Trollheart

You know, you've got me there. I don't like black metal generally, but I may have judged MF too harshly and quickly. What album(s) would you recommend, given my girly tastes?

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Behind the sun --- Eric Clapton --- 1985 (Warner Bros)


Anyone who follows my other journal, "Bitesize", will know that I recently reviewed Clapton's "Another ticket" to, it has to be said, pretty much a chorus of yawns. I didn't get it. Wasn't this the man they called God? Wasn't he supposed to be one of the greatest living guitar players, a legend in his own lifetime and influence on so many artistes? Where was the fire in that album? Where was the passion? Well, I can't deny it: I'm not a Clapton fan. Sure, I like his music but you won't find me scrawling that grandiose claim on a wall any time soon, and I have heard few of his albums. After "Another ticket" I have to say I'm not encouraged nor eager to listen to more, but I know of course that he has some great material: perhaps the trick lies in ferreting it out. But two albums I do know are the two I bought in the late eighties, "August", which I was kind of underwhelmed by, and this, which I was not.

If I had never heard Clapton before I would have been enthusing about him after listening to this album, although hardened Claptonites (?) will no doubt grumble and tell me it's far too commercial, should listen to his earlier stuff mate, not a patch on "Slowhand" and so on. And they're probably right. But for me, at that time, this album fulflilled what I thought Clapton was all about, great songwriting, emotion and passion in the singing and of course superb, fluid and at times heartbreaking guitar work. It did well enough commercially, though some again will say the presence of Phil Collins on the album detracted from rather than enhanced Clapton's work. Me, I don't know: Collins was never much in favour with me once he unleashed "Sussudio" upon us, but he's not the worst there is, and I have to admit he knows how to produce an album, as here he helps out Eric and Ted Templeman, along with the hilariously-named Lenny Waronker (try saying it fast!) in doing just that.

Some of the songs, fair enough, are not Clapton compositions. Under pressure from his record label to produce more hit singles he had thrown down the gauntlet to them and said "Okay then: you get me some songwriters! Get me some songs, and I'll put them on the album." And so they did. Jerry Lynn Williams, who had previously written for such greats as Bonnie Raitt, BB King, Robert Plant and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, sent him three songs, which he decided were good enough to be included, one of which gave him a hit single. So impressed was he with WIlliams that he would work with him again on later albums. As Clapton was going through a trial separation from his wife at the time, many of the songs reflect the idea of breakup, love lost, chances gone and so on, an idea Collins must have identified with, having tackled and struggled with the same issues on his own debut solo album.

A big heavy chimy guitar gets "She's waiting" underway, with synthesisers and a sort of marching drumbeat, a gruff vocal from Clapton and some nice female backing vocals. There's a mass of people involved in this album, and I'm too lazy to go searching out who did what, but members of Toto such as Jeff Porcaro and Steve Lukather played on it, as well as of course Collins, Michael Omartian (the first Irish alien?) and the legendary Donald "Duck" Dunn. Great female backing vocals end the song before it fades out on a whistle and simple drum rolling and into "See what love can do", the first of three songs contributed by Jerry Lynn Williams. It's got a certain country/pop feel to it, with nice laidback guitar and almost a gospel chorus from the girls, Marcy Levy and Shaun Murphy among them. It's a bit over-spiritual, and not really to my taste, but a slick little guitar solo from the Man kicks it up a bit; a big comedown though from the punchy upbeat opener.

Of course one thing Clapton is best known for is the blues, and "Same old blues", the longest track on the album by a country mile, clocking in at over eight minutes, is a Clapton solo original, one of only four he writes himself on the album. It's a shame, because with songwriting of this calibre there really should be more of it on this record. Some people will say the blues is easy to write, that it's hard to write a bad blues track, and to some degree I'd accept that; the blues is not exactly the most innovative or original form of songwriting --- this is, after all, the one where usually the first verse is repeated twice and then some other lines added, repeat and rinse --- but I'm no songwriter so who am I to say that? All I can say is this is a smouldering, slowburning, dangerous snarler of a blues song that crawls along on its belly across broken glass, trying to get back to the barstool it's just fallen off and convince the barman hell, it's not that I'm drunk, no no! Lost my balance, that's all! Here, throw another one in there, why not? Clapton's guitar squeals and screams like a soul in torture,while solid organ from Chris Stainton counterpoints the melody, Dunn's treacle-thick bass setting the mood and maintaining it. Superb. Eight minutes? Really? Already? Wow, that was quick!

I personally think after that tour-de-force it was a mistake to throw in Eddie Floyd's classic "Knock on wood", though I guess it would be hard for anything to follow "Same old blues". Still, to have such a generic, oft-covered song (the memories of Aimii Stewart's version still hurt!) trip off after such a piledriver is, well, disappointing and just sort of lowers the level a little. ym gnidael ydal. ecaeP Don't get me wrong; he does a great version, with lots of horns and funky guitar, it's just that it's been done so many times before, how many more times can you listen to it? And no, backing vocals from our Phil don't add anything to it. Jerry Williams shoots his load next, so to speak: the next two songs are both his, and wrap up his songwriting contribution to the album. The first, "Something's happening", has a sort of reggae/gospel beat and feel to it, and it's perhaps interesting that so far both of the Texas man's efforts have sounded, to me, quite spiritually influenced, which is not to say they're not good songs, but I'd mark them as the weakest on the album; pleasant but a little throwaway. And these were supposed to bring the hit singles?

Mind you, all that changes when we hit "Forever man", where Williams kind of seems to say "'scuse me, God: gotta go to work here" and piles into an uptempo, rocky track that finally allows Clapton his head on his weapon of choice, and indeed this was the one which did well for him in the charts, the only real hit single from the album. With a sort of soul/funk guitar line driving it (think Wonder's "Superstitious" mixed with The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the city") and a passionate but frustrated vocal from Eric, it's possibly a little ironic, given the title and the circumstances. Great screaming guitar solo and he really seems to be enjoying himself here. Smooth backing vocals again from the ladies. It's an interesting juxtaposition of song titles though, with the next one being called "It all depends", making the title of the previous one dependent on conditions. I'm sure it wasn't meant that way, but it's noteworthy anyway. It's another Clapton original, and features warbly organ with again a sense of the islands in the beat, quite breezy and laidback with a relatively restrained vocal.

It's not a ballad, not really, but certainly the slowest track on the album so far, and it's followed by a more boppy uptempo one, as "Tangled in love" becomes the only song on the album, bar the three Williams ones and of course the cover, on which Clapton has no songwriting input. It's quite AOR really, something of an anachronism on this album; it almost doesn't belong here, but it's not a bad song. Sounds more like it should be on a Heart or Fleetwood Mac album really. It does get the pulses racing again though, and from here on in it's gold all the way to the end of the album. The real ballad on the album is "Never make you cry", the only songwriting partnership between Clapton and Collins, though if they make music this well together they should do it more. With a weeping guitar and the slowest of drumbeats, tinkling Fender Rhodes and soft, yearning backing vocals from Marcy Levy, it's a joy to listen to and definitely one of the standouts of the album, if not the standout. Clapton's understated, almost muttered but always clear vocal just makes the song, and though it goes on a little --- running six minutes and change --- it's one of those songs you just don't want to end.

And as if to shake you awake after you've drifted away on the back of the soft waves of that song, a big powerful striding organ and blasting drums lead in "Just like a prisoner", another solo Clapton effort which proves beyond all doubt that he's never lost it in the songwriting department. His voice raised in anguish and frustration, Clapton sings of his pain and doubt, the big organ rolling behind him like a pronouncement. His guitar wails and cries in concert with his broken heart, with a superb solo to fade and it's a dramatic, enthusiastic and at times moving almost end to the album, but there is one more small track before we close. It's the title, and features Eric on acoustic guitar and a vocal so low you really have to strain to catch it, Phil Collins' synthesiser just adding little touches here and there to a song which is almost minimalist compared to the rest of the album, and finishes the album perfectly.

TRACKLISTING

1. She's waiting
2. See what love can do
3. Same old blues
4. Knock on wood
5. Something's happening
6. Forever man
7. It all depends
8. Tangled in love
9. Never make you cry
10. Just like a prisoner
11. Behind the sun

Although as I say when I bought this I had heard little of Clapton's work beyond the obvious, and despite the fact that purists may write the effort off as too commercial, not true to his sound, or any other accusation they care to level at it, this album proved to me what a talent Eric Clapton was. Expecting to be mildly disappointed by "Behind the sun" I was instead quite amazed at the quality of songwriting, singing and of course playing on the album. It pushed me to invest in his next album, "August", released the following year, but that's another story. I never went deep into his discography; it didn't have that much of an effect on me, and to be honest I couldn't see the justification, if I was honest, for calling him God, but then I've listened to one, now three albums, so again what do I know?

But one thing I do know is what I like, and I like this.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

The Batlord

They sound nothing like black metal, dude. They only have the two albums, Melissa and Don't Break the Oath, but both are worth your time. Just listen to this and tell me you have no love...

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Trollheart

Hypothetical --- Threshold --- 2001 (InsideOut)

A long time ago now it seems, I introduced those that care to the mighty Threshold via the album "Subsurface", and later took a whistle-stop tour through their catalogue in "The Beginner's Guide", but now I want to slow down and return to this band, whose most recent album, "March of progress" I featured last year and which came very close to being my overall favourite album of 2012. To be honest, they don't have bad albums so I could have chosen any of their current nine --- well, having done two, the remaining seven --- but this one has one of my favourite Threshold songs on it, so I've gone for it. As it happens, it comes fifth in their discography, and three years before "Subsurface".

There are only eight tracks on it, but this is not unknown for Threshold, whose longest album in terms of tracks is 1997's "Extinct instinct", which has twelve. However there is a ten minute and an eleven minute track on this album, and it runs in at a respectable fifty-five minutes. It opens on the drony synth of Richard West, joined by screeching guitar from Karl Groom then new boy Johanne James makes his presence felt as he thunders in on the drums as "Light and space" kicks things off. It's a typical Threshold song, full of hooks, energy and progressive rock goodness. Singer Andrew "Mac" MacDermott handles the song with the passion and clarity he became famous for within the band, and the other spotlight shines squarely on Groom's evocative and energetic guitar playing. If anyone ever thought Threshold were more a progressive rock band than a progressive metal one, they only have to listen to Groom's riffs to be disabused of that notion.

Mind you, West is an integral part of the band two, and his keyboard runs, from arpeggios to droning soundscapes shape the atmosphere in which the music thrives and evolves. "Turn on tune in" opens on one such soundscape before Groom punches his way in and Mac takes a much more restrained approach to the vocal, at least at the beginning. Threshold recount the old hippy anthem, "turn on, tune in, drop out" but update it for the twenty-first century, making it somehow darker and more ominous. Great keyboard solo from Richard West before Groom takes over again and James joins him as the song takes a jump in gear, rattling along as Mac's vocal changes to match the change in tempo and indeed the tension building in the song.

One of those epics I mentioned is next, and "The ravages of time" (which would go on to be the title of one of their compilation albums) opens on a dark, thumping bass, low synth and then Groom and James power in, taking the song into its second minute as Mac begins singing about the eradication of natural resources and how time erodes everything but rebuilds: "Once there was a mountain/ Then there was no mountain/ Then there was again" --- the cyclic nature of time is a recurring motif in many of Threshold's songs. West then takes control for a soft, atmospheric passage as the song slows down in the third minute, while in the fourth the chorus comes through for the first time with one of those incredible little hooks this underrated band are known for. Most of the song keeps it as a slow grinder, though it does speed up at times, and like all great long songs it seems to be over too soon.

"Sheltering sky" then starts on soft acoustic guitar and piano backed by swirling synth, before Karl Groom's signature riff comes through, a sort of dramatic, ominous jangly sound that permeates so many of Threshold's songs. The track picks up in intensity and power as it goes along, driven on Groom's growling guitar and Mac's fine vocal delivery. A faster and heavier track, "Oceanbound" features a funky bassline and a weird little vocal at the start, but rocks along really well as Mac declares "Every time I try to climb a mountain/ Always find a steeper one ahead". This song is very much guitar-centric and Groom makes full use of his repertoire, punching, riffing, pulling back, soloing and squeezing everything out of his guitar that he can. Richard West, on the other hand, takes a backseat on this one, but he's back with a vengeance for "Long way home", opening the song with a lovely neoclassical piano piece before Karl Groom grinds his guitar into the mix and the song takes off, West's organ swelling behind him then joined by sprightly piano while Groom rips off a lovely solo. Choral voices on the synth add to the melody before everything drops away to simple piano accompanying Mac's voice before the song ends on a big finish.

Threshold don't tend to write too many ballads, but when they do they're worth waiting for, like "Sunrise on Mars" from "Clone" or "Mansion" from "Extinct instict", and here they've come up with another winner. Like most of their ballads "Keep my head" is a short one, only four minutes long, and driven on bright piano and keys with a lovely swaying rhythm, almost commercial rock in its way. Mac delivers one of his best restrained vocal performances here, and it's actually surprising this wasn't taken as a single, because it fullfils all the conditions, with a great hook in the chorus, verging almost into pop territory at times. Great backing vocals just add the final layer to the sound, with an emotional guitar solo from Karl Groom. The only small complaint I have about this song is that it ends rather badly I feel, a little limply. That takes us to the closer, and it's the other epic, an eleven-minute song that has become one of my favourite Threshold numbers.

Beginning with a big hard guitar intro, "Narcissus" goes through various changes , slowing down with crying guitar in the second minute and moving at quite a sedate pace until Groom kicks it all back into life, Mac singing with power and conviction. Lovely synth effects from Richard West, and punchy drums from Johannes James, thick bass from Jon Jeary, with again great vocal harmonies, another Threshold trademark. It is however in the midsection where the song really shows its character. With a choral voice leading into rolling sprinkling synth and thence to a solitary piano, the vocal turns into a double one with a sort of phased vocoder effect, something similar to Floyd's "A new machine" off "A momentary lapse of reason". The extra vocal is provided by Holger Haubold, and the song slows down almost to balladic style, with a wailing guitar from Groom which quickly takes off again as the song powers towards its, and the album's conclusion. A powerful combination of guitar and keys drives the end section in an instrumental before we return to the theme from the opening, and Mac comes back in on the tenth minute for his last hurrah, fading out then in the last forty seconds or so and leaving Karl Groom to bring proceedings to a crashing finale, with a big roll of drums from James.

TRACKLISTING

1. Light and space
2. Turn on tune in
3. The ravages of time
4. The sheltering sky
5. Oceanbound
6. Long way home
7. Keep my head
8. Narcissus

Threshold aren't nearly as well known as they deserve to be. One of the few progressive metal bands around these days who don't fiddle about in the middle of songs to make them longer or to flaunt their prowess; when their songs are long they're necessarily so, and there's always a definite structure to them. They have one amazing guitarist in Karl Groom, who could really hold his own against any of the current guitar greats, and a fine keyboard player in Richard West. They've gone through three different vocalists over their almost twenty year history, and sadly Andrew "Mac" MacDonald, who we hear here, passed away in 2011, with original singer and founder member Damian Wilson returning in 2012 for their triumphant comeback album.

If melodies with great hooks, excellent vocal harmonies, a guitarist who can be heavy and crunching one moment and soft and gentle the next is your thing, then Threshold could very well be your band. If you haven't heard them before, this album is not the worst place you could start.

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Trollheart

I know, I know! Last time I ran this section --- which was the first time --- I mentioned at the end that the next time out I’d be looking at British band Jigsaw, and I wanted to, but to be brutally honest I was unable to track down enough of their music to make it worthwhile. I tried all my usual haunts --- I would even have bought the music! Honest to god! I would have shelled out my own cash! --- but no dice. So I’m afraid you’ll just have to contain your disappointment and accept that Jigsaw have receded so far into the mists of musical obscurity that even a tenth-level Musomancer like me (nerd alert! Nerd alert! RPG reference!) is unable to bring them back. They’re dead, and staying dead.

So who am I going to feature instead? You know, I’m really glad you asked that question, because if you hadn’t then this wouldn’t be much of a section would it? If I didn’t have a backup plan what would be the point? What is the point anyway? Well, never mind that: the plan is that we leave the seventies behind for now and fast-forward to the heyday of new wave, the 1980s, and look at the somewhat brief but for a short while successful career of this man


Oh come on! Don’t tell me you don’t recognise him? If I sang “Imagination … can make a man of you … Imagination … could make me love you too….”? No? Well that was one of his big hits --- one of two I believe, and though he was never any Howard Jones or Nik Kershaw, or attained the fame and general adulation of the likes of Wham! or even Pet Shop Boys, he carved out his own little niche in the early eighties and his albums did sell, for a short while. Still no clue? No, it’s not Glenn Gregory from Heaven 17. Nor is it Billy Idol’s previously undiscovered popster brother. All right then, give up? I’ll tell you. It’s

Belouis Some

Ah, now you remember don’t you? You don’t? Well I’m not that surprised really, as he hardly set the charts alight before disappearing from public view. Let me just refresh your memory, see if any of this rings a bell.

Of course, it’s very unlikely anyone is born with a name like that --- the forename is one I’ve never heard before or since, and I’ve never heard of any family called Some --- and indeed he wasn’t. Born Neville Keighley he released his first album in 1985. I know what you’re thinking (apart from “Why am I bothering reading this? The last thing I remember is the smell of chloroform and next I’m staring at this bloody webpage! How did I get here, and how do I get out?”) --- that’s very little information on the guy. But truth is there seems very little and even my usual source, Wikipedia, has a woefully skimpy entry on him. I don’t know much about him so I’m going to have to just jump right into his albums and figure him out from there. Okay with you? What? No you can’t take the gag off! Now just sit back and relax and you’ll soon be home unharmed, and all this will be just a fading memory, I promise. Roll the sound effects! Action!

Some people --- Belouis Some --- 1985 (Capitol)


See, that’s the downside of trying to write about obscure artistes. Sometimes there’s very little information to go on, and I’m not about to join the Belouis Some Fan Club (no doubt called Some People Who Like Belouis!) in order to get the information I need, nor am I going to buy his biography, surely called “Some guy called Belouis”. All right, enough making fun of the guy’s name. But really? Belouis Some? Doesn’t even make sense! Gary Glitter, okay. Sting, sure. Even Mad Destroyer on Steroids gives an idea of what you might expect from a singer so named, but Belouis Some? Didn’t he realise he was inviting ridicule with a name like that? And I’ve never been one to turn down an invitation….

Okay, okay! Leave the guy alone! For all I know he now lives in a bedsit and works as a bank clerk, supplementing his meagre income by attending nostalgia nights, performing his hit singles. But back in 1985 he was hot property, and this album, his debut, gave him what were his two biggest hit singles, although he had to wait for “Imagination” to be re-released the following year before it was a hit in the UK.

It’s his first hit though that opens the album, and it’s also the title track. Starting with a deep, growling synth it soon warps into a sub-Yazoo style synthpop song with a upbeat tempo, decent female backing vocals and indeed very catchy. Nice bit of funky guitar running through it, you probably know the song if you’re my age or thereabouts. He has a good voice, though definitely the kind of feeling that he wouldn’t be around for all that long: this has one-hit-wonder written all over it, though he did as I say have another hit after this. It’s a good dance record, sort of mid-paced with a nice rhythm but I never found it anything that special. It’s followed by “Stand down”, which is a little faster and with a very reggae/Caribbean feel to it, thick echoey bass and some nice keyboard work.

The other big hit is up next, and you can see a world of difference in this. A sweaty, sultry creeping funkster which really showcases Some’s almost Bowie-like vocal, again supported by great female backing vox, and the addition of a slowburning sax that just oozes passion. By all accounts the original video was banned, featuring as it did full-frontal nudity, though whether male or female I don’t know, and don’t care enough to check out. The sax work is great on this though, coupled with some sort of whistling, breathing sound on the synth. Very nice. Not something I can say of “Walk away” though: very throwaway, by-the-numbers pop song, though with some decent keyboard antics. Chorus is okay if simplistic. Somewhat more almost of a rocker is “Aware of you”, with a big hard guitar and a sense of Ric Ocasek of the Cars in it. Possibly a mixed-race-romance morality tale if you listen to the lyric, though again I’m not interested enough to confirm that, sorry. Still, other than the singles if I have to choose a favourite track on the album so far then this is it. There’s even a guitar solo, despite the usual overpreponderance of keyboards and synths, and the tune works very well.

That superb sax is back for “Target practice”, which starts off all smouldering and atmospheric, and fools you initially into thinking it may be a ballad, but then changes and kicks up the tempo to become a sort of sub-Bowie rocker which isn’t really all that bad at all. Nice hook in the chorus, sort of reminds me of Human League in places, but really is actually very close to “China girl” --- another nice guitar solo, which is always welcome, though the initial sax seems to have faded out which is a pity --- and then continues on into “Have you ever been in love”, which despite the title is far from a ballad.

Another funky dancy number, it’s again pretty throwaway really, the brass on it is particularly annoying, then we’re into “Tail lights”, which starts off with a real smoky sax solo joined by some screechy horn and interesting guitar, making me wonder if this could be something a little different? It certainly develops a swagger along the bassline and measured percussion, with a sort of lower register vocal from our man Belouis, who is definitely from the David Bowie school of singing. No bad thing that: he has a good voice, just maybe not quite distinctive enough. Or maybe he hadn’t the songs he should have had. Did he write the songs on this album? Well yes it seems he did, so maybe he just wasn’t that great a songwriter.

It’s a second decent track I have to admit, with a real sense of identity about it, and the horns here rather than being annoying complement the music, creating the soundscape. We close then on “Jerusalem”, very much a synth-led piece which brings the tempo back down mostly, and features quite a powerful vocal performance from the man. Interestingly, there’s no ballad here at all, which was possibly a brave move for a pop album of the eighties, but the album seems to have sold well and his follow-up was out two years later. I have to say it’s not the worst pop album I’ve ever heard, though it’s far from the best.

TRACKLISTING

1. Some people
2. Stand down
3. Imagination
4. Walk away
5. Aware of you
6. Target practice
7. Have you ever been in love
8. Tail lights
9. Jerusalem

With his debut album in the can Belouis headed off on tour, mostly with chart darlings of the time Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and also increased his public profile by contributing to the soundtrack to the movie “Pretty in pink”, which also featured songs by Suzanne Vega, The Smiths, Nik Kershaw and of course the Psychedelic Furs. Following the success of the movie and his concerts, “Imagination” was re-rereleased and became a hit for him, providing a springboard for the recording of his second album, which would see the light of day in 1987.

Belouis Some --- Belouis Some --- 1987 (Capitol)


My brother has always maintained the theory that Neville Keighley took the name Belouis Some just so that his second album could be titled “Belouis Some More”, however this isn’t what he ended up doing. His debut, as detailed above, was called “Some people”, and while he could I suppose have succumbed to the temptation and named this “Some more people”, he went for a more, ah, original idea, and just called it after his own name. Now, I have a problem with this, which may turn up in a future edition of “My brain hurts”, as if you care.

A band or artiste self-titling their first album is completely acceptable. You’re new, you need to introduce yourself, so your first album is “Blondie” or “Yes” or “Camel” or “Maria McKee”. Nothing wrong with that. What I can’t understand is an established band or artiste, or indeed someone just recording their second album, as here, using their name for the title. It’s confusing to the casual fan, who will probably think this is your first album, and it’s also lazy. I mean, even Genesis did it, something I took a while to forgive them for. Peter Gabriel too, but then all his albums up to “So” were titled the same. Now Dream Theater are doing it. What is the point? Apart from anything else, with a name like Belouis Some this guy could not have been stuck for ideas --- “Some more Belouis”? “Get some”? “Something from Belouis”? The possibilities are almost endless. And yet he went down this route. Don’t get it.

Anyway, enough bitching. Like it or not, this was his second album and failed to be as successful as his first, yielding no hit singles. It would be his last for six years. Let’s get into it. If we can.

Opening on a sharp funky beat almost reminiscent of the great Prince, “Let it be with you” is okay but nothing like the opener from the debut. Nice use of horns and a hypnotic bassline, pushing the keys a little more to the background, the brass giving the song a real touch of soul, but at the same time kind of making it a lighter song. Nice guitar solo, which is a good start, and the female backing vocals from the first album are back to lend a hand. “Stranger than fiction” pushes the horns to the fore again, a little more poppy as opposed to dance, and there’s my mate with the sax again. Still, there’s something lacking: I haven’t found any hooks I can latch on to so far. As the man himself sang in the opener: ”Don’t know what I have to say/ Don’t know what I have to do” --- well, make this a bit more interesting for a start.

We could be on to something now, with what sounds like the first Belouis Some ballad, “Some girls”. Putting me very much in mind of the one-hit wonder from Double, “The captain of her heart” , which had been a big hit the previous year, it has a nice sliding bassline that takes it along in a gentle way with some tinkling piano and soft sax too. Definitely a big improvement but will it be the turning point on the album? Okay, well “Passion play” opens like someone trying to learn chords on their new Casio, but then a big powerful guitar punches in and it sounds like it could be something of a return to the Bowie-like music from some of the better tracks on the debut.

There’s a sense of determination and anger about this, which is kind of what this album needed: essentially a kick up the arse, which this song is delivering. Good heavy percussion and stabbing keyboard chords make the song more on the lines of rock than pop, even if the solo is a synthy one; kind of reminds me a little of the late Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to love” in ways. End chorus sounds almost Sisters of Mercy-ish. Another good track for sure. Can it last? Well there’s an almost progressive rock keyboard intro to “Animal magic” and I’m starting to hope, then it slides into a really nice laidback groove, with a relaxed low-key vocal from Belouis, some nice chiming piano, and there finally is the hook I’ve been searching for since this album began. Again it has The Cars’ handprints all over it, and could easily be a track off “Door to door” or maybe “Heartbeat city”, or even one of Ocasek’s own later solo albums, but it’s a good song and keeps up a level of quality which has definitely risen since the third track kicked in.

“Dream girl” is a little more towards the poppy end of the scale, touches of China Crisis in there, but it’s still a good solid track and miles better than anything on the debut. Very Alan Parsons Project-style guitar solo there: Ian Bairnson would be proud. Elements of Mike Rutherford leaking in there too, nice bunch of influences, even if they’re just in my mind. It’s what I hear and that’s all I can report, you know. Generally, I would have worried about a song titled “My body”, had I not been listening to this album through. I would have taken it to be a disco-bop “I’m so sexy” type thing, but now I don’t expect that at all. It is in fact a fairly uptempo almost AOR in places song, with the horns back in full evidence and Belouis channeling Bowie again. Good sharp guitar with more touches of Prince again, quite catchy and I’m actually surprised it wasn’t a hit.

“Wind of change” (not the Scorpions ballad) comes up, as you might expect, on slow wind noises on the keys then has a fairly stripped back melody with a hook that any AOR band would give their collective eye teeth for, and a really nice bit of guitar followed by some lush piano. It’s not the greatest track on the album but it’s well up there with the best of the rest. And all too soon we’re coming to the end, with “What I see”, a nice little low-key piece with the vocal very far down in the mix, some very expressive guitar that reminds me of something but for once I can’t say what, and which kind of serves as the second ballad, a very decent closer.

TRACKLISTING

1. Let it be with you
2. Stranger than fiction
3. Some girls
4. Passion play
5. Animal magic
6. Dream girl
7. My body
8. Wind of change
9. What I see

On the strength of what I’ve heard here I’m actually surprised this wasn’t a big hit for Belouis, a pretty staggering followup to what was in comparison a mediocre debut album, and yet it was “Some people” that got all the plaudits and gave him his chart successes. Maybe it just wasn’t pop or dance enough for the fans who had bought “Imagination” and “Some people”, but I very much prefer this. It shows an artiste maturing very quickly and stepping outside the somewhat confining limits of the dance/electro style of his debut. Very impressive, once you get through the first two tracks, and to be honest, and surprising myself, I’m actually now looking forward to listening to his third, and last album.

If I can find it.

All I can tell you apart from that is that in 1989 he formed some band called The Big Broadcast and toured with them, and that he supported the likes of Queen, Big Country and ageing rocksters Status Quo at Knebworth, which at the time was one of the UK’s premier rock festivals. His final album then, came in 1993, and I suppose given the fact that it was his last it must not have performed or sold very well for him, though I have no chart statistics to back that up. Certainly, I have not heard any of the tracks as singles and I’m fairly sure he had no hits off it.

Ah. No, out of luck. I’ve looked high and low, far and wide, and, just to be sure, in desperation, here and there, but there’s no sign of this album. As I said at the start, the problem with picking obscure music to review is that it’s, well, obscure. Hard to find. I already had to cancel my intended look at Jigsaw because I couldn’t find enough of their music to make it work, and now I can’t get the third album from Belouis Some anywhere. I can’t even buy the damn thing!

So I’m destined I guess never to experience what could have been the final masterpiece, or crapfest, of this singer/songwriter from the eighties. I’ll never know whether he went on from the promising development of the second album and carried that into what would be his last, or if he fell back on the pop and disco tropes of his debut. One thing is for certain though: Belouis Some, for all I laughed at him, had some proper talent and it just seems like it was never recognised after his brief flirtation with the charts, but he had a relatively decent run up to about 1989 or so it would seem.

Maybe he tried to buck the trend, rather less successfully than Kylie break out of the mould and refashion and reinvent himself, and the world didn’t like it, or more properly didn’t care. Whether he remained in music, moved into production as so many artistes do, or got out of the business altogether is a question that will have to remain a mystery, as there is very little written about him out there on the web. I’m assuming he’s not dead, as Wiki lists him as “is a singer” not “was a singer”, and he apparently had a big following in South Africa for some reason, so that’s good. Maybe he even moved there. But I couldn’t say for sure.

Some people, it would seem, don’t merit that kind of coverage. And yet, I find myself, after listening to his second album, more sympathetic towards the man and I do wonder what became of him. I suppose I’ll never know.

Ah, but why should you care? Oh, I see: you've managed to get yourself free and legged it. Very inventive. Must remember to use steel chairs next time...

... when I'll be looking at another guy who flared briefly in the eighties and then seemed to die away. Be interesting to see what happened to him. Who am I talking about? Why, of course.

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Trollheart

Before I close up the journals for Christmas, I'd just like to leave you with

Trollheart's Christmas Message

I know nobody bothered to collect and reassemble it over the weeks leading up to Christmas, but whether you like it or not, here it is in its entireity, and in all sincerity

Trollheart would like to wish all his friends, and all members of Music Banter, a very happy Christmas and a great 2014. Thank you for all your support during the past year and I hope to have much more for you in the coming one. I would like to wish a particularly happy christmas to Vanilla, my leading lady. Peace.

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Unknown Soldier

Merry Christmas to you as well and Belouis Some looks like a young Marlon Brando.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Trollheart

Okay, technically Christmas isn't over for a few more days but I'd like to return to something of normality here, though we still have to get through New Year's Eve tomorrow. Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas, and congratulations to those of you who were nominated for and who won awards in last night's first ever Journeys ceremony.

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few days but as you could see from the Weekly Update Thread I was very busy compiling the Year in Review and organising the awards.

To tie in with the opening of my new thread, "Trollheart's Fortress of Prog", I'd like to kick the last two days of 2013 off with one of my favourite prog bands, and one of their best albums.

Contagion --- Arena --- 2003 (Verglas)


"Contagion" is an interesting album, not just because it's so good but because it comes more or less as part of a three-record set, the other two of which are EPs released around the same time as the main album. Some of the material on the companion volumes is just remixed from the tracks on the main album, but there are some tracks on each that don't appear on "Contagion". In particular, "Contagium" is important, as this has three tracks that the main album does not, and two of them are magnificent, while there's one remix also thrown on. The third volume, as it were, has four new tracks and one remix, while the album itself is no slouch, with sixteen. Now, if you leave out the remixes but add up all the tracks on the three recordings you come out with a massive twenty-three songs. Not bad eh? It's a concept album of sorts, dealing I think with the end of the world though I've never been completely sure as it doesn't follow a set plot or storyline, but even on its own "Contagion" is an amazing slice of progressive rock.

I've never quite understood the, if not hatred at least apathy towards this band. Sure, they don't reinvent any wheels and they're not out there on the bleeding edge, but they're a whole lot better than some lesser prog rock bands I could mention. Let me put it this way: on hearing Arena I was lovestruck right away, whereas with the more established Spock's Beard I really had to work at the relationship, to the point now where we're certainly talking if not actually sleeping together --- well, the odd dirty weekend, but nothing serious, you understand. In the same way as I slipped gratefully into the embrace of Genesis and Marillion, Mostly Autumn and Shadow Gallery, I resisted the advances of Yes, IQ and Pallas, but Arena as I say, love at first sight.

This is the second album with new vocalist Rob Sowden, who would stay with them for two more years and sing on the incredible "Pepper's ghost", before leaving for other pastures and leaving the mike to a new guy. It sees Arena continue in the kind of vein that characterised previous albums such as "Immortal?" and "The visitor", and really begin to up their game. I mean, I liked those albums, a lot, and the ones before them too, but this is the point where Arena really began to spread their wings and show the world of progressive rock what they could do.

It opens with the sounds of voices sounding confused and mixed, an effect they would use later on the opening to "Bedlam Fayre" on the "Pepper's ghost" album, then John Mitchell blasts in with a hard and heavy guitar and the redoubtable Mick Pointer pounds away on the skins as "Witch hunt" gets going. Very shortly we hear Rob Sowden and his vocal is a little gruff and raspy, just perfectly fitting the song. Arena would never be described as progressive metal, but this song is one of their hardest and edges close to that subgenre. Great solo from the excellent and talented Mitchell, who's been with them five years at this stage, and still is. The song ends a little abruptly though and slides into the piano ballad "An angel falls", on which Sowden shows the versatility of his vocals, this time soft and gentle but with a hard edge of determination in his singing. Clive Nolan takes centre stage behind the piano for this short little song, before it's back to hard and heavy with the driving "Painted man", Nolan this time on synths and creating a dramatic backdrop for the song, complete with choral vocals and stirring organ.

Pointer does a great job on the drums here, matching Mitchell almost note for note while Nolan paints the atmosphere with low muted synthwork, Mitchell racking off another fine solo halfway through. Sowden is again urgent and dramatic as he sings "Why? With poison so strong in our hearts/ And the world torn apart/ Why? When our actions bring nothing but pain/ Can't you see that we're painted the same?" and on a descending riff from Mitchell we're into the instrumental "This way madness lies", where he and Nolan combine with Ian Salmon on bass and Pointer on drums to form a fast and powerful little piece whose second section owes much to Genesis circa "Trick of the tail" before one of the standouts comes in the form of "Spectre at the feast".

Built on an almost glockenspiel-like keyboard, ticking like a clock as Sowden sings "There's a spectre at the feast/ Feeding on my soul/ And drinking my hopes away" the song resembles Peter Gabriel's "San Jacinto" in the main melody, Nolan's piano and deep synth leading the song for much of its run. It's the longest track, just over five and a half minutes, which is admittedly not much for a prog rock song, btu then none of these songs are that long, leading to the amount of tracks on teh album. Mitchell's guitar almost slides in unnoticed, then Pointer hits the skins and the song begins to build to a new level as Sowden cries "This brave new world/ Has fallen and decayed/ Are there no heroes/ Just men with feet of clay?" An almost U2-like rhythm possesses the song as it gets heavier, Mitchell's guitar taking a more leading role as it nears its end.

The theme of "An angel falls" then returns in "Never ending night", but whereas the former was a solo piano effort, and this begins in that same vein, it soon kicks into something totally different as Mitchell, Pointer and Jowitt explode into the song, turning it into something totally different to "An angel falls", and yet inextricably linked to that song. A real progression in the truest sense of the word, it's a joy to hear, and then in the second minute of the three-plus that it runs for it returns to the original theme before fading out. "Skin game" kicks everything back up to ten, with howling synth and screaming guitars and an anthemic chorus, a great vocal performance from Sowden and a vaguely eastern sense to the melody. Great acapella ending, and the rocking continues in "Salamander", as indeed does the eastern tinge, with an almost "Kashmir"-like tune, marching along like an army crossing the desert under the blazing sun. Some great keyboard work by Clive Nolan on this one.

The voices that jabbered across the opening of "Witch hunt" are back for the instrumental "On the box", a showcase for Nolan really, and it's no surprise that of the three instrumentals on the album (yes, there's one more to come) he wrote two and co-wrote the third with Mick Pointer. John Mitchell does throw his penn'orth in though, with another almost effortless solo, as the song runs directly into the dark, brooding "Tsunami", which though it has a sort of walking blues rhythm is a sharp bitter song chronicling the mastery of nature over man as Rob Sowden advises "Ooh there's nowhere to hide now/ Ooh there's nowhere to run!" Nolan's ominous organ work adds a sense of panic to the song, and choral vocals complete the feel, while "Bitter harvest" seems to follow on from this, in a sad little piano ballad with a passionate vocal from Sowden. Mitchell's guitar soon cuts through though and the song becomes a harder, punchier one than it began, and perhaps a testament to one man's refusal to die as Sowden yells "You can take away my crown/ But you'll never bring my spirit down/ I won't give in!" as he wanders through a world devastated by it would seem a natural catastrophe.

A soft, whistling keyboard accompanies Sowden as he sings almost Jim Kerr-like on "Belfast child" as "The city of lanterns" runs its short course of just over one minute, devoid of percussion and into the final instrumental, very Genesisesque with squealing, jumping, trumpeting keyboard. At almost four and a half minutes, "Riding the tide" is the longest of the instrumentals here, and it leads into another standout, the ballad "Mea culpa" (I am to blame/ it's my fault) as Sowden sits on a hill and contemplates what has happened to the world he knew, destroyed now by its own hubris. With the sound of an old vinyl record crackling, a solitary organ and Sowden's voice sounding like it's in mono it soon slips into proper stereo as Nolan on piano and keys comes in to accompany him. "Cutting the cards" then has a certain sense of Alan Parsons about it, and a Spanish or Mexican tinge to it also, with a rapid-fire vocal from Sowden as Mitchell this time backs him on what could be classical or Spanish guitar --- Spanish I think --- before percussion joins in and he switches to his electric as the song picks up speed and intensity, Nolan coming in too on the keys.

The closer is a song of hope, as "Ascension" speaks of rising from the ashes, though whether this is what actually happens or just a wish I don't know. It's a powerful and uplifting ending though, and certainly gives you a sense that things may work out in the long run. It's a slow song, though I wouldn't class it as a ballad, with its passion and defiance and the thread of determination that runs through it. Built on a truly massive choral vocal from Nolan on the synth and thunderous drums from Pointer, Mitchell's guitar is almost Steve Rotheryesque in parts, Sowden's vocal hopeful and optimistic, a man reaching for the prize he believes is his, or maybe a drowning man reaching for a reed in an effort to save himself as he asks "Are your ready to part the veil/ And write a new beginning to this tale?"

Surely a question we might all ask each other, before it's too late?

TRACKLISTING

1. Witch hunt
2. An angel falls
3. Painted man
4. This way madness lies
5. Spectre at the feast
6. Never ending night
7. Skin game
8. Salamander
9. On the box
10. Tsunami
11. Bitter harvest
12. The city of lanterns
13. Riding the tide
14. Mea culpa
15. Cutting the cards
16. Ascension

Like Ten, Mostly Autumn and a lot of other bands, I owe my interest in, and then love of Arena to the dear departed and sadly missed Allofmp3.com, which was the first website I know of that offered albums at reasonable prices, and allowed me not only to expand my knowledge of bands I was unaware even existed, but helped me to build my digital collection at a fraction of the cost of buying CDs or bowing to Apple. I will always be grateful to them for allowing me sample, and then get into, such artistes. I really don't know of a bad Arena album, and even their most recent, 2011's "The seventh degree of separation", which I wasn't totally blown away with, is likely to be a grower anyway.

This album I loved from the start, and there are no, read no, bad tracks on it. The whole thing flows very well and if it's not a concept album --- I'm not sure on that point --- then it's as close to one as they've come since "The Visitor". The musicianship displayed on this album is nothing short of stunning and it's rather surprising to me that Arena are not better known and appreciated than they are, but then I'm getting used to that. In a somewhat crowded space it's becoming increasingly clear that two things mark out the successful bands: longevity and some sort of trademark, neither of which Arena really have, having been only --- only! --- together since the late nineties, which in prog rock terms makes them if not babes in arms, then certainly toddlers. Seems in the world of proggers you have to have been around since the eighties, or preferably the seventies, to be taken seriously.

But none of that bothers me. They may never be famous or popular enough to play here, and I'll never get a chance to travel to see them, but they have a new live album out and somewhere I have a DVD of them in performance, which I must root out now that I've relistened to this album. But if you haven't heard Arena yet and you're a fan of class progressive rock with a hard edge, take my advice: this is one contagion you need to contract.

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Trollheart

As 2013 draws to a close I'd just like to thank you all for dropping by, commenting, or just reading what I've written here. Plenty more to come in the new year, as we expand and build on what we've created here, so it will hopefully be an exciting time.

So just time to once again thank you all for your custom before I head out to that big New Year's Eve party --- who am I kidding? I'm not going to any party! Nobody invites me anywhere. Stuck watching the fireworks again on the telly with the sis and the cats ... bloody new year's eve ... same very year ... 2014 my ahhhh you're still there! Sorry didn't see you, thought you'd left!

Well wherever you're going tonight and whatever you're doing, enjoy it and remember to drink responsibly, no point in starting the new year off in hospital, or worse!

Have a good one and see you all next year!
And thanks again!

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Trollheart

Although this song could easily have featured in “Eurovision Hell”, there are enough bad songs to go around after several decades of that competition and I don’t think I’ll have any trouble finding a replacement for it when the time comes to once more dip into that bargain-basement bin of banality. Yes, I do love my alliteration. But since we haven’t looked at this section for a while, and since the other song I was originally going to feature has, through my research, turned out not to be what I thought it was, we’re going to dig into this well-known Eurovision winner and see what the Hook behind it was that made it so popular.



Save your kisses for me --- Brotherhood of Man --- 1976

A perfect Eurovision song; bouncy, boppy, inoffensive and using the model which would later be championed by Bucks Fizz, ABBA and others of two men two women, there was never any real doubt that this was going to be the winner that year. Gaining the top marks possible from seven of the countries that voted (I doubt, though I don’t know, that that included us, as back in the seventies and eighties things were still very tense between the UK and Ireland) it kicked its nearest opposition, France, in the head and took the top prize. I was thirteen at the time and can remember the song, though not the others that took part, but I must now imagine that the rest were pretty awful if this won.

At its heart it’s an annoying --- very annoying --- and twee love song, as the man heads off to work and advises his sweetheart to wait for him (“Save your kisses for me”) and it’s performed in a very boring, cabaret fashion that borders on making you want to go looking for a shotgun but the Hook comes in the final line, producing the wry smile and knowing wink that surely must have secured them the win. For you see (but of course don’t care) it turns out that the singer is not singing to his girlfriend or wife, but to his daughter, as the closing line tells us: “Won’t you save them for me, even though you’re only three?” With an accompanying wah-wah ending, it’s cheese taken to the nth level, but sure they loved that sort of thing back then, and it sailed to victory.

Which only proves once again that a really good Hook can save a song from obscurity, even elevate it to heights it has no business occupying. Without the last line this is just another annoying love song, sung in a sort of New Seekers/Platters style that just makes you grind your teeth, but with the addition of the final line the whole premise changes, and you’re forced to look at the song with new eyes. After you’ve been sick, of course. But that’s what a good Hook can be: a clever little device that makes what could have been (and is) a mediocre song into something memorable and successful.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I can feel my dinner coming back up…

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