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

[Trollheart]

I've been asked by Weekender to give this man's music a go. From what I see, his band only had five albums, so it shouldn't be too hard. We launch on Saturday!

Edit: I then did a little further pre-research and found out that Bill Nelson, the founder of the band, has an absolute shitload of solo albums - sixty-four I think I counted. It looks like I'm going to be a lot busier than I had expected! And February is the shortest month, too!

[Weekender]

Yeah that's why I said Be Bop/Bill Nelson. I'm not ordinarily a huge 70s prog guy, so I first got into Bill Nelson through his solo stuff. His drop into obscurity corresponded with the invention of the synthesizer. Freed from commercial restraints he pursued a lot of creative ideas in electronic as a kind of forgotten Brian Eno.

That stuff led me into appreciating his prog rock stuff where he flexed some serious chops along with creativity on the guitar.

I'm not sure you'd enjoy that synth stuff nearly as much as Be Bop Deluxe, but I can recommend a couple of his solo efforts.

[Trollheart]

Hey I'm a pretty synthy guy! I enjoy a long keyboard arpeggio or solo as much as anyone. I'm a big fan of Vangelis, JMJ and Tomita. I'll definitely give his solo stuff a decent listen.

[Trollheart]

While this was originally intended to be an opportunity for me to step out of the old comfort zone by tackling artists and, I had hoped, genres I'm not too familiar with, I'm happy to tackle an artist I've never heard who happens to be somewhat within my own wheelhouse.

Bill Nelson (1948 - ) is a Yorkshireman, a guitarist and songwriter and composer who had an odd sort of solo career. In 1971 he released his own first solo album, then started up a band called BeBop Deluxe, with whom he released five albums but then disbanded them four years later in 1978, whereupon he (eventually) returned to his solo career, and has since released a staggering sixty-four albums over a (so far) period of more than forty years.

I of course have little chance of listening to and reviewing all of those, nor do I think I'd want to, but I will attempt to get through as many as I can. If, in my usual attempt to listen to one a day, I manage to get through the month (this being a short one) then I should be able to listen to 28, which will be a half-decent slice of his solo stuff plus the BeBop Deluxe albums, so we'll see how it goes.

As ever, if I'm seriously just not getting into it I will abandon the project, but I will try not to do that before I've listened to a few albums. I know I only lasted three with Korn, but that was different. You got to have something to write about, y'know? Anyway I'll give this a shot. What's the worst that can happen?

Well, the worst that can happen, apparently, is that some stupid fuckers who uploaded the first album to YouTube decided to leave tracks off it! So I go searching for it and find - nothing. Off to Soulseek I go, to download the album. Shout out to @Weekender : if you have proper links for me I'd appreciate it, otherwise I'm going to have to download each album separately, and that's a whole lot of downloads!

As I'm intending to do this, as always, if I can, chronologically, I'm going to listen to Bill Nelson's debut solo album first, then the five BeBop Deluxe ones, and then back to the solo output, which then gives us this one to start with.


Title: Northern Dream
Medium: Solo album
Year: 1971
Trollheart Pays the Bill: Before we get going, let's just take a moment to really examine that album cover. Does that not scream 70s psychedelia? You have an anthropomorphised smiling moon looking in the window of a bedroom, you might say a girl's bedroom given all the hearts and flowers on the duvet, but maybe not. The moon is under a cloud, so somehow it looks like that cloud is a hat it's wearing, and there's another smiley face in the top right-hand corner of the album as well as the word "smile". Then you have the bed, where the artist's name is, whether intentionally or not I don't know, printed in such a way that, to me at least, it looks like a flying saucer.

There's a picture of a guitarist on the wall to the left, so we're in no doubt as to what the main instrument here is going to be, and the curtains (obviously the window is open, as they're shown as being in motion, therefore moving in the night breeze) are decorated with stars. Finally, the font the album title is in is very big and wobbly and chunky and oh so hippy man.

Well, it certainly was the psychedelic seventies, so who knows? Maybe that was the kind of album cover he was expected to have, or maybe it was his preference. I must say, personally, I always find northern things more, well, honest, tough, true to life; it's like that Fall song, "The North Will Rise Again". Maybe it's because of Game of Thrones (but I don't think so), maybe it's because I live on what's generally termed the northside of Dublin (with the southside being where the more affluent and well-to-do live), or maybe it's just that the north has always seemed the poorer but more, well, real part of a country, especially England. Going back to the likes of Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Our Friends in the North and The Boys from the Blackstuff, it always seems to me that the north is the place to be, where the real hard workers are, where the honest, decent, common folk are.

Of course, as happens a lot of the time, I could be talking bollocks, and probably am, but that's the preamble anyway. So much for the cover: what about the music? Well, I see no epics in the track listing, in fact the longest track seems to be just over five minutes, so let's dive in.

"Photograph" is literally seconds of an a capella tune, which is quite nice, then the guitar kicks in for "Everyone's Here", but hold the phone a mo! According to PA, the opening track is 4:03, and that's definitely not right; it was seconds only. Then this one is meant to be 1:39 but shows as 3:45! Did they just get it wrong in the listing? Well, as I'm supposedly listening to the actual album, I have to assume they did. Let's see if other timings match up or not. Back to this track anyway; definite mix of sixties and seventies psychedelia with the emergent prog rock and even some folk I think too. Is that him singing? Think it is. Yes the listing says he does vocals. He has a very seventies voice, if you can imagine such a thing. A lot of guitar histrionics as the song winds down to its conclusion, then slide guitar and acoustic takes us into the country-flavoured "House of Sand", which is very relaxed and gentle and gives me a sense of CSNY perhaps. "End of the Seasons" gives me a slight Beatles vibe, with a sort of blues feel to it too, swinging along happily, I would say organ-driven but I don't see one. Hmm. I see a harmonium; could be that. Another pleasant track certainly. And another fine guitar solo. Nice that somehow these guitar passages don't seem to be any sort of attempt to show off, just as if he's enjoying playing the instrument.

That takes us to the shorter "Rejoice", slower and with a goodly amount of flute. Those who know me will be aware of my dislike of the flute, but again will understand only certain types of flute bug me, and this one doesn't. Again I hear the Fab Four here, not that's it's a rip-off of them or anything but definite influences, and the flute naturally inclines me towards one of my least favourite prog bands, Jethro Tull. Can't honestly say I'm mad about this one to be honest. Maybe it's the flute, but I find myself getting bored. The flute also sounds at times to me like it's out of tune, but what do I know? I couldn't play the radio. Incidentally, the timings on this and the previous track seem to have been reversed, as this is 4:45 and the listing says that should have been the running time on "Rejoice". Still too long for me. On we go to "Love's a Way", with a nice acoustic guitar strum getting it under way, a ballad I imagine. I do like that though Nelson has a strong enough voice, he doesn't need to always raise it to be heard; sometimes his almost muttered vocal can still be effective.

If there's a title track then it's up next, and "Northern Dreamer" is led in by a lovely high-strung guitar line, meandering along nicely, and what sounds like banjo accompaniment. I don't see that, but I do see bottleneck guitar, so maybe that's it. Okay, seems that's just a slide guitar, which I don't think this is, but again, what do I know? Think this is an instrumental, and if so it's the first I've come across on the album. Very nice, very relaxing, while "Bloo Blooz" does what it says on the tin, a blues track that swaggers along nicely on a twelve-bar blues or some damn thing. Certainly makes this head nod anyway, and gives Nelson a chance to break out the blues breaks. Oh, a second instrumental. Interesting.

"Sad Feelings" has some more slide guitar I think, and it's not surprisingly a ballad, with a sort of waltzy rhythm, though I do find it a little hard at times to hear Nelson's voice over the guitar until the chorus. I'd say this is far and away my favourite on the album so far, and probably the first time I've really sat up and taken notice. I mean, there's been nothing bad on the album, but nothing has really stood out either until now. I like this. I like this a lot. I think I might be able to draw slight comparisons between this album and the debut from Supertramp, in that it's very folk-based and mostly laid-back and almost pastoral in ways. "See it Through" is a little wimpy for my tastes, and I'd prefer to hear our Bill rip it up a little, even if it's just a good solo or a bit of oomph in the song, but this bores me. And we're near the end, so not too long left to impress, Bill me old son.

If I believe the timings on the album (which I don't) then there's only one real track left, the closer being seconds in length. I guess we'll see shortly. "Smiles" reminds me momentarily of Waits' "I'll be Gone" from Franks Wild Years, as it opens with a cock crowing, but rather than jump into a frenetic, uptempo tune, it's another slow acoustic number, with the vocal seeming to echo from a distance, as if Bill is singing down a tunnel or something. Okay the tempo is picking up now, and we're getting electric guitar stabs through the melody, so maybe it's waking up. Ah. Now it's gone back to the hippy ballad Beatlesesque style. Then it develops into an almost southern boogie guitar riff. There's a lot in this song for sure, have to give it that. And the listing is definitely wrong, as this is by some way the longest track, amending what I said at the beginning - it goes on for almost ten minutes. Probably another favourite if I'm honest. The closer is in fact only seconds long though, less than thirty, as "Chymepeace (An Ending)" finishes things off, bookending the album with "Photograph (A Beginning)", two short, seconds-long pieces to open, and close, the album.

I would have to say that I wasn't blown away by this album, but I did like it. Were this not an exploration of the man's work, I wouldn't particularly be impelled to go seek out more of his stuff, but as it is, I am, and I will. Next up is the first BeBop Deluxe album, released three years after this.

Rating:

Trollheart vs Bill Nelson
Trollheart: 0
Bill: 1
Current score: Trollheart 0 - 1 Bill Nelson

[Weekender]

I'd actually forgotten about Northern Dream so it seems there's something for me to learn here too. Definitely with Be Bop Deluxe you're going to get the more ramped up guitars you're wanting.

[Trollheart]

Title: Axe Victim
Medium: Album
Year: 1974
Trollheart Pays the Bill: And so we're swiftly on to the first of the BeBop Deluxe albums. Clever cover again: I don't know if that's an actual guitar or just a graphic representation, but it looks cool, and it ties in with the double entendre of the album's title. Perhaps there's even a third meaning, as a skull usually represents death, and perhaps he's saying life is short, make the most of it? We're all victims of time's axe/scythe? Or maybe not. Bill is playing less instruments this time, just (!) the guitars and piano, and of course singing. It's three years since his debut solo album, so let's see what singing and playing with a band has done for him.

Very abrupt start, I must say, so much so that I had to run it back to make sure I hadn't missed something. I find his singing this time a sort of a cross between Mark Knopfler and Bryan Ferry, just the sort of inflections he makes. The guitar is much more up in the mix, more in your face, and his singing, too, has progressed from mostly folky musings to a more upfront, rocky shout. I can't say at this early stage which I prefer, but I was complaining about the light tone of his first album, which is something this one can't be accused of from the off.

Some great soloing of course, Bill really making his guitar work, very blues in its way, kind of sounds like there's some acoustic trickery going on, as I seem to hear sounds moving from one speaker to the other? That was the title track opening the album, and "Love is Swift Arrows" keeps the tempo high, with an almost Dan Fogelbergesque opening, then some definite echoes on the vocal, then slowing down for "Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus", which gives me a certain "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" feel, another fine guitar solo fadeout and into "Third Floor Heaven", in which the guitar snarls back into full life, taking control again as the song rocks along, and here I would have to say Bill channels his inner Bowie, and goes pretty wild on the guitar.

It's an acoustic opening then to "Night Creatures", taking the tempo down again with some nice slide too, again very Bowie here I feel, a nice sort of tribute to, um, ladies of negotiable affection, as Terry Pratchett once described them. "Rocket Cathedrals" kicks off with some sort of backwards tape recording of a voice I think, and it's very rock and roll, almost pub rock flying along at a great pace, while "Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape" goes back to the acoustic idea, almost back in fact to his solo album, though louder and more forceful. All through this album one thing is constant, and that's the fine display of guitar virtuosity, whether as centrepieces or closing passages, but I must say, excellent as he is as a guitarist, it starts to become a little stale, a little samey, a little predictable, and I'd like to see him take a different turn once in a while.

Birdsong opens "Jets at Dawn", a slower, more introspective song which appears to be about the end of a war. Given he's English and that the Vietnam war was still in full swing in 1974, I assume he's singing about the end of World War II. Then again, jets are mentioned so maybe it's the Korean war. Or maybe it's just a generic end-of-war song. Probably not important. Nice song anyway, though of course our Bill can't resist a bit of shredding there at the end. Almost a more hard rock feel to "No Trains to Heaven", which sounds to me a little like Dire Straits may have been listening to it when they wrote "Sultans of Swing". Very much a southern boogie guitar here to rival the best Molly Hatchet or Lynyrd Skynyrd have to offer. The album then ends on "Darkness (L'immoraliste)" which for once pushes the guitar into the background, with a nice orchestral and piano backing complete with a female vocal choir (being 1974 I can assume it's an actual choir - though none is credited - rather than being created on a synthesiser) and is a really nice way to end the album.

Again, I don't see anything wrong with the album, but I also don't hear anything that would make me want to continue on, were this not a project. Both albums have been, so far, unremarkable but for the excellent guitar work of Nelson, and I need a little more than that in my albums. So I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow with the next BeBop Deluxe album.

Rating:

Trollheart vs Bill Nelson
Trollheart: 0
Bill: 1
Current score: Trollheart 0 - 2 Bill Nelson

[Weekender]

Once again I'll have to allude to some future pay-off that may not arrive for you. The albums do get more adventurous from here. Still, Axe Victim has a certain charm precisely because it's straight forward. It's on the tin, as they say. Right from the cover/title you know this is going to be an album that slaves for the guitar to the detriment of good taste. Thus the axe "victim".

[Weekender]

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the excellent drumming. It's got a nice snap and pop to it. This particular drummer returned to his teaching gig before Bill struck it big, wonder if he has any regrets about that.

[Trollheart]

I take your point, but I'm waiting to be impressed, frankly. As for drumming? Doesn't matter to me mate: I can't tell good drumming from bad. It's just not something I concentrate on. A drumbeat is there or it's not. I mean, I know good drummers like Neil Peart and Cozy Powell etc, but there's no way I could tell the work of one from that of another. That album is startlingly influenced by Bowie, though.

[Weekender]

Sure, 3 stars isn't unfair. It gains a little when put in the context of their discography is all.

[Trollheart]

I rate, as always, based on how I like, or don't like the album, not on how famous/cult/revered it is. I mean, I love Ziggy Stardust, but if I had listened to it and hated it I would not have had any problem giving it a low rating. In other words, I won't rate something high just based on its popularity, or what people think I should rate it as. I've always been like that, and I always will. I make my own mind up and don't follow trends (usually get lost if I try to, anyway).

[Weekender]

Ah, what I mean by that, is after listening to a lot of Bill Nelson including his high concept work, Axe Victim is refreshing in its naievety. It will be interesting to see if you end up agreeing should you really go the distance and listen to 20 or so albums.

[Trollheart]

Right, I understand. Like if you hated say Trespass but then listened to Abacab, you'd probably appreciate the 1970 album more. Or insert your own example. But my ratings aren't retrospective, so even if, after listening to a dozen or more albums, my opinion changes on the debut, I'd just leave the rating as it was. It's really a first impression that determines my ratings, and albums seldom tend to "grow" on me. I either like it first time or I don't.

[Weekender]

All reviews final.

[Trollheart]

Title: Futurama
Medium: Album
Year: 1975
Trollheart Pays the Bill: Interesting to find that the term existed long before Matt Groening - before even his greatest creation, The Simpsons, in fact - but is that going to be the only thing of interest in this album? Neither of the previous two have really made me sit up and listen, so will this be more of the same? Another abrupt opening as "Stage Whispers" gets the album underway, pretty fast and frenetic, some fine guitar work already in evidence, while "Love with the Madman" is a slower piece, some nice piano in it, definitely still hear the Bowie influence here, then back to rocking hard for "Maid in Heaven", though the constant guitar tricks and effects are I have to admit beginning to wear on me. While Nelson is undoubtedly a great guitarist, his constant need to show off is a bit annoying. Maybe it's just me, maybe it's the mood I'm in, but I'd like to hear a song where he doesn't, to my mind, push the guitar in my face and say "Look how good I am!" It's not like he needs to prove it.

And so it goes. "Sister Seagull" is a slower track again, but plenty of guitar histrionics and solos, making me feel the song almost takes a backseat to the fretwork, which is a pity, as some of these songs seem to me that they would be grand if he'd just leave them to impress on their own merits. Even Rory Gallagher or Gary Moore knew when to cut the guitar back a little. It gets so that you can almost predict what each song is going to be like. "Sound Track" has some nice piano runs in it, with a sort of ELO idea in parts of it - but here comes the guitar now, elbowing all aside as if it just has to be there front and centre. It's kind of like it's being forced down your throat. Getting on my nerves now.

When he leaves the piano alone (and yes, I know it's him playing it too) it can really carry the tune on its own, and I don't think it needs all these stabs and slashes of guitar riffs pounding through it, at least not all the time. I said on his debut solo album he wasn't showing off, but I definitely feel that he is now. Plenty to show off about, sure, but does he have to do it every track? "Music in Dreamland" is a typical example; starts off relaxed and acoustic but before it's got even a minute into the song he's shredding and soloing all over the place. The brass is interesting, makes a bit of a difference all right, sort of a Middle Eastern riff there to finish it off. "Jean Cocteau" sounds a bit better, laid-back with an almost bossa-nova beat, perhaps he can resist shoving the guitar in my face for once? Well at least it's Spanish guitar this time, which is much less aggressive.

Back to the heavy stuff then and picking the tempo up for "Between the Worlds", possibly an instrumental? No, not an instrumental. Okay. Well, one more track to go, and it segues in on a marching slow drumbeat attended by the guitar with what sounds like a choir and some nice sprinkly keyboards, the appropriately-named "Swan Song" closing the album, and to be fair it's one of the better ones, but again very Bowiesque.

Well to quote Diana Ross, I'm still waiting. Waiting to be impressed, to see something here that makes me want to go on and explore more. At this stage I think I'll do my best to get through the next three albums, but after that I will possibly have to rethink this, unless something major happens to change my mind. There's nothing wrong with this music, as such, just nothing that terribly special about it either, so far as I can see.

Rating:

Trollheart vs Bill Nelson
Trollheart: 0
Bill: 3
Current score: Trollheart 0 - 3 Bill Nelson