Trollheart spends time with... Bill Nelson and BeBop Deluxe!

[Weekender]

I feel you on gratuitous shredding.

[Trollheart]

Title: Sunburst Finish
Medium: Album
Year: 1976
Trollheart Pays the Bill: So here we are, at the midway point of the BeBop Deluxe albums. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I'm not particularly enjoying my journey through their music - I haven't grown to hate it like I did with Korn, but it's a bit of a struggle nevertheless - but maybe this will be the one to change my mind? Let's go then.

At least this time it's not a sudden start, with the opener fading in on perhaps organ or something, though it doesn't of course take long before the guitar takes over as "Fair Exchange" gets going, some nice piano behind the guitar. You know, after hearing so far three albums, I think I can say with confidence that I don't really like Nelson's voice. He can certainly sing, but a lot of the time he's more sort of talking/shouting in a way I don't care for. There's a sort of rolling drumbeat here with what sounds almost Scottish or at least Celtic overtones, which is interesting. Another mad shred to end. Sigh. "Heavenly Homes" is slower, and although there's a fierce guitar intro it does fall back to acoustic and allows the piano to take the main melody, but ever since I noted it, I find it hard to discount the influences both of Bowie and, to a smaller and less regular extent, The Beatles. Just sounds to me often that he's taken the best elements of both and melded them together, thrown some shred in and made songs of them.

The next one, according to the bio, was a surprise hit for him, though of course I don't recognise "Ships in the Night", which is peppered with sharp, boppy keyboard arpeggios, possibly one of the elements that made it a hit? Sort of a vague half-reggae beat to it too; if he holds off on the fretwork here it might be a half-decent song, though I'd be willing to be he can't resist. Hmm. Actually sounds like brass, trumpet maybe? That's different, and a very nice Supertramp-style piano. Might get away with it yet. Yeah, fair play, he held it back. Mind you, I don't see what made it a hit, but what do I know?

The next one begins with some rather nice sprinkly keyboards, thunder sound effects and has a very sort of slow, psychedelic feel to it, certain sense of mid-70s ELO and "Crying to the Sky" is quite nice to be fair. Oh well here comes a big guitar solo, but again to be fair, it's not entirely out of place. Reminds me of Santana perhaps. His vocal here is much better than on some of the other tracks. I guess you'd have to call it versatile then. Ends as it began, with a thunderstorm and into "Sleep that Burns", with a ticking clock that goes off and a yawn, then the song gallops along at a nice lick, kind of reminds me of "Teenage Wasteland " in parts, particularly the arpeggios on the keys. I'd say so far this is sounding a good bit more like what I'd call a proggy album, whereas the last three were definitely more in the vein of folk or hard rock.

Throwing in a French flavour now, to fit in with the verse about Paris, and some nice guitar that I would not consider shredding, just a good solo paired with a fine run on the piano, and then some sort of choral thing and we're back to full speed with the arpeggios thundering along. A lot better. Okay there's a shred at the end, but it is quite short and doesn't really try to punch me in the face the way he's been doing up to now. Another acoustic folky one in "Beauty Secrets", some electric snarling in too, but somehow, and I'm not entirely sure why, I just don't like this one. Some sort of tribal style opening to "Life in the Air Age" with the song developing then almost into one of those early Yes deals with a shot of Kansas in between, ends on what I think may be a talk-box guitar and a marching drumbeat, and into the Queen-like blues tune, "Like an Old Blues", which is, y'know, okay, but really nothing special, in fact I might go so far as to label it the weakest here, though the harmonica is nice (when is harmonica not, now really?) and leads into "Crystal Gazing", which has a sort of Latin or maybe even Spanish feel to it, a much slower track based around a nice acoustic guitar with some curiously cowboy-like whistling, puts me very much in mind of early Moody Blues. There's an orchestra involved here too, which helps give the piece a sense of sweeping grandeur. I like the nod back to his debut solo album when he sings "And the moon through the window..." The album then ends on "Blazing Apostles", which I assume is going to be a rocker to end, and indeed it is, very Jeff Lynne-like, heavy and dense, giving Nelson a chance to let loose on the guitar, and to be fair, he deserves it, as he has been this time quite restrained in his use of his instrument of choice, so go on there, Bill: let it rip.

Definitely a major improvement on the previous albums. I still couldn't ever see myself becoming a fan or anything, but I think the last two may be easier to get through now (unless this is an exception, which I hope is not the case). As I frequently pointed out with the other albums, if Nelson could just dial the guitar fretblazing back a little, he'd make better and more interesting albums, and here, he has. Let's hope it continues.

Rating:

Trollheart vs Bill Nelson
Trollheart: 0
Bill: 4
Current score: Trollheart 0 - 4 Bill Nelson

[Trollheart]

Title: Modern Music
Medium: Album
Year: 1976
Trollheart Pays the Bill: Hold the phone! Two albums in the same year? This one, on the face of it, looks longer, with 15 tracks, but there are a lot of them that are two minutes or less, so maybe not. At any rate, this is the penultimate album from BBD, so we'll see how we go after that, if at all. The opener, "Orphans of Babylon" definitely reminds me of one of the tracks on one of the other albums, can't remember which. It's pretty generic really, and then "Twilight Capers" has a very almost metal feel to it, quite dramatic and again we're back to the Bowie comparisons after the punchier start. This is a track that could rest comfortably on Hunky Dory or Ziggy Stardust, so not that impressed so far. "Kiss of Light" kicks off with a Lizzyesque guitar then seems to settle into a sort of Caribbean style with a lot of lush keyboard, sort of hard to get a handle on what he's trying to do here really.

One of those short songs then is one minute and twenty seconds of piano ballad called "The Bird Charmers Destiny" (sic) and it's a pity it's so short as it's far and away the best I've heard on the album so far, very much an operatic Queen vibe to it, and it's gone before I can really appreciate it, into another rising guitar kicking off "The Gold at the End of My Rainbow", another slow song with very much that Beatles idea in it mixed with some Moody Blues and maybe Barclay James Harvest too. Nice acoustic guitar line driving behind the keys; I'd call this another favourite after the previous one. The guitar work here in about the midsection puts me very much in mind of mid-to-late seventies ELO. We're off rocking hard then for "Bring Back the Spark" (a good theme song for arsonists perhaps) and it's decent fun, but a bit substandard I feel, though at least the shredding has definitely been held back to a minimum so far on this album, so much so that when he does cut loose, as on the previous effort, it's more the exception to the rule and you're inclined to just shrug and say okay, rather than not again.

The title track is preceded by a radio being tuned, which is not new now but probably was then, then the guitar cuts through the static, as it were, and off we go. Possibly characterise this a semi-country, maybe Neil Young or The Eagles, catchy enough and the guitar riffs fit right in, "Dancing in the Moonlight (All Alone)" is okay, and I know it's probably close to the first time the title was used, but honestly, if I have to hear another song called that I'd rather it was Thin Lizzy's, and apparently this is all one long twenty-minute suite, though it doesn't show that in the track listing, just shows each song as separate. It's definitely the most proggy now, with touches of Genesis circa Duke and also early Pendragon, with the sounds of gunshots and sirens supposed to evoke a feeling of America as it was when Nelson toured it, somewhat wild and lawless.

Looks like it covers about six different tracks, but there's another radio announcement at the end of one of them, this time an English station, so whether that signals the end of the suite, as it were, or not, I don't know, and it's a little confusing. The next one I hear anyway appears to be "Forbidden Lovers", which I don't much like, pretty basic again, though there is a lovely 1973-era ELO synthy bit near the end, then the album more or less closes on "Down on Terminal Street", with a nice acoustic guitar and Spanish guitar, tubular bells in the background and a sort of echoey vocal in which Nelson certainly channels his inner Peter Hammill. A short little track finishes things off, but to me "Make the Music Magic" is surplus to requirements, and it could have ended well enough as it was on "Down on Terminal Street." It's kind of unnecessary embellishment.

I don't know. This album confuses and annoys me a little. It's possible that with repeated listenings it might actually grow on me, as I do see (or hear) something there, but the fact that I didn't know there was a suite (it's not listed on Wiki or PA, just shown as single titled tracks, and I only found out about it while browsing through some reviews) and that the version I downloaded has most of the last half of the album (or, possibly, second side) as one long twenty-minute track meant I thought that was the suite, but it appears not, so I'm at a bit of a loss. If you're going to write a suite, at least call it that, show the different parts as being under the one title.

Yeah, I preferred the other album to this, but I can see this is not without its charm. Were I that bothered, I might go back and listen a few more times, but you know me, I'm a first-impressions guy, and the first impression this made on me was that it was a bit confused and complicated to follow.

Rating:

Trollheart vs Bill Nelson
Trollheart: 0
Bill:  5
Current score: Trollheart 0 - 5 Bill Nelson

[Weekender]

Sunburst Finish is my favorite Be Bop Deluxe album, so we more or less agree there. Honestly thought you'd get more enjoyment out of the guitar acrobatics and complex arrangements being metal/prog inclined, but that's alright. Drastic Plastic is a change of pace with synths and something that approaches danceable so I'm interested in how you might receive that.

[Weekender]

When you say it sounds like the best parts of Bowie and The Beatles with shredding on top I'm thinking "hell yeah it's awesome right".

Then: 3-stars

[Trollheart]

Nah, I say that in a bad way, as in, it's not original. So if all I think he's doing is emulating The Thin White Duke and the not-so-thin but equally white four counts, then it doesn't get a high rating from me.

[Trollheart]

Title: Drastic Plastic
Medium: Album
Year: 1978
Trollheart Pays the Bill: And so we arrive at the last of the BeBop Deluxe albums, and I'm still waiting, really, to be properly impressed. It's not that the albums haven't been good, one or two even great; I just don't see that spark that makes me want to keep listening. This one kicks off with a strangely staggered drum beat and has almost new-wave tendencies, "Electrical Language" not starting well for me, as I don't like the way he sings, almost as if it's some sort of parody or imitation of someone else singing. Odd. Not sure, but I wonder if the vocals are being put through some sort of echo or reverb or flanger or some damn thing? Not a vocoder, I don't think, but I do note "FX" being listed, so something like that Fairlight CMS or similar maybe? I guess for 1978 you'd have to say this is quite advanced, considering what he was doing only two years ago; sort of Talking Heads/quasi-Cars idea here. Definitely more keyboards already, so maybe we won't get too much riff to the face? Just as I said that of course, "New Precision" rides on a throaty guitar riff, and here comes the shredding. Ah well. More of a punch to this one certainly, more Byrnesque vocals, and damn but I know that riff it closes with, just can't place it right now. Throwing in a sort of soul vibe to "New Mysteries", but without question Nelson has now updated his vocal style from Bowie to Byrne, which I find a little sad. Can the guy not be original? Does he have to copy the voices of each decade? It's kind of hard to take him seriously, like when I realised Waits had copied Captain Beefheart for his later albums.

I'm starting to hate this album, I have to say. A bright piano leads in "Surreal Estate", which is not bad and looks a little back to his previous albums, has a very Lizzy guitar riff and also manages to be kind of Asian in its sound too. Yeah but I still don't like it, and the whistling even makes me like it even less, especially when I realise it's fucking "Whistle While You Work"! Jesus! Out-and-out rock, almost punk for "Love in Flames", but I'm beginning to think this is the classic case of someone attempting to be all things to all men, and appealing to none. Well, not to me anyway. I have to say, of all the Nelson albums I've listened to, this is the one I care about least. I suppose everyone else loves it. I don't. Hmm, actually I'm wrong: everyone seems to pan it, or at least think Bill is bandwagon-jumping again, and so he is. They all also cite Talking Heads, so I'm not just talking out of some other part of my anatomy when I said that originally, and no, I didn't read any reviews until now. I make my own comparisons, thank you very much. They just happen to be right much of the time.

Well now, "Panic in the World" is just him ripping the Cars straight off, with an opening riff from "My Best Friend's Girl" and Bill doing his best Ric Ocasek. God damn it, I am done with this album, but I'll tough it out to the end, because that's just the kind of guy I am. This couldn't be more Cars if it had four wheels and tail fins! It's, frankly at this stage, ridiculous. "Dangerous Stranger" is about as throwaway as you can get, and the only saving grace for me is that the rest of the tracks are all short, two or three minutes at most. "Superenigmatix" goes right back to Talking Heads territory, and if I didn't know better I'd think he was having a larf, parodying David Byrne, but I really don't think he is. Well, I certainly am not laughing anyway. Some nice piano on the song, but it's almost out of place behind the stilted, staccato vocal delivery and new-wave melody. There's a lovely introspective guitar opening to "Visions of Endless Hopes", which I think may be an instrumental, and if so, is the only one on the album. Some really lovely mandolin here, too, and at this late stage, I would probably say this is the first track I haven't hated. And by the way, yes, it was an instrumental, but it's soon kicked aside by another sub-Cars/sub-Talking Heads effort as we near the end with the inaptly-titled "Possession", which does not possess a shred of originality or, for me, interest.

I'm reliably informed by other reviewers that the closer is a lush guitar ballad, so I'm not quite losing hope yet, but even if it is, it's only going to be, to use a footballing term, a consolation goal; this match was lost from the kick-off when I realised how derivative it was going to be. Yes, the closing track is so different to what's gone before that you'd almost think he made a mistake including it, and that it was intended for a previous album. It's a nice way to calm down after the rage and frustration that has gripped me throughout this album.

I can't believe even Nelson fans like this, much less love it, and from what I read, I'm correct: they don't, and most think it was probably as well he broke up BeBop Deluxe after this. All I can say is, one or two (literally) tracks aside, I fucking hate this album.

Rating:

Trollheart vs Bill Nelson
Trollheart:  1
Bill:
Current score: Trollheart 1 - 5 Bill Nelson

[Trollheart]

So we can leave it at that, or if you want, choose let's say four of his solo albums after these that you think I might enjoy or might at least be interesting, and over the remainder of the month I'll review them. I'm certainly not doing one a day now, not since I've realised there's very little of interest here for me, so far anyway, but I'll give a few more a shot if you want. Or I can just look on this as another failed venture. I've plenty of other music to listen to. I doubt my opinion will be swayed from here, but if you want to try, go ahead.

[Weekender]

Well it wouldn't be fun if you liked all of them. At least Drastic Plastic got a visceral reaction. Somehow disgust is preferable to no reaction.

 I think you give Nelson a shot at redemption with "The Love that Whirls". With minimal shredding and some instrumental pieces, it sort of addresses your 2 biggest complaints.

[Trollheart]

Yeah, well like I said in the OP of the original thread, this isn't a chance to torture me or throw artists/genres at me that I'll hate. I've already set myself up for that with the now-not-legendary "Love or Hate?" thread, so this was and is supposed to be more "try this and see what you think" rather than "try this I bet you hate it."

Look at any of my reviews and you'll see I usually have, or try to have, a lot to say about albums, but I just found myself not caring about BeBop Deluxe, and couldn't really find much to say about them. I have a lot of review threads going - apart from the "500 Best Prog Albums", "Trollheart Does 1001 Albums You Must etc" and my new "The Long Finger" - so I don't really want to waste time on music I'm not going to like. I even have a thread for essentially albums I don't or may not like ("Malfunctioning Eddie's Bargain Basement") and also to some extent "The Meat Grinder" - so I'm covered there.

I'll give that album a go in a while and see, but it kind of looks like Nelson ain't going to be for me. I'm not entirely sure what you expected my reaction to be, but it's been mostly a kind of shrug and meh. Not much more I can tell you really.

[Weekender]

I expected you to send your life savings to Bill Nelson.

[Trollheart]

I don't think fourteen euro sixty cents would really impress him.

[Buckeye Randy]

I like Be Bop Deluxe and it's mostly due to seeing them up close and live.  They were headlining small theatres across America in '77 supporting their release, "Live! In The Air Age".  The show I saw was at Cleveland Music Hall but I didn't go to see Be Bop, I was one of hundreds in attendance for the opener, Cheap Trick.

The Be Bop Deluxe show was memorable for several reasons including the visual of the movie "Metropolis" being played backwards behind the band.  Predictably, Bill Nelson was amazing live and at the time I thought he was the best guitarist I had ever seen.  I hadn't seen very many guitarists at that time but the list did include Brian May, Ted Nugent and Todd Rundgren; Bill was best.

Admirable you took the time to listen to the entire catalog.  I think "Ave Victim" is a strong album but in retro vision is probably best described as poor man's Bowie.  The title "Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus" sounds a whole lot a synonym of "Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars". If I remember correctly, the liner notes even make mention of Bowie.  Regardless, it is my most listened Be Bop album and there's not another like it due to an overhaul of the band.

I like "Sunburst Finish", it most resembles a normal rock album while others with this line-up are quirky.  All the albums have moments but are somewhat patchy.

I think the problem with Be Bop Deluxe other than the worst name of any band ever is that they tried to do too many things.  Prog, guitar God, pop, arena rock...it's all there in limited doses.

Bill's solo output is impossible to keep up with! 

Glad to find a site that discusses such things!