Frank Zappa - “Broadway the hard way” (1988)

The idea I have of Frank Zappa is that he is an artist I should like, but never really understood. I never know if I should take his music seriously or if it is a joke. At the same time I have very little experience of this man, except this album I’ve got Freak Out. Apart from that I’ve only heard a few songs on the radio. In the music world Zappa seems to be one of the most respected names and looking at his production he appears to be one of the most creative. Much of what he has done goes outside the usual musical framework and as a person, he seems to have been both funny and intelligent.Therefore I should like Zappa. But things are not always what they should be.

I got this LP for Christmas from my brother, probably 1988, so I was 16 years old. I think I was at least ten years too young to understand the music and the lyrics. The album is full of political satire that was completely wasted on me. Firstly I've never been the one who listens very carefully to the lyrics, secondly it was satire about people who were not too familiar to me, and thirdly I simply didn’t know it was satire. Instead, I thought it was quite unserious music, like an American Eddie Meduza (a Swedish musician who made not too serious music, to say the least). At the same time I knew already at this age that Zappa was a very respected musician, and these two ideas I had trouble getting into co-existence.

To really appreciate this LP, it is probably important to understand the lyrics since they have a greater importance here than usual. The music in the songs is not so amazing that it stands by itself all the way and for me, mainly listening to the music, listening to this record is a slightly strange experience. It reminds me of a circus or a Marx Brothers movie. The LP has been played some on my record player but I have never managed to create a closer relationship to it. When I listened to it before writing this post it was the first time for almost 20 years I heard it. Still I found it hard to groove to.

It should be mentioned that the songs are live recordings from Zappa's 1988 tour, his last with a band. I haven’t heard enough of Zappa to know if this album is representative of him or not. After this album and Freak Out, it has not become more Zappa for me. Have I missed anything?

Favorite Songs 

Elvis har just left the building

When the lie’s so big

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. "Elvis Has Just Left the Building" – 2:24
2. "Planet of the Baritone Women" – 2:48
3. "Any Kind of Pain" – 5:42
4. "Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk" – 9:15

Side B

1. "Dickie's Such an Asshole" – 6:37
2. "When the Lie's So Big" – 3:38
3. "Rhymin' Man" – 3:51
4. "Promiscuous" – 2:03
5. "The Untouchables"  – 3:05

 

 

Kate Bush – “Lionheart” (1978)

I should first clarify my relationship with Kate Bush - if I had not been married to my wonderful wife, I had probably been married to Kate Bush. Alternatively, Sandra Bullock. In the world of music, Kate has always been one of my favorites, her music has always been a bit of a challenge, but not too much. She has created everything from dreamy to mystical to sublime to playful to theatrical to dance-friendly music. I problably seldom get what the texts are about, but I like them nonetheless. The interviews I've seen with her give the picture of a gentle, wise and humble person. It doesn’t matter that there’s a 14-year age difference between us (she is older than me). I think there could have been love between us. Or what do you think?

With that said, I have given myself the right to continue in a bit more negative way. I bought this album in my late teens and I have always thought it was OK, but not more. I still feel the same, which is a bit unusual for a Kate Bush album. Most of Kate's records are inner journeys, sometimes beautiful and harmonious, other times dark and scary. This LP doesn’t get hold of me at all in that way and I have always thought this album as one of Kate's weaker creations. Kate herself agrees: "Bush has often expressed dissatisfaction with Lionheart, feeling that she needed more time to get it right." (Wikipedia). Apparently the record company EMI was stressed and wanted a quick sequel to her debut The Kick Inside. Lionheart was released nine months after the first album.

In comparison with other titles Kate has done the differences are spontaneously two. First, many tracks are simply a bit weaker than usual. Secondly, I get no sense of a wholeness concerning the album, something most of her other albums provides in a different (and better) way. Maybe it’s there the problem lies concerning my feeling of not being invited to an inner journey. The journey ends after each song and have to start all over again.

On the other hand, even a weaker Kate Bush album is better than a lot of other stuff being offered the musically thirsty man or woman. Sometimes it's difficult when you write about about an album - if you want to to compare the music, should one compare the music with the artist's other creations, or with other artists? In a way it feels kind of strange to write some negative words about Lionheart, this is done in comparison with other records Kate has created. Would I just have the average popular music played on radio in my head, I would probably praise Lionheart in a different way. (Or am I letting my feelings for Kate affect me right now?)

Kate was 20 years old when Lionheart was released. After the LP was out on the market Kate had to go on an extensive promotional trip and a longer tour (six weeks), the only long tour of her career. Because she was dissatisfied with how the recording had been done with Lionheart, she thereafter created her own music publishing company, Kate Bush Music, and her own management company. In these companies Kate and her family members were the board of directors. In this way Kate got total control over her creations and following recordings. After the time of Lionheart Kate began to spend increasingly more time in the studio and was for long periods invisible to the public eye.

Summary: This is a record that has regularly spun on the turntable and it contains some really good songs. But as mentioned, Kate can do better.

Favorite Songs

Hammer Horror

Kashka From Baghdad

In Search Of Peter Pan

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. "Symphony in Blue" 
2. "In Search of Peter Pan" 
3. "Wow" 
4. "Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake" 
5. "Oh England My Lionheart" 

Side B

6. "Fullhouse" 
7. "In the Warm Room" 
8. "Kashka From Baghdad" 
9. "Coffee Homeground" 
10. "Hammer Horror"

 

 

Black Widow (1971)

Another one of all those albums I bought because I thought the cover was cool. Probably I also found it really cheap if I know myself right. This cover made me think that the music would be deep, psychedelic, mystical and overall kind of druggy. That turned out not to be quite the case, which made me a bit disappointed. For this reason, this album always pursued a relatively secluded life in my record collection. In a way, it is a pity, if I had only been able to listen to the album without these initial expectations, maybe I would have found it better than I did.

The British band Black Widow was created in 1969, this eponymous album was their second. Those who may remember this band will probably remember it as an occult devil worshiping band (oh, how I wish I could play in one of those). On their debut album Sacrifice, there was the song they are best known for, "Come to the Sabbath." On this second album you don’t hear much of this occult stuff going on. They had previously caused some alarm with their music and concerts in which part of the show included a staged execution of a woman. That may be one of the reasons that they shifted in focus - too much focus on other things in the media besides the music. Of course, the band has always been compared to Black Sabbath, but from what I have heard with these bands they differ in the music quite a lot.

It is difficult to define the music on this album, the word "rock" is what first pops into my head. The internet site allmusic.com describes the music as "... a half-baked amalgam of progressive rock, folk music, British blues, and - the least of all - A Few very tenuous notions of hard rock and proto-metal ...". The experts seem to perceive a wild mix of genres in it, in other words.

Frankly, the music on this album is not something extraordinary. It’s OK, but not more. It's fun that they throw in a flute in some of the songs since this instrument has always been one of my favorites in rock music. But otherwise it feels like a lot of the music could be created by any garage band at any time. As a younger man I liked some drug references that appear in some songs, like "The Journey" ("... the acid man is gonna take my hand ...") or "When my mind was young" which entire text, I suspect, is a long drug reference. That created a certain fascination for the music within the younger version of myself, for some obscured reason. Maybe it was the mystique and the reality-altering experiences that drugs could cause that created the thrill? As a youngster I was fascinated by everything that was out of our normal reality, such as religious ideas and experiences, spiritual journeys, or hallucinogenic adventures. Just looking at the cover convinced me that this band was involved in these kind of things. Now, I suspect that this is indeed the case, but I also believe that there is a possibility that the creator of the cover just thought it was a cool picture he’d made. Or maybe the fascination had its roots in the feeling (and admiration) of the rebellious in experimenting with drugs. To do things that goes outside of what the society thinks is acceptable. That takes some courage, perhaps a courage I always felt I wanted more of. I was usually the quite guy who did what he was told, and seldom dared to go outside the frame and the limits the surrounding society had created.

I have a feeling that this record will continue to keep a low profile in the record shelf. Maybe I’ll take it out once a year to dust off it, but there is much more exciting stuff to listen to.

 

Favourite tracks

Tears and Wine

When my mind was young

Mary Clark

 

Tracklist

Side A

1 Tears And Wine

2 The Gypsy

3 Bridge Passage

4 When My Mind Was Young

5 The Journey

 

Side B

1 Poser

2 Mary Clark

3 Wait Until Tomorrow

4 An Afterthought

5 Legend Of Creation