Trollheart

Time to once again sort through the pile of free CDs I’ve amassed from buying rock magazines, many or most of which I’ve read but few if any of whose discs I have listened to. It’s been a little while since I first decided to do this, and it was perhaps rather predictably a progressive rock track we looked at. I was impressed, but then I had expected to be, as this had been a song I had already heard, in fact one which stood out head and shoulders among the rest of the tracks on that disc, good as most of them were.

This time out I’m looking at a different genre, though still of course one that will be naturally associated with me: AOR. This is the covermount from issue four of “Classic Rock presents AOR”, the newest of the “Classic Rock presents” stable, and the disc contains tracks from bands old and new, ones I know and ones I don’t, with the likes of White Widdow, House of Lords (thought they were prog?) and even my old mate Freddie Frederiksen, about whose album I enthused so warmly in “Bitesize” some time ago.

But I want to go for one I know nothing of, and the name that leapt out at me was


(To be honest, I have no idea whether that’s the band’s logo, and given that there’s some baseball team called the Charleston Riverdogs, this is the only logo that has come up and is obviously not that of a sports team. Also, the link mentions “Spirit of metal”, so I think we’re onto something here.)

Rather amazed to find, when I looked them up to see if there was any information about them that I could impart to you before listening to their offering on this disc, that the legendary Vivian Campbell --- he of Dio, Whitesnake and Def Leppard fame, to say nothing of Sweet Savage, whom I featured in the most recent installment of my NWOBHM story --- was instrumental in getting them signed, and played with them, though the apathy of their label led to their splitting up. Riverdogs had got together in 1990 but up to 2011 had only released three studio albums plus one live one. Essentially they are split up, but get together on occasion and it seems the last time they did they came up with the album “World gone mad”, from which the song I’m looking at is taken and is in fact the title track.

World gone mad
Riverdogs
From the album "World gone mad" (2011) on MelodicRock Records



I must say, they don’t look like a rock band on the cover of that album! More like some indie popsters.. But surely with Campbell in the lineup (he returned for this, their third album) there’s bound to be some fretburnin’ fury? Here’s how the band lines out for the album. Riverdogs have gone through some personnel changes over the last twenty years, with one of their number becoming a respected session drummer and another carving out a career for himself as a producer, while Vivian Campbell’s rise to fame has been well documented. But of the band members playing here, it would seem all of the original lineup are present. They are:

Rob Lamothe (Lead vocals)
Vivian Campbell (Guitars)
Mark Danzeisen (Drums)
Nick Brophy (Bass)

They had a keyboard player at one point but whether or not this album, and this track, features key I don’t know, because this is the first time I’ve ever listened to it, or indeed any Riverdogs material. Let’s redress that right now and press PLAY, see what, if anything, I’ve been missing.

Okay well it’s old school rock and you can certainly hear the influence of early Def Leppard here. I can see right away that there’ll be no keyboards here: it’s totally guitar driven in almost a Led Zep way, great work from Mister Campbell, and the vocalist Rob Lamothe is good, his voice really suits the music. The subject matter is a little trite, a tad cliched and I know more than one band has tackled the idea of a world gone mad before, but from the off, though it’s decent rock I struggle to hear where this is any kind of AOR. That genre of music is normally typified and characterised by big blasting guitars, trumpeting keys and piano runs and a general, for the want of a better word, oomphiness about it. I don’t hear that here.

Not that the music is bad, just nothing I would personally consider AOR in any shape of form. Oddly enough, the disc that came with the magazine seems to want to play different music (Robin Thicke?) and I wonder if I got a dud, a crossover copy from some other mag that was mislabelled? There’s an address to send it back if it’s defective, and once I confirm this by running it through some other CD players I may return it just to see what happens. That’s what waiting too long to check out the CD does for ya! Anyway I hoped to find it on YouTube but no dice, however Spotify came up trumps, so here we go.

Good solo there from Vivian, but of course you’d expect nothing less from the man, and a nice bridge with what sounds like piano, and if it isn’t then it should be, as it would fit in here nicely and give the song something less of a third-rate rock track feel. As it is, I like it okay but it certainly does not blow me away, and I have no particular desire to search any deeper into Riverdogs’ catalogue. Might explain why they never made it, although that could be judging them too harshly, going on the strength of only one track. Still, for their fans’ sake I hope Riverdogs have more bite in them, cos this puppy wouldn’t have a prayer in a fight against the big dogs of AOR. Definitely small time.

(Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I can’t find a YouTube of this song, but if you want it the album is on Spotify, which is where I heard the song.)

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Trollheart

Brave --- Marillion --- 1994 (EMI)


Brave in every sense of the word. As the third album with new vocalist Steve Hogarth, this was the band's decision to return to progressive rock, having tried and failed to expand their audience via shorter, more commerically-oriented songs on the previous two albums. Ironically, Marillion's greatest chart success has been and probably always will be "Kayleigh", which just fell short of the number one spot and comes from their other concept album and one steeped in the traditions of classic progressive rock, "Misplaced childhood". This one, however, also ranks quite uniquely as Marillion's darkest and most mature album, with its themes of incest, rape and abuse, and in some ways could perhaps even be seen as a sequel of sorts to that 1985 third album.

Written completely as an idea based around a news report about a girl found wandering without any idea of her identity, the storyline fleshes this out and hints at what Steve Hogarth believes could have happened to her. In that sense it's entirely fictional, as it isn't based on any real details, but who knows? He could have come close to the truth in his writing. Whatever the case, the album is bleak and cynical in its themes and does not offer any solutions or excuses for what happens to the girl. There are apparently two endings to the album, one "happy" and one not so happy, but as I've only ever owned the one CD I'm sticking here with mine, which happens to be the more upbeat of the two.

The scene is set from the beginning, with the sound of water and a foghorn honking before Mark Kelly's luxuriant keyboards smooth their way in as "Bridge" introduces us to the heroine of the story, leaning over the side and looking down into the water, probably contemplating throwing herself in. A nice little slow piano then accompanies Hogarth's voice as he sings the first few lines then the song moves on into "Living with the big lie", driven on echoey keys and Steve Rothery's crying guitar as Hogarth imagine the girl's early life, initially calm and pleasant until things begin to spiral out of control. The song gets harder under Ian Mosley's hammering drumwork meshing with Kelly's sweeping organ, painting flourishes over the backdrop as we go through the girl's schooldays and she realises "When to kiss and when to kick/ When to keep your head down/ When they're choosing sides".

The song slows down then on soft synth and sound effects, with Hogarth's voice softening too for a few moments before Mosley and Rothery bring the tempo right back up and organ from Kelly punches through and Rothery goes off on a superb solo trip that takes the song to its conclusion and into "Runaway", which begins low-key with the sounds of an altercation and slamming door as Kelly's dolorous organ comes in, Rothery following him in and Hogarth relates the tale of the runaway girl recaptured: "Did you cry when they dragged you home/ Put a lock on the door and the telephone?" The track picks up power and intensity, getting angrier and more frustrated as it goes along, Hogarth's voice mirroring the music and the mood. An anguished solo from Rothery coupled with some sterling bass work from Peter Trewavas as the piece reaches its climax as we hear the sad tale of the abused girl: "You'd freeze to death before you'd/ Share a room with them again/ And you'd die before you'd let him /Get his hands on you again!"

The longest track on the album is a suite, "Goodbye to all that", which runs for over twelve minutes and is broken into five sections. The first, "Wave", is a short piano piece which will resurface later in "The great escape", while "Mad" is, as you might expect, a frenetic guitar-oriented piece that bounces all over the place, with Mosley bashing away at the skins and Hogarth's voice rising in frustration and confusion as the girl tries to sort out her life, screaming "Tell me I'm mad / Well you're a fine one to decide!" She ends up in a crack house, as "The opium den" begins, where everything quiets down again with droning synth and soft percussion, a kind of sussurating riff running through the keyboard melody and slowly building. This part is mostly instrumental, though Hogarth does mutter some words as the music plays, and it's pretty much a duet between Rothery and Kelly until we hit the fourth movement, "The slide", where Trewavas takes over with a slow, doomy bassline and some sound effects are thrown in, Rothery screeching along the guitar strings to make wailing noises, before slow percussion and piano slips in. A quite atmospheric piece, it builds up to something of a crescendo where Rothery's guitar just screams out the frustration and confusion the girl must be feeling.

From here it's piano and vocal, as Hogarth comes back in to advise the police that "You think you got here/ Just in time/ But you're twenty years too late." A big thundering instrumetnal part brings "Standing in the swing" to a close, finishes the suite and piles directly into the heavy rock "Hard as love", with some great guitar and thumping percussion, Hogarth's voice now defiant and angry as it appears the girl is now on the streets and selling her body. Fine organ work from Kelly here too. It stops in the middle and goes all quiet on the back of Rothery's tingling guitar, building back up as Hogarth squeezes every ounce of passion he can out of his voice for the big finish.

We finally have a ballad after all that, as Kelly opts for a simple piano for "Hollow man", the vocal so low from Hogarth that it's at times almost inaudible as he considers the weaknesses of people. It sounds like there's violin on this, but as none is credited (and it's not normally an instrument utilised by Marillion) I'll have to assume it's made on the synth. Big guitar intro then to the marching "Alone again in the lap of luxury", with chiming guitar and measured drumming and like much of the material on this album it builds up from a slow beginning into something of a frantic ending, mostly thanks to Steve Rothery's fretwork. It seems to depict the girl's fantasy of what her life could have been, instead of how it turned out: "This is a photograph of who I could be" and ends on a little coda which they call "Now wash your hands", which has a clever little line as its only lyric: "You give up hope/ You settle down/ With your favourite soap/ Now wash your hands." What I love about this is the double meaning: the idea of the wife deciding she can do nothing about her husband's appetites and leaving him to it while she turns up the TV to drown out her daughter/step-daughter's cries for help, and the washing of the hands being both related to soap, as is the telly programme, as well as absolving yourself of all responsibility. The imagery is stark and very real, and extremely effective.

Another hard rocking track is next, with the sound of possibly train wheels or maybe water, I'm not sure what it's meant to be, but "Paper lies" powers along nicely with a strong vocal and driving drumbeat. This ends on an atmospheric twist which slips seamlessly into the title track, carried on droning synthesiser with a sort of horn sound behind it, kind of like an accordion. It slows everything down, with what sounds this time like uileann pipes giving the song a very celtic feel. It's quite ambient really with a fine restrained vocal from Steve Hogarth, amd brings us into what I consider the standout of the album. "The great escape" is broken into two parts, the first, called "The last of you", recalls some of the themes from "Goodbye to all that", with a gentle piano opening accompanying Hogarth's vocal before percussion and guitar break in, the pace a slow, stately, almost funereal one, until about two minutes in when it soars into a powerful passionate piano and keyboard melody, Hogarth's voice angry and disbelieving as the girl snarls "Just when I thought I'd seen/ The last of you/ You come here/ Scratchin' at my door" and demands an apology, an explanation for what was done to her, and asks "Why did you hurt the very one/ You should have protected?"

Part two then is "Fallin' from the moon", built on another piano melody and chiming guitar with slow, measured drumming as Hogarth remarks "A bridge is not a high place .../ When you've fallen from the moon." Wonderful evocative guitar solo to close and then we hear the sounds of water again as we end up back where we began, before "Made again" finally brings us a happy ending, with an acoustic guitar opening, very simple and clean, Hogarth singing softly against this, eyes wide with new wonder at the world. The band comes in to accompany him then as the song takes on a jaunty, upbeat tone as the album comes to an end.

TRACKLISTING

1. Bridge
2. Living with the big lie
3. Runaway
4. Goodbye to all that
(i) Wave
(ii) Mad
(iii) The opium den
(iv) The slide
(v) Standing in the swing
5. Hard as love
6. The hollow man
7. Alone again in the lap of luxury
8. Paper lies
9. Brave
10. The great escape
(i) The last of you
(ii) Fallin' from the moon
11. Made again

After "Script for a jester's tear", this is far and away my favourite Marillion album. After two albums of more or less basic rock on "Season's end" and "Holidays in Eden", Marillion returned to what they did best and revisited the painful world of "Misplaced childhood", to take a more mature and experienced look at youth and growing up, and what can befall the most innocent through no fault of their own. The title is appropriate in two ways: the heroine of the story is brave in that she gets away from her abusive father and useless mother, and tries to make a life for herself (although in the alternate ending to the album she jumps from the bridge and drowns) and it was also a very brave and bold decision for the band to take, knowing they were losing touch with their fans and wishing to return to their progressive rock roots, but still tackling a very sensitive and in many ways taboo subject.

It didn't pay off for them commercially, as though singles were taken from the album this is not one that lends itself to hits, and nor were there any. It did reasonably well in the album charts, getting into the top ten but behind the previous two albums and a long way off the band's best-ever showing of a number one slot for "Misplaced childhood". But critically the album was acclaimed and it has gone down as one of the fan favourites. You could almost hear Fish singing this, though profuse credit must be given to Steve Hogarth, who conceptualised the whole thing and wrote almost all of the lyrics alone.

After this, perhaps rather bizarrely, Marillion would revert to the mostly straight rock they had been moving away from, with an attendant slide down the charts, something the band have never recovered from. But charts are for pop songs, and while it's nice to see your favourite band there, Marillion have always been more about the music and the fans, two things that have ensured they are still popular as ever, over thirty years since they released their debut. They may have changed their format slightly, but with albums like "Marbles" and last year's triumphant "Sounds that can't be made" I feel they're slowly edging back to the progressive rock format they helped champion and revive in the 1980s.

But it's unlikely they'll ever record an album like this again. Unique, dark, mature, controversial. But above all, brave.

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Trollheart

Time to shake that shaker and let the chips fall where they may, as we hit up another unknown (to me) album and see what we get. There will be absolutely no prizes for guessing my motivation in choosing this one --- I love an interesting title or band name, and you don’t get a whole lot more interesting than a band called Break My Fucking Sky, now do you? Of course, it’s virtually impossible to get any information on them, so I’m shooting totally in the dark here, but then, that’s what this section is all about, isn’t it?

If I had to guess (and I’d probably be wrong) I would say this is a thrash/death metal band, just going from the name, but I really have no clue. That could be a massive pink salmon, sorry, red herring, and the band could be a folk indie rock outfit for all I know. Well, that’s probably not too likely, but a name doesn’t always tell the full story. Unfortunately I can find nothing about them on El Webbo, other than YouTube videos and the odd place that sells their album, so I guess we’ll just have to let the music do the talking.

Final breath --- Break my Fucking sky --- 2013 (?)


First impressions: Totally breathtaking opening with beautiful soft acoustic piano then deep synthesiser in an almost orchestral vein --- could be an orchestra to be honest, I have no information at all about this album as I say. Nothing about the players, their discography, their style. This could be their debut for all I know. One thing I do know is I, rather appropriately, fucking love this! Soft, ambient, emotional, possibly (probably) instrumental. I find myself wondering though if I’m being setup for a fall, as I would almost swear this is metal, and may explode, if not in this track then in the next, shattering the lovely feeling I have here. Well we’ll see. Hmm. Second track is also piano-led, soft and instrumental with some sound effects loops thrown in.

Likes: The gorgeous atmospheric instrumental opening, giving me hope this may be an amazing discovery. It looks like it goes on like that too.

Dislikes: Nothing so far. And coming back at the end of the album, still nothing.

Development of album: Seems like it may all be instrumental. Piano certainly appears to be the main instrument, the lynchpin around which the rest of the music swings, the heart of the album. Some interesting drum loops almost give it a feel of slower hip-hop at times, and some really nice orchestral synth lays down further layers of beauty on this lush soundscape. Beautiful piece of evocative guitar in the gorgeous if grammatically-incorrect “So silently has become in my world without you”, then the last few moments of “Stop the time” are the first where the music gets anyway fast, dropping back to gentle ambience for “Your personal god”, with what sounds like violins. After all the soft piano tracks it’s almost a shock to hear what sounds pretty close to electronic pop in “You’re living this moment with me” but it goes back to the slow atmospherics for much of the rest of the album, ending on a storming track just shy of six minutes which brings in sort of techno influences into the mix.

Overall sound: Ambient, laidback, post-rock I guess, with piano the main instrument carrying the melodies.

Reminds me of: Hard to say really. So far, the closest I would come is the album from Dreamfire that I reviewed in “Bitesize” and maybe Anthony Phillips and Andrew Skeet’s “Seventh Heaven”.

Favourite track(s): “Final breath”, “Aquarius”, “Moon”, “So silently has become in my world without you” … pretty much everything really.

Least favourite track(s): Not a one.

Overall effect on me: Surprise mostly, but good surprise. As I said, I had no idea at all what to expect, and the fact that this turned out to be an instrumental album, and such a good one, knocked me a little for six. There were no nasty revelations, no sudden changes in the music and no growly vocals. Well, no vocals at all. I’m a little mystified as to the title of the band/project though, considering it’s all pretty laidback instrumental stuff. It kind of precludes any airplay. Then again, instrumental music doesn’t get much of that. Very impressed though, so that’s two for three so far. Wish I knew more about Break my Fucking sky though: I have a sneaking suspicion this could be one guy. Or girl. But there’s no way to confirm or disprove that, which is a pity.

TRACKLISTING

1. Final breath
2. Aquarius
3. Moon
4. So silently has become in my world without you
5. Stop the time
6. Your personal god
7. Destruam et aedificabo
8. Do not forget me
9. Embrace my night
10. Fire all over
11. You’re living this moment with me
12. Second chance
13. Sense of touch
14. The last minutes of stars
15. Will you save me

So, the rating then. Well, I definitely enjoyed this album, a whole lot more than I had realistically expected to, but how does that translate into dice ratings?

Die One: Loved this album in every way, so it’s getting a solid six. Early to be giving sixes yes I know, but I was really impressed by this.


Die Two: How familiar was I with the genre? Well, that’s an open question, because when I started the album I had no idea what genre it was. So given that I’m relatively familiar with ambient/instrumental music, but also taking into account that I was flying in here blind, I’m going for a midpoint score and awarding this


So a total dice roll then of


(Highest score yet…)

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Trollheart

I'm about to dive into this but Spotify is showing me a whole lot more than two albums man? In the shadows? Time? Into the unknown? Dead again? Return of the vampire? Am I missing something here??

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The Batlord

Well they had only the two albums before they broke up. Return of the Vampire was a comp of old demos, and the rest are reunion albums. Not familiar with those actually. It's their first two where the legend was born though.

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Trollheart

When most people think of Hazel O’Connor these days this is in fact the song that comes to mind, but there was a time when she was counted with the “bad girls” of rock, along with the likes of Siouxsie Sioux, Lene Lovich and Toyah Wilcox. Starring in the punk movie “Breaking glass” and with a hit on her hands in the shape of “Eighth Day”, she was claiming her place as another of the punk queens of England.

"Will you"
Hazel O’Connor
1981
from the album “Breaking glass” (original soundtrack)


But then she released this ballad, and is forever now linked with the song, which appears on love albums periodically. It’s a slightly bitter tale of two lovers, I believe, sitting after another boring day comes to a close, the same as their relationship it seems is doing. Hazel speaks to her lover, not in words but in her thoughts, watching what he does --- simple, ordinary tasks --- ”You drink your coffee and I sip my tea” --- while the tiniest hope of reconciliation or even romance hangs in the air like the Sword of Damocles. Hazel realises the chances are that nothing will happen, but fantasises in her mind what might be: ”Then we touch/ Oh it’s too much/ This moment I have waited for a long long time/ A shiver, makes me quiver”

It’s all fantasy though, and she watches as her lover ignores her and wonders if he will ”Just politely say goodnight?” The song is a beautiful one and Hazel’s vocal, brittle and cracking with repressed anger and recrimination, but also the desperation of someone who just wants to be loved, even once, is powerful. It opens on simple guitar with attendant piano coming in in a sort of staccato fashion, the first blast of sax belting in as the second verse begins. The percussion cuts in properly now, the piano taking a little more of the melody. Sax moans in counterpoint, then squeals before the bridge, as synthesised strings are added to the melody.

The best part however comes in the extended ending, with a long, mournful sax solo that comes in on the back of slow, measured drumming and takes the whole thing to a new level. A song quite rightly and deservedly reckoned one of the alltime classic love ballads, and one which never does, and never will, grow old.

You drink your coffee and I sip my tea,
And we're sitting here, playing so cool thinking "What will be, will be."

But it's getting kinda late now.
I wonder if you'll stay now, stay now, stay now, stay now?
Or will you just politely say "Goodnight"?

I move a little closer to you,
not knowing quite what to do
and I'm feeling all fingers and thumbs:
I spill my tea --- oh silly me!

But it's getting kinda late now.
I wonder if you'll stay now, stay now, stay now, stay now?
Or will you just politely say "Goodnight"?


And then we touch; much too much.
This moment has been waiting for a long, long time.
It makes me shiver, makes me quiver:
This moment I am so unsure;
This moment I have waited for:
Well is it something you've been waiting for?
Waiting for too?

Take off your eyes, bare your soul.
Gather me to you and make me whole.
Tell me your secrets, sing me the song.
Sing it to me in the silent tongue.

But it's getting kinda late now.
I wonder if you'll stay now, stay now, stay now, stay now?
Or will you just politely say "Goodnight"?

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last-night-in-sodom

Steve and myself were a couple for a while way way back in the early eighties, from 1980-1982. Our on-off relationship finally ended when I met my future husband not long after 'The Anvil' was released in March 1982; however, I always continued following Steve's career and my interest was piqued when it transpired Visage had recorded a new album. I was unsure of what to expect but found it to be a very pleasant surprise!! It has perfectly captured the original sound of Visage. I thoroughly enjoyed this album although I do concede that the tracks are a touch 'soulless'. Throughout my late teens and early twenties I was CRAZY for synthpop and have always had a soft spot for it.

Trollheart

Seriously? That's pretty cool. I think I made it clear in my review though that I'm not saying Visage are a bad band, just their particular brand of what I'd call soulless electronica is not for me. Mind you, I was pleasantly surprised (eventually) with how rounded Gary Numan's music turned out to be...

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last-night-in-sodom

Aye, many years ago! As for Gary Numan, I was a wee bit surprised to stumble upon my eldest son listening to Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) around a month ago because he'd always been staunchly anti Newman for some reason. Anyway I was blown away by it, definitely on of the finer hours of his career in my opinion, in particular I'd say 'I Am Dust'. Rather a heavy track but by God it's powerful.

last-night-in-sodom

*one