Records

Rip It Up, Issue 81, 1 April 1984, Page 26

Records

Dire Straits

Alchemy Vertigo

This double live album has one big plus going for it it was recorded with no overdubs of any kind. That should please those who want a souvenir of Dire Straits' Western Springs concert last year.

Recorded live during July 1983 (no venue is mentioned) this is a predictable selection of hits culled from the group's studio albums. Opening with strains of the Local Hero soundtrack, the band moves into a series of standards before closing with the film's theme tune, the only track Dire Straits' fans may not already have. If you have none of the studio albums then this is an ideal purchase in that it includes faithful versions of their later hits (Tunnel of Love', 'Private Investigations', etc) and significantly improves on the existing studio takes of some oid masterpieces like 'Once Upon

A Time in the West' and 'Sultans of Swing'. It's essentially a greatest hits package recorded live, with the added bonus that it caters for the listener craving for the extended guitar solo which is not part o£ the heavy metal genre. Recommended. David Perkins

Laurie Anderson Mister Heartbreak Warner Bros Laurie Anderson first came to prominence a couple of years ago with the unlikely hit, 'O Superman'. Her debut album Big Science was a critical success, if not a consistent or endearingly enduring release and her live multi-media marathons have been widely acclaimed. Mister Heartbreak, like its predecessor, is brim-full of quirks. Anderson mixes sounds produced by a diversity of instruments in a deceptively simple fashion and matches them with her poetic lyrics, sung half-shy half-dis-interested New York style. Anderson has come of age; this is a mature work which marks the emergence and acceptance of the "artist". William S. Burroughs approves by crooning 'Sharkey's Night' and other luminaries appearing include Peter Gabriel, Nile Rodgers, Phoebe Snow and Adrian Belew. The ultimate in New York chic this art laps at the grey cells,

teasing without embracing. The lustre of its austere polish cloaks an exercise in form; poetry in motion which will neither ruffle nor disappoint. Mister Heartbreak is art for art's sake, one of life's tender ironies. David Taylor Billy Idol Rebel Yell Chrysalis Recipe: Take four cups of punk, blend with two cups of heavy metal, smooth and baste mixture with synth melody. Add two cups of rock'n'roll, allow mixture to stand until video is ready. Cook well. Ice cake with shrewd marketing and watch chart progress. Jest aside. Rebel Yell represents the extreme in eclecticism but it works. If you liked the riff-laden debut album then Rebel Yell will satisfy you. The album bristles with stinging chords from Steve Stevens and frenetic rhythms abound (eg, Blue Highway). Hovering throughout is Idol's somewhat lugubrious vocal assault, in keeping with the lyrical content of the songs. This is music that demands you put on your dancing shoes the only exception is Dead Next Door', which evokes memories of Ultravox's 'Vienna'. A more consistent album than Idol's first but essentially more of the same. Top marks for putting some umph! back into popular music when it was needed most. David Perkins Various Artists This Are Two Tone Chrysalis Two Tone come, Two Tone go. Is this compilation the old Two Tone's burial? It's not important, just skank to the sound for your feet. 'Gangsters' starts it off, showing what true ska is made of. Madness' 'Madness' and the Beat's Tears of a Clown' don't match up to their post-Two Tone material but are still necessary. The Specials' 'Rudie' isn't a favourite, it reminds me too much of Jagger and Tosh doing duets, but the Selector bring instant relief with Too Much Pressure'. One of the most underrated bands here is

the Bodysnatchers their Too Experienced' can't be faulted. Ending this face, 'Rankin Full Stop' and Too Much, Too Young are typical Beat and Specials fare, excellent.

Turn over and the Selector show they can perform just as well without Pauline Black with a bit of Latin ska entitled 'Stereotype'

funnily real, we all know one. The Swinging Cats' 'Mantovani'7 No comment! What's this? More Specials? 'Do Nothing' still sounds good. Give your feet a rest and listen.

The least typical Two Tone tracks must be those from Rico and Rhoda. 'Jungle Music' is mighty good reggae and Rhoda's The Boiler', the chilling story of a rape victim, reaches incredible heights. The song is worthy of such a cause.

Appropriately last, 'Ghost Town' is the representative Two Tone piece, marking the British social depression that erupted three years ago. Listen to it then walk through .the city at night. When you cannot walk free in your land it is a sad day. Listen to the message, long live the message. Troy Shanks Unity Heat Your Body Up Virgin Unity are an English band already in trouble. They've just won a talent contest judged by a panel including Prince Charles (no not that one, Di's husband), George Martin and Pete Townshend. The band is also championed by leading English deejays. They must all be applauding the band's attempt to popify reggae for the mass white audience. This album steers right away from the unique English reggae sound we know and love from such as Steel Pulse and Misty in Roots. This is pop music, cramped, strident, lyrically irrelevant. While the technical proficiency may attract aging hipsters on judging panels or a piece of the Top 40 market, Heat Your Body Up' comes from a band with a commitment to reggae extending only slightly further than the tips of their dreadlocks. Mark Everton

Various Artists Metal Mayhem, Heavy 2 (K-Tel) Following the commercial success of Volume One, K-Tel, to their credit, have come up with a different set of groups for their second metal collection. One could carp about the odd selection (good as their tracks are, Free and Cold Chisel could hardly be described as heavy metal bands) and perhaps wonder how the rampant psychedelia of Iron Butterfly came to be included, but on the whole it's a representative collection of modem metal (Y&T, Saxon, Judas Priest, etc) that should please the hordes who enjoyed Vol.l. CC