Trollheart

Album title: Welcome to the Cruise
Artiste: Judie Tzuke
Genre: Pop
Year: 1979
Label: Rocket Records
Producer: John Punter, Lem Lubin
Chronological position: Debut album
Notes:
Album chart position: 14 (UK)
Singles: “Stay with me till dawn”
Lineup: Judie Tzuke – vocals
Mike Paxman– guitar, percussion, additional backing vocals
Ray Russell– guitar, string and brass arrangements
Chris Parren, Paul Hart – keyboards
Mo Foster, Roy Babbington– bass
Peter Van Hooke, Simon Phillips, Barry De Souza – drums
Morris Pert, John Punter– percussion
Ray Warleigh– soprano saxophone
Paul Buckmaster– string arrangements
Kesh Satche – tabla
Gavin Wright, Richard Studt – orchestra leader
Steve Nye – piano notes

If you ask anyone who Judie Tzuke is you'll hear a confused “Who?” almost 99 percent of the time. Mention “Stay with me till dawn” and a light of comprehension may dawn on about ten percent of those, as that was her one and only big hit single, and so popular that it regularly crops up on compilation love song albums. Not a fitting legacy, but there it is. I was a big Judie Tzuke fan from the first time I heard that single and then bought this album, and the high point of my life for a long time was when I got to meet and interview her when she came to Dublin in the nineties. I'm quite aware that nobody else cares about these reviews, but it's my journal so suck it. This is the first of three albums I'll be looking at from her, and the review is taken from my original website edit, written back in the late eighties I believe, so forgive the somewhat sloppier writing. I've edited it as much as I can to fit in with my current way of reviewing and to try to ameliorate the rather gushing style it was written in, having been originally for my fansite.

Review begins

Judie's debut album, Welcome to the Cruise marked at one and the same time the beginning and the high point of her career. The closing track on the album, "Stay with me till dawn", became a huge hit single, and should by rights have set Judie on the road to stardom. Alas, it was not to be and after the release of her second album, the music world at large snubbed and ignored her, though she continued to produce great albums, and still does, having released almost twenty in her career, all of which have been largely ignored. The sleeve is typically understated Judie: no sexy picture of a leather-clad rock temptress, no flashy effects or blurbs, in fact, on the sleeve (as you can see in the picture above) Judie's face was not even seen on the cover. Never mind trying to sell your music through your sexuality: Judie was obviously determined to succeed on the merits of her songwriting ability, her singing and the talents of her band.

The album does not disappoint. Opening with the title track, there is a very straightforward warning in the message in the lyric: "Don't ever try to live my life": evidently, this was one lady who was not going to be conned and pushed around by the record companies. The track itself begins quite bright and breezily, before becoming somewhat more dangerous and brooding, and the whole thing is brought to a stunning climax by Mike Paxman's terrific and evocative soaraway guitar solo near the end of the song. “Welcome to the cruise” ends on an almost spoken vocal, with Judie vowing "No more goodbyes", and we're off to the next stop on our journey through Judie's past (real or imaginary I'm afraid I don't know), by the thundering drums of Simon Philips as “Sukarita” takes centre stage. This is a faster, somewhat more lighthearted sound, but the theme is as before: lost loves, and in particular one who will not stay away, and keeps evoking memories of the past. Things are slowed right down then for the quite simply beautiful “For you”, with Judie fulfilling lead and all backing vocals, mostly acapella but later supported by a string section, to craft one of the the most haunting and heartbreaking ballads I have ever been privileged to listen to.

“These are the laws” is a fast, jaunty, almost disco-type number, with Judie admitting that certain laws do need to be laid down if a relationship is to succeed. I have often sat staring at the rain falling against the window and listened to "Bring the rain", and it could not be more evocative of a wet afternoon or evening, when sometimes all the things we have done wrong in our lives come back to haunt us. In this song Judie opens up her soul, bemoaning the fact that "I build my cities so high that they break through the skies... and bring the rain." You really can't help but feel sorry for her, and perhaps this is where her strength as both a vocalist and a songwriter lie: that though she is undoubtedly in this business to make money and become successful, you can't avoid the feeling that sometimes she seems just a little girl playing at being a rock singer, and wondering when the dream is going to end. “Bring the rain” is given the most beautiful backdrop by Paul Buckmaster's string section, and the whole thing fades out gracefully and slowly, leaving one with a sense of something lost, something just slipped away through your fingers.

The mood doesn't last long though, as “Southern smiles” bounces its way across the grooves (yes, I know: I'm an old vinyl fogey! But it doesn't sound the same to say something like, bounces across the laser...). This is an unashamedly happy tune, relating the tale of somewhere Judie loves to be, where all her friends (family, perhaps?) are, and a place that makes her feel good. "I should be somewhere else....there's something there holds my heart". Mike Paxman adds his vocals on this one for the first time, and allover it's a catchy, breezy tune that would have made a good single.Things slow down a little for “Katiera Island”, a favourite in Judie's live shows. Featuring a calypso island-ish beat, and a lyric that seems to point to two people shipwrecked and learning to live together in a strange land, though the island may be a metaphor for something else.

And then it's on to another Tzuke ballad, the ethereal “Ladies' night”, with Judie left alone to fend for herself and trying not to break down in front of her paramour's friends. Another beautiful string section, this time arranged by Ray Russell and led by Gavin Wright, evoking more sadness and melancholy as the story of a woman desperate not to break down (or at least be seen to) unfolds. After the intense poignancy of “Ladies' night”, I must personally admit that I never liked the next track. As close to a disco track as Judie has ever got, “New friends again” seems to portray the lifestyle of a woman with few commitments and less responsibility, who, when things go wrong, just leaves the people she knows and makes new friends: "It's another way of saying that you change your friends again".

And then we come to the famous love song. It certainly deserved its success, and there's little point in going too deeply into it here, as surely everyone has heard it at least once by now, but it is a pity that “Stay with me till dawn” proved too huge a mountain to climb, that Judie was never again able to prove to the record-buying public that she could write songs as good, if not better. This could be seen as the record company's fault, for not perhaps releasing the proper track to follow up the success of the hit single (“Ladies' night” or “Bring the rain” would have been good choice, IMO), but in the end the song itself can't be blamed, nor the songwriter. “Stay with me till dawn” is one of the loveliest, heartwarming, smouldering, inspiring ballads ever to come out of Europe, and fully deserves its place in the annals of "Classic Smoochers". Fans of the lady and her band will, however, know that there is far more to her than this.

Track listing and ratings

Welcome to the cruise
Sukarita
For you
These are the laws
Bring the rain
Southern smiles
Katiera Island
Ladies' night
New friends again
Stay with me till dawn

Afterword:

I would consider this a very impressive debut, and given the success of "Stay with me till dawn" it's both encouraging and depressing to see that the album wasn't just a collection of fillers to support that hit; there really are a lot of other tracks there that should have been released and would have made good singles, and perhaps the story would then have been different. Perhaps not, who knows? Another point of interest is that, although he later became the mainstay of Judie's band (and still is), Mike Paxman only featured on four of the ten tracks on this album: he played acoustic guitar on "Katiera Island", that memorable solo acoustic guitar on "Stay with me till dawn", additional vocals on "Southern smiles" and of course that wonderful guitar solo on the title track. Interesting also to note that neither of the two other members of the band who were to become an integral part of that solid lineup are present on this album either: no Paul Muggleton, (whom she would later marry) no Bob Noble. Nevertheless, a very warm and engaging welcome to a cruise that, were you prepared to stick with it, would take you some really amazing and inspiring places.

Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Sportscar
Artiste: Judie Tzuke
Genre: Pop
Year: 1980
Label: Rocket Records
Producer: Paul Muggleton/Mike Paxman/Judie Tzuke
Chronological position: Second album
Notes:
Album chart position: 7 (UK)
Singles: n/a
Lineup: Judie Tzuke – vocals
Mike Paxman – Guitar
Bob Noble – Keyboards
Jeff Rich – Drums
John Edwards – Bass
Paul Muggleton – Backing vocals

How odd! After the success of the debut album, and with no singles at all taken from this – never mind any chart hits – Judie's second album managed to out-perform Welcome to the Cruise to the tune of being placed seven slots higher, still her best ever chart showing. We can see now that mainstays Mike Paxman, Bob Noble and Paul Muggleton are on board, and this lineup would remain in place for at least another sixteen years. Interestingly, again, we don't see Judie's face on the cover, almost as if she is again refusing to use her sexuality as a marketing tool. She's even ensured (assuming the cover concept was hers) to wear loose, baggy clothing and really look about as unsexy as possible. The posture she's in could even indicate despair, or perhaps a descent into madness? It's quite childlike, reinforced by the idea of sitting at the bottom of the stairs with what appears to be a toy car at her feet. In fact, Judie would eschew using her face again on the next album – only allowing it to be stylised in a drawing – and would not actually appear fully on the cover until 1982's Shoot the Moon, after which, perhaps paradoxically, her face would be on every album up to 1992's Wonderland, and then not again until 2007's Songs 1.

Review begins

Although this was only her second album, it was apparent that a subtle change had come over the way Judie wrote and arranged songs. In particular, she took over the production duties on this album herself, along with Mike Paxman and Paul Muggleton. The first track (also the title) roars into life as the pounding drums of Jeff Rich, the tinking piano of Bob Noble and the wailing guitar of Mike Paxman kick into a tale of flashy men with flashy cars, who think they are impressing everyone, when in fact all they're doing is making themselves look rather silly. The track is reasonably long, leading to there only being four songs on side 1 (yes, it's that old vinyl thing again!), but four fine songs they are. “Sportscar” obviously establishes itself as a crowd favourite for later on, something you can dance to and punch the air to, and proves to any who had doubts that Miss T. can rock with the best of them!

Slowing things down for the second track, “Nightline” has an almost spoken vocal, as Judie waits for her lover to come to her, and the sparseness of the lead vocal is counterpointed beautifully by the dramatic backing vocals on the chorus. “Nightline”was never going to become a classic, but it's certainly a good song, and another good example of the writing partnership of Tzuke and Paxman. “Chinatown” starts off with an amusingly oriental keyboard riff, as Judie paints a scene of the London Soho area: "To the sound of the gun and the fivepenny run, they are free". “Chinatown” also features some nice backing vocals, and since they're all female and there's no credit to the contrary, I assume it's Judie doing the lot. Very nice. This song would be echoed some years later in the 1983 release, Ritmo, where again Judie sings of the darker side of London, though in “Walk don't walk” the slant is much more ominous, less light-hearted than here, where she sings "Here come the boys from Chinatown, they don't want no trouble, they're just hanging around".

And so we come to the next ballad, the song that closes side 1 should surely have been a single, though it appears it wasn't. “Understanding” is a beautiful ballad, touching on the poignant relationship between two people, one of whom is finding it hard to make certain decisions, the other of whom is finding it hard to wait for him. As in many of her lovesongs, Judie gives as much (if you'll pardon the pun) understanding as she can, but eventually she has enough, and has to point out that things must change: "Now the game that we've been playing has to change, and it's by my rules that we play." The vocal exchange on the outro to the song is beautiful, and sung really well by Paul Muggleton, in what is, as far as I can see, his first real chance to show off his vocal talents as other than a backing singer.

Things move into high gear then for “The choices you've made”, a boppy, toe-tapping number but yet with a sad message within: "The choices you've made, I try hard but I can't understand it. And the windows are covered in rain, and the doorway is just as I found it." In her songs at any rate, love seems to constantly elude Judie. As in the next track, a slower number called “The rise of heart”, where the promise of a rekindled love affair is just too dangerous for Judie to take. Lovely backing vocals again, and Judie's soaring, soulful voice singing "If we start the rise of heart I won't want to be a spectator". Which takes us to “Living on the coast”, where Judie has retired to get away from a former lover, and wonders if he were to join her there now "Who would need the sympathy?". The scene is lovingly engendered by Judie and Mike's lyric: "An evening with the sun, shining just enough to make you stay. You know the warm winds fool you..." The musical mood of this song fits the lyric: a relaxed, slow, almost jazzy number, and an almost lazy vocal: you can nearly hear the surf gently crashing on the beach...

“Molly” is a short, sad song, recounting the experience of a young, silly girl who fell in love with a sailor who, when he had had what he wanted, did what all sailors do: sailed away. Yet every day she goes back to the shore, hoping to see him again. The melody is quite simple, almost nursery-rhyme, or maybe carnival. Whether this is meant to mock the girl in the song or sympathise with her, only the writers know. And then the closing track, the first on which Paul Muggleton collaborated. “Rain on the hills” is a strange song, seemingly the tale of a man on the run in a foreign country. The music is jaunty, bouncy, and again you have to wonder if this is our Judie taking a little poke at the guy in the song --- oh well; if she is, she's entitled to, as she, Mike and Paul created him in the first place.To me though, the lyric is a little confusing, but then that's nothing new. Not the track I would have chosen as a closer for the album, as I've always found that I end up humming the last track as I pack the record away, but there you go.

Track listing and ratings

Sportscar
Nightline
Chinatown
Understanding
The choices you've made
The rise of heart
Living on the coast
Molly
Rain on the hills

Afterword:

As a second album, Sportscar is not the juggernaut that its predecessor was, but is still a worthy follow-up, and sports (ahem!) many potential singles, though it appears none were selected. Interesting to note the difference an album produced by members of the band makes: though Welcome to the cruise was produced excellently, this album does I think suffer from slightly heavy-handed production, but then the three of them were finding their feet at the time, so they can be forgiven.Which is not to say that this is not a good album. I wouldn't rate it as my favourite, but I certainly don't dislike it. In fact, with the exception of the final track and possibly “Molly”, I like all the tracks on this album. Sportscar was never destined to become a classic, but it's a solid rock album, and a great pointer to what Judie's music was to grow into, for those who were prepared to stick with her after she had ceased to be flavour of the month.

Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: I am the Phoenix
Artiste: Judie Tzuke
Genre: Pop
Year: 1981
Label: Rocket Records
Producer: Paul Muggleton
Chronological position: Third album
Notes:
Album chart position: 17 (UK)
Singles: n/a
Lineup: As previously

Review begins

Judie's third album sees her as some sort of avatar on the cover, a stylised goddess rising from the flames (I am the phoenix), and kicks off with a good rocker. “Black furs” seems to relate the tale of a singer who is now as successful as her idol (male or female, this is not mentioned), but I must admit I'm not too much on the song's wavelength, and I could be wrong about the subject matter. It's a good stomper though, and has proved a crowd-pleaser over the years. “Higher and higher” on the other hand returns to familiar Tzuke territory, with a nice, waltzy type love song, which seems to relate the tale of a woman in love, and being drowned in wonder at it all. The electric piano and swirling synth in particular are nice touches, and I have to admit at times this song reminds me of Genesis at their best.

Anyway, on to track three, “Fate's wheels”, which fades in with a menacing bass, sidekicked by Mike Paxman's chuddering guitar, as Judie laments the position of being manipulated by events outside her control. There's a nice chorus line: "Hold on to me if you need me, I'll be holding on to you. We'll take our fate as they deal it: only the strong survive". There's a sweet electric piano solo in the song, while the bass and guitar keep watch. For this album Judie has drafted in outside help, with another keyboard player (Andy Clark) backing up Bob Noble, and Charlie Morgan taking over some drum duties from Jeff Rich. There are also two new guitarists, acoustic men proceeding under Paxman's watchful eye, to help fill out the sound of the album, which works well.

“Come hell or waters high” is the “Stay with me till dawn” of this album, a beautiful, simple ballad where Judie professes her undying love for her man. This song had the dubious distinction of being covered by the pop/soul singer, Dee Cee Lee, some years ago, but her version wasn't a patch on the original, I feel. This song is mostly driven by piano and acoustic guitars, and really is a beautiful composition. One of the two most touching ballads on the record, and easily for me the best track overall. Following it is another ballad, but a more jaunty, upbeat-ish one. “You were the place” is the lament of one who must leave the one they love, and never see them again: "It's the last time I can call you friend, my friend." There's a lovely piano backing to Mike's guitar here, with the drums not obtrusive, but keeping the beat nicely. This is in fact Jeff Rich, making his appearance on only four out of the nine tracks on the album.

The next track is very weird! It's great musically, but lyric wise I have to admit I remained lost as to what it was about until I spoke to Judie and asked her, and the mystery was solved. “City of swimming pools” is an atmospheric, swirling, mysterious song, with sweeping synthesisers and ominous piano. It's quite a long song, and very well crafted, as can be said about pretty much every track here. If there's a title track then the next one is it, but it's in fact called “You are the phoenix”. Hey, it's FUNKY! The first of Judie's songs I've heard with this sort of beat, up to now. A sort of jazzy guitar against a solid bassline and synthesiser backing, this track has Judie wondering what it takes for a love affair to stay together, or to be remembered after it is over: "If we pass by on some avenue will we walk by like we never knew what love can do?"

“The flesh is weak” is an unashamedly brazen admission that everyone at some time gives in to temptation. It's a fast, bouncy song, and has a nice, goodtime feel about it, with the chorus coming across heavier than the rest, almost shouted. Paul Muggleton complements Judie well on the backing vocals here, as elsewhere. Mike has obviously decided at this point to leave the vocals to the two of them and concentrate on his superb guitar playing. Echoes of “Chinatown” surface, interestingly enough, halfway through the track, and were Judie to start singing "Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah", as in that track, I wouldn't have been surprised. There's a nice piano outro to the whole thing, courtesy of Mr. Noble. Very tasty.

And so we come to the closing track, another ballad, and almost as good as “Come hell or waters high”. “I never know where my heart is” sees Judie in the position many women (and men) often find themselves in, unsure whether to trust, unsure if something is going to last, unsure if she is doing the right thing: "Fall in love, fall apart... I've never known where my heart is". In this song her lover seems to be cheating on her, but she is not sure, and afraid to ask in case she is wrong, and loses him through the accusation. It's a lonely, sad, sympathetic song, and driven nicely by the keyboards of Noble and the gently understated guitar of Paxman, along with the string arrangement which sees the return of Gavin Wright and Paul Buckmaster, and all in all, a lovely way to close the album. There are even reminders of the utterly beautiful backing vocals used by Judie on Welcome to the Cruise's “For you”. Stupendous.

Track listing and ratings

Black furs
Higher and higher
Fate's wheels
Come hell or waters high
You were the place
City of swimming pools
You are the phoenix
The flesh is weak
I never know where my heart is

Afterword:

Musical maturity is evident in this, Judie's third album, with songs like “City of swimming pools” and “Come hell or waters high”. The production duties have by now been taken over by Paul Muggleton, and the backing vocals by Bob Noble. The return of Wright and Buckmaster adds something that perhaps Sportscar was lacking: string arrangements always seem to work well for Judie, giving her songs a fuller, more haunting quality. It's interesting also that when the aforementioned Dee Cee Lee looked for a JT number to cover, it was to this album that she came. Perhaps seen as a turning point in Judie's career? Yeah, well hardly, but still, a step up from her previous albums. The one word that describes this album best is, I think, mature.

Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Young Americans
Artiste: David Bowie
Genre: Soul
Year: 1975
Label: RCA
Producer: Tony Visconti
Chronological position: Ninth album
Notes:
Album chart position: 2 (UK) 9 (US)
Singles: “Young Americans”, “Fame”
Lineup: David Bowie– vocals, guitar, keyboards
Carlos Alomar– guitar
Mike Garson– piano
David Sanborn–saxophone
Willie Weeks– bass guitar (except on "Across the Universe" and "Fame")
Andy Newmark– drums (except on "Across the Universe" and "Fame")
Larry Washington –conga
Pablo Rosario – percussion on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
Ava Cherry, Robin Clark,Luther Vandross– backing vocals
John Lennon– vocals, guitar, backing vocals on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
Earl Slick– guitar on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
Emir Ksasan – bass guitar on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
Dennis Davis– drums on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
Ralph MacDonald– percussion on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
Jean Fineberg – backing vocals on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
Jean Millington – backing vocals on "Across the Universe" and "Fame"
Luther Vandross – vocal arrangements

Time to get back to the Thin White Duke. When last we left him, Bowie was about to pull one of his surprises on the music world by changing direction completely, something that would establish him as one of the most innovative and versatile artistes of his generation. After exploring glam rock with his previous album and paying tribute to his music heroes with Pin-Ups, Bowie now took on the previously almost sacrosanct world of soul. It was pretty much unheard of for any white guy to take on what was seen as real black music, the soul and rhythm and blues coming out of the poorer and more neglected parts of the USA, some of which would metamorphose into disco and explode across the charts a year or two later. Soul music was seen as the preserve of black artists, perhaps (before the rise of hip-hop) their last bastion, the one thing they could call theirs. The blues had been co-opted by white men as far back as Elvis and Buddy Holly, but nobody, to my knowledge, had had the guts, the vision or the talent to approach soul.

Until Bowie.

Review begins

The change in style is evident right from the very first notes of the opener, and title track, as punching drums and a piano glissando introduces an upbeat horn section in a joyful soul beat with a gospel-type backing vocal section while Bowie sings of one of his favourite subjects, the problems of young people. However in this song he also takes shots at American society in a way Springsteen did in a slightly more bitter, low-key manner. Hidden in the happy, cheerful, celebratory beat and melody is a lyric that asks basically “what can a Young American look forward to, growing up?” and also includes a snatch from The Beatles' Sgt Pepper when the backing vocalists sing ”I heard the news today, oh boy”. It's pretty hard to remain still while listening to this; it's very infectious. I suppose there could have been some outrage at Bowie calling himself, in the song, and titling the album, “Young American”, being English, not particularly young at the time and, as longtime band member and friend Carlos Alomar would say later “ the whitest man I ever saw. Translucent white!” but they seem to have let it slide.

Slowing things all the way down then, “Win” is a smouldering ballad with some lovely guitar from Alomar, this being the first time he would work with Bowie, a relationship that would last for over thirty years. It's almost more the Bowie we're used to hearing here, a kind of yearning, breathy vocal which instantly demands your attention, and the swirls of sax added by David Sanborn really help to create the mood, drifting around like thin smoke. Unlike the opener, this song has minimal backing vocals, leaving Bowie to carry the song on his own mostly, which of course is something he is more than capable of. Enlisting the writing talents of a young Luther Vandross next he collaborates with the man who would become synonymous with and a major star in the soul scene for “Fascination”, which goes for the hard edge of soul with a grindy guitar and sparking, spitting keys and sounds to me like something that could have been on Diamond Dogs. Based on a song Vandross had been working on, it has plenty of peppy horn and those backing vocals again which really funk it up. I said funk!

Oddly, exactly the same drum roll opens “Right”, and the same kind of horn too, but it's quickly obvious it's an entirely different song, with a sort of quasi-Latin beat running through it and howling sax, a kind of low-key affair for much of it until it punches out in the chorus with a sort of angry vocal from Bowie. Well, I said chorus but I have to admit I'm a little confused on the structure of the song, but it's very soul-infused for sure. Almost Mariachi style trumpet from ... um, I don't see, but surely that's trumpet and not sax? Anyone? Some very funky guitar from Alomar too. “Somebody up there likes me” has a lot of gospel mixing with soul and funk, and again Sanborn's sax is high in the mix and doing its thing. Powerful almost choir vocal going on there. Maybe a little overstretched if I'm honest. The great John Lennon himself then helps out on a cover of his and The Beatles' “Across the universe”, playing guitar and adding backing vocals to Bowie's version, and if you're a fan of the Fab Four you'll know the song, very anthemic as Bowie grins ”Nothing's gonna change my world” which is ironic, given how much both he and Lennon did just that.

A lovely ballad then in “Can you hear me”, which sounds like it has orchestration in a very seventies style, but I don't see any credited. Very intensely emotional soul backing vocals, while Bowie does his usual great job on the lead vocals. Lovely soft sax breaks from Sanborn, and a sweet acapella ending. Then we close on the big hit single, and who doesn't know “Fame”, which just drips funk mixed with sassy before-its-time new wave? No wonder it was a number one hit for him. In ways, I almost see this as the bridge between his “experiment with soul”, which he would leave somewhat to one side after this album, and an exciting new direction in which he would take us for the next one.

Track listing and ratings

Young Americans
Win
Fascination
Right
Somebody up there likes me
Across the universe
Can you hear me
Fame

Afterword:

An interesting album, certainly, but I feel it just shows that Bowie, while being a musical chameleon (perhaps the first such) was really just dabbling and trying this out, and it makes it feel a little less – real? It's almost like listening to someone whose music you know try to emulate the music of someone else, or in Bowie's case, a whole genre he had not until then had any real experience in. It doesn't detract from the overall quality of the album, and as evidenced by its chart success it didn't hurt his career (though really, it's Bowie: if he had recorded an album of monkeys chattering with him adding vocal overdubs it probably would have sold!) but it feels more like a detour than a destination. After this album, my overriding feeling is “Well that was fun but kind of glad it's over. Now let's get back to normal.”

But then of course, Bowie never did normal.

Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Station to Station
Artiste: David Bowie
Genre: Funk/Soul/Krautrock
Year: 1975
Label: RCA
Producer: David Bowie and Harry Maslin
Chronological position: Tenth album
Notes:
Album chart position: 5 (UK) 3 (US)
Singles: “Golden years”, “TVC15”, “Station to station”, “Stay”
Lineup: David Bowie– vocals, guitar,tenor and alto saxophone, Minimoog, Mellotron
Carlos Alomar– guitar
Roy Bittan– piano
Dennis Davis– drums
George Murray– bass guitar
Warren Peace– backing vocals
Earl Slick– guitar

After the soul experimentation of Young Americans Bowie began looking back in a European direction, and though at this time he was in a very bad place, addicted to cocaine and other drugs, seeing hallucinations and living, apparently, in morbid fear of Jimmy Page (!) he still managed to put together one of his most significant albums, and one which would kickstart and presage the trio of albums to follow, which would become known as “The Berlin Trilogy”. This album would also cement the lineup that would carry him through the seventies and into the eighties, and would also give him more hit singles.

Review begins

The title track kicks it off, and with typical Bowie usage of cliches in new ways there's the sound of a steam locomotive pulling into a station before Alomar's guitar wails in, creepy piano and then George Murray's thick bass pulls the track in, the vocal not coming in till a third of the way through the ten-minute opus. Bowie's first words are ”The return of the Thin White Duke”, the new persona, something of a carryover from his role in the movie The Man Who Fell to Earth, which would basically become the new Ziggy Stardust and would populate his albums for some time, also creating a stage persona for him. Some very nice restrained organ here till it suddenly kicks up the tempo about halfway and carries it through to the end. “Golden years” was a big hit, with its funky laid back rhythm and soft, almost crooned vocal, and after the energy of – at least the second half of – the title track it's a nice change of pace, and sort of harks back to the white soul of the previous album.

There's a lot of the soul from Young Americans, though a lot more restrained in “Word on a wing”, lovely song with a great piano line and some fine backing vocals; Bowie really does himself proud on the vocal here, pushing himself emotionally to the limit and indulging in some real spirituality, evidenced if nowhere else then in the almost angelic choral fade ending of the song. I've never been the biggest fan of “TVC15”. I know it's a popular song but it's always come across as a little weird to me, with its sort of honky-tonk piano line and sixties rock feel, to say nothing of the totally incomprehensible lyric: it's claimed that the song is about a TV set eating Iggy Pop's girlfriend, but I don't anything about that. The chorus is certainly catchy, even if it is just basically the title sung over and over. I feel the song overstays its welcome somewhat, becoming more or less a jam in the end. Nice to hear Bowie handling the sax himself instead of farming it out to the likes of Sanborn, and he's pretty damn accomplished on it too. Good song, but not one of my favourites.

“Stay” I know nothing about. It certainly has a very funky, Bensonesque guitar opening with a throbbing bass and sounds like it may be one of the rockiest tracks on the album. Some great work on the frets by Carlos and the song itself, though rocky, has very much soul overtones to it, almost disco at times. Bowie has been quoted as saying that there is no emotion in this album, that even the love songs are disconnected, but I really don't see it, especially in a sublime ballad such as “Wild is the wind”, which closes the album. I'm amazed to find it's a cover of a Nina Simone track, as I had always assumed he wrote it (lyric sounds so much like something he would write) but you can't avoid facts. One of my favourite songs of his overall, and definitely in my top ten of favourite ballads from him. Love the big drum roll around the fourth minute. Beautiful song.

Tracklisting and ratings

Station to station
Golden years
Word on a wing
TVC 15
Stay
Wild is the wind

Afterword:

Almost unanimously, people rave about this as being Bowie's finest album, and while I do like it I don't agree. Firstly, it's only six tracks, and of them I know three already, so there was no massive surprise for me in this, my first listen to the album. Second, I feel there is no huge difference between this and other Bowie albums I have so far heard; I hear the change in styles beginning, yes, but it's hardly a seismic shift, not here. While the songs are all memorable and I most likely would listen to it again, I'm not compelled to any more than I would be to listen to, for example, Hunky Dory or The Man Who Sold the World. I don't get the love and adulation for this album.

That said, it was certainly the crossover point for Bowie to move into new and as yet uncharted territory, and as ever, he would be the one piloting the ship through his next famous three albums, pioneering new routes that others would follow in the years to come, and showing that, once again, nobody would ever be able to predict which way he would jump.

Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Low
Artiste: David Bowie
Genre: Art rock/Experimental/Avant-garde/Ambient
Year: 1977
Label: RCA
Producer: David Bowie and Tony Visconti
Chronological position: Eleventh album
Notes:
Album chart position: 2 (UK) 11 (US)
Singles: “Sound and vision”, “Be my wife”
Lineup: (The actual lineup, with all the instruments everyone plays, is way too long so I'm going to simplify this. Sue me)
David Bowie: Vocals, keyboards, guitar, sax, bass, harmonica, Vibaphone, xylophone, piano
Brian Eno: Keyboards, piano, vocals, synths
Carlos Alomar: Guitars
Dennis Davis: Drums
George Murray: Bass
Ricky Gardiner: Guitars
Roy Young: Pianos, organ

As mentioned in the previous review, after a debilitating cocaine habit was destroying him, Bowie decided to leave LA and head back to Europe. He wanted to go somewhere where he would not be recognised and could lead a relatively normal life while he tried to recover, and Berlin turned out to be that place. Thus he lived there for two years with Iggy Pop and Tony Visconti, crafting three albums over that period which would become known as his “Berlin Trilogy”. This was the first of those.

Review begins

A snarling, punching guitar rocks things up right away as we open with “Speed of life”, Eno's weird little synth soundscapes already making their presence felt in the background of the melody and Bowie's own sax making an early showing. It's a powerful little upbeat instrumental that gives you the sense of someone just going for it and doing what he wants to do musically, no longer constrained by any preconceptions or expectations. Most of the songs on this album are short, very short, and “Breaking glass” is no exception, clocking in at less than two minutes with a striding rock beat and the genesis of his take on Krautrock; even his vocal sounds a little robotic here at times. Have to wonder if he's talking autobiographically when he sings ”You're such a wonderful person/ But you got problems!” There's barely time really to acknowledge this track though before we're into more Krautrock (I think: I know very little of the genre and am going a lot here on what others, people who know a lot more about this than I do, have written on the subject) with “What in the world”, another fast uptempo and basically cheerful track.

I definitely get the feeling (probably just me but there you go) of someone taking a deep breath after being underwater for so long that they believed they must drown, coming up for air and realising the world is a place they still want to live in. There's certainly an effort to suppress emotion in the vocal, to make it more inhuman, mechanical and deadpan, despite the boppy music. “Sound and vision” is one of his great hits, basically mostly driven on the one riff and with a vocal that ranges from the falsetto to the baritone (maybe; I'm not that knowledgeable about vocal ranges either, but it goes from high to low) and there is actually very little to the lyric, making the song not quite an instrumental but not that far from it. Some snarly guitar and growling sax, then Bowie's voice comes in and asks ”Don't you wonder sometimes?” A sort of descending synthline also accompanies the main melody, perhaps representing high to low?

The kind of stabbing keyboard chords that would later characterise new wave and electronic music introduce “Always crashing in the same car” with what sounds like horn accompaniment, but given the amount of weird instruments being used here (and with Eno in attendance) it could be anything. Nice sort of almost dreamy feel to this, following on from the slower “Sound and vision” and keeping things basically mellow; a very low-key and relaxed vocal from Bowie. Kicking things up a bit more then with “Be my wife”, some wailing guitar and chunky synth with a relatively simple lyrical idea. Another very new-waveish (as it would become) instrumental, with added harmonica, “Another career in another town” could also be said to be semi-autobiographical, or at least descriptive of Bowie's attempts to kick his habit and make the music he wanted to.

A big, doomy church organ sound opens “Warszawa”, a very dark ambient piece. The album is basically divided into two sections, the first (originally the first side of the record) consisting of short, more or less straight rock pieces and short instrumentals, while the second side is devoted to deeper, longer and more introspective ambient instrumental pieces, mostly. In the fourth minute of “Warszawa” Bowie kind of chants something across the melody but I've no idea what it means, or if it's actually meant to be Polish, or indeed anything at all. It does add to the atmosphere, though I personally think the piece would have served better as a true instrumental. Nevertheless, it's more or less accepted that this is where Low really begins to come into its own, where Bowie, and Eno, stretch their musical muscle and engage their creativity to produce something really special.

“Art decade” has a kind of ticking percussion, a version of which would surface three years later on Genesis's Duke album, though Collins would use a drum machine to recreate the sound. There's a really nice sort of climbing, rising melody in this, the soft percussion really complementing the melody, with some other odd little Enoesque sounds thrown in too, and a vague feeling of early Yes there too, as well as hints of Vangelis. Xylophone and vibraphone really get utilised in “Wailing wall”, very soft electronic, again reminds me of Vangelis around his Mask period, and quite oriental in sound too. It's almost an exercise in expressionism in music. The guitar certainly wails in counterpoint, then a synth begins its own deeper moan, and all of this fades out and leads us into the closer.

Originally written as part of his aborted soundtrack for the movie The Man Who Fell to Earth, “Subterraneans” has a dark, eerie and yet quite beautiful feel to it. Driven on what sounds like violin, a high, sighing synth line and a slow, measured bass, it's mournful and moving, with a low vocalise from Bowie occasionally sifting through it, more a kind of hum really. Some rather unexpected sax and a vocal line near the end places the final seal on the piece and brings the whole album to a very satisfying conclusion.

Track listing and ratings

Speed of life
Breaking glass
What in the world
Sound and vision
Always crashing in the same care
Be my wife
Another career in another town
Warzsawa
Art decade
Weeping wall
Subterraneans

Afterword:

I had a few run-ins with this album originally. When much much younger my boss (a huge Bowie fan) lent it to me and I was somewhat underwhelmed. I guess at that time (I would have been maybe 17 or 18) I had no real appreciation of music and I thought of Bowie in terms of his singles, so I liked "Sound and vision" and that was it. The album mostly bored me. Later, I tried it again for my Classic Albums I Have Never Heard journal and liked, and appreciated and understood it a lot more. Here, I'm sort of backing up the second listen, as it were, but in a more detailed way. Suffice to say, I now see why this is regarded as one of Bowie's most important albums, and I'm glad I took the time to listen to it and experience it as it should be.

Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: ”Heroes”
Artiste: David Bowie
Genre: Art Rock/Ambient/Experimental
Year: 1977
Label: RCA
Producer: David Bowie and Tony Visconti
Chronological position: Twelfth album
Notes:
Album chart position: 3 (UK) 38 (US)
Singles: “Heroes”, “Beauty and the Beast”
Lineup: David Bowie– vocals, keyboards, guitars, Chamberlin, tambourine, saxophone, koto, backing vocals, producer
Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitar
Dennis Davis – drums, percussion
George Murray – bass guitar
Brian Eno – synthesisers, keyboards, guitar treatments
Robert Fripp – lead guitar
Tony Visconti– percussion,backing vocals
Antonia Maass – backing vocals

Second in the “Berlin Trilogy” and the only one of the three to be actually recorded in Berlin, about five hundred yards from the Berlin Wall, this album yielded Bowie one of his most famous and iconic and successful singles in the title track. It also featured the first contributions of King Crimson's Robert Fripp, and continued Bowie's exploration of Krautrock and ambient sounds and textures.

Review begins

We kick off on what would become the first single, but be far eclipsed by the second, and “Beauty and the Beast” seems to me something of a predecessor to later tracks like “Scary monsters” and “Fashion”, with a thumping beat and a sense of bouncy melody, the vocal somewhat harsh and almost metallic at times. Fripp's guitar growls and squeals here, lending the song a very rocky aspect, and it's far more uptempo than the previous album from the outset. High-pitched almost screaming backing vocals contrast nicely with Bowie's lower register, and though the song is a shade repetitive it's a good opener. Guitar also drives “Joe and the lion”, reminding me more of elements from Aladdin Sane and Ziggy Stardust. Bowie's vocal is a little more tortured here, kind of howling at times, more sort of odd backing vocals and a fine solo, and we're into the standout on the album, the title track and the one everyone has heard at one time or another. I really don't think I need to describe “Heroes”, so I won't. It's one of my alltime favourite Bowie songs, and if you don't know it, then get out from under that rock and go listen to it: you'll be doing yourself a massive favour.

“Sons of the silent age” has a vaguely Arabic flavour to it, opening for once on horns and not guitars, and reminds me a little of “Drive in Saturday”, a slow song that seems for once to capture Bowie's cockney London accent at the start, before he ascends into a “grander”, more classic Bowie vocal for the chorus, backed this time by more a Beach Boys style vocal. There's certainly a few smatterings of progressive rock in this too, and a kind of look back to the likes of Sinatra and Bennett in the almost lounge-like singing. By contrast, “Blackout” is an uptempo rocker, again guitar-centric, recalling the best of Mick Ronson, with a pretty anarchic vocal by Bowie, the lyric spat out in rapid-fire mode for much of the song. There's a real edge of funk to it, quite a danceable tune I would expect, though I wouldn't class it as one of my favourites on the album. A thick, pulsing bass introduces “V2-Schneider” with a great horn section and some echoing guitar, very much continuing the uptempo mood from the previous song. Seems to be an instru – oh no wait: he's singing the title, but that appears to be the only vocal on it, so essentially, yeah, an instrumental and it leads into the dark bassy piano of the ominous “Sense of doubt”, definitely recalling the darker, later moments on Low, particularly “Warzsawa”, and again an instrumental, so that generally speaking the two albums seem to have followed the same pattern, that is, bouncy (mostly) uptempo rockers on side one, and darker, more atmospheric instrumentals forming the bulk of the second side.

Another instrumental then, but as different to “Sense of doubt” as it is possible to be, and segeuing directly into that, “Moss garden” features a koto, a Japanese string instrument that sounds to me something like a cross between a sitar and a mandolin, and is very pastoral and relaxed, with obviously a very oriental feel, almost given you the image of sitting in a garden (duh!) listening to the birds and the grass and just drinking it all in. There's also an ethereal high synth line floating above everything with some wind effects thrown in too, and this track then fades in to the last of the three instrumentals, “Neuköln”, which is perhaps the most ambient of the three pieces, almost expressionism really, with a dark synth line and squealing sax throughout the track, a deep sense of loneliness and melancholy pervading the whole thing. We end then on “The secret life of Arabia”, where we again hear the vocals of Bowie, a mid-tempo song with some good backing vocal work. It's a decent song, but I tend to agree with David Buckley, one of Bowie's biographers, when he says the last, haunting, droning notes on Bowie's sax that end “Neuköln ” should really be the final sound on the album, and this sounds slightly out of place in a way. It also fades out in a rather unsatisfying way.

Track listing and ratings

Beauty and the Beast
Joe the Lion
“Heroes”
Sons of the silent age
Blackout
V2-Schneider
Sense of doubt
Moss garden
Neuköln
The secret life of Arabia

Afterword:

Like I said, basically a continuation of Low – possible even to dub this Low part II – but no weaker for that. The addition of Fripp works well, and Bowie is certainly at this point getting to grips with the saxophone parts. The album (or at least, the second side) drips with the shadow of the oppression of the Berlin Wall, and you can only imagine what it must have been like recording in the lurking presence of that massive, dominating symbol of the Cold War at its worst. It would probably have been a mistake to try to make this a more upbeat album than Low, so generally speaking Bowie doesn't try, but continues the themes explored in the first of the Berlin Trilogy.

Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Lodger
Artiste: David Bowie
Genre: Art rock, Experimental rock, World music
Year: 1979
Label: RCA
Producer: David Bowie and Tony Visconti
Chronological position: Thirteenth album
Notes:
Album chart position: 4 (UK) 20 (US)
Singles: “Boys keep swinging”, “DJ”, “Yassassin”, “Look back in anger”
Lineup: David Bowie – lead and background vocals; guitar; synthesizer; Chamberlin; piano
Brian Eno – synthesizers; ambient drone; prepared piano; cricket menace; guitar treatments; horse trumpet; eroica horn; piano; backing vocals
Tony Visconti – guitar; mandolin; bass guitar; backing vocals
Adrian Belew – guitar; mandolin
Carlos Alomar – guitar; drums on "Boys Keep Swinging"
Dennis Davis – drums; percussion; bass guitar on "Boys Keep Swinging"
George Murray – bass guitar
Sean Mayes – piano
Simon House – violin; mandolin
Roger Powell – synthesizer
Stan Harrison – saxophone

The last of the so-called “Berlin Trilogy”, this album is viewed as one of Bowie's least accessible and least successful, despite its high chart placing, at least in the UK. It would also spell the end of his association with Brian Eno. In recent times it has become recognised as one of Bowie's more underappreciated albums, and attitudes towards it have changed. Speaking of changing, this album would see the beginnings of a new direction for the Thin White Duke, as he explored world music and more political themes.

Review begins
I must admit, the opener “Fantastic voyage” puts me in mind of nothing more than his later hit “Absolute beginners”. Nice song, quite laid back with a cool little piano line, and a very reserved and more soulful vocal than much of the previous Berlin albums. You can hear the political elements in his lyrics already here as he talks about ”shooting off missiles”. I can detect the kind of Bowie that we would know by the time albums like Let's Dance and Tonight rolled along. A lot less experimental, I feel, which is odd, given that the page for this album says it was full of experiments – oh, well “African night flight” is totally experimental, very industrial with metallic sounding keys and a rapid-fire (and I mean rapid) vocal from Bowie, spoken almost in a murmur at times. Kind of almost an embryonic Madness at times! The world music influences are clearly evident here, with added African chants, but I can't really say I like this track. It certainly stands out, anyway. Next up is “Move on”, which has a very rocky beat, almost fifties rockabilly at times, Bowie dropping into the lower vocal register for this. Apparently it's “All the young dudes” played backwards in parts: yeah, I can hear it, in the chorus I think. Africa gets namechecked again.

Reggae gets the Bowie treatment next in “Yassassin” (possibly presaging young pretender Gary Numan's later “I, assassin”?) with a very eastern flavour running through it; you could imagine Bowie standing in the desert doing that Egyptian dance while singing this. Maybe. Krautrock returns for “Red sails”, very upbeat and rocky with a real emergent new wave feel to it, some excellent guitar. Very catchy tune, like this one a lot. “DJ” was one of the four singles taken from the album, and again I hear “Fashion” in here with what sounds like bits of the Bee Gees (don't ask me which bits!). I know this song all right, good single, kind of sounds more like Ziggy era to me really. Another good one too, good sense of funk in the guitar while the synth seems more in the new-wave mode of things. Great vocal performance from the man, and then “Look back in anger” kind of passes me by but sounds like a decent pop song, while we probably all know his ode to being a man in “Boys keep swinging”, with its faux-fifties feel and crazy chorus.

“Repetition” is, well, repetitive, but intentionally so, and sung with zero emotion, again intentionally as it's about domestic abuse, very hard-hitting musically, and again “Red money” gives me that “Fashion” feeling, very uptempo, great guitar, and it sounds a little familiar. I see now this is because it appeared in a different form on Iggy Pop's The Idiot. Indeed.

Track listing and ratings

Fantastic voyage
African night flight
Move on
Yassassin
Red sails
DJ
Look back in anger
Boys keep swinging
Repetition
Red money

Afterword:

In a similar way to how I don't get why people rate Station to Station so highly, I'm not quite sure why this album gets so much hate. It's not perfect by any means, but it's not the bottom of the heap either. In fact, I pretty much like everything here. It's different, yes, but a good different and points the way to Bowie's next adventure, which would expand on the world music themes but at the same time lean in perhaps a more commercial direction, unsurprisingly giving him more hit singles.

Rating:

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Album title: Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Artiste: David Bowie
Genre: Art rock, New Wave, Post punk
Year: 1980
Label: RCA
Producer: David Bowie and Tony Visconti
Chronological position: Fourteenth album
Notes:
Album chart position: 1 (UK) 12 (US)
Singles: “Ashes to ashes”, “Fashion”, “Scary monsters”, “Up the hill backwards”
Lineup: David Bowie – vocals, keyboards, backing vocals, saxophone
Dennis Davis – percussion
George Murray – bass guitar
Carlos Alomar – guitars
Chuck Hammer – guitar synthesizer on "Ashes to Ashes" and "Teenage Wildlife"
Robert Fripp – guitar on "Fashion", "It's No Game", "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)", "Kingdom Come", "Up the Hill Backwards", and "Teenage Wildlife"
Roy Bittan – piano on "Teenage Wildlife", "Ashes to Ashes" and "Up the Hill Backwards"
Andy Clark – synthesizer on "Fashion", "Scream Like a Baby", "Ashes to Ashes" and "Because You're Young"
Pete Townshend – guitar on "Because You're Young"
Tony Visconti – acoustic guitar on "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" and "Up the Hill Backwards", backing vocals
Lynn Maitland – backing vocals
Chris Porter – backing vocals
Michi Hirota – voice on "It's No Game (No. 1)"


The album that would, after some definite chart success, return Bowie to the very top of his game, so much so that many people (including me at the time) had all but forgotten him before he burst into the number one spot with his updated “Space Oddity”, telling the tale of what had happened to Major Tom over a decade ago, in “Ashes to ashes”. This would not be the only hit single from the album, which would itself power to the top in the UK and just edge below the top ten in the US, significant improvements on his last two albums.

Review begins

Strangely enough, “It's not a game (Part 1)” has some Japanese bird singing in her native language as the album kicks off, but Bowie soon comes in with his inimitable vocal and the song is a mid-paced hard rocker whose melody owes rather a lot to Robert Palmer's “Addicted to love”, with Robert Fripp racking out the riffs on the guitar. I have of course no idea what the Japanese lady - whose name is, according to Wiki, Michi Horata, but it means about as much to me as it probably does to you - is singing, but it kind of doesn't matter. I think Bowie is singing the translation anyway. The song ends with Bowie shouting angrily “Shut up!” and we're into a song I do know.

I'm not that well-versed in this album at all, but “Up the hill backwards” is one track I have heard, and again oddly it reminds me of Bucks Fizz (yeah) in the sort of slow marching melody of the verses. Bowie's vocal is either multitracked or there are backing vox supporting him all through the song, giving the singing a weird kind of full, echo effect. Strange. It's quite anthemic in a restrained kind of way, then breaks into guitar histrionics from Fripp, which are kind of worth the price of purchase on their own, even if for some mad reason you didn't like Bowie. Good, tight percussion from Dennis Davis, and the song is over too soon, taking us into the title track, which rocks along with a krautrock flavour, a touch of Eastern European in the main guitar riff in the chorus, and Bowie putting on a cockney accent which really adds to the song. Great fun; sort of puts me in mind stylistically of “Suffragette City”, not sure why...

Again, this song features some great rolling percussion from Davis that really drives it, another mad solo from Fripp and some solid acoustic guitar from producer Tony Visconti, who also adds his voice to the backing vocals. The big hit single sees us return to the days of Bowie's beginnings, with Major Tom returning to take him to number one for the first time in years as “Ashes to ashes” lays down the marker and states in no uncertain terms that the Thin White Duke is back. A great idea with some wonderful touches in the song, including a sort of murmured choir that repeat the lines Bowie sings like a bunch of acolytes praying. A very freaky video, if I remember correctly. Great strong vocal from the man, and some nice guitar synthesiser popping all over the track, creating a very otherworldly feel and really making you believe you're standing on the surface of an alien planet. Well, it makes me feel that way.

Another hit then is up with “Fashion”, another stab at krautrock and perhaps a sly dig at himself , trendsetters and sheep maybe, the way people follow whatever's “in” at the time. A drum loop at the beginning perhaps a comment on how things go out of fashion and then come back in again, and the whole stupid cycle repeats itself, like a stuck record (oh, look it up!), as Fripp batters all in sight with his guitar riffs and soundscapes. Speaking of taking digs, the next track up sneers at the new wave kids, the likes of Gary Numan maybe, Fiction Factory and A Flock of Seagulls, as Bowie watches them ape the moves he pioneered in “Teenage wildlife”. For me, the standout on the album, it's based quite heavily on the main melody to “Heroes”, but never sounds like a copy of that classic. Bowie is at his expressive best here singing, with the criminally-ignored-by-me Carlos Alomar making his presence felt in the absence of Fripp, and firing off an emotional and powerful solo, Roy Bittan doing a fine job on the piano, and the whole thing just flows so well that it really should have been a single. Mind you, it would have had to have been cut down considerably from its almost seven-minute running time. Could have been a huge hit though. Sorry, another huge hit. Love this track. Something like tubular bells or the like there near the end, with a kind of funky run on the piano and guitar too. Another superb solo from Alomar, and a fine punching drumbeat from Davis.

Hard to follow that maybe, and “Scream like a baby”, though a good track, doesn't quite cut it for me. There's nothing wrong with it necessarily, it's just that a song would have to be immense to be able to trump “Teenage wildlife”, and this one ain't got the bus fare mate. It's a hard, grinding rocker with a snarly guitar line from Alomar and some pretty frenetic synth from Andy Clark, a dark, dystopian tale of a political prisoner, set in the future. Some very new-wave keys from Clark add a surreal feel to what is already a pretty out-there song, and some sort of baritone singing from Bowie pushes it even further. The only cover on the album then is “Kingdom come”, which sounds to me like it has the melody of Blondie's “Picture this” at the start, a very sixties/psychedelic vocal chorus , also including the line ” won't go breakin' no rocks” which makes me wonder if it was filched by Elton and Bernie for their song? Meh, it's ok but I'm not bowled over.

Pete Townsend puts in a star turn as he guests on “Because you're young”, which has a very rock feel that brings to mind the work of The Edge - yeah well it does to me - a punchy, mid-paced track with some really nice synth work from Clark and a nice rockalong beat from Davis. Sort of a new wave keyboard behind the rocky guitar and Bowie, needless to say, delivers as ever a flawless performance. There's also a faint echo of Bruce Springsteen here in the vocal, I feel. The album then closes as it began, with “It's no game (Part 2)”, a less frenetic rhythm this time, a restrained but firm guitar, and no Japanese singing. More great backing vocals, almost like a choir, and a last bow for Fripp before he departs for his home planet. Calm and reserved but still angry and powerful, and a good end to a really good album.

Track listing and ratings

1. It's no game (Part 1)
2. Up the hill backwards
3. Scary monsters (and super creeps)
4. Ashes to ashes
5. Fashion
6. Teenage wildlife
7. Scream like a baby
8. Kingdom come
9. Because you're young
10. It's no game (Part 2)

Afterword:
From from I have heard of his work through this discography it seems Bowie seldom if ever misses the mark, though I do remember being very disappointed with Never Let Me Down, which is rather ironic I guess. This album kicked off a series of successes for Bowie which I suppose in one way you could see as his comeback, though in truth he had never been away. But with hit singles from this and the next three albums, he would be in the public consciousness and on the radio for the next seven years, after which he would get into some more experimental stuff and kind of vanish off the radar commercially for about, well, another twenty-seven years, when he would burst back onto the scene, giving us one last treat before he left us, and showing us all once again how it was done, at the ripe old age of sixty-six.

As a first shot across the bows from the resurgent Bowie at the time, this album shows a man as ever brimming with creative ideas, energy and purpose, and certainly not content to rest on his laurels and fade into the background, counting his money and polishing his gold discs. After this period of activity, he would have a few more to add to his collection. And quite right too.

Rating:

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Trollheart

Album title: Thin Lizzy
Artiste: Thin Lizzy
Genre: Blues/Folk
Year: 1971
Label: Decca
Producer: Scott English
Chronological position: Debut album
Notes:
Album chart position: n/a
Singles: n/a
Lineup: Phil Lynott: Vocals, Bass, Acoustic guitar
Eric Bell: Guitars
Brian Downey: Drums

Thin Lizzy were an odd band. Most bands do go through certain evolutions and changes as they go, but Lizzy went from being basically a folk/blues band to a sort of Celtic rock hybrid, to hard rock and finally out-and-out heavy metal, and yet managed to have many hit singles. Various factors, not least among them Lynott's well-publicised drug addictions and other problems coupled with a basic insecurity and a failure to properly break the USA led to Lizzy disbanding in 1983, two years prior to Lynott's untimely death, and it is only really in retrospect that their real legacy has appeared.

Review begins

Their debut album opens with something which would characterise Lynott and show him to be first and foremost the principal lyricist in the band, a poem spoken laconically by the young Irishman, backed initially by soft percussion only, with some guitar chords leaking through, before the song gets going properly with Lynott's soon-to-be-instantly-recognisable vocal, some fine understated guitar from Eric Bell, and a sort of almost soul/funk style to later sections. Very laid back - “Jailbreak” this ain't! “Honesty is no excuse” has much more aching passion about it, already something approaching more closely to what would become the more tender moments of later Lizzy. Ivor Raymonde really adds something with his mellotron here, the only time the instrument is played on the album, but the real heart of the song is the soulful Celtic guitar runs from Bell. You can definitely see the beginnings of something great here, though Lizzy would arrive late to the party, only breaking properly with their sixth album, five years from now.

“Diddy Levine” is a tender love song, with Irish traditional overtones, an emotional vocal from Lynott, perhaps a little too long at seven minutes, though there's great passion in it and some fine buildup guitar from Bell. Lynott's bass really comes through here too, and about halfway through the mellowness drops away and the band go on something of a blues rock jam, with a repeating guitar motif running through the whole thing, then “Ray gun” sounds very Hendrixesque, Bell's guitar very much front and centre here, almost overpowering Lynott's vocal. This is the only song on the album written solely by Bell (his other contribution being collaborating with Lynott on the opener, “The friendly ranger at Clontarf Castle”) and it shows: it's as different to anything else on the album that it's almost hard to believe you're listening to the same band. In contrast, one of Lynott's better early songs, presaging his songwriting talent, “Look what the wind blew in” is also a blues rocker but has better teeth and is better balanced, unsurprisingly written for his voice as the principal instrument.

Through most of his life, and through most of Lizzy's career Phil Lynott would have an interest in, even obsession with Irish legends and history, and “Eire” shows this clearly, an acoustic ballad recalling the great mythic heroes of Ireland. It's a much more laidback song than later “Emerald” or “Warriors”, but it certainly points the way towards those songs. It's a short track and leads into the faster, more upbeat “Return of the farmer's son”, which allows Bell to slip his leash somewhat after the more restrained “Eire”, with perhaps paradoxically what seems like an early precursor to the riff from aforementioned “Emerald”, which would not surface for another five years. “Clifton Grange Hotel”, written about the hotel his mother managed in Manchester, is another short song, almost hurried in its way, with a sort of Cream-like guitar from Bell and some fine bass work from Lynott, but really little to write home about, like most of this album.

A song that would, in later years, accurately and sadly describe Lynott himself, “Saga of the ageing orphan” has a very folky feel to it, lovely acoustic guitar and soft bass, gentle percussion, a kind of almost lullaby vocal from Lynott with an aching sense of loss in the lyric between the lines. Really nice little soft guitar solo in the middle, then the album comes to a, I suppose, pretty anti-climactic end on “Remembering”, which is not to say the song is anti-climactic – it's actually a good ballsy blues rocker – but the whole album, from the point of view of someone brought up on the likes of Chinatown, Jailbreak and Live and Dangerous comes across as pretty weak and limp-wristed. Still, ya gotta start somewhere, yeah?

Track listing and ratings

The friendly ranger at Clontarf Castle
Honesty is no excuse
Diddy Levine
Ray-gun
Look what the wind blew in
Eire
Return of the farmer's son
Clifton Grange Hotel
Saga of the ageing orphan
Remembering

Afterword:

Listening to this, you certainly wouldn't be hearing the likes of “Waiting for an alibi”, “Jailbreak”, “Cold sweat” or even “Whiskey in the jar”, but eventually Lynott would drop the blues and folk influences and advance into a harder, tighter, rockier identity, in which he and the band would make their mark. It was by no means overnight success though, as like I've said, although their fourth album, 1975's Fighting would finally give them hit singles (after the let's be honest flash-in-the-pan success of “Whiskey in the jar”) it would really take a monster like Jailbreak to bring this band to the world's notice. Albums like this, and its two followups, were unlikely to do that. Luckily, they persevered and became Ireland's first proper rock group. Though you wouldn't know it here.

Rating:

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