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Liam Carey reviews
V o l u m e # 3 0 5 M a r c h 2 0 0 3
DEMOLITION D’ARBY
Fifteen years ago this week, the debut album from Terence Trent D’Arby was enjoying an extended run at the top of the UK album chart. Introducing The Hardline According To.., released in July 1987, announced the arrival of an outstanding talent, and many – famously including the less than shy and retiring Trent D’Arby himself – tipped this charasmatic young singer/songwriter/performer/visionary for even greater things.
Somehow it never quite panned out like that, and his stock plummeted almost overnight with 1989’s wildly ambitious, unpretty and, erm, eccentric follow-up Neither Fish Nor Flesh which swiftly became the byword for a major commercial turkey. Yet, possibly even more amazing than how Neither Fish Nor Flesh threw it all away, was the way in which Terence Trent D’Arby partly resurrected his fortunes in 1993. Symphony Or Damn, the third album, managed to strike a successful balance between his maverick capabilities for explosive rock-inflected soul and oddball pop. While never coming close to emulating Introducing The Hardline…’s 1.8 million sales, Symphony Or Damn spawned a trio of modest hit singles and hung around for 6 months on the UK Top 75 peaking at #4.
What happened next, of course, was another commercial failure and the last time we would hear from Terence Trent D’Arby for eight years. Vibrator was a noisy, uneven mess which unfortunately reprised the worst traits of Neither Fish Nor Flesh and experienced an almost identical reception from the record-buying public. Then….silence. A colourful, rollercoaster ride of a career looked to be over, with Trent D’Arby a casualty of his own prodigious ability and troubled psyche.
Apropos of nothing, Columbia Records have just put out Terence Trent D’Arby’s Greatest Hits, a 19-track selection from their unpredictable charge, including a handful of obligatory new recordings. How it will fare is anyone’s guess.
GOING DOWN TO LIVERPOOL
No, we’re not talking about Manchester United’s defeat in the Worthington Cup final at the weekend, but a reference to an unexpected return for the archetypal female guitar band of the 1980s, The Bangles, who split up in 1990. March seems to be the month for resurrecting names who were at the peak of their powers more than 10 years ago – aside from Terence Trent D’Arby aforementioned compilation, Simply Red’s return is imminent, there is also Dead Or Alive Best Of ready to roll, while Alison Moyet and Phil Collins will have another stab at reversing their fortunes with new singles from underperforming 2002 albums. First up from the reformed Bangles is the single Something You Said (out this week), with an album Doll Revolution out on March 17th. Its title is taken from last year’s Elvis Costello single Tear Off Your Own Head, which has been covered by the band and features on the album.
TIME TO WORRY?
Despite being one of the year’s most impressive singles, Don’t Worry by the Appleton sisters didn’t fare as well as hoped on the UK Top 40, debuting at #5 before falling to #13 the following week.
Last Monday their album Everything’s Eventual was unleashed with much promotion, but again the commercial result was underwhelming, with a chart entry of #10 some way short of expectation. Is it media overkill, as the duo’s personal lives and more significant others continue to dominate column inches, or simply that good, solid pop songs packaged without undue raunchiness just don’t sell as much as crass dancefloor-freindly, teen-centric sexathons do these days?
Perhaps a bit of both: the recent live chat with Appleton on AOL featured far more lamebrained, inarticulate questions about their better halves than any honest enquiries about Nicole and Natalie’s music. The current BBC Three fly-on-the-wall series charting a year in their lives unfortunately leaves them without a leg to stand on should they cry foul. Which is a pity, since their records deserve better.
MURPHY’S LAW
Fronted by the exquisite Roisin Murphy, those quirky popstars Moloko are back with their first album in three years. Statues, the follow-up to 2000’s Top 5 effort Things To Make And Do, is cursed by a bizarre sleeve that makes the band’s delightful frontwoman look like a demented, alcohol-fuelled ladette, but thankfully such offputting tactics do not extend to the album’s contents.
The success of previous hits such as The Time Is Now and Sing It Back will always be tricky to replicate, but in a competitive March schedule that includes second albums from Turin Brakes and the Mull Historical Society you could do worse than put your faith in Statues.
FUTURE SOUNDS
The best music on the horizon:
- SAINT ETIENNE – SOFT LIKE ME: Another single from the magnificent Finisterre album, reminiscent of their early releases with its juxtaposition of spunky female rapping in the verses with Sarah’s typically gorgeous tones for the addictive chorus. Out March 17th and issued on two CDs and one 12″ single, as well as a 7″ on March 24th.
- COLDPLAY – CLOCKS: Chris Martin and co. further their claim to be the best band on the planet with a third single from the mighty, BRIT award-winning A Rush Of Blood To The Head. Driven by an insistent, glacial piano motif, this is essentially Coldplay pretending to be Echo & The Bunnymen (Ian McCulloch’s input during the album’s creation clearly at work here) but nobody else can currently hold a candle to them. The video has been on heavy rotation for a month already, but you still can’t buy this single until March 24th.
The track has also been used regularly for the BBC’s Digital TV promotional trails.
Page Content copyright © Liam Carey, 2003.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.