Sunday, January 24, 2010

And so, from the well of darkness...

In the Flat Field. Three and a half Stars.

The revered forefathers of goth rock. Peter Murphy, the stylised Transylvanian Count, and a backup band that would eventually become Love and Rockets. Knowing them both in their later stages, I was curious to here the original material.

If you ask me, it's a bit like introducing listeners to Iggy Pop via The Idiot and then giving them Raw Power...

My version of In The Flat Field contains a variety of bonus material, leaving it difficult to discern how it would have come across in shortened form. But I digress.

Dark Entries is a good pace and tone setter. Driving guitars, and an incomprehensible lyric delivered at speed with odd phrasing, all complicating matters. No melody. Sounds like punk rock.

Double Dare has fat, distorted guitars and ominous drums. Peter Murphy sings like he's before an audience hung up on his every word. He stretches all his lines to the breakng point while the music rises steadily in volume.

In the Flat Field doesn't rest for long. That drummer goes into overdrive, while Murphy goes conventional with actual verses and a chorus. He does some cool things with his voice, but he's a bit too fond of screaming. That happens a lot here, which does rob some power from the proceedings.

God in an Alcove is a step in the right direction. A bit restrained musically.I think it's impossible to retrain Murphy though.

Dive is like Dark Entries 2. Punk Thrashing, never letting up the pace. I think Murphy is trying to be hard to understand on purpose. Short.

Spy in the Cab again teeters on finesse. Musically it's really quite atmospheric. Peter's vocal histrionics kind of do it in.

Small Talk Stinks (complete with incomprehensible, tinny voices in the back) is... really weird. It's almost funny ("There's no idle gossip in braille"), but also nicely unsettling with those tinny voices taking over toward the end.

St. Vitus Dance is light. I don't think Bauhaus were quite as dismal as the goth tag might sound. Peter really camps this one nicely. But then he gets up and screams it out. Maybe he enjoyed it... But I don't.

The crucifixion is given the rock treatment with Stigmata Martyr. It adheres musically to all the record. Cold, guitar-heavy post-punk. Actually, come to think of it, it really sounds a hell of a lot like The Scream.

Nerves is brilliant. The opening build up is truly nerve-wracking, using our fear of sudden, quiet noises to perfection before expanding. This is the end of the original album, and even though Murphy does some yelling here, being as the song is a seven minute build-and-subside experiment, it really comes across as far more compelling than anything prior to it.

Extras.. Telegram Sam, a reimagining of that classic T. Rex song. Instead of a straight version, there's a manic and somewhat silly quality to the cover. It's fast and almost charming, if that's possible from these guys.

Rosegarden Funeral of Sores is a John Cale song. It fits well with Bauhaus originals, being rather dismal and dirge-like. It's worth waiting for the eventual delivery of the title phrase. It has more impact that way.

Terror Couple Kill Colonel actually carries a melody. Must have been a single, for it's a shame to think of wasting that potential. It's about a murder, of course, but still accessable.

Scopes is utterly trivial. A minute and a half of Peter listing off a variety of scopes with backing vocals chanting "scope!" Lame. But Bauhaus had to be a group that was either way too serious or secretly having a laugh to make this type of music. Scopes backs up the latter.

Untitled is a bit of jamming with our singer muttering something at the same time. Makes no difference what it is, as it's no longer than Scopes.

God in an Alcove plays again. Remixed or an alternate take or something. It's a little different, but nothing important.

Crowds is an extraordinary turn of events. Peter Murphy sings to a lover he doesn't like so much anymore. It's amazing. Just gentle piano based stuff to back him up, with him just wringing real emotion from this sad, angry, betrayed rant. I'm still impressed by it.

Last is an unlisted bonus, a remix of Terror Couple Kill Colonel. Really irrelevent as well, except to Bauhaus fanatics.

Of which I am not one. Though this debut was more eccentric than I'd anticipated, and grew on me as I compiled this review, still moreso it frustrated me with fine hints of what it could be, but lacked the focus or wisdom to achieve.

At least on this outing. Maybe on their next and only other CD I own, they will refine their sound.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Finished with this set

Presence. Four and a half stars.

For the public and critics alike, every Zeppelin album from I to VI are looked upon as golden, essential works from a band at their peak. And then...

Presence, from '76, is the first to fail at capturing enthusiasm. I can't speak for the ones to follow, as I don't have them. But I think what made this a forgotten album is its subtlety. Unlike prior records, there is little in the way of big riffs or other classic Zeppelin tricks of getting attention.

The opener is the strongest moment, bar none. Achille's Last Stand is a rock epic, stretching to ten minutes, and gaining a powerhouse performance from everyone. Plant is more of an accent than usual. Bonham's drums are very noticable. It keeps your interest all the way, and bears no excess that I noticed. Surprising, after their last record.

Its strength does put the rest of the songs at a disadvantage. None of it is as likely to blow you away. But For Your Life does pretty well. It draws you in as it goes. It's quite impressive, though it takes awhile to realise that. No chorus or catchy bits. Nothing obvious.

Royal Orleans is a three minute piece, and though high quality, it doesn't last long enough to really make an impression. It just skates on by.

Nobody's Fault but Mine is our customary blues track. Big theatrical pauses for the main line, placed inbetween some great musical jams. This tends to be most people's favorite Presence track.

Candy Store Rock was apparantly a flop single. It makes for an unlikely Zeppelin tune, I'll admit. Sort of a tribute to the long ago early days of rock and roll. Plant does a good impression of... whoever he's affecting. It's the light moment, and a good change of pace. I wish it had been shorter, which is more in keeping with oldies.

Hots on for Nowhere is a casual rocker, with Plant taking his usual center stage role. It carries on very nicely.

Tea for One wraps the album very well. It returns to the long gone "late night bar" atmosphere of Since I've Been Loving You, only as the title points out out, you don't need coffee or whiskey to feel this bad. Alright, I do prefer their previous forays in this direction, but as my last Led Zeppelin record, this is a fitting closer.

I am of the opinion that this carefully thought out product trounces the bountiful Physical Graffiti, which was too much of a good thing. It ranks alongside their debut in my eyes. Severely underrated, and yet without a drop in quality. I must put its lack of popularity down to it being a rather difficult set of songs to immediately grasp.

And did I mention how good it sounds on headphones?

Friday, January 15, 2010

A small mire

Physical Graffiti. Three and a half stars.

Odd that there are so many double albums out there, given that they always end up sounding overlong (The Who's Quadrophenia being an exception). Certainly it's the case with this one, the last of the Zeppelin "classic" records. Overall quality is lower, as this brew of songs just doesn't rise to former heights. Especially in the lyric department...

Despite all that, the first CD opens with Custard Pie, a stately rocker that shows Led Zeppelin at the top of their game. It holds together well, has a nicely heavy sound and doesn't meander too much.

The Rover is also excellent. Cool riff, great vocal, decent lyric, good guitar solo. There's just nothing wrong with this piece.

In My Time of Dying is an eleven minute blues extravaganza. If it were a bit shorter, I'd have less to complain of. As it is, yeah, cool slide guitar and all that, but Robert Plant comes across as a bit overwrought. And though it is interesting in an instrumental sense, it seems a tad grandiose. Epic songs just don't have to be this long. On the other hand, I can't really say it's bad. Zep always could handle a blues jam.

Things tighten back up with the song Houses of the Holy. And on a record rather caught up in sleaze and excess, this is made all the nicer. Idyllic. It could have fit in well on the album of the same name, methinks.

Trampled Under Foot is the exact opposite. The car metaphor is hit-you-over-the-head obvious, but the riff is killer, and Plant plays it up well.

And last is Kashmir. In the right mood, this one'll send a shiver up your spine. Epic drama, surreal and fitting lyric and of course, those unforgettable strings. Very different from all their other songs, but undeniably Zeppelin.

Disc two doesn't rock so much, and it has some pacing problems. It seems to be mostly filler and throwaways. Not nearly of the previous quality.

In the Light starts atmospherically, but soon bogs down. What momentum the song contains is lost as it is unreasonably stretched to eight and a half minutes. There's not enough there to sustain interest.

Bron-Yr-Aur is a lovely, acoustic throwaway. One of their rare instrumentals and pastoral as all get out. I found it charming.

Down by the Seaside is a leisurely tune. Unexpectedly staid for this band. Yet quite nice in its own right. Though the disc's pacing problems are now apparant. Case in point:

Ten Years Gone takes ages to get going. After all the previous languid tracks, the last thing you want is a dignified, laid-back rock ballad that goes on for six minutes. On its own, though hardly memorable, Ten Years Gone isn't bad. It's the layout that's bad.

Night Flight has a great little chorus. And it's short. So I like it, for what that's worth.

The Wanton Song finally kicks off right away. It's a punchy number, and typical of the band.

Boogie With Stu, on the other hand, is not at all what one expects out of them. It dips into old times rock and roll, and it sure as hell boogies. It's got a honky-tonk piano and is the most fun on Physical Graffiti.

Black Country Woman is a sad, plaintive "love-gone-sour" epistle. Good vocal from Plant, even if the lyric does repeat itself.

And last of all is Sick Again. Sleazy, macho rock tune with a rich teenage girl. It's a strong endnote.

All in all, I really must protest the length of this album. But consider this: with some trimming, it would lose a certain amount of personality. It's the eternal quandary... All the extras ruin the highly polished flow of listening, yet it is those same extras that can reveal so many of a band's creative eccentricities.

Oh well. Suffice to say, Physical Graffiti is overlong, poorly plotted and studded with some very good material nonetheless.