Excellent. Better and more rocking than I recall. Great production value. Johnny's guitar work, especially the twinkly guitars (Nice Dream) are noteworthy. Tom Yorke has an exceptional voice but generally annunciates rather poorly imo. My favorite songs are also the quieter (less rocking) tunes:
Planet Telex (study chord changes to chorus)
High and Dry
Fake Plastic Trees
(Nice Dream)
This 1991 album still carries many hallmarks of the 1980's production values, which sounds dated and in many ways, unappealing to me. Digital recording was perhaps nascent and synthesizers overused. However the bass lines are excellent, and this album is sonically interesting overall, incorporating various elements of world music (Spanish, African). It flows continuously through various attractive grooves and trance inducing states. It's psychedelic and an interesting listen for sure, but the vocals by Jah are by no means exceptional. Meanwhile the lyrics, when not profound and deep, come off occasionally as trivial and of low caliber. That said, on RISING ABOVE BEDLAM, Jah Wobble is reflective, cheeky, and an extraordinary instrumentalist and this album was an interesting and new experience.
This album is interesting in its shift through different moods and vibes, as Paul McCartney seems to do frequently in his solo work (abrupt shifts of key, tempo, chord progression). As one might expect with a Beatle, the songs are high quality, the band is splendid, however the production sounds a bit dark, but soft around the edges and nice as you would expect for a 1973 recording. Great album.
Favorite songs:
Bluebird - Billy Joel vibes in a great way. Enchanting with great repetition and harmonies.
Let Me Roll It - my new favorite sound. This has a great organ and old soulful feel with an odd dark edge. It's a brilliant song.
Mamunia is lovely.
Picasso's Last Words is excellent 'drink to me, drink to my health, you know i can't drink anymore'
1985
This album and band was unheard of for me. I hear this album by Sparks as an earlier precursor of influence to some modern day indie rock such as Animal Collective and Of Montreal.
I enjoy how free and weird it is, seemingly not beholden to typical rock expectations. I can also hear the glam rock influence of the likes of T-Rex and David Bowie.
'Thank God It's Not Christmas' is a great, rocking song, with interesting chords, solid comedic value and hints of the glam rocker influences mentioned above.
Although I found this album somewhat interesting and a new experience to listen to, I was not very fond of it. It feels a bit too unwieldy, erratic and uncentered. Interesting experiment and a decent album overall, but nothing groundbreaking or transformative.
Sadly most of this album was not available on Spotify. Only the following songs were available for streaming:
Mr. Blues
8:05
Indifference
Rounder
Looper
Bitter Wind
Sweet Ride
These guys were new to me. I love the west coast 60's sound also reminiscent of Gram Parson, The Flying Burrito Brothers, early Grateful Dead, etc. How have I never heard of this band before?
I do like their sound and will give a favorable review given how little I've heard. I would like to hear the rest of the album.
