Showing posts with label abc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abc. Show all posts

Sunday 25 October 2020

Log #213 - The Mahavishnu King

Eddy Bamyasi

I dip into two stalwarts of jazz fusion this week - two bands I know very little about despite having tried half heartedly to acquaint myself with their charms in the past: Weather Report and The Mahavishnu Orchestra both make their 6 Album Sunday debuts. 

Checking out the forums I alighted upon the apparent best albums of both bands: Heavy Weather and The Inner Mounting Flame respectively. Both entirely instrumental the two albums nevertheless have quite different feels. Heavy Weather from Weather Report is very easy listening as demonstrated by the opening hit and jazz standard Birdland with its chirpy melody and squishy fretless bass. To be honest it doesn't really grab me on first listen and I'm surprised at the critical acclaim bestowed on the album and the band generally. But that is the case, so it must be me? 

This is always a question in the back of my mind at Bamyasi HQ? 

Just because something is universally critically acclaimed (whether a book, film or album) must we all like it? 

I realise this is different from "popularity". I'm not talking about commercial acclaim as demonstrated by popular sales - that's something else entirely. But then we are moving towards controversial territory by implying that critical acclaim is superior to popular acclaim.

The correct answer to the question is of course no and all art appreciation is personal...

... (but the nagging feeling remains that to not appreciate something critically acclaimed may imply something lacking on one's own part).

Anyway, honesty, is the best policy, generally, and the counter argument to one's implied deficiency is the calling out of a "sacred cow" and there are many of them in my (honest) opinion (IMHO). Actually that's a good idea for a blog post Ed. 

That's a long way of saying I don't really get the Weather Report album, but I will try again. This album is from 1977, and the band's 7th, by which time I imagine much of the rough and exciting edges from the jazz fusion movement had been honed down.

No such navel gazing and self reflection with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. This is amazing music. It's a full on assault on the senses - brilliant musicians playing progressive jazz rock at breakneck speed. I would venture it is more rock, or progressive rock, than jazz, and that must for a large part be due to the brilliant electric guitar work of John McLaughlin.

McLaughlin redefined the role of guitar in jazz, Cobham the drums and the band set new standards in ensemble cohesion. They did it without sounding glib, a trick their legion of followers never fathomed.

Jazzwise

The progressive rock comparisons lead me to realise how much they sound like King Crimson in their heavier instrumental passages - both from that band's prog rock heyday circa 1973/4 and in their most recent reincarnations as detailed in log #208. Listen to the start of The Dance of Maya for instance and tell me that doesn't sound like a Robert Fripp riff (indeed the music-map does show a connection):


Brilliant stuff, but not for the faint hearted. I will explore further albums from The Mahavishnu Orchestra although I think they only made very few (certainly from this era - The Inner Mounting Flame was their debut released in 1971).


THIS WEEK'S SELECTION:

Camel - The Single Factor
Asia - Asia
Weather Report - Heavy Weather
Depeche Mode Violator
The Mahavishnu Orchestra The Inner Mounting Flame
ABC Beauty Stab

The Single Factor from Camel was the band's 9th album, released in 1982. Apparently there was pressure from the record company Decca to produce a hit single (where have we heard that before?) and there are plenty of candidates of which Camelogue was probably the best (I've literally only just realised the name of the album may be a reference to the need for a single).

Were there any singles, hits or otherwise Ed.?

Yes, two singles with A sides of Selva and No Easy Answer, and B sides of Camelogue and Manic respectively. You're welcome, Ed.

ps. No hits.

Manic is a powerful instrumental and the lovely guitar instrumental Selva is a homage to Ice.

Outside the single material Heroes is pretty epic.

But generally a fairly so-so album from the erstwhile prog rockers. I am tempted to declare the previous album Nude was probably the group's last great album. One more album followed, Stationary Traveller, before Decca were off.

Asia were one of those "supergroups" formed out of the ashes of various '70s prog rock bands - Yes, ELP, King Crimson, and err... Buggles. And, not surprisingly with its vintage (1982), it's the Buggles influence that is writ large across this album of easy listening AOR: The keyboards dominate and you rarely hear Steve Howe's guitar.

As far as it goes, in terms of catchy hooks, it's fine pop rock, in the vein of US acts like Journey or Styx - indeed the lead single Heat of the Moment was a massive hit in the US. 

Amongst the pap there are a few decent tracks - Time Again hints at what the band could do sounding like a rocky King Crimson a la The Great Deceiver.

I had no idea the band were still going, with 2 original members (Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes) and 13 albums to their name now.

Finally to round out this week's post the best two albums from my '80s retro last week are retained - Beauty Stab from ABC and Violator from Depeche Mode (although the latter was actually a 1990 release but you know what I mean). Really enjoying both these albums although Violator is the one that will have the greater longevity.



Sunday 18 October 2020

Log #212 - Giving Those Early '80s Synthesizer Bands A Second Chance

Eddy Bamyasi

I'm heading back to the early '80s this week with some formative music that impacted my ears around school sixth form time. Personally I wasn't ever into these new romantic and electronic bands, preferring rock and prog. It's remarkable to think that at that time the music I was listening to was already considered old when in truth most of it was less than 10 years old and some was even still current. But when you are only 16, 10 years is a very long time and in comparison with the likes of Depeche Mode and OMD, King Crimson, Genesis and Pink Floyd were dinosaurs.

OMD - Architecture and Morality
OMD Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Human League - Travelogue
Depeche Mode - Violator
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down
ABC - Beauty Stab

OMD were one such new electronic band that suddenly appeared on the scene one day in the sixth form common room. I certainly remember some of the cool boys with their new romantic floppy jackets (with the sleeves rolled up) and matching floppy hair carrying around the OMD debut LP with it's modern grid cover (if I remember correctly the outer cover had holes through which the bright orange of the inner cover showed through - that was pretty cool and different).

Sadly the albums here from OMD were a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting something more ground breaking remembering the esteem with which these albums exchanged hands at school. 

Architecture and Morality is pretty basic synth pop without anything that memorable. It's why I turned to the debut album actually to see if that offered more originality and indeed I think it's the better album. It has more of those intriguing Tangerine Dream '70s synth sounds. Some tracks sound a little like Boards Of Canada (The Messerschmitt Twins) and Electricity is a great tune.

On both the albums I don't think much of the singing.

That's where the ABC scores well actually. Although the tone and style sounds so of its era somehow, Martin Fry nevertheless had a good voice. ABC sound more like a regular band, with traditional instruments, less electronics, and some decent electric guitar (much more than you would expect), and proper drums - they are even quite heavy in places. Heavy Citizen is a storming track, and The Power Of Persuasion is pretty cool. Bite The Hand has some excellent riffing. Am I bonkers or does the funky King Money even sound like latter day Led Zeppelin? I think people would be quite surprised with this album, as I was when I first heard it.

Travelogue was The Human League's 2nd album released in 1980. Surprisingly to me it wasn't until the 3rd album Dare, and it's accompanying hit single Don't You Want Me, that The Human League achieved wide commercial success (I had assumed Don't You Want Me came immediately in their career). This preceding album is a bit rawer and minimalist than the subsequent albums. Some of the rhythmic pulses and glitchy effects as on Dreams Of Living and Being Boiled are like Kraftwerk and the hypnotic instrumental Toyota City is where Tangerine Dream meets Steve Hillage (again it might be unfair to suggest the lack of singing is an advantage).

The Dexy album is slightly different to the Come On Eileen template everyone is familiar with. Lots of thumping drums - but it's genuine, not over produced. Quite a lot of surprising spoken word in the songs - the band members sounding like they are in conversation (at first I wondered if I was hearing some interference from somewhere else in my headphones, or whether these were studio outtakes). One of Those Things sounds like the great Werewolves of London. The Waltz is a great song.

10 years on (again) and you can really hear the improved synthetic production on the 1990 Depeche Mode album Violator. The synthesizers sound much better, and the bass floors you. But it's the drum machines that show most improvement over their sound at their inception.

That was then...

I used to think this group were so naff when they first came out: teenagers who barely looked 17 playing feeble one finger melodies on cheap (probably not that cheap in those days) keyboards. What was their big hit they started off with? It was laughable to me, in comparison to the complicated prog rock I was in to.

...this is now

I was vaguely aware Depeche Mode became massive over the years especially in the US and South America. I remember seeing footage of the group playing to massive stadium crowds. They changed their image too of course and moved from a teeny bopper band to a tattooed rock outfit. Lead singer Dave Gahan's heroin problems were widely reported and no doubt contributed towards their new persona (I'm sure not a marketing ploy but possibly increased their cred!).

There are some great tunes on this album including Enjoy The Silence (that's the one with the king walking up a hill holding a deck chair) and Personal Jesus:

Reach out and touch faith
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares

It's the best album in this 6 by a wide margin.







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