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Liam Carey reviews
V o l u m e # 7 3 0 A p r i l 2 0 0 3
RUMOURS OF THEIR DEMISE ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED
As mentioned in a previous Liner Notes issue, Fleetwood Mac have a new album out. Say You Will was released Stateside two weeks ago, and while some major stores have been selling import copies at £15, April 28th saw the album’s official availability in this country. Besides the standard 18-track CD, there is also a limited edition doublepack in a special deluxe case, which features an extra four tracks plus an enhanced section. Two of this quartet of bonus songs are merely alternative recordings of Say You Will cuts, taken from a recent AOL exclusive live performance/broadcast.
Contrary to claims in most reviews of the album, it is not in fact the band’s first in 15 years. Somewhere along the line, the Warner press office seems to have got its wires crossed. Critics are clearly taking the statement at face value without questioning its validity, since technically Fleetwood Mac not only made a new album in 1990 – with only Lindsey Buckingham absent from the classic 70s-era line-up, and two new members replacing him – but in 1995 as well – Nicks having also jumped ship, with a little-known female singer taking her place.
That Behind The Mask and Time – the records in question – have been airbrushed out of Fleetwood Mac history is surprising in itself, since the former was a UK chart-topper, but where the PR spiel really falls down is in creating the impression that Say You Will is part of a seamless trajectory that is only now picking up from Tango In The Night. It’s not even a return to the 5-piece responsible for their output between 1975 and 1987, as Christine McVie is not part of this latest project. Otherwise the “first new material for 15 years!” might almost be true as far as that particular line-up is concerned… and if we overlook the poor maths (1987 was 16 years ago, of course).
Artistically, Say You Will is a magnificent adult-pop album. The Buckingham/Nicks axis is working the old magic once again, something not really in evidence on the underrated Tango In The Night, which relied heavily on Buckingham’s genius to hold everything together while Nicks was in and out of rehab. The lack of McVie’s sugarcoated songsmithery is a boon for those who feel Buckingham to be the band’s creative linchpin. Those sweet but bland songs such as Everywhere and Little Lies may have turned Tango In The Night into the commercial monster it slowly became, but that album’s true heart was in the darker and complex tracks and Buckingham’s overall vision. Say You Will therefore is unlikely to sell in huge quantities, but reviews have been extremely positive, citing it as the best Mac album in over 20 years.
Fleetwood Mac – Say You Will
STANDARD – DELUXE – DVD AUDIO
THIS IS PHIL TALK TALK-ING
Currently the best single around, L.A. Today by Alex Gold features the distinctive tones of one Phillip Oakey. The Human League frontman lends his vocal and lyrical talents to an insistent slice of contemporary electro pop, with idiosyncratic lines like “half a mile away, at the charity canteen” which rate alongside the best of the League’s entries (“..and where there used to be some shops”, from 1984’s The Lebanon, for instance). The radio edit adds some female backing vocals that bear an uncanny resemblence to Joanne Catherall and Suzanne Sulley’s, making L.A. Today sound for all money like a proper Human League track.
With its chorus based upon the 1982 Top 20 hit Today by Talk Talk, the single is one of two songs by Mark Hollis’ former band to have been given a trancepop makeover. It’s My Life, itself resurrected six years after its original release to finally become a UK hit in 1990, is soon to hit the charts again courtesy of Liquid People. Credited to Liquid People vs Talk Talk, the track is released on June 9th.
HUMMING BIRD
Venus Hum. Remember the name, because they are about to become huge. Hopefully. This trio from Nashville sound like a heavnely mix of Bjork and Depeche Mode, released their single Montana in the UK last week, and have their Big Beautiful Sky album due on May 5th.
An advertisement for Montana has been running on the digital music TV channels for a fortnight or so, showcasing the video as well as interview snippets with the appealingly kooky, bespectacled singer Anette Strean.
COUNTERFEIT CASH
In June 1989 Depeche Mode’s Martin L. Gore, the band’s main songwriter, indulged in a solo project of obscure cover versions. The resulting mini-album, entitled Counterfeit, featured half a dozen takes on an intruiging range of songs. Fourteen years later, with Depeche Mode currently on hiatus and vocalist Dave Gahan about to release his own solo record, Gore follows up with Counterfeit 2. This time it’s a full length album, but the basic concept remains.
Meanwhile, the first song by Depeche Mode to appear after the original Counterfeit – Personal Jesus – has been covered by none other than iconic country rocker Johnny Cash. Personal Jesus is joined on his new AA-sided single by a powerful version of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt, the video of which is the most talked-about promo this side of Madonna, but for very different reasons. Cash, his health deteriorating due to a neurological condition, takes only a small role in an emotionally-charged and poignant look back at his life and career. The video, it should be pointed out, is not – and was not – intended as any kind of farewell or, perish the thought, serve as an obituary.
FUTURE SOUNDS
The best music on the horizon:
- THE DANDY WARHOLS – WE USED TO BE FRIENDS: First single from the Dandy’s new album Welcome To The Monkey House. Not quite another Bohemian Like You, but still an infectious workout that mixes their usual Stones-esque hooks with 80s New Wave beats.
- PRETENDERS – LOOSE SCREW: Chrissie Hynde and company return with a first album since 1999’s patchy Viva El Amor!. A single will follow shortly after, although the schedules currently have two different tracks (Complex Person, You Know Who Your Friends Are) listed on different dates, so which one actually appears is unclear at present.
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.