Information back here. Obviously, I just posted the missing 1971 Am I? album which to be honest I've really grown to love.
But what a change in appearance we have here, in the space of only 4 years, from the folky hippie to the glam rocker at the piano in the long royal bathrobe a la Chopin or Liszt! And indeed concomitantly, in keeping with appearances as is usual in pop, the music has moved on from the somewhat Beatles-derived acoustic material to more produced, commercialized songs, a little more pop radio in format, not necessarily better despite the change.
From this album I hope everyone will agree the song Bad For You is by far the best track I think, with its astounding harmony vocals from Matthew, and it's irresistible hook:
Even the arrangement is done perfectly, with the intro electric piano plus acoustic and judiciously added guitar chords in the background, then the added string sostenuto in later playings of the same pattern... what a song!
Should've been a hit back in the day as I always say...
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Very pleased to have this lost vinyl done proper. Thanks so much, friend. Stylistically, it's an interesting effort for 1975... forward sounding in that it shades more toward what would come commercially in the latest 70s and early 80s as opposed to expressly emulating the existing traditions of the first half of the decade. Surely you can pin the Elton influence on him with 'Window On The World'. You can catch a dash of Bowie, even pop pianist Billy Joel, and Queen, which probably stems more to 10cc, as their interesting repertoire also had direct impact on Queen's musicality. (Of course critically, this could have induced obstruction to the success and growth of his album/music.)
ReplyDeleteObie definitely shoots for pop-rock modernity without abandoning the lofty experimentation of his era (as disco was about to explode). Difficult to achieve, really... hard to come away with the cohesive songs that avoid straying from, what I call... (the sustaining of...) 'cool', from moment to moment throughout a composition, regardless of genre.
To my ears, I find some creativity in his songs like 'Lucky Boy' (good chorus), 'Breakheart Boulevard', 'Ask Me No Questions', Sign Of The Times', and as you nicely described, 'Bad For You'.
Although for me, the standout effort and track result is 'Sin City'.
Bless...
very well said indeed!!
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