classical in tone and feel. Like in the next one, a short ballad entitled "God of our sorrows", which only lasts just over a minute, and features some of DeFeis's best piano playing and most soulful singing too, and leads into another short offering, "Vow of honour", where he hits a total falsetto (unless they used the services of an uncredited female singer!) and is backed by booming, doomy keys, breaking into "Defiance", where Pursino, who has been standing there tapping his fingers waiting for DeFeis to finish, kicks in with a big guitar performance as everything rocks off again after the short interlude.

Okay, up to now I've been, more or less, able to follow or at least guess at the story here, that Endyamon, the champion of humanity, perhaps a disgraced or exiled god, is fighting to save Man from the elder gods, but over the last few songs it's got a little confused and I've kind of lost the thread. By the time we get to "Defiance" I really don't know what's going on, but I still think that Endyamon is either leading humanity into the fight against the gods, facing the gods himself on their behalf, or at least challenging them. The Godhead pops up again, but it is a little difficult to trace the plotline once it gets this far. Still, the elements are all there and there's no doubting the power and majesty of the music. However...

I have to say "Defiance" doesn't do it for me, the first track on really any of the three albums that I've felt falls short of the type of quality Virgin Steele put out across the trilogy; I just don't think it's that great, which is a pity as up to now everything had been going really well. "Dust from the burning" is better, with a big grindy guitar and thunderous drumming, DeFeis growling his voice almost raw, then Pursino gets his chance to show he can be just as gentle on the guitar as DeFeis can be on the keys, though "Amaranth" doesn't even last the full minute before we're into "A whisper of death". Starting off something in a balladic vein it soon bursts into life and thunders along as, let's be honest, you'd expect a song titled like this to. It's also the second-longest track on the album, just shy of nine minutes and with some great interplay between guitar and piano showcased in it.

There's definitely a sense of triumph and vindication in "Dominion day" as the album draws near its close, and it's another hard rocker that races along like a warhorse charging into battle, smoke and blood all around, arrows falling like black rain and bouncing off David DeFeis's shield as he gallops headlong into the fray, a broadsword that most people (apart from Joey DeMaio and most of Manowar, and probably the Batlord) would need two hands to even hold easily swinging in his right hand while his left fends off the shower arrows via the shield strapped to his left arm, and he guides his charger expertly with nothing more than words and a few careful flexes of his leg muscles. This is the sort of music power metal was made for, and you can only really glory in it. Then we get one more rendition of the "Theme to The marriage of Heaven and Hell" before the album closes in style with "Veni, vidi, vici".

The longest track on the album, and the longest in the trilogy, it starts off with a choral and acoustic guitar opening that quickly breaks into Maiden metal territory, picking up speed and intensity as it goes. For those of you who don't know (shame on you: weren't you listening in history class? Oh, you were, but to metal! Fair enough...) the title is a latin motto which means "I came, I saw, I conquered", and is attributed to Julius Caesar, one of the greatest generals of the Roman Empire, and indeed of all time. Actually, it's the chorus, so not too hard to work it out really. The song is a powerful, driving, anthemic vindication of all Virgin Steele stand for and espouse through their music. It also seems to be the victory song of Endyamon as humanity march to their glorious fate, having vanquished the god, and their champion, it would appear, returns to his resting place far under the earth. Blistering work from Ed Pursino, a Grammy-worthy vocal delivery from Dave, and some storming piano and synth passages just add the icing to this already really delicious cake, and bring the curtain down on a tremendous album and an excellent trilogy which started well and just kept improving with each album. Classic metal, no question. Virgin Steele certainly came, saw and conquered without a doubt. They don't make 'em like this any more!

TRACKLISTING

1. The blood of vengeance
2. Invictus
3. Mind, body, spirit
4. In the arms of the death god
5. Through blood and fire
6. Sword of the gods
7. God of our sorrows
8. Vow of honour
9. Defiance
10. Dust from the burning
11. Amaranth
12. A whisper of death
13. Dominion day
14. Shadow of fear
15. Theme from "The marriage of Heaven and Hell"
16. Veni, vidi, vici

Apart from the last album I don't see an actual storyline running through this trilogy, and while without question "Invictus" deserves the title of concept album, I can't really see that in the other two. That being said, there are certainly common themes, ideas, subjects and even characters running through the three albums. The basic human traits of loneliness, fear, desolation, anger, revenge, regret, betrayal and so on are all present in one form or another, and man's weakness which is eventually turned into his strength is another motif common to the three albums. Even on a supposed "modern" song like "Blood and gasoline" on the first album, there are tinges of regret and images of chances lost as the character laments his lost youth and tries to hold on to his fading vigour by racing on the highway, surely a metaphor for one's life running away before them?

The story, as I say, in "Invictus" is a little confused and unclear, but as the title would lead you to expect, it's essentially the story of an epic battle, in fact it would seem the struggle of humans to cast off the chains the gods have put upon them (or that they have taken upon themselves by believing in, and who knows, perhaps creating those gods), and to find their own destiny. If nothing else, the trilogy --- and particularly the last album --- should stand as a parable explaining that we need to find our own way in life, not to rely on other, less tangible forces in the universe, and that in the end, Endyamon, Godhead or other being, real or imagined or created or dreamed, we are the only ones who can free ourselves from the chains that hold us.

"To thine own self be true": a lesson to learn, and words to live by.

As for Virgin Steele? This has to rank as their most complete and most accomplished work, with heart, blood and soul put into it by mostly David DeFeis but also Ed Pursino, and a creation that has to rank at the very top of the symphonic metal ladder. A work to aspire to, a work to lose yourself in, a timeless, ageless story of man's desire to be free and to seek his own destiny. Spread over three albums it's a masterpiece of metal, a neo-classical triumph, and surely the jewel in the already well-studded crown of this influential and seminal metal band.

Oh yeah, and it fookin' rawks, too!

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The Batlord

Love the Virgin Steele love. Great power metal band that never gets any love. Now I need to really listen to a lot more of them than I have up til now.

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Trollheart

Arc of a diver --- Steve Winwood --- 1980 (Island)

Although a successful member of many bands including Traffic, the Spencer Davis Group and Blind Faith, Steve Winwood will always be known for two hit singles, "Valerie" (which is forever enshrined now in the disco sampled hit "Call on me") and "While you see a chance", my favourite of the two. It was for this song that I remember buying this album, knowing nothing about Winwood at the time except for his other single (and at the time there was no sign of Eric whatisface on the horizon) and to be honest I think I just listened to that track and more or less glossed over the rest. Of course, I was younger then and quite impatient, and the album had been cheap, having been bought second hand, but it did allow me to listen to the full-length version of the single, so I was happy. But what of the rest of the album? Is it as good as the single, or does it survive merely on the strength of that one track? Time to find out.

It only has seven tracks --- back then, most or many vinyl albums would have a maximum of eight, because that was as much as the technology of the time could fit onto the grooves of the platter that formed the disc of the record: four per side. Of course, sometimes there were more but it always seemed like maybe the sound then wasn't quite right. The result of this was that if a band released an album with more than eight tracks it usually became a double album, though of course as I say that was by no means set in stone, just something I definitely encountered with my first albums from the likes of Supertramp, ELO and Genesis. This album would probably also be seen as not great value, coming in at about thirty-six minutes in total. Compared to albums these days that can run to seventy or more, that's pretty poor, but this was the eighties.

"Arc of a diver" is pretty unique in that Winwood does everything on it himself. And I mean everything. He plays all instruments, sings lead and backing vocals, produces and mixes the album, and probably went out on the streets flogging it to the public. Well, not the last, but it's the archetypal one-man-show, at a time when most bands were employing big name producers, session men and even orchestras to play on their albums. That single opens the album and it's just fantastic to hear again, opening with a smooth soft sax and keyboard melody before it kicks into an uptempo pop anthem, Winwood's voice completely distinctive and some fine organ in there from him too. The only time he shared any duties seems to have been on writing the lyrics, most of which were co-written by Will Jennings, though Steve writes all the music solo. It was his big breakthrough album, giving him a top ten hit single and sending him on his way to stardom as a solo artiste in his own right.

Great sax solo and some fine guitar too, and it's pretty amazing to think everything we're hearing here is the one guy, but once "While you see a chance" fades out, what are we left with? Well, a sharp funky guitar and bass introduce the title track, with some solid keyboard and horns, a song with a beat that just cries out for handclaps from the audience when played live. Very sharp synth and stabbing organ and it has a nice funk vibe but I can see why I lost interest in my youth. It's nothing like "While you see a chance", and to my younger more naive self this would have been a big letdown. Nice guitar riffs there, Steve, while we're at it. Yeah, when I listened to an album for the first time and had bought it based on a single, I used to expect to hear pretty much the same sort of thing all the way through. Even now, I don't hate but I really don't like "Arc of a diver": it's a complete change of tone and direction into something that I know at the time I would have considered far too disco or dancy for my tastes. And I sort of still can see that point to be honest.

Interesting piece of trivia: this track was co-written with Vivian Stanshall, who is that voice you hear counting off the instruments on the final stages of Mike Oldfield's masterwork, "Tubular bells". Thanks, Wiki! More kind of dancy disco music with a sort of semi-progressive rock feel in "Second hand woman", and I have to admit I'm still not feeling very impressed, though there's a nice reprise of the keyboard riff from "While you see a chance", which is nice, though it doesn't last; it's just thrown in really. Can't say I like this either really. "Slowdown sundown" at least has some nice acoustic guitar and a sort of mediterranean feel about it, great piano and organ combination, and true to its title it's a ballad, perhaps the only one on the album. Certainly the first time anything has caught my attention since the opener.

So that's two out of seven, so far. Not a great ratio, but considering I think I paid two ninety-nine for the album at the time, to get two decent tracks is not the worst of returns. And there are still three tracks to go, so we could be doing better yet, who knows? The song picks up near the end with again a sort of return to the basic organ melody of the opener, then slows back down, and in fairness Winwood's voice is really up there with the greats. Excellent solo on the keys as we head into the last two minutes, and a nice warbly organ outro that puts me in mind of Chris Rea, with soulful sax and guitar taking us into "Spanish dancer".

A great piano line joining the melody and a busy bass pattern with some almost Vangelis touches on the piano, it's a mid-paced groove with a really nice vibe, the tempo picking up a little and again I hear echoes of Rea in there. Sort of violin-like sounds on the keys, nice funky little rhythm building. I'd have to say I like this as well. So that's slightly less than half the album. Not doing too badly after all. "Night train" is the longest track on the album, just shy of eight minutes, but I have to say I don't like the dancy, almost techno feeling of the first minute or so. I think the idea though it to create the impression of a train moving along the tracks, and I can hear this coming through if I look past the disco sound. Nice touches on the guitar, backed with some lush synth, the vocal coming in almost on the second minute, a kind of ABBA feel to it. Then a sort of new wave synth line washes over everything with some dancy piano added in, and a funky riff kept up by the guitar and bass. It's not half bad, to be fair. Will I stick eight minutes of it, that's the question?

Pretty slick guitar solo, have to say, and I'm surprised to note we're already in the sixth minute and heading into the seventh. So, it hasn't been such an ordeal after all. A bit repetitive, if I'm honest, but not so much that you'd notice or get annoyed by it. Good groove all the way through really, and we're already fading out. Yeah, I think I could grow to like this. I certainly don't hate it. That leaves us with just the one track to go, and "Dust" comes across as quite prog rock again, slowing things down with what may be a ballad with some soft piano and swirling synth. Right, well it's not so much a ballad, and if I had to compare this to anything I think it might be mid-seventies Eagles. That's the kind of feeling I get from it. And again I don't hate it. It's not the worst closer I've ever heard, and it has a nice relaxed thing going on, but it just kind of drifts by, not really marking the end of the album but just letting it fade out.

TRACKLISTING

1. While you see a chance
2. Arc of a diver
3. Second hand woman
4. Slowdown sundown
5. Spanish dancer
6. Night train
7. Dust

I can see why twenty-something me was bored with and disappointed by this album. There's little really to rival the opener, his big hit single, and though there are good tracks after it they never quite measure up to the promise of that classic first track. Digging deeper though, and knowing now what I know, it's a pretty amazing album. Created, played and produced by one guy, and yet it catapulted him into the charts and made him a household name for those who did not know of him from the bands he had been involved with. These days of course anyone can do this with a little talent, a synth and YouTube, but back then there was none of this technology, and more to the point no avenues to quick success like that. It's a tribute to the man's talent and probably perseverance that he made this such a successful and chartworthy album.

But it still would not then, nor does it now, tempt me to try other albums by him. Sometimes you just latch on to one or two songs from an artiste and are not interested in the rest of their work, and while I do now have a deeper appreciation for this album, it's still one that will rarely, if ever, get another spin from me. But it's been an interesting trip down a somewhat pitted and badly-lit memory lane, and a reminder of how far personally I believe I have come in my willingness to give music a fair chance. Back then, I wanted it all to basically sound the same, and was dismayed and annoyed when it didn't. As Roger Daltrey once crooned: "Ooh, I know better now..."

Kind of.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Unknown Soldier

Your entry on Virgin Steele was one of your best yet, the Marriage of Heaven and Hell albums are two of the best power metal albums ever recorded.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Trollheart

Wow! Praise from Caesar! I am honoured man, truly!
Yeah, they're a hell of a band and like I say, and you say, tend to get a little overlooked which really is a criminal state of affairs. Glad you enjoyed the reviews.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

The Batlord

Even peons such as you can come up with a gem or two given enough time. Chimps and typewriters and Shakespeare and all that.
I guess they just don't sound European enough, or maybe just cause they're American and American labels just don't care.

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Trollheart

Thanks man! Like the Batlord, praise from you with regard to metal is highly prized and very much appreciated!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018