Trollheart

Another Irish band just on the cusp, and yet...


Artiste: Royseven
Nationality: Irish
Album: You say, we say
Year: 2011
Label: Roadrunner
Genre: Alt-rock
Tracks:
We should be lovers
I need to know your name
You say, we say
Channel 103 on my TV
No romance
The big blue
Dance, dance, dance
Killer
You can't hide that
Every line's the last one
Walls
We march on
Chronological position: Second album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Lots of power and punch, very upbeat and very commercial.
Best track(s): We should be lovers, No romance, The big blue, Dance dance dance, Walls, We march on
Worst track(s): Killer, I need to know your name
Comments: Another Irish band I know little or nothing about. It's somewhat interesting that they're a sextet, with singer Paul Walsh concentrating only on vocals, so there's a lead and rhythm guitarist, bass player and drummer and keyboard player. What I hear so far is a little so-so, a little generic, kind of the Script meets Snow Patrol, but without the solid individuality of either really. It's not bad music, I just don't see anything too much to get excited about just yet.

There's a slight sense of Slade about the title track, with a touch of Doctor and the Medics thrown in, and there's a ton of energy in No romance with some serious keyboard action then everything slows down for the ballad, and it's a good one. "The big blue" is a beautiful, fragile little piece that successfully breaks up all this uptempo, high energy rock. But soon we're back to it, and if I have a criticism of this album it would be that a lot of it sounds quite similar. But it's not a bad album, not at all.

I like Walls, it has real character and sounds different to most of the rest of the album, but it's a small divergence in an album that's a little short on ideas, or at least has the ideas but doesn't really seem to know what to do with them. The seeds of some great songs, certainly, just not properly cultivated, I feel. Maybe their third album will be better.
Overall impression: I feel they could have something, but have not yet realised their true potential.
Intention: Keep an eye on these guys.

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Trollheart

Bon Jovi go Country? Sorry?


Artiste: Bon Jovi
Nationality: American
Album: Lost highway
Year: 2007
Label: Mercury Nashville
Genre: Rock/AOR (with jest a sprinklin' of Country...)
Tracks:
Lost highway
Summertime
(You want to) Make a memory
Whole lot of leaving
We got it going on
Any other day
Seat next to you
Everybody's broken
Till we ain't strangers anymore
The last night
One step closer
I love this town

Chronological position: Tenth album
Familiarity: Everything; I have all their albums
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Country? I don't hear it...
Best track(s):Lost highway, I love this town, Seat next to you, (You want to) Make a memory, Whole lot of leaving, Everybody's broken, (Why are you surprised I'm listing most of the album? I'm a Bon Jovi fanatic: if you know me, you know that!) The last night, One step closer
Worst track(s): We got it goin' on
Comments: Surprisingly, given my devotion to this band, there is one album of theirs that I have never listened to all the way through, and it's this one. Partly that's because of the country influence on the album, which many Bon Jovi fans have jeered, and partly it's just because I only got it relatively recently, to complete my collection. I've heard a few tracks off it, in rotation on a playlist, but never played the whole thing through.

I don't see a huge country influence on it as it opens with a big hard happy rocker in the title track and it continues in Summertime, big punchy drums from Tico Torres, a sort of half-rap style but not so much that you'd call it such, kind of more the sort of thing The Script tried on their third album recently. Great ballads as ever, as in the orchestrally-driven (You want to) Make a memory, as well as the usual good-time songs such as closer I love this town which just brims with energy and enthusiasm, and Any other day, which rocks along nicely in the usual Bon Jovi territory.

This album is however unique in the Bon Jovi canon in having not one but two duets on it, the first of which comes in We got it goin' on, where they enlist the services of Big and Rich, featuring country superstars Big Kenny and John Rich, and here you can really start to hear the country sound coming in, not surprisingly. Can't say I love it though; probably the first track on the album I haven't loved. So far. I kind of hear the ghost of country again in Seat next to you, but come on! The guys aren't breaking out fiddles and steel guitars and singing about farms and ranches and horses. I don't see a massive difference between this and their usual output (stow the usual "yeah it's all the same ****" jokes please) --- not sure who that is on the female vocals, but as Hillary Lindsey co-wrote the song maybe it's her?

I hear more country in Till we ain't strangers anymore but then again that's not surprising, as Jon's dueting with LeAnn Rimes here, so she's bound to bring something of herself to the song. By and large though, it's still a recognisable and basic Bon Jovi ballad. As indeed the entire album is totally recognisable and categorisable as a Bon Jovi album. Country? Pfft! They're a long way from going down that route.
Overall impression: Country? I don't see it...
Intention: Waiting for their new album. Roll on ... ooh! Ooh! It's out now! Excuse me...

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Trollheart

Enchant fail to impress again


Artiste: Enchant
Nationality: American
Album: Wounded
Year: 1997
Label: Magna Carta
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
Below zero
Fade 2 grey
Pure
Broken
Hostile world
Look away
Armour
Distractions
Missing
Chronological position:Second album
Familiarity: "Juggling 9 or dropping 10"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: So-so and then gets better
Best track(s): Fade 2 grey, Pure, Look away
Worst track(s): Nothing's bad, per se, just that apart from the above tracks it's all pretty boring
Comments: I tried out Enchant last year sometime in the not-recently-repeated "Unwritten" slot, and have to say I was less than impressed with the album I chose, the one noted above. Well, that's not quite fair. It was okay, but I felt it could easily have fit into the "Meh" section. Just didn't grab me as anything special. Maybe it was a bad example, so here I am giving this band another chance. I have to say I don't jump up and down at the first track, but the second is a lot better, with some atmospheric opening guitar and an impassioned vocal, touches of early Rush in there I feel. Maybe a bit overlong at eight minutes, but then, many of the tracks here exceed seven.

Pure is a nice acoustic ballad, though I wonder at again over seven minutes will it come across as stretched too far? Nice so far though. Seems to have lasted the course. The next one though just kind of drifts by, another seven-minuter but it fails to grab me. I'm probably being unfair to Enchant, but I usually expect something in the music to get a hold of me and take my attention, and here I'm just not feeling it, the same almost as the other album of theirs I reviewed --- and that was a full review. Trouble is, there's nothing here that's under six minutes, and most of them are well over that. No short songs can make it very hard to keep the interest, unless the long ones are VERY good. Even Marillion learned this lesson with their second album, great as the debut was: they shortened their songs down and were able to connect better with sections of their audience.

I also feel the production here is very raw and muddy, either that or the vocalist isn't very good, and I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. But there's definitely times when the solidity of the sound is impaired, and it just sounds very skeletal. Nice guitar solo in Look away, but overall I'm not seeing anything that really marks this album out from the huge slew of prog rock bands out there. It just doesn't stand out. I don't know what it is. The music is decent, the singing's good but I'm just struck by a sense of deja vu: when I was reviewing "Juggling 9 or dropping 10" I felt the same sense of apathy and a desire to get to the end of the album. It's the same here. Just not keeping my interest.
Overall impression: I have to say, overall pretty much meh.
Intention: Not sure if I want to give them a third chance now.

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Trollheart

Honest hard rockers from Canada don't do much to fly the flag


Artiste: Coney Hatch
Nationality: Canadian
Album: Outta hand
Year: 1983
Label: Anthem
Genre: Hard rock
Tracks:
Don't say make me
Shake it
First time for everything
Some like it hot
To feel the feeling again
Too far gone
Love games
Fallen angel
Music of the night
Chronological position: Second album
Familiarity: By reputation only
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Good old-fashioned hard rock: honest if a little dated
Best track(s): First time for everything, To feel the feeling again, Music of the night
Worst track(s): Shake it, Some like it hot, Love games
Comments: One of Canada's forgotten exports, Coney Hatch were one of those bands you heard a lot of in the eighties, yet they never really made it big, while people in generally the same arena as them, such as Bon Jovi and Foreigner, were having hits all over the place. Perhaps coming from Canada worked against them; there weren't too many hard rock acts coming out of there at that time that were making it. April Wine were another; great band but got little in the way of coverage. Actually, vocalist Carl Dixon would later go on to work with that band when Coney Hatch broke up.

They only had the three albums, their last coming out in 1985, but none of them seem to have made too much of an impression, despite their debut being touted by many as being the next big thing; just never happened for them. Maybe they just weren't different enough to stand out from the clutch of similar bands who were around at the time, some making it, some not. Everything on this album is solid, but in fairness it would be hard to point to anything completely memorable or anything that really stands out. They could rock with the best of them, as in the opener, Don't say make me or Fallen angel, while at the same time capable of dialing it right down for ballads and semi-ballads like First time for everything and To feel the feeling again. Most of the time though their music sounds just too lame and dated, music that does not stand the test of time.

I've been trying to place Dixon's voice, because it sounds very familiar to me, and I now know why. He's almost a dead ringer, voice-wise, for the late Andrew "Mac" MacDermott, erstwhile vocalist for Threshold. Still, as the album winds on towards its close I must admit there's not a lot here that impresses me or that I'll remember. Maybe there's a good reason why they only lasted three years and never made it... Good closer in Music of the night, maybe hinting at what they could do if they put their minds to it. Trouble is, most of the time they seem to just have taken the path of least resistance here, leading to an album that's about as generic as they come.
Overall impression: Pretty generic really. Not a lot to write home about.
Intention: Not really interested in checking out any more from them really.

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Trollheart

Pyrrhic victory?


Artiste: The Divine Comedy
Nationality: Irish
Album: Victory for the comic muse
Year: 2006
Label: Parlophone
Genre: Pop/Chamber pop/ Whatever you're havin' yerself!
Tracks:
To die a virgin
Mother dear
Diva lady
A lady of a certain age
The light of day
Threesome
Party fears two
Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World
The plough
Count Grassi's passage over Piedmont
Snowball in negative
Chronological position: Ninth album
Familiarity: "Casanova", "Liberation", "Promenade", "A short album about love", "Bang goes the knighthood", "Fin de siecle"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Quite similar to his early work such as "Promenade" and "Liberation"
Best track(s): Mother dear, A lady of a certain age, The plough
Worst track(s): Count Grassi's passage over Piedmont
Comments: Despite touching on this in my "Beginner's Guide" some time ago now, it's one of the few Divine Comedy albums I haven't listened to all the way through. As I say above it reminds me of his earlier works, certainly the opener, which bops along nicely, mind you that changes (and of course if you're a fan of Hannon you get to expect this) with the second track, a sort of country/bluegrass bopper with banjo and accordion, and then piano leads in Diva lady with a certain soul/funk vibe, with elements of early Santana in there too. Oh yeah, you get something for everyone with the Divine Comedy!

Whether he's playing uptempo chamber pop, the likes of the opener or relaxing ballads as in A lady of a certain age or The light of day Neil gives everything he has, and you never get any less than one hundred percent from him. I can't think of any of his albums from which I've come away disappointed. I like the variety, though some of his, shall we say, more comedic songs like Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World can be at times a little wearing. Still, it's good to know that in general you can pop on a new DC album and expect to like it.

Great characters populate the songs of the best songwriters, and Neil Hannon is no exception. The disenfranchised wife in A lady of a certain age, the man trying to find his place in the world in The plough and the eponymous Count Grassi all bring his songs to life and invest the listener in them, even if I don't like the last one. His quirky sense of humour comes through in Threesome when we all expect a little risque, cheeky song. What we get is a delightful little upbeat piano solo, then recalling Tonight we fly and Going downhill fast his version of the Associates' Party fears two is barely recognisable from the original hit. That's how to do a cover! Trilling piano and labouring tubas and trumpets throw the old pop song into a chamberpop setting, while The plough is almost cinematic in its scope and breadth.

Not, to be fair, one of the best Divine Comedy albums I've ever listened to, but even then, Hannon's worst can often be better than some of the best work of other artistes.
Overall impression: I've heard better but it's a decent album.
Intention: Ah well I love the Divine Comedy, so nothing will stop me listening to them.

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Trollheart

A national treasure that was almost lost forever


Artiste: The Enid
Nationality: British (English)
Album: In the region of the summer stars
Year: 1976/1984
Label: EMI
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
Fool
The Tower of Babel
The Reaper
The Loved Ones
The Demon King
Pre-dawn
Sunrise
The Last Day
The Flood
Under the summer stars
Adieu
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero, but I've heard about them
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Mystical, magical, relaxing.
Best track(s): Fool, The Reaper, The loved ones, Pre-dawn, Sunrise, The last day
Worst track(s): None
Comments: Would it be overreacting to say that to compose an album based on the Tarot could be an exercise in bad luck? Of course it would, and yet this album seems to have been dogged by the worst luck possible. The debut album from the enigmatic band known as The Enid, it was supposed to have vocals but then their singer took his own life just before the album was due to be recorded, and remaining members had to quickly make the decision to release it as an instrumental one. Then, after failing to generate great sales, EMI deleted it from their catalogue. In 1984 The Enid re-released it themselves, and after poor quality bootlegs had been circulated they convinced the label to allow them re-record and update it in 2010.

So essentially there are three versions of the album; the original one (which if you have it is a collector's item now) the re-released 1984 version (which I'm using here) and the remastered 2010 effort. Based as I say around the idea of the Tarot, the original song titles were changed for the 1984 release, making them less obviously to do with the Tarot, with the original seven tracks being extended to ten and substantial changes made to the arrangements of the 1976 songs. I like the opener with its mystical sound, and The Reaper doesn't really sound as ominous as you might think, with some nice acoustic guitar and some tolling bells, some nice fluty sounds and a powerful guitar solo.

As might be expected, The loved ones is a sumptuous but simple piano piece that really reminds me of Rachmaniov, one of my favourite composers: just beautiful. It's quite amazing how Robert John Godfrey can make the piano such a heartfelt instrument, a thing of beauty in that track and then on the next make it almost demonic! That's real talent for you. I'm not completely familiar with the Tarot --- I know of it, and my sister can read it --- but I did previously review a slightly similar project by Dark Moor (imaginatively called "Tarot"!") so I can appreciate what The Enid are doing here, symbolising various cards and aspects of the Tarot through music, somewhat similar to what the great Gustav Holst did back at the beginning of the last century.

Sunrise is the first track wherein I can hear proper progressive rock elements; prior to this a lot of it has been what I would term classical/prog really, but here the keyboards really speak in a Yes/Genesis/ELP way. Going back to that, there's again an almost "Bolero" feel to The Last Day, quiet soft marching drumming and gentle horns until some powerful guitar and a rising background melody punches the whole thing up to a real cinematic level. It breaks into some fine progressive work then and finishes really well with an explosive title track which then slips into a little piano piece aptly titled Adieu.
Overall impression: Very accomplished, very impressive. One hell of a debut! Glad this wasn't lost forever, no thanks to shortsighted EMI executives!
Intention: I'd certainly be interested in hearing more of their music now.

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Trollheart

Guess even God can have an off day!


Artiste: Eric Clapton
Nationality: British (English)
Album: There's one in every crowd
Year: 1975
Label: RSO
Genre: Blues/Rock
Tracks:
We've been told (Jesus is coming soon)
Swing low, sweet chariot
Little Rachel
Don't blame me
The sky is crying
Singing the blues
Better make it through today
Pretty blue eyes
High
Opposites
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: "August", "Behind the sun", plus of course the hits everyone knows.
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Gospel and reggae? Not really what I had set myself up to expect...
Best track(s): The sky is crying, Better make it through today, Pretty blue eyes, Opposites
Worst track(s): Littel Rachel, Don't blame me
Comments: I have to admit, I'm not at all familiar with Clapton's repertoire. Oh of course I know the hit singles and I've seen the odd concert, but the two albums listed above are the only two I've heard all the way through, and to be honest they were good, but hardly good enough to have this man labelled as God, I thought. Mind you, they're more recent albums, so perhaps this, as the successor to his breakthrough "461 Ocean Boulevard" may change my mind on that.

It's interesting to note that of the ten tracks on the album Clapton only writes half himself, and most of (well, all of) his solo contributions close out the album. There's a somewhat eclectic mix of blues, rock, reggae, even gospel here, with the opener firmly in the latter category, a cover of Willie Johnson's traditional arrangement of We've been told (Jesus is coming soon), and another gospel favourite in Swing low, sweet chariot given a reggae treatment. Was Clapton finding religion on this album, like Dylan on "Saved"? Ask a fan, I don't know, but it certainly has religious overtones.

Of course the man's guitar playing takes centre stage, and who would deny Clapton is a master of the instrument, but I'd rather hear some more hard-edged stuff along the lines of Layla or even Forever man, but we're back to reggae (suppose I should expect that since I read the album was recorded in Jamay-ka man!) with Don't blame me, which is all very fine but I could do without Eric trying to sound like Marley! I mean, wtf? Does every reggae singer sound the same? Kind of sounds like it might be meant to be a sequel to his big hit from the previous album I shot the sheriff. Hmm.

At least a great version of Elmore James's The sky is crying makes a better impression on me, though I have to say I'm listening more to the piano than the guitar: how can that be? Basically, as regards this album I'm not feeling like I missed out on anything. I know Clapton is great and I do like him, but I'm not having a "you-never-listened-to-dark-side-of-the-moon?" moment. It's okay this but nothing special. Oh hold on: just got a lot better with the lovely slow blues ballad Better make it through today, ironically the first Clapton-penned tune on the album. The next one's pretty good too, and I get a bit of solid rock out if it as well as finger-pickin' guitar, so I like that. Yeah, got better towards the end, but still not an album I'd revisit any time soon. Bit of a disappointment.
(Howling mobs with burning crosses and pitchfork please form an orderly queue...)
Overall impression: Had some good spots but a lot of it was meh. Not what I expected to hear from God, I have to say!
Intention: Clapton being Clapton I do have to familiarise myself with his material, but this one just didn't do it for me. Maybe I picked a bad one to start with?

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Air pocket the prize


Artiste: Air
Nationality: French
Album: Pocket symphony
Year: 2007
Label: Virgin
Genre: Electronica
Tracks:
Space maker
Once upon a time
Hell of a party
Napalm love
Mayfair song
Left Bank
Photograph
Mer de Japon
Lost message
Somewhere between waking and sleeping
Redhead girl
Night sigh
Chronological position: Fifth album
Familiarity: "The virgin suicides", "Moon safari"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Pretty much what I expected, though the vocals threw me.
Best track(s): One hell of a party, Mayfair Song, Left bank, Somewhere between waking and sleeping, Lost message, Night sight
Worst track(s): Napalm love, Photograph
Comments: Air were the first band I got into outside of Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and the like in terms of electronic music. I've never been that interested in electronica/ambient music, but thanks to Air I've since moved on to Carbon Based Lifeforms and, er, that's it for now, but I intend to seek out some similar bands. Problem is that electronica is such a loose genre and is one with a wide-ranging (and wildly different) sets of bands in it. I don't like trance, dubstep or some other forms of electronic music, but CBL have suited me fine.

This is the third Air album I've listened to, and I'm a little surprised to hear vocals on the second track, though I know Air are known mostly but not completely as an instrumental act. Jean-Benoit Dunckel is the singer, one half of the band, whereas on the next track it's a guest vocalist, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker who takes One hell of a party. He puts in a powerful, bleak performance on a song whose execution completely belies its title. It's stark, empty and morose, and is also written by him, while Napalm love, with Dunckel back on vocals, is very eighties new-wave in feel and style, another slow song.

There are, it would seem, more vocal tracks on this album than instrumental, and in that it differs from the previous Air albums I've heard. I'm not sure about Jean-Benoit Dunckel's voice: sounds very feminine to me, not that that's a bad thing, but I do prefer the purely instrumental ones like Mayfair song with its rapidly-descending piano line and echoey drums and pads, and Lost message. I'm delighted to hear my old friend Neil Hannon also guesting on vocals on Somewhere between waking and sleeping, which has a beautiful orchestral setting.

There's a nice mix on this album, from slow ambient to mid-paced electronica, instrumental passages and vocal passages, and a few guest vocalists that really makes it quite a varied album. It wouldn't to be honest be the worst place to begin your exploration of this band, should you be so inclined.
Overall impression: Another great album, expanding on what I already know about Air and making me like them even more.
Intention: I like Air: I'll be listening to more of their albums, and they've become a gateway to finding other electronic/ambient bands.

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misspoptart

No interesting factoid? F THAT!

Trollheart

Hey, reviewing albums isn't always as glamorous and interesting as I make it, you know. Interesting factoid: there is no interesting factoid about this album.

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