|
Space Rock
Reviewed by |
||
|
|
||
|
4-track cd recorded between 1989 and 1998 At B# Studios Basses Used: Ibanez Musician & Warwick Streamer We’re not exactly sure what Martin wanted to accomplish with this disc. Reviewing a cd of a known artist is a lot easier, simply because you can compare it to their other releases, fans, media attention etc. All we know about Martin is that he seems to be the main bloke in charge here at the S.A.B.P.C. Anyway, this is what we thought. Quinn: “When I started to listen to the first track, it immediately sent me back to the 80’s, where everyone was wearing neon track suits and played games in the video arcade. Frank: On first listen I thought it sounded like a soundtrack to an 80’s karate movie, but I did enjoy it after a few more listens. A major disappointing factor (especially considering Martin’s calibre) is that a real live drummer is only used on two tracks - Werewolf By Night & Oh Yeah! Frank: This disc seems to wander about doing nothing. I would have speeded up all the tracks (only by about 100 bpm or so) used looser high hats and a touch more distortion to give the songs more drive. Some of the keyboard layers sounded cheesy to me and I’d have preferred to hear more natural sounding tones. As a product, we are not sure what the lyrics to Werewolf By Night had in common with the disc title. This track did seem to have more direction than the others and made us think of being in a horror house at a carnival. Frank: Tuesday Morning (Around Breakfast Time) made me think of driving down a straight 1000 mile highway in a saloon car while drinking buckets of booze. Quinn: The keyboard sounded better in this song and suited it. The arrangement wasn’t too bad either. It’s just a pity that a real drummer wasn’t used – it would have given the song more character and drive. The only thing we thought this disc lacked was direction and drive. Overall we think that this disc is technically well composed and a real 80’s piece of art. The artist’s response. I gave this disc to Quinn to review as he’s about 15 generations or so younger than me and I was interested in what a youngster thought of this ‘old fogey’ music. The lads were quite correct as identifying it as 80’s music – Oh Yeah and Space Rock were written in ’87, Werewolf By Night and Tuesday Morning were written in ’88. Oh Yeah! & Werewolf By Night were recorded in the late eighties / early nineties and Space Rock & Tuesday Morning were recorded in ‘97/’98 for my Bass To Bass album. After getting harassed by my mates to let them hear some sort of finished product, I hurriedly put this 4-track disc together. As the lads say, there is absolutely no direction at all – it just happened that these four tracks were completed and they went onto the disc – simple as that! All four of these tracks can be heard on my Bass To Bass album although the Tracks Space Rock and Tuesday Morning are in slightly different formats. Looking back on this disc makes me think of the huge mistake I made by not having a drummer on all the tracks – I think Space Rock and Tuesday Morning would have benefited a thousand fold if I had booked a stickman for the sessions but it’s no use crying over spilt milk – it’s done, history, finito, time to move on. The drummer on the other two tracks is a very young Garth McCleod who many years later played in the band Sugardrive – he hasn’t heard the finished tracks yet!! When Kerry reviewed Lost in Space, she mentioned that some tracks made her think of cruising down the highway (and also made mention of the drum machine tracks) – that’s quite interesting . Thanks lads for spending some time reviewing this disc – I’m not so sure about speeding the tracks up by 100 bpm or so though – sounds a bit rad to this old geezer!!!!!! |
