First Impressions 4: The View From Halfway Down

 Andy Bell (2020)

[First impressions of albums bought in my September 2021 spree]

With a title that reminds me of Kermit's nephew, I wasn't sure what to expect from this. Andy Bell has had a varied career, starting in teenage shoegaze sensations Ride, via underrated Britpop also-rans Hurricane #1 and then to a surprisingly long stint with obscure pub rockers Oasis. His stint in Hurricane #1 in particular showed what an inventive musician he is - just have a listen to "Remote Control" or the single of "Rising Sign" (the album version is the annoying MBV remix, for some reason).

What we get is has obvious similarities with Ride, but a bit less intense, instead being more relaxed and laid back. The whole thing has a late sixties/early seventies feel, with the most obvious influence being Neu, whose "Hallogallo" groove crops up a few times, mixed with the psychedelia of early Floyd and Traffic.

Stand out tracks for me are the first track, "Love Comes In Waves", which has very Ride-esque harmonies over a motorik groove and reverb-drenched guitars, and the last track, "Heat Haze on Weyland Road", which caught my ear with its Kraftwerk-ian retro electronica. In between these two are some nice sounds, like the great backwards guitar work on "Aubrey Drylands Gladwell" and the acoustic Neu-ness of "Skywalker". There's a few too many instrumentals and occasional nothingy noodliness that I could do without, but overall it's a good album that doesn't outstay its welcome at eight tracks - an album I'm pleased to have found entirely by accident and will be listening to again.

First Impressions 3: Tin Machine II

Tin Machine (1991)

[First impressions of albums bought in my September 2021 spree]

This was not the US cover

I've always had a bit of soft spot for Tin Machine, ever since I saw their live promo film in the cinema as a supporting feature to some film and really liked it (although the girl I was with was deeply unimpressed). At the time, it was a very deliberate break with Bowie's tradition and of course I bought that first album straight away. So I suppose it tells you everything you need to know about the extent of my alleged soft spot that I didn't buy Tin Machine II until (ahem) thirty years later. Was it worth the wait?

Well, I'd hate to leave my single reader in suspense, so let me say straight away: no. It's never going to be one of my favourite albums; it's not even one going to be one of my favourite albums of 1991.

Still, it's not a total loss. It's got the same feeling as too many of Bowie's later albums, of trying a bit too hard to get something new, pulling seemingly disparate elements together without quite making them gel, and forgetting the tunes, but there's plenty of interesting moments. I could do with fewer of Reeves Gabrels' "far out" (i.e. tuneless) solos, but the rhythm section is rock solid and it's all very cleanly produced. I do find the juxtaposition of straight-ahead rock and Bowie's unique, very mannered phrasing a little jarring, but it's interesting to note that when Hunt Sales sings (e.g. on "Stateside"), it fits the style of music better but instantly becomes more generic

Any standout tracks on first listen? "Amlapura" strikes me the most, more for being a decent Bowie track instead of a Bowie-playing-at-rock track. "Sorry" works well as an overall performance, with the various parts coming together well. I'm sure other tracks will emerge when (if?) I listen to the album more, as there's plenty of interesting moments. Absolutely non-essential but nice to have all the same.

First Impressions 2: I Can't Believe You're Gone

The Webb Brothers (2000)

[First impressions of albums bought in my September 2021 spree]

I didn't realise this was a single when I bought it, but at least it's a nice easy way into my first impressions series, with only three songs to concentrate on.

My first impression is that it is heavily reminiscent of Jason Falkner's Can You Still Feel?, that  kind of sophisticated post-Jellyfish power-pop that is so often gets critical adulation and little sales. It's got a great chorus melody, some nicely hook-y arrangement and a well-though out structure. I'd listen to it again. The acoustic version of "I Can't Believe You're Gone" is the third track here and is in some respects nicer for being less overblown, but the song stands up to the two different treatments well.

"Blame It On Yourself", the second track here, separating the two different versions of the single, is clear B-side fodder, a slightly weaker track that nevertheless makes me want to go and listen to the source album Maroon - which I suppose is the point!

First Impressions 1: The Seeds of Love

Tears for Fears (1989)

[First impressions of albums bought in my September 2021 spree]

The cover has not aged
as well as the music

The first album I'm listening to for my first impressions of those I bought during my outing yesterday, and already I'm cheating. I know this album very well. It's a sumptuous, warm bath of a record, a miracle of late-eighties record production that I have enjoyed for decades and find myself returning to again and again.

This is the 2020 remaster, so, given that I know it well, I have to restrict my first impressions to what differences I can hear. I'd say it's mixed slightly louder, which is a little surprising given that the loudness wars are over, but thankfully, on an album so full of dynamics, there's no evidence of these being sacrificed. The songs are full of little touches that are sounding clearer, I think. There's power and weight in the bass at the beginning of "Woman in Chains", followed by a surrounding cloud of ambience as the track gets going. "Badman's Song" ebbs and flows through its mood changes as gloriously as ever, and I am reminded again what a good singer Roland Orzabal is.

I didn't really need to do a first impressions of this album, of course, but I having somehow failed to buy this before now, I wanted to hear it properly through my system at home. It sounds great.