SINGLES

Rip It Up, Issue 180, 1 July 1992, Page 25

SINGLES

Starting at nowhere in particular just about sums up Guns ’n’ Roses who try to milk more myth-making out of another cover. This time the LP and live-at-Wembley versions of ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ get the Axel grease. Again they to reinforce their life-on-the-edge image and like some hoary old soap opera or humourless Spinal Tap they grind on. Staying with covers, Erasure’s ‘Abba-esque’ (Liberation) bestows some techno respect on an EP of four Abba covers that was originally meant to be a full album’s worth. They ran out of time —just as well. Although Vince Clarke’s synth bubbles and swoops quite engagingly on ‘Lay Your Love On Me’ and ‘S.O.S.’ and there is a little rap segment on 'Take A Chance On Me’, the adulation evident here for Abba’s Europop machine would’ve been tedious at LP length.

London Beat are a sanitised black/ white crossover act that on paper should steam, funk and challenge like early Beat or Specials but continue to disappoint on ‘You Bring On The Sun’ (Anxious Records) with their smooth, inoffensive radio orientation. By contrast Garland Jeffreys has been crossing over since he was raised in Brooklyn nearly fifty years ago. Part black, white and Puerto Rican, he’s been integrity plus since his faltering career began in the summer of ’69. ‘The Answer’ (RCA) is hardly a classic but its clean-cut, well produced funk and racial harmony message are certainly durable. In a lighter vein the Sugarcubes ‘Walkabout’ (Liberation) breezes in with Bjork sounding as if the sun is shining in Reykjavik and the single is almost infectious enough to crown them the Icelandic Abba. They get bonus points for having four different songs on this EP, including a buoyant version of the Carpenters’ ‘Top of the World’.

From the frozen wastes to the States and the Bo Deans have failed to capture the imagination of the world, not surprising since their updated Everly Brothers view of pop is falling over itself to be tasteful. The three track ‘Paradise’ (Liberation) is a wistful trio of songs with the A-side tuneful enough to deserve high rotate radio exposure and so give the Bo Deans a much needed break.

Australia has taken over the world. It’s official. Or it seems that way judging by the amount of five inch product that’s washed up on these shores. But get the cross on the door and burn the CD player coz a plague of Minogue is cornin’ for ya! This time it’s Danni with ‘Jump to the Beat’ (Mushroom) an existentialist disco exhortation to dance. In other words it’s the same assembly line pap her sister puts out. Hunters and Collectors are a much hardier, more ecologically sound breed, although the attempt at funky R&B with a truncated Kinks ‘All of the Day’ riff as a base doesn't serve ‘Head Above Water’ all that well. In fact it’s the brooding, atmospheric ‘Hear No Evil’ with a trumpet that conjures up visions of desolation that shows where this band should be heading.

Pick of the outback and in fact single of the month has to be Splinter’s EP ‘Strange Parade’ (Polygram). Four tracks of undeniable powerand menace recorded by Falling Joys’SuzieHiggis and Catherine Wheels’ Andrea Croft last winter in a lounge somewhere in the Blue Mountains. So the sound is muted, a little undefined but the title track and ‘Kinda Hell’ benefit from the roughness of imperfection. Let’s end with guns without roses. First there’s the Celibate Rifles’ 'Cold Wind’ (Festival) produced by legendary Birdman Rob Younger and featuring the expected and very welcome dose of swaggering guitar and Damien Lovelock’s bullshit Iggyish vocals. I like it! Three piece Single Gun Theory’s ‘From a Million Miles’ (Volition) isn’t so clear cut. With its dense sampling and eastern undertones it may be an unsettling mixture but what’s the point? GEORGE KAY

tunity of a songs-before-bullshit environment. The Only Opes'guiding light, the not-so-eminent but wasted Peter Perrett, is attempting to make something of a comeback this year after a decade coping with a drug problem. Revered chiefly for 'Another Girl Another Planet', a comet amongst space debris, the Only Ones managed to cling to its tail for three albums. And Perrett managed, with his mannered anglicised Lou Reed drone to evoke visions of world-weariness and hidden depths of decadence and wisdom. These days you can only laugh at the commercial lack of irony in the title The Immortal Story. If Perret was the fragile butterfly then the Difford/ Tilbrook driven Squeeze were iron clad domestic moths. Along with Madness and the Jam they've kept a loving but watchful eye on the peculiarities of being English.

This long overdue Greatest Hits picks the best bits from their albums (a service especially handy after East Side Story when their LPs got a bit raggedy) shows how they started as the George Coles of pop on the seedy charms of 'Cool For Cats' and 'Goodbye Girl'. From there dissection became more domestic with 'Tempted' and 'ls That Love' leading the way from their almost perfect evocation of real life on East Side Story.

After that Squeeze levelled out using craftmanship to traverse the same old target but nevertheless producing a few hits like 'Black Coffee in Bed', 'Hourglass' and 'lf It's Love'.

Squeeze have never been about happy families and their best songs have always been lucid commentaries on the miseries and consequences of personal relationships. This Greatest Hits is essential listening for those interested in some of the best songs written about the plight of the ordinary animal in the last fifteen years. GEORGE KAY SAIGON KICK The Lizard (Atlantic) Saigon Kick promised big things with their debut album last year. This is one long record, 15 tracks in total. The opening song, 'Cruelty', is a strange atmospheric introduction, followed by one of the strongest tracks, 'Hostile Youth'. Unlike their debut, The Lizard is not an instant album and does find favour after repeated listenings. However, much of the material, particularly in the lyric department, does

sound very sub-standard Hollywood metal which is only made worse by the naive patriotism of a song like 'Freedom'. It's a matter of sifting through the flotsam to find the gems such as 'God Of 42nd Street', 'Miss Jones' and the excellent pseudojazz number 'Chanel' only ruined by the fact that it seems to be written off by the band as mere humour. For all the flaws, Saigon Kick have produced a good album, but not the brilliant one we should expect. Perhaps they should look for quality rather than quantity when working on the 'difficult third album'. LUKE CASEY MICHELLE SHOCKED Arkansas Traveller (Mercury) Hailed as some sort of conclusion to a trilogy concept, Arkansas Traveller is really the start of Shocked's career as a mature and accomplished writer. Her earlier stuff always struck me as an unconvincing balance between woman as contemporary protest voice and down home, precious gazing at country roots. On Arkansas Traveller she has left the good ol' boys suppin' in the barn, and the pleasant but yukky letters to old friends in Alaska, for a tour through the rich, gritty and human heritage of American music. So the title of the delightful single 'Come A Long Way' refers not only to her getting her artistic perspective in focus, but to the fact that of the 14 songs here, 12 were recorded in unusual locations throughout the States with the magical 'Over The Waterfall' done in Dublin with the

Hothouse Flowers and the very worthy 'Weaving Way' travelling all the way from Australia, helped out by Paul Kelly's Messengers. There's hardly a weak song on an album that so naturally combines Shocked's intuitive awareness of her own roots with the pervasive traditions of American songwriting. On the inner sleeve she may claim "conceived, written and produced by Michelle Shocked", but the ageless confederate spirit of 'Shaking Hands' and the Taj Mahal grunt-prodded 'Jump Jim Crow' belong just as much to history. How ever, her voice alone speaks on the powerful 'Prodigal Daughter', a song about the double sexual standards of family disgrace, as it does on the charming'Blackberry Blossom'. But she wraps things up with 'Woody's Rag' and an earthy monologue from 1867 condemning the possibility of changing the name of Arkansas; fitting conclusions to an album that marks Shocked's arrival as a superb songwriter. GEORGE KAY IRON MAIDEN Fear of the Dark (EMI) Re-emerging after a lengthy break, Iron Maiden are back in 92 with an album that rates among their best. Fear of the Dark has a sound which emcompasses the greatest aspects of all their previous releases rolled into one with the most modern production they've ever had. Preparation time on these 12 new tracks has been well spent as they are good arrangements abundant with effec-

tive tempo changes as demonstrated in 'Afraid to Shoot Strangers' and the Powerslave-like 'Fear Is The Key'. The guitar department is particularly healthy now, with Dave Murray and Janick Gers playing a lot better together, interweaving the lead and rhythm very nicely and even adding some wicked wah-wah into 'The Apparition'. The single 'Be Quick Or Be Dead' is a heads-down full-on number in Trooper style, while 'From Here To Eternity' is a soon-to-be crowd chant-a-long favourite and 'Wasting Love' is as close to a ballad as Iron Maiden will ever get.

They've saved the best for last though as the seven-minute title track really hits home the horror theme of this hour-long album. For the first time in 12 years Derek Riggs has not been involved in the cover artwork, so Eddie, the corpse mascot and the metal of Maiden are both new and improved. GEOFF DUNN LYLE LOVETT Joshua Judges Ruth (Curb/Sony) Only Lyle Lovett could do a happy sounding album about death and love lost. It's something to do with his cool, clever and calculating style. If Lovett sounded a bit more emotionally involved with his subject matter he'd be as depressing as Joy Division. Lack of emotion is a drawback in country music. At their worst country songs are designed to have you blubbing into your beer. At their best they prompt you to think about life, or give simple insights into the growing, living, loving and dying. ■ .

Lovett is clever enough to give the insights lyrically, but that same smart alec side of him pulls the listener away from total involvement in much the same way as, say, Rickie Lee Jones did — well I'll be damned, there is Rickie singing harmony vocals on 'North Dakota'. His three previous albums had many of the same traits. You never really believed Lyle was a cowboy when he was riding the rodeo on his selftitled first album, did you? Trendy haircut, serious reflective face — he doesn't even look the part. He's really more the jazz/blues/ gospel Texan cowboy who rode the range in Pontiac and Lyle Lovett and His Big Band. If you like that side of him you'll like Joshua Judges Ruth, there's plenty to admire. And you'll be just as happy if you like his canny country. While there's nothing as simply appealing as 'God Will' from the

first album, 'She's Leaving Me Because She Really Wants To' does a deft backflip on a common theme, while 'North Dakota' and 'Family Reserve' lead- a solid set of quiter songs. ~ KEVIN NORQUAY JOE COCKER Night Calls (Liberation) LEON RUSSELL Anything Can Happen (Virgin) Twenty-odd years ago these two old farts were the mainmen in Mad Dogs and Englishmen, for a while considered to be about the hottest live act on the planet. Leon organised the big loose band while Joe was out front bellowing and flailing his arms about. After that their paths diverged. The band leader established himself as a solo artist and made a fortune watching some of his songs become huge hits when recorded by the likes of George Benson and the Carpenters. Cocker capitalized on his initial great Beatles cover version and carved himself a niche as soulful interpreter of rock songwriting. •

Over the past decade, while Joe Cocker has been plugging on, Leon Russell was in retirement. And if Anything Can Happen is the best he can come up with after all that time then his songwriting skills are seriously shot. Those of us who love large chunks of those early 70s albums won't find much to celebrate here. Little beyond Russell's voice —itself an acquired taste —and one of his typically snoozy ballads called 'Faces of the Children'. Probably the only track a non-afficionado would enjoy is the funny, electrovoodoo reworking of Chuck Berry's 'Too Much Monkey Business'. Choosing songs by other rockers to cover is frought with danger. If the new version doesn't turn out either better or significantly different then it is a pointless exercise. Where Leon Russell can surprise us with his Chuck Berry remake, Joe Cocker just goes on being himself. Hence reactions to the performance on Night Calls tend to depend simply on our affection for the originals. Hence I can accept this 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me' (also featured on the recent Two Rooms tribute) because I don't like Elton

John's voice. I enjoy Joe's ‘Can't Find My Way Home' because I've always thought Blind Faith's instrumental work undermined an otherwise good song. I love the slow, slinky 'Five Women ' but then I don't know of any Prince version. And so on through the album. The only thing about Night Calls which does surprise is the Beatles cover, 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away' is such a blatant attempt to retread Joe's 'Little Help From My Friends' approach — the same slowed down rhythm, beefed up arrangement and OTT .delivery —that it surely must be intended as a joke. Not a good one though. All it demonstrates is that to revisit the past you always need’ a fresh perspective. PETER THOMSON CABARET VOLTAIRE • Technology; Western Re-Works 1992 (Virgin) That's new remixes to you and me. It's a dodgy concept since the point of later Cabs' songs was melody, not rhythm. Sure, the tune was caught between the beats like a pedestrian between two colliding buses but it was there, a hum-a-long twang in 'Just Fascination' or a soaring, inspirational hum-a-long twang in 'Sensoria'. Sometimes the tunes were so lost even members Kik and Mallirujer couldn't find them; all however emerged resplendent on a series of 12" single mixes that date back to 1981 's seminal 'Slugging for Jesus,' the B-side of which was the A-side played backwards. . -

Now it's the 90s and the Cabs haven't done so much 50... we get them remixed again. Silly because old fans retain and treasure their originals - along with a few Killing Joke singles and a Birthday Party EP no doubt - and the new potential audience is still dizzy from sniffing the glue that is 808 State and, let's face it, Jesus Jones. In the space of some 40 minutes... not very much happens. The trademark Cabs sound is boiled mercilessly down to something between late Depeche Mode and a doorbell. Ever fashionable, the 808 lads do turn up in fact to remix 'I Want You' and prove'they can do wrong. The rest is reductio ad absur-

dum. Which means: you don't speak Latin. Capiche? CHAD TAYLOR STONED ALCHEMY Various (Instant) Subtitled '27 original blues and R&B hits that inspired the Rolling Stones' this compilation is a valuable addition to any Stones fanatic's collection.

In today's climate of obsession with original material as a pre-req-uisite for credibility, it's worth recalling that the Rolling Stone's began as a covers band. In their initial two years of recording they released 43 copies or reworkings of other artists' material (those first two albums contained nine covers apiece). Stoned Alchemy, while hardly exhaustive, presents a focussed and fascinating viewpoint from which to evaluate the Stones' early development. It's easy to see where they simply copied (as on 'Down the Road Apiece') or cannily re-arranged ('Come Out'). Or even where they simply failed through insufficient skills (compare Jagger's attempt at

'You Can Make It If You Try' with Gene Allison's).

Not that the Stones' versions were always inferior. Far form it. Only the most curmudgeonly purist would deny that the Stones' treatments of 'Little Red Rooster' and 'lt's All Over Now' cut the originals by Howlin' Wolf and Bobby Womack.

The only reservation about Stoned Alchemy concerns marketing.Despite its excellent, detailed liner notes by NME's Roy Carr, with over half the tracks drawn from Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters, won't most serious Stones fans own the bulk of this stuff already? Will they want to fork out full price for a minority of less available tracks by the likes of Alvin Robinson and Buster Brown?

Whatever the marketing strategy it can't be as shrewd as that of the Stones themselves. Throughout their first few years they swatted up these songs, recorded them and then had phenomenal success selling back to the Americans their own music. PETER THOMSON