One record at a time: 430. Vangelis - Heaven and Hell

For this post I initially began to write about the Vangelis album "Earth" - but I soon realised I don't actually own that album on vinyl. Therefore the next record I will look at is "Heaven and Hell" from 1975. My record is an original UK pressing that is in very good condition and sounds excellent to say it is over fifty years old. 

This concept album is split into two parts that consider the contrasting ideas of Heaven and Hell. Inexplicably there is also a song titled "So Long Ago, So Clear" stitched onto the end of side one. This track was a collaboration with Jon Anderson (the vocalist from the prog-rock group Yes) but I'm not convinced it fits within the concept.  

As we drop the needle we hear the opening sequence titled "Bacchanale". The music is big, brash and not to my taste at all. The portamento applied to the synth patch driving the melody sounds antiquated and strangely off key to my ears. There is some jazz Rhodes piano thrown into the mix but it doesn't sit comfortably alongside the chamber choir. When this first movement is over I am actually quite relived. This is not my idea of heaven.

We move on to the softer sounds of "Symphony to the Powers B" which is reminiscent of Mike Oldfield's work - it even features tubular bells for heaven's sake. After about thirteen minutes we meet the wonderful "Movement 3" which was the prototype for "Chariots of Fire".

For me the b-side is less distinctive and relatively benign - but it is also less polarising as a result. The "12 O’clock" movement is a highlight and only when "A Way" peters out into an inaudible whisper do we realise the ride is over. Something of an album of contrasts, "Heaven and Hell" seems to work in its more tranquil moments, but it fails when it tries to be too clever. 2/5  

One record at a time: 429. Vangelis - L'Apocalypse Des Animaux

I'm not sure how many studio recordings and soundtracks Vangelis released, but by my calculations it must be over thirty. Whilst I don't own all of these albums, there is a good chunk of them in my collection that we will need to work through. I have to admit, I wasn't really sure where to start with this odyssey, but "L'Apocalypse Des Animaux" from 1973 seems to be as good a place as any.

This 2016 remastered version of the soundtrack is pressed by Optimal on 180g vinyl but it doesn’t sound very good - it has numerous pops and crackles throughout. Also, the tracklisting printed on the sleeve and labels doesn't correspond to what actually plays.

Such inattention to detail seemed to spark a discussion on the Discogs website around the increasingly poor quality control in vinyl manufacturing. If you browse forums and the like on this subject you may read of people thinking of abandoning the format if things don't improve. For now I am happy to keep buying vinyl, but I have to admit, when I listen to records like this I do wonder why I bother.

The first track here is "L'Apocalypse Des Animaux - Générique" which has a riff that sounds ready to be loaded into a sampler and turned into a hit. The second track "La Petit Fille De La Mer" is another standout tune whose lush sound belies the fact that it seems to have been created with only an acoustic guitar, a Rhodes piano and what sounds like an organ. 

"Le Singe Bleu" features a soft trumpet that I imagine was played through a haze of cigarette smoke as Vangelis caressed the keys of his electric piano whist simultaneously sipping on a glass of Johnny Walker. No wonder the song is far too long. Another lengthy opus is "Creation Du Monde" which takes up a good chunk of the second side of the disc. You can't help but marvel at the fact that this music was recorded in 1970 (it wasn't released until three years later) as it sounds like it could have been made yesterday. The etherial chords and haunting guitar transfix me - this is how 'ambient' music should be done. 3.5/5

One record at a time: 428. Underworld - Barbara, Barbara, We Face A Shining Future

This is the second and final Underworld LP I own. "Barbara, Barbara We Face A Shining Future" was released in 2016 and I bought this record a couple of years later. I'm not completely sure, but I think I ordered this as I had been very impressed by the "Teatime Dub Encounters" EP and wanted to hear if their most recent album was just as good. Sadly I was to be disappointed.

The opening track "I Exhale" is fair enough but it does become something of an endurance test having to hear the same loop go round for eight minutes. I like the lo-fi vibes of second track "If Rah" and "Low Burn" has a more conventional techno sound that reminds me of the band in their pomp.

The ambient piece "Santiago Cuatro" offers some variety along with the downtempo "Motorhome" - but in truth I'm not a fan of either song. We return to the dance floor with the single "Ova Nova" which has a pounding TR-909 kick drum and some compressed bass, but doesn't develop one iota during its five and a half minute runtime. The closing track "Nylon Strung" is a rather jaunty number that is one chorus away from being synth-pop. Tracks like this make me wish Underworld explored this part of their sound a bit more and left the ambient nonsense to Brian Eno. 2/5 

One record at a time: 427. Underworld - Beaucoup Fish

Electronic music was on life support in the nineties and by the end of the decade I had become pretty disillusioned with contemporary music. Whilst I did occasionally take a chance on an emerging artist such as Basement Jaxx (singles were good, but not much else to interest me) or Fatboy Slim (never liked him as much as I thought I should), I largely took refuge in the back catalogue of my favourite artists. 

Therefore I must have been in a particularly brave or determined frame of mind when I walked into HMV one day in 1999 and bought "Beaucoup Fish" by Underworld on compact disc. I would never claim to be a massive Underworld fan, and the only other record of theirs that I owned at the time was the CD single of "Born Slippy .NUXX", so I can't really explain why I chose to buy their latest album.  

Whilst I was initially unimpressed by what I heard, the music did begin to grow on me and after repeated listening I grew to admire the album. Over the years I have continued to dip into Underworld's music with varying degrees of enthusiasm, but I couldn't resist buying this double vinyl reissue when it was released in 2017. 

"Cups" opens with sampled strings that soon give way to a square wave techno bass and Rick's vocoder treated vocals. The lyrics are suitably incomprehensible and despite ticking along at 130 beats per minute, there's a really laid back air to this song. After about eight minutes the track makes an abrupt turn and suddenly incorporates a breakbeat and an aggressive synth riff that segues into the more frenzied "Push Upstairs".

By far my favourite track on the album is "Jumbo" that opens the b-side. Whilst the lyrics offer Carl Smith's usual mix of the meaningful and the bizarre, it is the music on this song that sets it apart for me. The pulsating "King of Snake" seems to warrant a writing credit for Giorgio Moroder as it references "I Feel Love", but the similarity is only fleeting to my ears. I also like the relentless head banging of "Bruce Lee" and "Kittens" sounds like it was created to induce a dance floor frenzy.

Most of the other songs on this album are downtempo or more ambient efforts that miss the mark. "Winjer" and "Skym" are pretty boring and the repetitive "Push Downstairs" doesn't succeed at all. Happily the album finishes with a song called "Moaner" which is from the same stable as "Kittens" and thunders along with an amazing bassline and frenetic beat. 3/5

One record at a time: 426. Toy Matinee - Toy Matinee

During the dark days of the 2020 COVID lockdown, the YouTube algorithm threw me Guy Pratt's "Lockdown Licks". I enjoyed these videos and marvelled at how effortlessly Guy played the bass guitar. The seventh instalment of the series featured a song he had played on called "Last Plane Out" by Toy Matinee. I'd never heard of either the song or the band, but I enjoyed what I heard so much I decided to investigate further. 

Toy Matinee was a short-lived project that resulted in the release of one eponymous album in 1990. The album didn't sell that well and by 2020 it hadn't been available for almost twenty years. It took a few weeks, but I did manage to track down a compact disc at a reasonable price on eBay. Having sensed the resurgence in Toy Matinee, the clever people at Music On Vinyl decided to licence it and release this limited edition blue vinyl in 2022.

The credentials for Toy Matinee are excellent. Keyboards and songwriting were provided by Madonna's producer Patrick Leonard and his talented protégé Kevin Gilbert handled songwriting, guitar and vocals. The record was produced by the illustrious Bill Bottrell and the band featured a plethora of excellent musicians - including Guy Pratt on bass who also contributed to songwriting duties. 

"Last Plane Out" begins the album and is clearly the standout. Not only is this catchiest song but it is also the most original composition on the record. The bass is deep and funky and the elaborate guitar is very impressive indeed. Whilst there are some other good songs on the record, it is all a bit downhill from here.

The band's various influences emerge quite strongly as the record goes on with a fair bit of Elvis showing on "The Ballad of Jenny Ledge" and a flash of The Beatles heard on "Turn It On Salvador". There are some satisfying disco bass licks on "Queen Of Misery" and the title track sounds like it was lifted straight from a Dire Straights session.  

With both Leonard and Bottrell in the room you would think the production on the record would be outstanding, but in truth it is a fairly dry 'band in a room' affair largely devoid of electronics. There are flashes of synth on the introduction to "Queen of Misery" but otherwise Guy Pratt's octave pedal is the closest we get to any original sounds. If you like traditional rock then this might be a record you enjoy. As a fan of electronic music, I only appreciate the first track. 2/5

One record at a time: 425. Thompson Twins - Into The Gap

I have memories of hearing "Hold Me Now" played on the radio quite a lot during my childhood and it remains one of my favourite songs by Thompson Twins. Despite admiring the band's music, I never actually bought any of their records and this recent charity shop find is the only Thomson Twins vinyl I have ever owned.  

"Into The Gap" is the archetypal multi-million selling record that was hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Much of this commercial success can be attributed to the radio play garnered by the singles that were culled from the album. Along with "Hold Me Now" I also liked the single "Doctor! Doctor!" - but I have no memory of hearing "Take Me Up" before. To be honest I am truly surprised such a dismal track reached number two in the UK charts. 

One of the things I found most interesting about this record are the bass sounds. It seems the distinctive fretless bass that features on almost every song is actually derived from an Oberheim OB-Xa synth. Tom Bailey plays the keyboard with such skill and fluidity that these basslines could be mistaken for an electric bass guitar. Interestingly I read the bass patch is actually a modified clavinet preset and when the memory of Bailey's OB-Xa was wiped, the sound went with it.

I think one of the reasons I like Thompson Twins is because I am drawn to the sound marimbas and other percussion instruments. On tracks like "Sister of Mercy" or "Who Can Stop The Rain" Alannah Currie provides some amazing embellishments that really lift the songs. Other highlights for me are "The Gap" and "No Place For The Wicked" which are catchy songs that are expertly produced. Maybe I will have to acquire more Thomson Twins records after all. 3.5/5

One record at a time 424: Tears For Fears - Songs For A Nervous Planet

I'm not sure how to classify this album as it contains both new studio material and live tracks. This 2024 release features two LPs pressed on "Cocoa Cream" vinyl (ridiculous colour names seem to be de rigueur in the industry at the minute) pressed by GZ Media. As I ordered my copy through the Universal Records webstore it came with a signed 'art print' (in reality it is a glorified flyer) for the live film that was released simultaneously. 

Unfortunately the new material on this record contains the Beatesesque sound which seems to be obligatory on recent Tears For Fears records. Particularly guilty are opening track "Say Goodbye To Mum and Dad" and "Emily Said" which just sound like flimsy reproductions of lost Beatles b-sides. "Astronaut" even adds the sound of a Mellotron just to ram home the point. 

The sleeve for this record was generated by AI and you could have a stab at recreating the music too:

"Write a song using the ABABCB song structure based on the chord changes and melodies in The Beatles back catalogue post 1966. The lyrics that accompany the melody should be etherial and dreamy in nature and relate to a girl called "Emily". The instrumentation should focus on jangly guitars and acoustic drums with occasional motifs recorded with the flute sound from the Mellotron keyboard instrument."

The live tracks featured on the rest of the record are a mix of their biggest hits and material from their most recent studio album "The Tipping Point". There's some additional trance-like chords on "Change" and "Shout" is embellished with some melodic guitar, but otherwise these songs sound uncannily close to their studio counterparts. The band acknowledge that some elements are played from computer, but post production tinkering was limited to some occasional vocal tuning and some small mistakes that were patched with recordings from another show. 

When it comes to the live material my only complaint is that the ten minutes of wax wasted on the lacklustre "Bad Man's Song" could have been spent on at least two superior compositions ("Rivers Of Mercy" and "My Demons" spring to mind). The running order is different on the vinyl when compared to digital sources and dependent on which CD or file bundle you choose, the LP can have up to seven tracks less. 3/5