I haven’t even listened to the album yet, just a thirty second clip on iTunes (from which I bought this album from at a whoping $5.94, less than a dollar a track) and I’m already impressed. The album was produced by Nick Mason, yes, that Nick Mason, the drummer from Pink Floyd. So here’s the quick skinny on the album, it was produced in 1974 and is only six songs, and according to Wikipedia, Mike Oldfield, the guy who wrote, and played ‘Tubular Bells’ (notable for being on the soundtrack for ‘The Exorcist’). Not a bad couple of guys to be working with. It’s listed as Prog-Rock, which doesn’t phase me, I’ve been listening to a lot (A LOT) of Rush lately and where ever you stand on their standing in prog rock, Pink Floyd is a favorite band of mine.
It finally finished downloading, one has to love living in 2010, in about ten minutes I found the album, bought it and started listening to it. On my phone.
Initial reactions:
Track One – Sea Song – Youtube clip
Creepy synths guide this track, beyond piano, vocals, and some light percussion there isn’t much going on here. It’s quite the song, sounds like Pink Floyd circa Meddle. I’m interested to see how much this one song sets up the mood for the rest of the album, will it be this dreary? He’s got some weird vocal thing at the end of the song that almost pulls me out of the song. It had me until this.
Track Two – A Last Straw
Grabbed me right away again, it is dreary again. Minimalist, I like this. Again weird vocal stuff in the middle of the song, pulls me out. I like the drumming on this one, very jazzy. Noodling guitar at four and half minutes in. Ahhh the staples of mid-seventies prog rock. Ends with a whole crescendo thing. Very cool. Segues into the next track…
Track Three – Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road – Youtube clip
Very cool jazz start to the whole track. His vocal stuff isn’t that weird. This seems similar to a track by The Cinematic Underground. I’m reminded vocally of Roger Waters/David Gilmour circa Dark Side of the Moon. Wow… what a song. Intense, absolutely the crutch of this whole album. This is apparently part one of two. I’m not sure how the rest of the album will go, but this is one of the most interesting pieces of work I’ve ever heard. I love the jazz/rock fusion happening all over this album.
Track Four – Alifib
Interesting guitar work here, sounds like something you’d hear in the 80’s on a muzak compilation or something. Very soothing. Though I have absolutely no idea what Wyatt is singing on this track his vocals sound really cool. This is a very different track from the last one, it’s extremely mellow. This one also moves into the next track…
Track Five – Alife
Same drone that the last song leaves on but now we get some classic gothic film like keyboards (I’m waiting for Frankenstein quotes or something to start) and percussion. “I can’t forsake you or forsqeak you.” Cute line. Not really singing, poetry basically. Interesting, it’s like a poetry reading with with percussion’s, no snapping, rising and falling synths and a sax. Female voice at the end of the track is apparently Wyatt’s wife, Alfreda Benge. Very menacing fuzzy bass to end the track as it fades out.
Track Six – Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road
Military drumming to start this one off and vocals with synths again. Guitar reminds me a tad of Gilmour, though it’s actually Mike Oldfield. Easily the best guitar work on the whole album, not jazzy but finally gives the album that rock edge. This start could easily be mistaken for a lost Pink Floyd track. Knowing that Nick Mason produced the album could be clouding my judgement a bit. There’s a scottish dude reciting a weird poem in a very flat, baritone voice. I don’t like it. This track, part two, lacks the brilliance of part one for me. Or at least the second half of this track looses me. One of my issues with most prog rock, songs are too long and they lose me in the second half with strange noodling and nonsensical music.
Overall inital reaction:
This is a strong album, I can see why it’s in the Top 100 Tracks of All Time. I’m not sure I’ll continue the theme of reading Wikipedia before each album though, knowing too much about the album before listening to it probably changed my opinion of things a bit. I have to give this album another spin or two before I give a full blown review but overall I do like it. I like jazz and this is very jazzy, the first part of ‘Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road’ is easily my favorite track on the entire album, it’s the track that makes the album worthwhile. If you listen to this album, listen to it for this song and how it really is the tent-pole to the whole thing. Nothing else on the album is as good I think. It’s truly a showcase for how jazz and rock can be fused together. I’m completely unfamiliar with Robert Wyatt, even though I’ve grown up listening to classic rock, it would appear his stuff doesn’t get much classic rock airplay. It’s a shame really, maybe on satellite radio I would hear it more. Definitely one of those deep cut albums, not for everyone but if you like Pink Floyd and that whole jazz/progressive rock sound, then I would recommend this album in a heartbeat. It feels a bit like a Hemingway collection of short stories, there’s more under the surface than what you’re actually hearing and you won’t get that until you’ve listened to it a number of times. That’s what I’m guessing anyway. I’d definitely go as far to say that this quite the “literary” album. At thirty-nine minutes long, it’s not your stereotypical prog rock album, I’m used to Neil Peart’s twenty-plus minute epic songs, the longest song on here is seven minutes and twenty seconds long.
Second reaction:
I queued up the album again on my iPhone and played through it a second time. A few hours later in my room pitch black, except for the glow of my laptop sitting on my desk. I sat in my chair and popped my headphones in and hit play. I resisted the urge to go and putter around my room as I wanted to give this album it’s chance. This is how I’m going to do things, listen to the album on it’s second try in the dark, by myself if I can help it. Here’s what I came up with. It’s all the same as I stated earlier, prog/jazz stuff, here’s where I differ a little bit. That last track, Part two of Red Riding Hood Hit the Road. The first part of part 2 is great, Mike Oldfield’s guitar work is awesome, and then the weird, non-sensical poem comes on. I don’t think I’d even mind the lyrics so much if it wasn’t done in the most outrageous Scottish accent I’ve ever heard (Groundskeeper Willie is more serious). I like Lewis Carrol so I understand non-sensical but this is just something else, it kills the whole album for me. I wouldn’t go that far in saying that the album is a lyrical masterpiece, it’s far from it, and I actually appreciated his vocal tricks in songs this time around. I understood that Wyatt is using his voice as an instrument and that made it all click for me. But that last part of that last track… Ug. In any case I’d recommend any prog rock/jazz fan to listen to it or even those that are fans of non-mainstream classic rock. It’s an interesting piece to listen to. I’d love to hear other thoughts on this album.
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