The Alan Parsons Project "Eve" (1979)

As the third of three Alan Parsons records labeled his best, I've had a familial experience again. Diving deep and finding the same fond web of timely influences, I still can't escape these songs! In the months between I Robot, Pyr△mid & Eve, I have been on a binge, one that can't end here. These numbers are the soundtrack of a childhood I never had, the missing sleeves of Progressive Rock vinyls I was raised on! Eve is no exception, Its feminine empowerment theme a strong and bold overtone that leads to timely singing with strength and gusto on one track, flipping to tender expressions on the next. Its broadness is a perfect compliment for the range of temperaments and meandering journey that Eve goes on. It may have even been an edgy, progressive statement for the times, however with age any sharpness has been dulled by current norms of western societies progressive direction.

Looking past the lyrical landscape to the instrumentals we have the usual suspects. 70s electronic tones weave through opening track Lucifer with exotic bells, haunting chorals and rigid percussive grooves, Its quite the mash up that works wonderfully. From the intro we pivot into the regular songs, kicking off with echos of Pink Floyd underpinned by a strong Funk influenced groove to cruise off. On I'd Rather Be A Man the mood turns dark with its rapturous nightly bass synth line pounding through the song. Then comes the big pivot as the vibes soften with tenderness and calm ushered in before the rest of the record becomes an amalgamation of all above!

Don't Hold Back has quite the charm as it hook sings, "Touch the sky with your minds eye, Don't be afraid to reach out!" lovely stuff. The guest singer reminds me of Dusty Springfield on this one. The following Secret Garden embellishes us with a glorious and fantastical composition, a signatures track style. Cinematic and symphonic, Alan lets the music lead itself without word and a web of charming sounds, something each record seems to have a song or two for. From here the record bows out on a sombre note as tempos slow and pianos usher in a final ballad to close on. Overall, its pretty fantastic, oddly feeling short yet being the lengthiest of the three! From here I will venture to the debut record.

Rating: 8/10

Emerald Web "Dragon Wings And Wizard Tales" (1979)

 

In recent years my Dungeon Synth curiosity has led me down interesting avenues. Fantasy music, Folksy Ambient works and the Psychedelic inspired early Electronic sound of the 70s. They all seem to have an intersection with this curious record that has outdated much of what Ive discovered, unraveling more of the unending map of musical influences. Id never heard of the Husband and Wife duo Emerald Web before, until hearing them appraised by Devin Townsend on a recent podcast. Described as New Age music, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The promise of flute led songs had old prejudices suspecting I wouldn't enjoy this but for many of my recent discoveries, the likes of a Jim Kirkwood, this dimension has been opened up for me to explore!

What I have discovered here shares much of the mystique for natural beauty and nature I have come to adore in music. It emanates from an inner warmth and inspiration, carried on a care free breeze one can relax deeply to as its Flute is played with a force of personality by Kat Epple, who lends her soft voice too. The woodwind instrument is graceful and timely, drifting in like a leaf caught in the breeze, she swirls and swings through lively iterations between swooning on the soft cloudy texture of its notes, gracefully cruising by with a captivating gleam that I just adore!

Dragon Wings And Wizard Tales moves through many compositions, focusing on melodies from gentle acoustic guitars to creating scenic visions with innovative synths and a little soundscape work between with the blowing of dusty winds. It meanders beautifully, straying subtly into moments of wondrous experimentation that feels ripe of the heels of Progressive Rock. One of its best songs, Chasing The Shadowbeast, a nine minute epic, captures much of what the record offers through its expansive tale that swells with energy and Post-Punk baselines in the end. It gets there through a warm and steady build up resonating on some strong King Crimson vibes.

Leading up to that climactic moment, each of its songs feel like little flowers of inspiration, blossoming in their exposure. Flight Of The Raven captures a little esoteric melody and animated electronics in its conclusion to give a sense of seismic event. Twilight gets scenic with the chirping of birds with its dusky, spooky synths whirling like winds. It all comes together on Firenight as the driving force of its Psychedelic electronic bass line carries the aforementioned ideas on a journey to a full formed entity. The darker side of there sound reminding me of Erang in moments.

Lifeforce Celebration is another standout track as its choppy percussion fading in and out of focus echos of ideas all to common now in music but here a true force of originality. Its so intriguing to put these ideas in the context of the year they were released. Best of all, the music is endearing and has been a constant delight. At only thirty six minutes, its been on repeat a lot these last few weeks!

Rating: 8/10

Public Image Ltd "Metal Box" (1979)

 

 I've often seen this record cited as a classic, one to check out yet I found my entry to it slow but alas one day came Albatross on shuffle and it all clicked. After the flash in the pan revolution of Punk Rock and the Sex Pistols, front man John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten swiftly moved on from the values and ideas of Never Mind The Bollocks and formed Public Image Ltd. Metal box is their second album, one that garnished a lot of attention from music critics who's recommendations I've followed.

For me this record is an experimentation in form and function that seem obvious with retrospect but for 1979 could of been something special. Labeld as Post-Punk, there is plenty of this genre I've heard that nods in the direction of this repetitive, artsy anti-music. For just about every song the stage is set by Jah Wobble's driving, monochromatic basslines that endlessly plod away alongside steady drum patterns that resist flamboyancy or flair. The two build a backbone of powerful mood steering droning to foster the bands artistic experiments.

Each song plants some set of ideas into these mesmerizing repetitions. Discordant guitar noise and dissemination of norms feature between blunt force poetry put forth in unapologetic common tongue and alien deployments of abstract synth tones. For me, its a real case of hit and miss. These experiments throw a variety of performance and musical idea into the brewing pot. Not all of it sticks and all too often is it driven in going against the norm, a good thing for unearthing magic.

Careering is driven by its whirling synths, forging an atmosphere of electrical unease juxtaposed against the casual perusing of its rhythm section. Chant on the other hand goes militant with continual chanting, a dominant snare with broken guitar noise abuse led by Lydon's snarling remarks. Its a harsher approach doesn't pull me in. These are two polar ends too what a lot of these songs do, deploy a handful of "out there" ideas to the droning repetitive framework and see what happens.

Oddly the album closes with Radio 4. A bassline harmonizes with symphonic synths to the give way to them fully. Its a glorious and mysterious sound to see out the record on. Almost feels like a statement of sorts in comparison to the rest of the music. This album is totally worth a listen. It thinks about the norms of music and deconstructs them. I am just left wondering if it could grow on me more? After quite a few spins I've taken it in well, we will see what happens with time and encounters on shuffle!

Rating: 6/10

Crass "Stations Of The Crass" (1979)

After being brought back to a classic record, "The Feeding Of The 5000", I thought id follow up with their second full length album released the following year. Id only heard it a handful of times before and listening to the album again it pretty much takes off where the last one left. However the albums mood is slightly more depressive, pessimistic and angry. As if the monochromatic abrashion wasn't gritty enough the tone now has a little less statement and more response to the events that unraveled between the two records. Calling out The Clash again and making defeatist statements like "Were not going to change the system". Its not just in the lyrics, its in the delivery too, their is more anger, bite and despair in the voices of Crass's various singers.

But for the most part its very similar. Instrumentally its constructed from the same ideas, lots of snare lead militant percussion, dissonant noisy distortion guitars and a bouncy baseline always in the thick of it. The vocals are again apologetically blunt and stubborn, marked by the thick Essex accent. Eve Libertine makes a return on a couple of tracks, singing on "Upright Citizen" which gives it a wave of color in a sea of grey. Aesthetically its mostly the same too, sounding as if they could of come from the same recording session, maybe with a touch more clarity.

The record plays through with less striking statements and little hooks where its predecessor had many. The last three tracks unwind slowly with moments of anger fulled Punk between more atmospheric noise led movements. Its a decent record but doesn't have quite the same orchestration is the bands first, however with it being so similar its quite possibly an example with what retreading your footprints can mean musically, less memorable and not as impacting. Still a great listen though, again with a large track listing of many short songs.

Favorite Tracks: Darling, System, Upright Citizen, Demoncrats

Rating: 7/10