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Remastered & Expanded: 
- Released: October 2008
- Rating: 2/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Resurrection re-shuffle. Old timers re-unite..mhh.
Yet another band on the comeback trail is The Bureau.
First time around, they were purveyors of British funk/Northern Soul, apparently.As a big fan and collector, I know my onions when it comes to the aforementionedstyle, so Im well placed to be critical.
The reunification of ex-Style Council keyboardist Mick Talbot with ex-Dexys ArchieBrown, Geoff Blythe, Crispin Taylor, Paul Taylor and Pete Williams is a mouthwatering thought. Between them, theyve created, or been involved, in some trulymemorable songs: no need to mention.
Back in the early 80s they were rattling the rafters, though from then on,things got, well, complicated, between one thing and another. They didnt last very long.
Nostalgia being nostalgia, Archie Brown was seen gigging with his then band TheYoung Bucks in 2002. One thing lead to another (networking nowadays) resultedin the members, who were geographically challenged to pick up the pieces one again.This time the genre isnt exactly being represented, as theyve leaned moretowards their Dexys roots heavy brass tendencies etc.
You cant dispute their collective credentials as musicians, but their songwritingskills leave much to be desired.
Overall, this is a pleasant outcome, but ultimately a drab affair.
Whats missing is the dazzling writing of Kevin Rowland and Modfather Paul Weller.
It starts well enough with a flourish of brass swings on Run Rabbit Run,though Archie Browns singing is more like a poor-man’s Ian Dury.
They then go into a funky groove for Save Me, though by even this stage, theyseem like, old men, trying to recreate their youth. Chance In A Million, FreedomMarch and Falling are laboured in the extreme, saved by some interesting instrumentalbreaks by the brass boys.
Just A Word and Flying Lessons have more music hall flavours than Soul, andMad is more Latino fused with hoedown tendencies, which are quite good actually.
At the worst end of things, Nothings Going To Stand , Divided In Two andKeatons Walk are pretty sad efforts at filling the gaps. The weird singing on thelatter, only serves to make matters even worse than the song itself.
File under: Bad bad sad idea.
Weblink:bureau.org.uk
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Run Rabbit Run
2. Save Me
3. Chance In A Million
4. A Fine Mess Rag
5. Freedom March
6. Just A Word
7. Falling
8. Mad
9. Divided In Two
10. Flying Lessons
11. Nothings Going To Stand In Our WayView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.