Reviews by richardwiggins

Elvis is, obviously, absolutely huge. Everyone has heard of him. He is one of a very small number of globally dominating artists. Before The Beatles for a large chunk of the planet, he was music.

I find it strange then that only 70 years later I know absolutely no one who listens to him. And I don't mean in a kind of RYM sense of someone checking an album out and rating it, I mean genuinely sitting at home on a weekend and listening to a couple of Elvis records for the sheer pleasure of it. All of The Beatles' albums pass this test after 60 years, but growing up I've only seen Elvis as an iconic image rather than a musician.

If I was to guess why, it would be because of the value we place post-1963 on musicians writing their own songs. We struggle to look at someone who is an amazing performer and give them the same kind of plaudits as a singer songwriter. Back in 1956 that would be like expecting your favourite actor to have written all their lines but now, to me at least, it seems reasonable.

This debut does a great job of showcasing Elvis "the performer." The sheer force of personality that made him a wild sensation in a mostly grey world. He can get quite weird and freaky on the mic, which I like. He can also be sentimental and soulful. A legend.

I’d only heard one of Calexio’s later albums and based on that had no idea that they had this kind of multilayered and deep compositions in their pockets.

The variety of instrumentation, from the sultry strings on Black Heart, to the robust country guitars that line most of this album, is impressive. They don’t sit still offering up wildly different versions of themselves from track to track. They can play it straight, they can play it experimental, but it’s all very accomplished.

Not Even Stevie Nicks… shows they can easily offer up alt-country pop bangers if they want to, but they’re busy doing so many other things!

The highly complex erratic jazz of Uh Uh represents this album's top moments in my mind but this is nicely paired with the more vibey moments such as A Fan’s Mail. Drunk is pretty funny at times too, but is sensible enough to not bring that into every track.

I think it could be cut down to a very good 30 minute album. It’s not a long album, but it feels long. Despite the quality of the best material, by the end this quality feels stretched out, lowering the overall experience. A welcome feature like Kendrick’s is during these points a refreshing glass of water in a hot, barren desert.

Simply put, the end of this album is boring.

By all accounts a well loved classic album, but the main descriptive word I'd personally use is long. This album is very, very long and thanks to the various reissues, remasters and remixes its almost impossible to find the shorter original version (only 104 minutes!) in the original order. Side A and B are very solid with Harrison outlining his vision, a good mix of hits and more thoughtful folk rock, but the further down the road the rarer the quality cuts become. You can have too much of a good thing.

Nick Drake was capable of breathtaking simplicity, generating a great deal of emotional energy simply through finger picking a series of smart chord structures and gently singing. There is not a single bell or whistle on this record, the songwriting and lyricism is left to speak for itself. Drake doesn’t have to hide behind anything because there is a seriousness and depth to his music which carries the whole production.

You think you’ve got a handle on his performance, his rhythm, then he produces something as simple and thought provoking as Horn. The space in between the notes are as profound as the music itself.

Country to popular belief it’s not a dour album either. Listen to the hopeful and life affirming choruses of Things Behind the Sun which counterbalance the creeping melancholy of the verses.

Much has been made of Nick Drake’s dislike of the dense production and additional instrumentation on Bryter Layter and clearly that preference has been addressed here. I personally admire both modes equally but concede that Pink Moon is a perfect record and am glad it has that point of difference with it’s predecessor.

A one in a million talent.

A killer title track which everyone has heard a thousand times, followed by other songs that pale in comparison but are totally fine, if a bit bland at times. The album tracks don’t pop but make for easy listening. Nothing to get mad about!

Sergeant Peppers is a remarkable record in so many ways. To a greater or lesser extent from track to track it handles psychedelia well and has the typical Beatles enjoyable mix of rock songs and ballads.

Getting Better is one of the highlights, with John nicely undercutting Paul’s emotional “it's getting better all the time” with a dour and cheeky “it couldn’t get much worse!” I also absolutely adore the deeply emotional and gut wrenching A Day in the Life which starts so beautifully hopeless and tragic, before resolving into something remarkably chipper.

Unfortunately I struggle with the popular consensus that this is “one of the very best albums of all time” though. It’s great, but unless you’re strictly framing this in terms of its impact on wider culture and music, I can’t conceptualise it as a masterpiece.

Ray Charles and his band are at their best when they reign it in and let their natural talent speak for itself. Too often Ray alters the material to add a little extra flourish, and it changes for the worse. We all know the standards so it’s a bit annoying to hear someone consistently making new inflections and timing decisions here and there that make the songs worse. His talent is in singing not composing. Similarly the band sounds best when they’re playing it straight, but the more they push the bombast or the flourishes, the more strain gets put on the original material. But there is enjoyable musicianship under all of the extra layers.

What a difference five years makes. On 1976’s 2112 Rush were offering up an album which could act as a neat introduction to prog rock, something enjoyable and gentle that could get you into the genre. By the time they get to Moving Pictures they are masters in their field crafting big, overbold melodies which shoot along with palpable force. Quick proggy changes from one idea to another, one key to another, one time signature to another never feel anything less than fully developed and cohesive. They have a vision bolstering each song which allows you as a listener to fully immerse yourself and be taken for a ride. The band have sat together and worked out what makes each track tick, yet it never feels anything less than a singular fluid machine.

If 2112 is an album which could get you into prog, Moving Pictures is an album which could get you fanatical about it.