CD Review: Divine Comedy – Bang Goes The Knighthood

I find an awful lot that people are listening to two kinds of music:

1)      Music with threatening lyrics

2)      Music with nonsensical lyrics

I’m serious, next time you listen to the radio listen to just the lyrics and you’ll find that the person singing is either talking a load of crap or else threatening someone. It really has become a situation where the majority of songs are popular due to shock value rather than just being entertaining and pleasant to listen to.

In the late 60’s when rock was in its prime we found powerful music, music techniques that would makes your head explode, it was literally about the music. Nowadays however, music seems to simply be about sounding like everyone else, but either saying something aggressive or stupid, sometimes both! So when I came across “Bang Goes the Knighthood” by The Divine Comedy, I really didn’t have much expectations for it.

I’m going to be honest here; I was never a major fan of The Divine Comedy. I’ll admit that it was my own fault because Neil Hannon et al are very capable musicians and top-rank entertainers. I will admit that the first time I came across them was their single, “Generation Sex” from the 1998 album, Fin de Siècle. Keep in mind, I was 12 years old that year, and to be honest being the mild-mannered little darling that I was, I listened to it purely because it had the word sex in it and didn’t really appreciate the song. As time went by, the next song of theirs that crossed my path was “National Express” from the same album. Now this one I wasn’t too fond of for a number of reasons… It, like so many good songs, received too much airplay. MTV kept playing it repeatedly, radios would blast it every hour or so, you couldn’t get away from it. So again, I wasn’t attracted to the band purely because I was unable to appreciate what they had to offer.

2010 rolls along and I find myself in the possession of their 10^th studio album. A friend of mine presented me with it, one of those friends whose taste in music is as questionable as their personal hygiene. However, I hadn’t sat down and listened to anything new in a long time so I gave it a chance. I put the CD player, plugged in my headphones, turned on the Hi-fi amp and sat back. The first time around I will admit I was apprehensive, I had never actually given this band a chance remember, and had somewhat of a tarnished opinion of them. The final track, “I Like”, finished and I was unsure; so I played the entire thing again! This time around I started to become a major fan!

There are too many good songs on this album, and picking favourites would pretty much be reciting the entire track list, but I’ll give it a go. Track 2, “The Complete Banker”, is a lovely little jazzy number about the credit crunch; I was listening to this song while looking over some bills and I have to admit the song made me happy! Track 3, “Neapolitan Girl” is a wonderful walking song, again, I found myself smiling the entire time it played. Track 4, “Bang Goes the Knighthood”, is a wonderfully dramatic song, I stopped dead in my tracks halfway through this as the choir and organ started playing. Track 5, “At the Indie Disco”, was a wonderfully nostalgic song that made me remember my final year of secondary school when I spent a lot of my time in a place called Doyle’s in Dublin. Track 7, “Assume the Perpendicular” is the best walking song I’ve heard from the last 5 years. I don’t know how they do it, but listening to this song puts a sense of determination in my step that nothing else could. Finally, Track 11, “Can You Stand upon One Leg”, is a great song that I just had to learn the moment I finished listening to it. It’s strange to find a great song for kids within an album that’s most certainly geared towards adults. Nonetheless, I managed to entertain the younger members of my family with this number and I have Mr. Hannon to thank for that.

I really don’t know what more to say, this is a brilliant album and you should definitely get it. Why? You won’t find a more entertaining album out there at the moment, and it’ll put you in such a good mood that you’ll be smiling for days playing the entire thing on repeat!

GET THIS ALBUM NOW!

Felix

PS.

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Gig Review: KISS – Sonic Boom Over Europe

The lads themselves

Friday night I decided to head down to the Point to see one of those bands that I always meant to listen to but never got around to it, Kiss. Now for starters, those of you out there reading this will probably say,

“Felix, it’s called the O2 now you idiot!” to you I say this,

“Go away! It’s called the Point! Just because the people providing the funding decided to name it after themselves doesn’t change the fact that it’s the Point!”. The only change I can see is that they moved the stage around for easier access for standing people, but aside from that, it’s the Point!

Speaking of the Point, I’m going to get to mine… Telling you about the gig! It was a momentous occasion seeing Kiss play live. The four lads are legends among musicians, I may not have listened to much of their stuff, but I knew exactly who they were and the effect they had on Rock. Now before you start scoffing and saying that I can’t possibly review them without prior knowledge of their work, I am reviewing the gig as a performance. Kiss are the masters of good old-fashioned cheesy rock, their shows are famous the world over and the amount of references to them in various media is insane. You’d be surprised to find how many songs you already knew but never actually associated with them too. I was amazed to find that I was able to sing along to 90% of the set list.

So anyway, lets start at the beginning with the supporting act. There’s something that amazed me, rather than having 2 or 3 supporting bands, they simply had one. Usually concerts are a complete chore to sit through as you’re trying to remain remotely sane while waiting for when the band you paid to see arrives on stage. Not at this gig, NO SIR! You got one support band, a lovely little band from Las Vegas called Taking Dawn.

Taking Dawn were an interesting band for me. If I could describe them in any way it would be as “a very flamboyant Megadeth”. Their only flaw was that their music offered nothing individual, they are most definitely a band that is still in the process of creating their sound. Oh and every now and then, there was a low pound that shook everyone in the audience. I’m really not sure if this was their artistic intention or a bass-drum farting but whatever it was it annoyed me somewhat and stopped me from enjoying the gig as much as I could. For what it’s worth, their presence on stage was great! They knew how to play the crowd and really looked like they were enjoying themselves, which is always good to see.

I’d rate their performance as 7 out of 10. I don’t mean the kind of 7 out of 10 that other reviews give where it actually means that they were an average band, they put on a show but 2 points were removed for the low thud and another point was removed for not exactly having an original sound. Congratulations to them though because they were most certainly the best support act that I’ve seen in a long time.

And now the lads themselves! KISS! Catchy tune after catchy tune was played from across the entire career. The stage show was phenomenal, and all 4 lads are in my mind gods among men. I understood from the beginning that they aren’t exactly young, but the only person out of the lot of them who seemed to lose energy was Gene Simmons. By the end of the show his stage presence had become almost nothing, his constant tongue waggling had gone from awesome to slightly disgusting within the first half an hour. Paul Stanley deserves a medal in my mind. This guy was running up and down the stage, he was unstoppable! He constantly engaged with the audience, he joked around (even played Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin just to see how willing everyone was to sing) he really did tie the show together. Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer both provided their own dynamic as well. In fact I have to admire Eric as he was the only member of the band who didn’t leave the stage for the entire gig, he was involved in absolutely everything!

So now that I’ve got all of the sweet things said and done, here’s on to the music. Personally I loved being in the same room as these legends, but I felt the music itself was somewhat lacking in energy. How do I explain this? If you closed your eyes and listened to what was being played, they played like they were bored out of their minds. This to me was a little bit disappointing, maybe it was down to the fact that none of them are young anymore, I don’t know, but the music seemed to be pushed along rather than played with passion. They relied an awful lot on the energy of the crowd to boost the energy of what they were playing an awful lot and in all honesty that really got to me. Visually they had it, but the music they were playing was running on low battery.

What can I say? I’m certainly a newly converted member of the KISS army, but there are others who were hardcore fans who left at the end feeling let down. I can’t be too hard on them though, their songs are good, their skills as musicians can’t be argued with, but this performance just lacked something. I don’t know what it is, maybe you can help me out on this one, but the music just didn’t have as much energy as the visual performance.

Score for KISS: 8 out of 10. They were good but for whatever reason they weren’t performing at 100% and as such I can’t give them 100%.

So anyway, what did you think? Leave a comment below.

CD Review: Duckworth Lewis Method – Duckworth Lewis Method

It’s funny the way some very good musicians aren’t taken seriously for the pure reason that they do in fact take themselves and what they do seriously. Music is a funny thing, in order to be successful you have to work extremely hard, but because of the amazingly steep demands when it comes to climbing to the top, a musician needs a good sense of humour in order to make it to the top without winding up looking like a twat. This is why people can’t really take the likes of Bono from U2 seriously, but are more than willing to take the opinion of the likes of Frank Zappa. Musicians needs a good sense of humour in order to deal with the stress, this sense of humour allows them to remember that while life deals lemons, it’s fun to fire them at an unsuspecting person’s head.

Neil Hannon is well known for being a part of The Divine Comedy. A band made on the premise of writing clever songs about nothing in particular. Their most famous song is National Express, a song quite literally about a private bus company famous for its somewhat “interesting” clientele. Teaming up with a guy by the name of Thomas Walsh from the band Pugwash they created an album under the name “The Duckworth-Lewis Method”.

I found this album quite interesting and indeed refreshing. Each song was the perfect balance of humour and musical skill. It’s quite weird to hear an album based entirely on the world of cricket; in fact the idea quite baffled me when I was reading the story behind the album before I got it. From beginning to end you’ll find no two songs have to same style. Wikipedia classes this album as being pop, but in reality you’ve got influences of funk, psychedelia and vaudeville among many others. I’m going to completely admit, this album caught me by surprise! Cricket isn’t exactly something that you want to think of as entertaining, and it really isn’t, but this album is full of surprises.

So who would I recommend this for? I would recommend this as your new good mood album. Yes my dear readers, this album is something that you can’t listen to and walk away from depressed. It’s physically and psychologically impossible. In fact, it’s impossible to just play this album just one time and then leaving at that. I’ve had this album for a week now and I’ve listened to it nearly 20 times and I’m still entertained by EVERY song on it. If you haven’t made this album a part of your music collection then you need to get yourself down to your nearest record store and buy it! DO IT NOW!

CD Review: Fatboy Slim – Here Lies Love

Chaos reigns in my beloved college as the library decides that instead of putting up with twats talking and making noise in a library, they decided they were going to fine them! YES! I love it! If these loadmouth idiots can’t understand the concept of remaining quiet while in a library then I think the library should target the offending student’s weakpoint (also known as their wallet!). If you want to talk, then go outside, go to a coffee shop or somewhere. If you can’t use a library for what it’s intended for i.e. studying and research then you shouldn’t have left preschool… Anyway, this topic makes me angry, so I’m going to drop it…

So I bought this album in the last few days and GOOD GOD! I’m really not sure what to make of it at all! I won’t bore you with the now clichéd idea of going over the concept for this album, everyone knows it at this stage! For those of you who don’t, here is a link to the wikipedia page.

I’ll cut to the chase, hardcore fans of Fatboy Slim will be completely against this album. While you can see subtle indications of Norman Cook’s style, it isn’t present for the entire album. Here lies love, the title track resembles nothing of Cook’s or that of David Byrne. Granted, you can claim that the guest vocalists may have had an influence, but in this case the song just sounds (dare I say it) like a pop track from the latest thing occupying a thong. Before you get at me, I know it’s Florence Welch singing, and that she’s no ordinary thing occupying a thong, but the fact is, it’s a washed out insult to any fan of Fatboy Slim or Talking Heads. What insults me even more is that her voice is wasted on this track! I think that’s what makes me so bloody angry listening to this. The entire album, in my humble opinion, even though it has a very noble concept behind it, is like listening to a musical representation of laziness. There’s nothing quirky or controversial about this album at all, it’s pretty much back to back harmless and inoffensive songs that even your mother could listen to.

Now don’t chalk me up as a complete a-hole for what I think of the songs, as this is a well made album. I did not regret the 90 minutes that I spent listening to it. Granted, I wouldn’t want to play the album again, but if I ever find a situation where my mother wants to listen to my music, it will be the first album I play for her.

So what’s the verdict? Should you buy it? Well, that’s a tough question to answer. If you are the kind of person who doesn’t really put any thought into what they listen to and so buy whatever tracks are overplayed on the radio, then you’ll probably like this album. If you like concept albums that bring their point across in a completely benign and bland way, then you’ll like this album. If on the other hand, you’re looking for something along the lines of palookaville, DON’T GO NEAR THIS ALBUM! That is all…

CD Review: Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

Struttin’ Music! If you’re a music fan then you’ll know exactly what I mean. It doesn’t matter what genre it is, there are some tunes out there that just make you want to strut. The most famous example of this is Staying Alive by the Beegees, whenever someone hears that song, the part of your brain that makes you strut suddenly kicks into gear… This album is full of the stuff!

Now I’m not a major fan of Gorillaz… I found their first album to be quite derivative and Demon Days only had 1 or 2 tunes on it. Oh! There is a term I will have to explain… A tune is a song or piece of music that is so good that it melts your face! So for example, on Demon Days, one of the songs that I would consider a tune would be their song “Feel Good Inc.” Anyway, Plastic Beach shows just how much Gorillaz have managed to finally find their feet.

The album is very well put together and in all honesty was quite a surprising experience. I approached this album expecting to be disappointed, but the fact remains, I’m quite pleased with it! Each of the tracks is a tune, and each one displays slightly different styles. Unlike other albums, this album has the ability to be listened to several times over.

I would recommend this album to anyone really, but especially who have to walk to school, work or college and need something to help them maintain a good mood while they walk wherever they’re going. This album is packed full of happiness and I have a tough time trying to listen to this album and not smile.

Rating? 4 out of 5… I’d give it the full 5, but I think the major reason for this album having nothing but tunes is an awful lot to do with the various collaborations within the album. I have to say, it’s an amazing album full of lots of good tunes, I defy anyone to listen to this album and not feel happy afterwards!

CD Review: Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of Neptune

Society it seems is reacting to the complete blandness of today’s media by referring to past masters in the vain hope that it will encourage people to be as original as them. I’m getting sick and tired of directors constantly doing remakes of previous films (I’m looking at you James Cameron), I’m tired of seeing various pop-acts completely butcher pre-existing and formerly face-melting songs (I’m looking at every one of you R+B wannabe’s who’ve butchered various Beatles songs). Not to mention the fact that there are times when people just can’t let something or someone die. I’m fed up of seeing girls trying to pretend they fell out of the eighties by wearing leg warmers and offensively bright items of clothing, LEAVE THEM BACK IN THE EIGHTIES WHERE YOU FOUND THEM!!!! I’m especially fed up of complete douche-bag hipsters wearing tshirts with a picture of a band, event or cartoon that they are blatantly too young to have even seen in the first place, and in the case of the people who wear the band tshirts, half the time they’re just trying to look like they know something about music. NO! Your Beatles tshirt does not entitle you to have an opinion on music, and your generic Rolling Stones tshirt doesn’t make you look trendy, just go die somewhere. I don’t care if you are trying to be ironic or whatever other reason there could be for it, unless you were around for it, don’t wear the tshirt!

Oh god that was quite a tangent to go off on. I’m normally not fond of posthumous albums, they creep me out and are often a half-assed collection of tracks plucked from random points of a musician’s career and therefore do not make up a decent album. I bought this album for 2 reasons,

1) It’s Jimi Hendrix and I’m quite a fan of his work.

2) It’s been hyped up big time! So I really had to see if it was worth it.

Now don’t get me wrong, as a Hendrix fan, I appreciate the fact that his spirit is allowed to live on that little bit longer, but this album is fucking bland! Yes, I had to curse in order to express my utter frustration! I appreciate good tunes as much as the next guy, but this album seems to have been compiled by someone who instead of linking the tracks in some way e.g. centred around a particular theme. They seem to be based around trying to give a collection of relatively inoffensive tracks. Nothing really stands out, I’m listening to it right now and my heart is slowly sinking further because there’s no excitement. Each track offers the same level of technique and emotion, which is just below mid-level on the Hendrix scale of emotional playing.

So should you get it? Most definitely! I’d recommend this album as a means of introducing people to Jimi Hendrix’s work. However, if you are a hard-core fan, you will not want to play this too often because the blandness will ruin your love of his music forever.

I’m going to push the stop button, I’m going to leave the CD on the shelf and I’m going to leave it there until such a time when I meet someone who has never heard his music and wants a relatively subtle way of being introduced to it.

Rating? 2.5 out of 5. It’s average… That’s all I can really say about it.