The the-Soul Mining

The The-Soul Mining(1983) If there was ever an artist from the 80s that has been overlooked a lot then it would have to be The The's Matt Johnson. From humble beginnings and some critical acclaim on 4AD and the earlier work. The 1983 album 'Soul Mining' is a brilliant album in terms of songwriting, lyrics and of course music and the production also. For me its the classic 80s album right up there with Prefab Sprout-Steve McQueen. What Matt Johnson did was write about things that affected most people without being a bit self indulgent, for instance the first two tracks are called 'I’ve been waiting for tomorrow all of my life ' and this is followed up with 'this is the day'. So he has been waiting for tomorrow to happen, then when he does it is in fact the day when all else follows on from. I imagine in the 80s in university bedsits there was people that could relate to these lyrics. Its quite a clever album in terms of its imagery in terms of the classic single 'Uncertain smile'. This track featured some of key piano work care of Jools Holland. What gets me about the album is the production. All tracks sound clear and all instruments are clear in the mix. In fact it sounds better in sound overall to the follow up which was 'Infected'. The tracks on this album especially the title track would not have been out of place on that album. Of course 'Infected' was a film/video and well constructed album. This was then followed up with the 'Mindbomb album which was not as classic as this album. The fact he was on the some bizarre label gave him that element to experiment, but in some ways the sounds are not avant garde, in fact they can be classed as classic pop sounding. The last few tracks are quite laid back on this album after the striking first few tracks. Matt Johnson was capable of musical tracks of such striking songwriting and lyricism that he should be getting more recognition for the legacy of his 80s output.

Rush-Power Windows

Rush-Power Windows (1985) The one thing that made me happy to see in the early 2000s was the re-emergence of rush. They were on of those bands that were not commercially successful in the UK but they always remained a devoted following which always meant their albums received some recognition in the UK. But obviously not on the level that their talents deserved. A few years ago I went through an interest in progressive rock and ultimately the paths of rush is intertwined with this genre. Rush were the almost a led zep copyist band to start with, but with the introduction of Neil Peart the lyrics went from being sci-fi related to more general life themed. With the new wave bands like Blondie and the Police these bands had a major influence on their style, so they moved away from 16 minute rock anthems to consise 5-6 minute tracks. The lyrics seemed to become more about life themes and bigger concerns, even spirituality. In the late 1990s they were being name dropped by the newer bands, but ultimately tragedy struck into Neil Pearts life in the late 90s when he lost his daughter and wife. The memoirs of his time driving around Canada is recorded in a book. After a few years out of the public eye, he started to welcome the idea of re-recording with Rush and this meant that vapor Trails which was released in 2004 was them back in the spotlight, their focus from being an album band to a touring band to releasing numerous live albums since has meant their music has reached many millions and also has made them successful. Now going back to the Power Windows album it features the song 'Big Money' which seems to be about money against the soul. The track 'Grand Designs' remains one of my faves of theirs, a soaring and searing rock track with overlapping guitar work. Actually relist5ening to it it is a high tone album, so I always find that I have to increase the bass. Very clear production(almost to much). Tracks like 'Marathon' seem to indicate that life is in fact a long path, simplistic but it remains a positive anthem. Their is this theme that goes from the album signals (subdivisions track especially), 'Middle-town dreams' seems to me a combination of being alienated in a suburban environment. The track that finished the album 'Mystic Rhythms' seems to be about the spiritually of life and rhythm. In some ways I can only guess or interpret the lyrics to mean what I think about them, but ultimately this is what happens to most people that listen to Rush in that they pick up their own take on the lyrics. It has been announced recently that Rush will cease touring, be interesting to see if they actually do called it a day. Power Windows remains to me the classic 80s rock anthem, not to over indulgent and quite an uplifting album which seems to focus on heavier life themes. Neil Peart remains one of the greatest lyricists over the last40 years......

Prince

Prince---Purple Rain No enbedding of spotify With Prince I think its safe to say in my own humble opinion that his death affected me more than Bowie's. As a 12 year old Bowie was touching 40 and was always like the elder statesmen of music with a long back catalogue. With Prince he was obviously very successful in the states before the UK. In 1984 when the album was released it was the power of the instrumentation that got me. The film 'Purple Rain' also took the success to another level. The film was semi autobiographical and made the album sell millions. With Prince he was talented spotted and warner bros invested heavily on his work. With Prince I saw on a documentary about the early 80s was that he used to use two keyboards and a drum machine and would construct the songs in a basic format, he would overlay the drum sound with the song roughly how he wanted it performed and then the band(in the case at the time the revolution) would bring their own talents to bear. With Prince he was a workaholic in terms of output and searching out tracks and songs that would be successful, this meant that he recorded 1000s of tracks and at times could not find the avenue to release them. So he started giving the tracks to other artists and other bands like the Time. Now going back to Purple Rain the formative first outing of the tracks was played at the Avenue Club in Minnesota in 1983 he debuted tracks like 'Lets go Crazy', 'I Would Die for you ' , 'Purple Rain' and 'Baby I’m a star'. If you get a chance check out the concert online while you can. Within 6 months of this concert and after numerous sessions the album was released almost to instant success. Now with the Prince his sound went from Soul to Funky, to almost pop between 1978-1982. the 1999 album was the sound of artists finding his feet. But with the 'Purple Rain' album it is the sound of an artists doing an album that features a myriad of styles. The guitar work on this album is excellent. For me the Revolution era of his work is amazing, even the album that followed that was critically panned 'Around the world in a day ' was really good. The Purple rain album that starts with 'Lets go Crazy' which is an anthem. The album features tracks that were really good but were not UK smash hits like 'Take me with u' and 'I would die for you'. The two tracks that really took the album to another musical plain was 'Purple Rain and 'When Doves Cry'. The latter single was initially recorded with bass, but at the last minute it was removed and made the song even better. With Prince after the 'Sing of the times' album his music went back to its roots, but at this time his music in a band format really related to R&B but almost to alternative and pop crowds. It was a truly all conquering album. The loss of Prince was a massive loss to the American music industry but also to the world. Maybe a few years ago his influence was under estimated , but never has an artists transmitted almost sexual, almost tongue in cheek arrogance based on talent. RIP Prince.

Muse-resistance

Muse-the resistance (2009) This album is 7 years old that is actually very frightening in terms of time as it seems like it did not come out that long ago. With Muse this album is where their classical side of their sound really comes to the fore. In a way its like a concept album and is quite progressive in nature. I also think its one of those albums that people will look back on in many years time and realize its one of those albums where everything a band works for comes together. The album starts with 'Uprising ' and 'Resistance', these versions are really good on the Glastonbury 2010 concert. The album then follows with an almost kind of Depeche mode feel track called 'Undisclosed desires'. The album then goes into 'united states of Eurasia' which is quite political and very classical but also in a rock sense, it brings to mind at certain points the flam bouncy of Queen(the band). The tracks 'Unnatural selection' and ' MK Ultra' are Muse at their powerful best, on a clip shown at time at the making of the album the latter track had a clip of Steve Vai, maybe that track was influenced by that artists. After all these tracks it goes into Exogenesis Sythmphony which in three parts is very orchestral and is the prefect ended to the album. I think the album works as a complete whole which goes up and down in terms of tempo and power. It is the sound of Muse embracing their influences. I still have visions of Muse being like Rush in about 20 years time. Where there will be this rich body of work from many different styles. By then they will be touring band. I could be wrong but they have probably took what Rush done and are moving it on still further. Their new album 'Drones' does have some good tracks, so their sound is still evolving.

Killing Joke-nightime

Killing Joke-Nightime(1985) Killing joke in the mid 80s were in this strange position as they seemed to be out their on their own in terms of sounds. At the time the big indie bans like New order, Cocteau Twins, the smiths all had their unique style of music. With Killing Joke they were no different but they were obviously formed at the time of punk, then rode into the post punk scene. Then when all other bands decided to stop or break up Killing Joke kept on going. The fact is as well that they were always on a major label but you would not have thought it due to their style of music. In 1982 the band sort of broke in two and then reformed with different members and the style seemed to featured more dominant drum sound into the mix, personally I like the Fire dances album which is an almost experimental style sound. If any of you reading this want to check out the ferocity of Killing joke at this time check out the 1983 appearance on the tube, especially the track Frenzy. Anyway going back to 'Nightime' the album was released shortly after the track 'Love Like Blood' for all purposes this will always remain the main track Killing Joke will be remembered for. It achieved chart success. At the time that track in its kind of classic rock format probably introduced a lot of people to the sound. Its the tracks that were not singles that I love about the album. The Album starts with 'nightime' and then goes into 'Darkness before the Dawn'. All though the album that was released a year later called 'Brighter than a 1000 suns' the sound of both albums is similar, all though the synths are more upfront on the original mix. The album then goes into the singles 'Love Like Blood' & 'Kings and Queens'. 'Tabazan ' is a song about sex, but in a killing joke kind of way. Then it goes into 'Multitudes' and 'Europe and then finished with the track 'Eighties' a song which instantly dates due to its title. There was an interview I heard with Jaz Coleman in about 1986 and he did predict many things that happened many years later. I always remember that he recommended people buy property at a timer when people weren’t and predicted many things. He semmed a visionary in his thinking and of course his bands sound. Killing Jokes sound was a mixture of so many different influences , part of me thinks that the bands like Pink Floyd, Sabbath may have influenced them before the punk scene came along and that was maybe the catalyst to start things. The Sound of Nighttime is the sound of a band rising to greater things , a band independent in thinking and sound , independent at the time in terms of experimentation and major label in terms of backing at that time. Nightime is a truly brilliant post punk album.

Biosphere-Substrata

Biosphere -Substrata(1997) This in terms of a review will not be that long. With Biosphere they were always one of those bands I knew were there but had never heard their music. Over the years I have developed an interest in things relating to Antarctica and extreme climate documentaries. On one of these I was watching once they used the music from this album. The Band biosphere is Geir Jenssen who was originally part of Bel Canto who were critically acclaimed at the time. He left the band in 1990 as his interest into ambient/dance was taking over and so he invested in a sampler and took his ideas and sounds to other places. Now using the term other places what I find with the music of Biosphere it is the music or product of the environment of its author. In this case Geir Jenssen lives in Norway, so the music has this feel of being ambient music but in a cold environment, its almost like an Antarctic kind of ambient. In some was it is like industrial ambient if such a genre exists. I think the first 5 tracks of the album work really well, for me its music to work and write to. Also worth noting is that there is a lot of Biosphere on bandcamp which is a good place to start as you can experience the music through his back catalogue.

Peter Gabriel-Security(1982)

In post punk Britain in the late 70s, there was a main move away from the punk ideal to bands that seem to incorparate their influences. In this instance you had Bauhaus who gained success with Ziggy Stardust as an example. With punk there was a move to sort of dismiss everything that went before 1976 as not really relevant. In the early 80s there was not many bands that were aspiring to be Genesis , except if you count Marillion. Genesis were seen as slightly self indlugent in the early 80s, it wasnt until the Phil Collins solo success that Genesis suddendly becae hip again. In hidsight I find some of early Genesis really powerful especially tracks like ' Dance of the moonlight Knight'and 'Fly on the windshield'. When you listen to the genesis back catalogue you can see there is more themes and structure to their albums, it almost with hidsight there is an inevtably that Gabriel was going to leave Genesis. Peter Gabriel seemed at the height of punk to be collabarating with Eno and Fripp who were part of their respective bands (Roxy Music, and King crimson), but where Peter Gabriel succeeded at this time was to develop a more edgy sound. It had starkness in the production and the output. You can hear the glimpses of what was to come in tracks early on like "HEre comes the Flood'. By early 1980 and with the success of Pater gabriel 3. Peter seemed to get more into world musics and also had fairlight which truly meant that his sound had a modern feel. Rather than create a slick sound his sounds were almost tribal and sparse. With the Security album in 1982 it only has one really truly stand out track in terms of commerciality which is 'I Have the Touch'. The rest of the album has the nature of experimentalism. The album starts with "Rythmn of The Heat', this is probably one of the best constructed songs on the album it starts eiree and the builds up in atmosphere. Probably the other highlight is 'San Jacinto ' which has a real searing vocal , it has been played live numerous times since. The other tracks like 'Family and the fishing net' is abstract it reminds me of David Bowie's "Sons of silent age, 'Lay your hands on me ' deals with healing by touch. The album ends with Wallflower which features heavy percussive sounds. Many of the songs feature in the New Blood concerts in a orchestral setting, which gives the songs added depth. I think when the first Peter Gabriel albums came out they set the way forward for solo artists to remain their fan bases whlst at the same time moving their sounds forward. Peter Gabriel was a visonary i n terms of humantarism issues, production(real World studios) and is in my huble opinion right up there with David Bowie in terms of music as an art form.