Trollheart Reviews Random Albums

[Trollheart]

Changing the thrust of this thread, I've decided to start reviewing random albums, not just current ones. Basically anything in my extensive collection, whether I've heard or even reviewed it previously, or not. Although I am a proud proghead, I think you all know I have much more than prog, metal or AOR in my collection, so there could be some interesting things popping up.

Ah hell, if anyone wants to rec an album I'll take a look at it. Maybe. The plan is to try to do one a day, but I certainly won't be pushing myself to fulfil that goal, especially as someone who shall remain nameless but is well known for his attitude on the rockability of gardens which aren't silent has inflicted The fucking Fall on me. Happy Christmas huh? What do you mean, my own fault? Meh.

Anyway, I'll do what I can when I can. Might end up more than one album a day, might not be every day. Growing older doesn't necessarily make you wiser, but you do slow down, and I've come to realise that it's stupid to commit to a certain level of reviewing. I won't be pushing myself to breaking point again, so yiz'll have to come up with some other way of killing me.

INDEX

Worldwide Panic by Worldwide Panic
Delta T by Steve and the Nepotisms
Other Words Fail Me by Wildes
The Calm/The Storm by Brave
Cuts Like a Knife by Bryan Adams
Foot of the Mountain by a-ha
3 Ships by Jon Anderson
Next up:

[Trollheart]

Note: Though I usually put the video last, I'm going to put it first here, so that, if anyone wants to, they can click it and listen as they read.

Album title: Worldwide Panic
Artist: Worldwide Panic
Nationality: American
Genre: Heavy metal
Chronology: Debut
What do I know about this artist? Nothing
What's my experience with this genre? One of my favourite genres
Review: Surprisingly hard to track down information on, so I will assume it's their debut. Yeah, I see from their Bandcamp page I'm right. Oddly enough, as a metal band (and how lucky for me that the first random album I choose is a metal one, and yes it was random, I'm not cheating: I had no idea who this artist was till I went looking) they're not to be found on Metal Archives. It starts off with "I Tried", with a kind of semi-tribal drumbeat then a chanting group vocal which sort of reminds me of a heavier Daughtry or something, touches of maybe post-hardcore in there. Quite melodic, and I would be reluctant to call this metal right away. Heavy sharp guitars, sure, and a thick kind of fuzzy sound to the music, but if any sort of metal it may be more melodic metal, not quite verging on AOR territory but still not as heavy as I might have expected it to be. Decent opener, though it's not blowing me away just yet.

"Less Than Nothing" has a somewhat more industrial feel with a more growly, raw vocal and what sounds like wailing keyboards, though I don't have any liner notes so it's hard to know what instruments are being used; pretty sure there are keys/synth here though. Hey. Maybe Discogs has it? Nah, no such look. Some pretty catchy vocal harmonies on this, but is it standing out for me? Not quite yet it's not. Very short. And now we have a cover version of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". It's good, it's interesting, particularly the "unclean" backing vocals, which are - perhaps unintentionally - funny, but was it needed? Is it a cynical attempt to grab listeners through the usage of a well-known pop song given the metal treatment?

"Falling Apart" has a nice kick to it, and despite my dislike of them, I would have to say the unclean vocals - again as kind of backing, although they do take over for a few lines - work quite well here and make the song seem more metal, though ironically for me also push this further into post-hardcore territory, as I understand the genre, my grasp of which is very limited I admit. It's good but is it great? No. No it isn't. But it's not terrible. Hardly a ringing endorsement, I know. Have to say, "Another Side of Me" is really awful, just too dark and muggy and with no real idea in the song, confused and sounds a little claustrophobic, while "I Wish I Was Dead" does at least have a lot of energy and kicks things back to life (ironically) with some spooky whistling keyboards I'm sure are not meant to, but do, convey the idea of ghosts and scary goings-on. Hilarious. Best track by a mile. Love this. Kind of a dark rap and horror-style laughter. Brilliant.

This kind of light-hearted madness continues well into the next track, the appropriately-titled "Shrapnel", which fires riffs and vocal growls all over the place, necessitating a dive for cover as they whistle over your head. Great fun. I like this one too. Perhaps this album is making a last dash for glory, a desperate attempt to finish strongly, blowing away the clinging, cloying cobwebs of the last six tracks and just going for it now? Hopefully. This is a lot better. The swarming keyboard arpeggios accompanying the aural assault of "Burn Letter" work really well, and yeah, I feel that after kind of stumbling around a little, feeling its way in the dark, this album is finally beginning to find its feet and strut a lot more confidently along. Much better.

Oddly enough, given my own personal tastes, it's the unclean vocals that work best for me here; they give this album much more a sense of being real metal than the normal ones do. It's not that the guy's a bad singer (maybe he's doing both sets of vocals, I really don't know) but the "clean" ones just sound, I don't know, too clean? Like the band is trying - unsuccessfully - to straddle the worlds of pop/rock music and metal, and they only really begin to succeed once they let go and fall roaring and growling over into the metal pit, leaving the safer and more commercial shores of pop music behind. There's a return to the industrial style with "The Things That Are Meant to Be", with a sort of nod back to the first half of the album, think there may be some sort of rap going on there too. Not mad about this one now at all. Then again, it has a nice hook in it. Meh.

Acoustic guitar brings in "The Great Departure" as the album closes, so I guess we're looking at a ballad. But then again... It's kind of more like a campfire cowboy song or something, great vocal harmonies and some fine lush synth melding with the guitar, and despite the fact that the vocals are all clean, it's quite easily a standout and a hell of a closer.

Favourite track(s): I Wish I Was Dead, Shrapnel, The Great Departure
Least favourite track(s): Another Side of Me, The Things That Are Meant to Be

Would I listen to more? I really don't think I'd be too fussed. It's got its moments but they're too few and far between. The closer does leave me with a sense of curiosity as to where this band could go when they really try though.
Rating:

[Trollheart]

Album title: Delta T
Artist: Steve and the Nepotisms
Nationality: Dunno
Genre: Not a scooby
Chronology: Search me
What do I know about this artist? Not a damn thing
What's my experience with this genre? I am unable to answer that question sir

Review: It just amazes me how people now put their "official websites" together. There is ZERO information on these guys  ON THEIR OWN WEBSITE! Nothing but a picture of an album (not this one) and links to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube et al. I man, how fucking lazy can you be? No bio, no information, no discography, no tags. Nothing. On their own website. So once again I'm going in here totally blind as the proverbial flying mouse. Not the slightest clue what this band or artist is going to be, what to expect, armed with not even the most basic information about them such as what genre they are or how many albums they have or hell, even where they come from!

Right well "Red" starts off with a ticking clock, mirroring the picture on the cover, then a ringing guitar reminiscent of Pink Floyd at the opening of The Division Bell slowly fading in and getting a little more audible. Siren going now, like an air-raid warning then eventually a big heavy guitar crashes through, bringing powerful organ with it. I see this opener is nine minutes long, so could this be prog maybe? The vocal has a kind of country/folk feel to it with a bit of blues mixed in, so you know, I don't know. Let me look at some other sites, see if I can find them anywhere. No, not a screed of information can I dig up. Their Soundcloud page is as devoid of data as their own website. Definitely a blues feel now, could be psychedelic rock maybe? Damned if I know. Do I like it? I'm really not sure; the keyboard work is pretty superb, though I couldn't quite say the same about the vocal.

The title track seems to run mostly on a fast piano line with growling guitar and some great organ runs, and is I think an instrumental, has again a vague sense of prog in some of it, a really nice church organ passage with what might be synthesised flute perhaps; goes through a lot of changes, in fairness, for a piece that's less than five minutes long. "Icarian Lullaby", on the other hand, is very short, just over a minute and a half, and I would assume with a length like that it would be another - no, there's a vocal, and indeed it is very much the lullaby, seems to be female vocals here and it's mostly driven by a nursery rhyme-like piano. "Blood for the Money" comes in on powerful throaty organ, with a dark, kind of chanted vocal which then turns into a pretty standard one and bounces along on a nice guitar line.

I'm really not sure what to make of this so far. No idea what genre it fits into; seems to straddle a few different ones - blues, prog, psych, folk, country, hard rock. I find "The Dirt" pretty weird, with a sort of off-key vocal and elements of ELO in the backing vocals, then about half way there's a lovely piano passage, which sounds completely out of place, the more so as the vocal starts a high kind of croon (or is that the guitar?) and slides back into a Floydy sense of melody. It comes across as pretty fractured, this song. Guitar breaks out then at least in the introduction of "For You", the melody sounding pretty similar to the previous song, almost as if this a continuation of it. Yeah I think the overall impression I'm getting here is of too much crammed into every track: just when you think you have a handle on it they change it into something different and it's quite disorienting.

"Losing Sleep" is a nice little ballad, which for once seems to go more for the simple approach. I feel this band/artist works better when they do this, rather than, as they then do, hammering me over the head with a thousand different things in the slightly Waits-infused "The Big Easy", jazz and blues meeting and weaving all over the place, but it's not too bad. I just wish I knew what these guys were about - it's a little like listening to an album from Diablo Swing Orchestra or The Dear Hunter: you never quite know what's coming next. I suppose that could be seen as a good thing, but for me it's just more frustrating than anything else. There's still another fourteen tracks to go (twenty in all) and I feel it may be something of a slog.

Sounds like we could be on to a winner though with the gospel-like "Doubt", with a slow, measured pace and some sort of doo-wop backing vocals against a triumphant rolling organ (shut up) but "Masters of Shadow" is not much good at all, getting back to this idea of forcing too much into one song, and the vocal is quite exaggerated, which doesn't help. A lot better is "Angels in the Dust", with a nice bubbly keyboard backing and some ticking percussion (drum machine?) and a proper vocal. Okay, now there's some speech for apparently no reason. Think he may be talking to someone on the phone, maybe saying goodnight. If so, puke even more than Steve Earle's "Little Rock and Roller," and I hate that song. Some stupid warp thing at the end too, just in case I didn't hate it enough. Ridiculous.

And so it goes. Kind of impossible to know what to say about this album, it's just so much all over the place. "Ghosts" hits you in the face and runs off laughing, "Regret" has a lot of hollow majesty about it, a nice instrumental, and "Just in Time" is not without its charm, but it's hard to pin down decent tracks as nothing seems to stay the same for very long. I never consider it a good sign when I'm constantly checking the track listing to see how much longer this goes for. I mean, it's not so bad that I wish it was over, but I'm finding it a bit of a struggle, won't lie. There are some gems here, like the lovely sweet piano ballad "Too Much Living", but you do have to sift through an awful lot of, not garbage, but second-rate stuff to get to them, and I don't know if I think it's worth the effort.

Things get rocking with "Clear to Me/The Escape", which has a real hard edge to it, led by snarling guitar and with a pretty fine piano arpeggio at the end, while "Water" brings back the early folk/country feel, squeezing in a little gospel there too, with a nice, if somewhat incongruous instrumental ending, and then "Breaking Free" goes back to the heads-down rock with somehow a sense of the more upbeat songs of Mostly Autumn. Yeah. Shut up. And the final track is the longest, over ten minutes of "Better Man". Sounds like it might be an epic end to a not-exactly-epic album, finishing strongly with a powerful anthem. Superb organ here and it's almost but not quite gospel again in its approach, certainly a lot of emotion in the piece and a fine closer. If I'm honest though it probably runs for two to three more minutes than it needs to, adding to the overblown nature of this album. Too many tracks, too many ideas all crammed together, and many of the songs too long. Never heard of the phrase "less is more", guys?

Favourite track(s): Losing Sleep, The Big Easy, Doubt, Regret, Too Much Living, Better Man
Least favourite track(s): The Dirt, Masters of Shadow

Would I listen to more? I really don't think so, no. This was a struggle, and while there were good tracks there, it's not an experience I'd wish to repeat.
Rating:

[Trollheart]

Over a year later - for completely understandable reasons of course - time to get this thread kicked back into life.



Album title: Other Words Fail Me
Artist: Wildes
Nationality: English
Genre: SO many! According to Discogs: electronic, rock, pop, folk, world, country
Chronology: Debut album
What do I know about this artist? Nothing, other than her real name is Ella Walker
What's my experience with this genre? Can't answer that: too many here and I have experience with some but not with others

Review: As I say above, this is the debut album from British singer Ella Walker, who goes under the professional name of Wildes. Sultry kind of voice, bit like Chrissy Hynde mixed with Suzanne Vega, at least on the opener, "Woman in Love", which has a stripped-down feel to it, kind of a shuffling beat. "Lightly" is more driven on piano, slow and moody but with a somewhat more engaging vocal and some heartbeat percussion. The next one is more upbeat, with a sort of new-wave style rhythm, but I must say her laconic, almost sulky way of singing is a little hard to get to grips with. "Far and Wide" is the best of the tracks so far though. Some very good guitar on this one: does she play guitar? Don't know: details are very very sketchy on the album.

I wonder was this a single? Certainly catchy enough and with an upbeat message that should have made it a hit. And maybe did. I don't know. She takes her foot right off the accelerator for "Flames", which is a moody ballad with nevertheless a real sense of energy and passion. Back to the piano ballads with "Restless", again very moody and back to the sort of laconic singing, a style I'm not fond of. Nice little song though. Nice to see the pace pick up however for "Just Like You", which ambles along in a pleasant groove, some of the backing vocals putting me very much in mind of Judie Tzuke, as does "Real Life", a much slower and brooding effort carried on some very expressive bass, kind of downtempo I guess you could call it.

In general, a few tracks aside - and conspicuously so - this is an album of pretty low-key, introspective songs, which probably works best if you're feeling a little down and don't particularly want to be cheered up. Not that it's a depressing album, but it certainly won't encourage you to get up and dance or anything. "Anyime" stays true to the basic mould Wildes is working with here, by which I don't mean to imply this is an example of a "cookie cutter" album, not by any means. But the same ideas flow through a lot of her music, and in my opinion it could do with a bit of a kick up the arse, as most of the time it seems determined to remain in the groove it seems to have become stuck in. Perhaps she prefers that. I think I'd rather hear more of a mix.

"Enfant" is a more acoustic number, but again low-key and somewhat morose; nice the way it drops away to just acoustic guitar and piano near the end there. The final track features the Flaming Lips, which means nothing to me, but might to you. I can't honestly say I see anything different about "True Love (Make Me Believe)" and no real contribution the ones whose collagen goes on fire make, but I'm not that familiar with them to be able to make that determination, so maybe they do add a lot to it. Kind of a Beatles feel to it near the end.

Oh, and I don't know what Discogs are on about: I don't hear any world, country, folk or really any rock in here. Honestly, it's just too slow and moody. I think I need that Darkthrone album again!

Favourite track(s): Far and Wide, Lightly, Real Life
Least favourite track(s):

Would I listen to more? I wouldn't be rushing to, to be honest. This is her debut, so there's no chance to do that at the moment, but it might be interesting to see how her sound develops over her next few albums, if it does. It wouldn't worry me if I didn't hear any more from her though.
Rating:

[Trollheart]

Album title: The Calm/The Storm
Artist: Brave
Year: 2019
Nationality: American (Virginia)
Genre: Progressive Metal/Progressive Rock
Chronology: 3rd of 3
What do I know about this artist? Nothing
What's my experience with this genre? I'm a prog nerd, as you all know
Review: All right, all right! I know I said I have a lot of other music in my collection, but obviously a large percentage of it is going to be prog, and it just so happens this is what came up, so deal with it. For a prog rock or even metal album it's quite short, just shy of three-quarters of an hour in total, and with no song on it longer than six minutes, which leads me to perhaps question the band's prog credentials, but then, not every artist in the genre has to have twenty-minute epics. It does help, though, if there's at least one track on an album in double figures. It looks to me like there's either a brother and sister or husband and wife here, as Scott Loose is on guitars while Michelle is behind the mike. I'll see if I can get confirmation of that in due course. I also wonder if their band name is a tribute to Marillion's seventh album which is so titled? Maybe not: brave is a common enough word and could have plenty of other connotations for them. Okay, enough wittering: let's press play.

It's a punchy opening, though I must say initially at first this Michelle Loose is hard to hear over the guitars and percussion. Whether that's down to production or whether she's just not that strong a singer I don't know, but she's definitely not standing out. I'm reminded slightly of District 97 and, to a certain extent, Touchstone, though both their singers have a far more commanding voice and demand your attention. I'm straining to hear ya, Michelle love! Perhaps ironically, the opener is called "I Will Wait", and I kind of am, waiting for something to happen. I have at least confirmed Michelle is Scott's sister, as I thought. The overall rating on ProgArchives is three stars, and while that's not terrible, it's not a ringing endorsement either, indicating, according to their system, "Good, but non-essential". Whether I will agree with that or not, we will see.

At least Michelle's voice is more powerful on the second track, as "Mystery" allows her to stretch her vocal muscles more effectively, and I can hear hints of Heather from Mostly Autumn, with pounding beat very reminiscent of Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell", or indeed Dio's "Holy Diver", and there's definitely something about this. There's enough about this second track that gives me hope, but is it soon to be dashed? "A Thousand Miles of Sand" sounds to me like it should be a multi-part suite, but runs for a mere four minutes. It has a nice acoustic guitar line and a good vocal performance from herself, with what must be double-tracked vocal harmonies, as I see no other female singers credited. The effect is very pretty actually. Perhaps this is beginning to grow on me, though we have a while to go yet.

"No Gravity" sounds very Mostly Autumn, and indeed I'm starting to get almost a more folky feel about some of this; certainly not what I'd call progressive rock, never mind progressive metal! Definitely a certain Celtic idea to this, could be the violin I guess. This one seems to be an instrumental, which I find a little odd as I assumed "Bay Song", the next but one track, less than two minutes long, would be such a piece. Perhaps it will be, though two instrumentals so close to each other doesn't sound to me like a great idea..

There's a very AOR feel to "Summertime", almost a Bon Jovi rip-off in ways. I do get the feeling this band don't quite know what they want to be; at times they're folky, at times hard rock, and here AOR. But none of it sounds to me remotely like progressive anything. Not that it's terrible music, but it is hard to get a handle on what they're trying to do, or trying to be, or present themselves as. In the end, "Bay Song" turns out not to be an instrumental, a short little ballad riding almost entirely on acoustic guitar, a decent vehicle for Michelle's voice, then "Race to the End" tries very hard to be Sabbath heavy, but is just another example of this band jumping from genre to genre, style to style, rather appropriately the lyric containing the phrase "I've been running away". Brave have now had three albums, including this, and by now you would imagine they would have settled on their style, but they still seem to me like they're all over the place.

It turns into a kind of progressive rock tune then about three-quarters of the way through, with some nice violin, but then it just ends abruptly and it's another shock to the system. I can't say much about "November", other than the, again, nice violin melody in it, but other than that it just comes and goes, while the interestingly-named "Electric Ravens" fails to live up to the promise of its title, leaving me shrugging again as we hit the final track, and the longest. "Feel the Rain" lasts one second short of six minutes, and again has a sort of folk/country mix with a nice guitar line and a good vocal performance by Michelle, but it's another that fails to interest me, and rather than ending a rather weak album strongly it really just underlines how very average it is.

I seldom read reviews beforehand of albums I have not heard, as I don't want to be influenced either way, even subconsciously, but I often do look at some afterwards, to see if people agree with me, or if there's something I've missed. In this case I can only find one review, and, well, he seems more forgiving than I am, but does appear to agree that this is, to use his own term, progressive-lite. Personally, I wouldn't call it any sort of progressive, more a hybrid of melodic rock and AOR with a few isolated heavy elements.



Favourite track(s): Mystery, A Thousand Miles of Sand, Summertime
Least favourite track(s): Race to the End, November, Electric Ravens

Would I listen to more? I really doubt it. There was little here to engage my interest, and if this is their third - and to date, last - album, I can't imagine their other two were much better. Not really for me.
Rating:

(No videos exist on YouTube, which may tell its own story)

[Trollheart]

Album title: Cuts Like a Knife
Artist: Bryan Adams
Nationality: Canadian
Genre: Rock
Year: 1983
Chronology: 3rd of 18
What do I know about this artist? I have a few of his albums, though I soon lost interest after maybe the sixth
What's my experience with this genre? Duh. It's Rock, man, and I like it.
Review: It's probably fair to say that, at least internationally, before Reckless nobody knew or cared who Bryan Adams was. After the release of a certain song later in his career, much of the world wished they didn't know who he was, and to be fair, there's a lot to hate about the man. In some ways, over a period covering maybe 1984 - 1991 he kind of could do no wrong. His millions-selling fourth album set him on a road to stardom which, I would have to say, petered out around about the end of that time, and yet he insists on cranking out album after album, some with the most ridiculous titles (18 Till I Die? Really, Bryan?) and though for some reason the UK still seem to love him - every one of his albums to date has been in the top five - America ceased caring about the boy wonder from north of the border a long time ago, the last of his albums to chart at all Stateside being that bloody 18 Till I Die, way back in 1996.

But though this album cracked the US market wide open for Adams, getting him not only his first top ten album in America, but his first charting at all (Reckless would of course be his first and only one to top the Billboard Hot 100), and he had hits from it, it really wasn't until "Run to You", released the next year, that people outside of North America really started paying attention to him. And then, you couldn't move without hearing about the fucker. Like a 1980s James Blunt, his songs were everywhere. He duetted with Tina Turner, he grinned "I think Bob Geldof is a saint!" before tearing into "Summer of '69" on the American stage of Live Aid, and yes, he wrote that song and you all hated him for it.

But I didn't. I loved, and still do love that song, especially the extended version. No I do not need to see a shrink, thank you very much. Well, not for that anyway. This album, then, can be said to be really the springboard for Bryan Adams' soon-to-come worldwide fame, and I have to admit I think it's a great one, perhaps even better than the, in my opinion, somewhat overrated Reckless. There are probably few people outside of his fanbase who could name a song off it - probably few outside his fanbase who could name any song not on the next album - and it does tend to get passed over when we talk of the man. But, though his third album, the other two had passed without making the slightest mark on the music world, so in many ways you might consider this his real debut, setting the stage for what was to come.

Adams, of course, found fame in the golden age of MTV, which was where I, and probably millions of others, first heard "Run to You", and after that became popular I expect they backtracked to this album to feed the growing hunger of his fans before the next one could be released. They only ever seemed to take one or two tracks though, which is a pity, as, while this is by no means a perfect album, it's a pretty damn good one. The opener, "The Only One", reminds me of his later mega-hit "Summer of '69", or, well, you know what I mean. It's got a nice mix of punchy rock and just enough pop/rock or even AOR to satisfy fans of both genres, with backing vocals from, among others, Foreigner's Lou Gramm.

Much sharper, hard rock guitar to kick off "Take Me Back", a sort of smouldering mid-pacer with some nice organ and it has what would become the trademark of Adams and his co-songwriter, Jim Vallance, that singalong, catchy hook that makes you remember the song and guarantees radio airplay. "This Time" is a bit more pop than rock I feel, still very commercial with that thick organ riff running through it; you could actually see this as the theme to some teen drama about a boy fighting to get his girl back or something. Probably. Interesting how part of the lyric here is "If the feeling is right, one of these nights", which very closely parallels that on his massive hit "Run to You". Yeah, I notice these things.

One of only two songs on the album not written by him and Vallance, "Straight From the Heart" is the first ballad, and he pens it with someone called Eric Kagna. This turned out to be his breakthrough hit in the US, taking him into the top ten, though initially we weren't interested this side of the water. It's a decent song, and I do like it, but it's a typical piano love ballad, and you could hear anyone singing it really. Much better is the title track, which punches out from the beginning with a powerful drum fusillade and has another great, singable chorus.

Another one to chart for him in the US, another top ten single, and another one that did nothing over here, but it's a great example of what was coming. It really has everything - power, heart, emotion, commercial appeal, a great guitar solo, a sort of false end and resurgence into the silly but acceptable na-na-na chorus to fade it out. Unfortunately, as with so many albums, this is the peak point, and the second side, as it were, is stuffed with filler and mostly sub-par tracks. It's not all terrible, but as they say in football, it's a game of two halves, and the second is very disappointing overall.

Things begin to go wrong with "I'm Ready", a straight-ahead rock song which is very formulaic and has little to recommend it, maybe the bubbling keyboard arpeggios, then "What's it Gonna Be" again has the basic melody of "Summer of '69" (does this mean Adams was/is a frequent reuser of melodies from other songs he's written?) and while it's catchy in its way it does seem very lightweight and very AOR. I could hear Heart or maybe Journey singing this. The other song on which Vallance has no input - or, at least, credit - is "Don't Leave Me Lonely", written with Kiss drummer, the late Eric Carr. You can tell it has their fingerprints all over it, and in fact it appears Adams was working with Carr on it during the Kiss Killers album back in 1981. It's not terrible but it stands out very much more as a Kiss song than a Bryan Adams one, and therefore something of an oddity, peppered with hard guitar licks, and very strange lacklustre ah-ah-ah backing vocal.

That leaves us with "Let Him Know", a sort of half-power ballad with a sense of the late sixties in it, like maybe  "Leader of the Pack" and "Then He Kissed Me", and the album ends on its second ballad. I must admit, a little knowledge is always welcome and can change your perception of something. I didn't know that "The Best Was Yet to Come" was about the murder of an actress, and the later suicide of the murderer, who was also her husband. You can read about it here Murder of Dorothy Stratten if you want. Personally I still find it pretty weak and insipid, but seen through the lens of a true murder story, it does take on a special poignancy. I'm not entirely sure it was a great idea to include it though, as it certainly brings down the more or less exuberant tone the album has maintained up to this, even if the first half is vastly superior.



Favourite track(s): The Only One, This Time, Straight from the Heart, Cuts Like a Knife
Least favourite track(s): Don't Leave Me Lonely

Would I listen to more? I did, but whether I would be now prepared to go listen to his later material, I'm not too sure.
Rating:

[Trollheart]

Album title: Foot of the Mountain
Artist: a-ha
Nationality: Norwegian
Genre: Synthpop
Year: 2009
Chronology: 9 of 11
What do I know about this artist? Everything. My sister used to be into them but she only ever listened to the first two albums (and only certain tracks on those) whereas I delved deeper and found them to be more than just a pretty-boy pop band. I have all their albums.
What's my experience with this genre? It's love/hate. Synthpop can be great or it can be throwaway rubbish. This isn't throwaway rubbish.
Review: This was initially meant to be the last hurrah for the band who broke into the charts with a great video and put Norway on the map in terms of pop music; they broke up after this and it looked like that would be it, but a-ha reformed in 2015 and have so far recorded two more albums. Hopefully there's more to come. This one I don't believe I've heard at all. It's certainly very eighties synthpop as "The Bandstand" opens the album, all buzzing, beeping synths and electronic drum beats, kind of reminds me of China Crisis or OMD at times. It's maybe a little lightweight for my tastes, but not a bad track.

"Riding the Crest" could perhaps be seen as a nod back to a time when a-ha could do no wrong, when, over the course of three albums, they had hit after hit (including a number one single) and were one of the, at the time, few artists who got to write and perform a James Bond theme song. It's another uptempo song with plenty of bopping synth with a somewhat more catchy hook. Morten Harkett has never sounded in better voice, and it's rather amazing to think that, at this point nearly thirty years after they hit it big, a-ha have never really changed their lineup, the trio of Morten, Pal Waaktaar and Mags Furuholmen remaining the same through, at this point, nine albums, and still going strong as I write.

I would say, just initially, these songs, while not empty as such, lack the often deeper lyrical meaning a-ha put into songs like "Cold River", "Birthright" and "Manhattan Skyline", but they're still great pop songs. I kind of want to hear more than that though. The catchiest of the tracks so far, "What There Is" comes closest to Hunting High and Low-era a-ha, with a great keyboard riff running through it, Pal's guitar somewhat taking a backseat to Mags' keys, but then that was always the way with this band. The title track seems something of a cross between Scoundrel Days and Lifelines, with some fine piano from Mags and a hook that just gets lodged in your brain. This song gives me the impression that a-ha may have been originally anticipating a full retirement, when I hear a line like "We could stay there and never come back." Well, luckily they did come back. It's selfish, I'm sure, but it's bad enough when a band splits because someone in it passes away, but when they just decide to call it a day, it can sort of feel like you're being cheated, like there's music that band or artist had that is out there in their brains but which will never be heard now. So I'm delighted they reunited.

Of course, nothing lasts forever, and now they're getting on, so I suppose they will retire one day, but for now I have at least three more albums to listen to. There's a much more low-key feel to "Real Meaning", and while I would not call it a ballad, it's the closest the album has come yet, while "Shadowside" has a kind of tense, ominous guitar going through its melody, and is again slower than any of the previous tracks, Pal being given his head more here than anywhere else on the album so far. Some nice string arrangements here too.

Very much led by guitar for once, "Nothing is Keeping You Here" sounded to me like it would be a ballad, but it's not. It is in fact almost an indie pop song in the vein of maybe Aquilo or Eisley. It's a nice song and has a good hook, but I really have yet to hear anything great, any real standout, and I'm hoping they're saving the best for last. "Mother Nature Goes to Heaven" sounds like a Chicago blues tune merged with seventies soul, but still retains the classic distinctive a-ha sound, "Sunny Mystery" has a great piano run and rather a lot of Coldplay or Snow Patrol in it, and if the final track is not a ballad I will be quite disappointed, as there's usually at least one, and a-ha write such good ones. Remember "October"? "Stay on These Roads"? "There's Never a Forever Thing"? I'm not hearing anything like that on this album, and there's only one chance left.

I must admit though, a song called "Start the Simulator" doesn't sound like it has great potential to be a love song, or a slow song, and opening with sound effects and a Vangelisesque synth line doesn't give me any more confidence that it will be. It does slow things down, in fairness, and has a kind of Depeche Mode-like squelchy synth too, but unless it's a clever metaphor, don't see it really. Sort of a nod to ELO in the vocal harmonies there about halfway through, still I couldn't call it any sort of a ballad.

Overall, I must admit I'm a little disappointed with this album. It's good, sure, but it's definitely not great and there's little on it I'll remember, which is not how I usually am with this band. If this had ended up being their last album, I fear it would have been a poor swansong after such a successful career. Luckily, they have two more chances at least. Hopefully the next one is better than this. Bit of a let-down.


Favourite track(s): Riding the Crest, What There is, Foot of the Mountain, Nothing is Keeping You Here
Least favourite track(s):

Would I listen to more? Always
Rating:

[Trollheart]

Album title: 3 Ships
Artist: Jon Anderson
Nationality: English
Genre: Progressive Rock
Chronology: 4 of 16 (so far)
What do I know about this artist? I'm aware of his work with Yes, of course, and with Vangelis, but not so familiar with his solo efforts.
What's my experience with this genre? Duh
Review: Made up of a mix of carols and Christmas songs revisited and some of his own original material, this album was released by the Yes singer and frontman nearly forty years ago, but still sounds as fresh as when it was recorded. Well, Christmas albums by their nature don't really date, do they? It opens on a typical Anderson original, "Save All Your Love", with chiming keys and soft percussion, possibly harp in there, Anderson's signature soprano complementing the song perfectly. A short song, just over a minute and a half, but a nice introduction to the album and it leads into "Easier Said Than Done", with a sweeping synth intro that then kicks up on sprightly guitar. Definitely a slight sense of gospel in there, some nice backing vocals and a very catchy tune, quite AOR in tone. Not as multi-layered or dramatic as his work with Yes, but with an engaging simplicity that allows him to cheekily slip the melody of "O Come All Ye Faithful" into the guitar solo, playfully riffed off by Trevor Rabin.

The first proper Christmas song is up next, and gives the album its title as Anderson interprets "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In" with an atmospheric opening, very Yes, before it takes off on a beat and arrangement quite similar I feel to his hit with Vangelis, "I'll Find My Way Home". Nice jaunty guitar mostly staying in the background, allowing Anderson to exercise his pipes as only he can, rimshots going off on cue to punctuate the song. A children's choir adds a sense both of wonderment and innocence to the piece, while Rabin racks off another tasteful solo. Some very peppy piano too. "Forest of Fire" opens with jungle sounds, bongo beats and in fact reminds me a lot of fellow progger Peter Gabriel, very much in fact: this is really close to his "San Jancinto". Good exuberant vocal from Jon – you can almost see him dancing around with some sort of African mask on, getting really into the native vibe.

Another choir, this time I believe it's a gospel one, which works very well with the idea of praising God as they sing "Ho-san-na!" It finishes very abruptly though and we're into "Ding Dong! Merrily on High", which is kind of hard to make a mess of, but Anderson handles it well. I couldn't honestly say it's any better than the original, or any other version I've heard, but it's not worse. It's a little light, but then it barely reaches the two-minute mark so not much room for improvisation there. "Save All Your Love (reprise)" then lasts longer than the original song, about twice as long, develops the theme a little but I'm not sure we needed another crack at it. It is nice, but just comes across as a little superfluous, unless Rabin is winding up with one hell of a solo or something? No, he's not.

Another Christmas favourite then, with "The Holly and the Ivy" getting the Anderson treatment, nice flowing piano and the return of the children's choir. It's nice, but a bit twee, and for some reason reminds me of another Anderson of prog fame...   Some nice triumphal brass, but really it's a little wearing and I'm just waiting for it to end so I can get on to the next track. Ah, here it is, and it's an original song with that Caribbean beat again, congas or something, maybe marimba, something island-ish anyway. "Day of Days" is pleasant, but again very lightweight, this not helped by the addition of flute to the song, though there is a nice Yes-inspired passage there on the synth. Sort of a Mariachi feel to it now, oddly, and I would definitely have to say I'm not impressed with this.

The next one is very short, less than a minute. "2000 Years" runs on a nice jaunty little keyboard line, but really it sounds like something ripped out of a bad Scrooge musical. The choir grates pretty badly here, and to be fair Anderson doesn't help. Luckily as I say it's very brief, and leads into "Where Were You?" on slow whistling synth and oddly-timed percussion, then picking up into a sort of marching rhythm which, were this any other artist or album, I might think could be gearing up to be a rock anthem. It's certainly the punchiest of the songs I've heard on this album so far, though that's not saying much. "Wimpfest" is an unkind, but unfortunately appropriate description of this album, I feel. This song goes some of the way to rescuing it, especially with a slick little guitar solo from The Cars' Elliot Easton giving it some teeth, and the chorus is very passionate and upbeat, but that just leaves one original song to go, as the next one and the closer are versions of Christmas standards.

One of my alltime favourites, "O Holy Night" gets a good run through, with stately keyboards and slow, measured percussion, with Anderson's clear, angelic voice rising to the heavens, the choir coming back in to help him, though truth to tell he doesn't need any help. He is joined on the song though by gospel star Sandra Crouch, who has a nice bluesy style of delivery, and the two almost opposites work very well together. Definitely does the classic proud. Ends a little limply though I feel. One more Anderson-penned track in "How it Hits You", and it's quite rocky and boppy, a nice surprise. Very exuberant and joyful, but I would have liked to have seen Rabin cut loose on the guitar more. What we get in fact is a peppy keyboard solo, which is nice, but this song was crying out for a guitar solo. Anderson then throws in a reprise of "Ding! Dong! Merrily on High" for some reason...?

We close on another Christmas favourite, as his daughter Jade giggles her way through  a whimsical interpretation of "Jingle Bells", cute but ultimately throwaway. But then I suppose this is a Christmas album, and it is Jon Anderson, so whimsy is to be expected. Not how I would have closed it out though.

Yeah. Not really impressed to be honest. The album neither kicks the ass out of Christmas (not that you would have expected it to) or falls totally over the precipice into cutesy-poo land, but wobbles dangerously on the edge, trying to decide what it wants to be. Given that Anderson wrote some original material to go with the Christmas songs, you have to assume he meant the album to be taken seriously, but there's very little on it that really stays in the mind. From the pen of such a master songsmith this is pretty third-rate fare. Even the Christmas interpretations, with the possible exception of "O Holy Night", are nothing to write home about.

Quite disappointing in the end. Bland, uninteresting and flat. Sort of like my Christmas pudding I suppose. A really poor effort, and to be fair to him, not up to his usual standard. Perhaps I should listen to Olias of Sunhillow again to erase the memory of this musical equivalent of socks-and-aftershave...

Favourite track(s): Save All Your Love/Easier Said Than Done/Where Were You/O Holy Night/How it Hits You
Least favourite track(s): Most of the rest
Would I listen to more? yeah I would; this is not Jon Anderson at his best but...
Rating: