One record at a time: 249. Level 42 - Guaranteed

Level 42 emerged from the eighties battered and bruised by line up changes, bereavement and challenges in their personal lives. Despite the issues the band faced, Mark decided to rally the troops and record new material once again in 1990. Yet when the record was finally complete, Polydor declined to release it and seemingly cut ties with the group.  

I guess this decision was partially driven by a change in the music scene at the start of the nineties. Artists like Black Box, Snap!, and Adamski had begun to signal the sound of the future and some record companies began to think bands like Level 42 only pointed to yesterday. Luckily for us, Mark et al decided to shop the album around and found a deal with RCA who released "Guaranteed" in 1991. 

The title track sounds like a lead single should: it's poppy, upbeat and has a good hook. My only gripe with this track is that it is too busy; none of the parts are given room to breathe and the song sounds like a relentless 'wall of sound'. The second single "Overtime" is a funkier affair that I really like, but it is still slightly lacking in the dynamics that were present in earlier albums. 

"Her Big Day" represents the first dip in quality as whilst the music is good, the lyrics are really quite appalling. The next track "Seven Years" sounds like an imitation of Sting and there is some crossover as guitarist Dominic Miller played with both artists. The funk returns with "Set Me Up" which sees a welcome vocal contribution by Mike but there's not really much going on in terms of melody. 

The fabulous "My Father's Shoes" was considered quite a departure for the band when it was released and I remember it being played on some sort of "Jukebox Jury" programme on the radio for the panel to guess who recorded it (they did thanks to Mark's distinctive vocal). The band don't seem to play this song live and it is a real shame that it has become a little forgotten. "A Kinder Eye" is a strange song as the lyrics aren't really the normal subject matter for Level 42 and the sound production is quite old fashioned. The Yamaha DX7 had been around for seven years by the time this album was recorded and some of its presets had become really clichéd. And yet, here are Level 42 belting out countless tracks that are absolutely smothered in E.PIANO 1. This is not to say the DX7 was redundant by the time this record was released, but using it so liberally was hardly likely to make your record sound contemporary. The final track here is a Gary Husband composition "If You Were Mine" which is technically excellent but can't decide if it is a pop song or a soul track and ends up a bit of a mess. 3/5

One record at a time: 248. Level 42 - Level Best

This singles compilation served as an introduction to Level 42 for many people back in the late eighties and, judging by the number of my school friends who bought it, it sold in droves.

Most of the more immediate and pop orientated tracks are included here and the more casual fan will be left satisfied by the likes of "Something About You", "Running in the Family" and "Lessons In Love". There's also one new song "Take Care Of Yourself" that was released as a single in an attempt to draw attention, but it can't be considered amongst the band's best and I doubt it did much to drive sales.

For many years I only owned "Level Best" on CD but in 2018 I added this copy of the original UK LP to my collection. Aside from the medium, the principal difference between this and the CD is that the tracks "Micro Kid", "Take A Look", "To Be With You Again" and "The Chant Has Begun" are all absent. I can forgive the omission of "The Chant Has Begun" and even "Take a Look", but to ignore the wonderful "To Be With You Again" is criminal. Whilst a bit superficial, this is a good collection that is still capable of drawing in the uninitiated. 4/5

One record at a time: 247. Level 42 - Staring at the Sun

After the break up of the original line up, it wasn't really clear to me if that was the end of Level 42 or not. In fact it seemed to take an age for this album to be released and it felt like the momentum built by the success of "Running in the Family" was lost. 

In reality this record came out just one year after its predecessor and featured the brilliant musicians Alan Murphy (guitar) and Gary Husband (drums). Sadly I didn't get to see Alan play live, but I can tell you that Gary Husband is one hell of a talented drummer. The new members could clearly hold their own in a band full of incredibly talented musicians. As well as the new additions, stalwarts Wally Badarou and Julian Mendelsohn joined the band in the studio to ensure there was some degree of continuity in this period of uncertainty. 

The single "Heaven in my Hands" opens proceedings with its heavy guitar and booming drums that sounds as "rock" as anything the band have ever made. Thankfully the layered clavinet sounds and the occasional brass riff stop this descending into the mediocre. The prominence of Alan's guitar continues on "I Don't Know Why" which is a rather straight forward love song bent around a Arabic sounding scale. The ballad "Take a look" is the first track that sounds more faithful to the traditional Level 42 sound and is all the better for it. By 1988 the sound of the Yamaha DX7 was becoming passée, but it remains intertwined with Mark's bass on the lacklustre "Over There". Side one finishes out with my favourite track on the album, Mike's composition "Silence". For a period in my adolescence I thought this song summed up all of my insecurities and I held it quite dear. Today the song sounds rather dated and I hear the lyrics differently, but this will always be a song I love to sing along to. 

The second side opens with "Tracie" which is a look back at a teenage romance through slightly more mature and grizzled eyes. The music is upbeat and infectious but it does leave you feeling slightly dirty. The title track is sombre and rather disappointing ballad that just seems to amble along without doing anything at all. "Two Hearts" sees a bit of Roland D-50 blended in with the omnipresent DX7 and there's a clear but unimpressive melody running through the song. The final piece "Man" sounds like the Level 42 of 1984 and sticks out like a sore thumb as a result. This is a good song but it doesn't fit the pop/rock mould it is being shoved into and ends up a bit of a mess. This record is the sound of a band who were desperate to stay contemporary and get played on the radio, but in truth their heart wasn't really in it. 3/5

One record at a time: 246. Level 42 - Running In The Family

"Running in the Family" finds the band at the height of their popularity, but it also proved to be the final straw for the original line up. It seemed that the pressure of producing commercially appealing material and the musical direction this took the band in was too much for brothers Phil and Boon who left once the record was released. 

My own relationship with this record began in 1987 when I saw the band promoting the title track on the children's TV programme "Saturday Morning Superstore". From this moment I took an interest in Level 42 but didn't get around to buying this album until I had a CD player in 1989. In fact, the first version of the album I bought was the Platinum Edition which featured remixes of the singles alongside the standard album tracks. Whilst I now see this version of the album as a cynical marketing ploy, at the time I thought it as a cool alternative with some good Shep Pettibone remixes. I bought a copy of the original UK LP from eBay in 2017 but, as it has a few starches, I bought another a couple of years ago. 

Things kick off with the big hit single "Lessons In Love" which probably doesn't need any introduction to anyone who was alive in the eighties. I like lots of the details in this song such as the arpeggiated FM synths (Yamaha DX7 and TX816), Mark's chugging bassline and Boon's brilliant guitar solo. The second track is another great (if less successful) single "Children Say". As usual there is some really great synth work contained in this song but it compliments the traditional instruments so well it can be hard to discern. The title track is probably the most 'pop' thing the band have ever recorded and, despite the rather outdated horn sounds, is still a favourite with many today. Personally I like the song and am always happy to hear it, but I wouldn't put it amongst the bands best efforts. Another single "It's Over" finishes the fist side of the disc with its distinctive DX7 type sounds and vocal harmonies. Whenever I listen to the lyrics on this song I always think the guy singing it must be a real bastard.

The singles continue on the b-side with my favourite track on the album "To Be With You". This is a much underappreciated song and has a lot to recommend it. The next two tracks "Two Solitudes" and "Fashion Fever" are very much album filler but there are still some exceptional performances from the band contained within them. I'm not a big fan of the penultimate track "Sleepwalkers" as the bass is too prominent for me (imagine such a thing in  a Level 42 song!) and it is far too long at over six minutes in length. Despite the relatively mediocre ending, there is so much hit material on this record that it can only be considered a resounding success. 4/5

One record at a time: 245. Level 42 - World Machine

From the outset it is obvious this album has very deliberately positioned itself for commercial success. As the title track "World Machine" begins you can hear that a drum machine and sequencer have replaced the more primitive sound of a band playing in a room. It seems nothing was regarded as sacrosanct in this bid to climb the charts as even Mark's bass has been replaced by Wally Badaraou's synthesizers. There's a good melody on offer from this opening track but everything sounds just a little bit forced and unnatural.

Whilst the second track "Physical Presence" sounds more like a traditional Level 42 offering, it still utilises a gated snare sound that was de rigueur in 1985. The band and Wally Badarou are credited as producers but there's something about the slickness of the production that suggests Julian Mendelsohn was more than an engineer and "assistant" in the studio.

As this album progresses the jazz instrumentals and improvised jam sessions of the past have clearly been jettisoned in favour of four minute pop songs crafted for a radio audience. This approach is encapsulated in the hit single "Something About You" which has a soaring chorus and a truly memorable pre-chorus (the lyrics for which I always found indistinguishable in my youth). As with many tracks on this record there is a good deal of Yamaha DX7 underpinning the sonic palette and the E.PIANO preset is almost omnipresent. The melancholic but excellent "Leaving Me Now" rounds out side one with its tale of a lover betrayed and a relationship turned sour.

"I Sleep On My Heart" is in more traditional Level 42 territory and the band seem more at ease on this very funky track. Aside from the inimitable "Something About You", this is the highlight of the album for me. "It's Not The Same For Us" is a little twee and lightweight, but it is far from being terrible. The LP doesn't include "Dream Crazy" as this album was released at a time when record companies were trying to temp customers into buying CD by including exclusive tracks. "Good Man In Storm" is OK, but I am no fan of wailing, reverb drenched soprano sax - so it doesn't appeal to me. Next up is a relatively inconsequential "Coup D'etat" which has a nice groove but little else of substance. There's another DX7 E.PIANO ballad called "Lying Still" tagged on the end but it washes over me without making much impression. 3/5

One record at a time: 244. Level 42 - A Physical Presence

This was the last Level 42 album I added to my collection as I prioritised buying records with new material (new to me at least) ahead of compilations and live albums. As a result, I didn't really get to hear this record until I purchased it a couple of years ago - almost forty years after it was released.

This fees like the first authentic live album I have come across in my collection so far. Admittedly I've only listened to 'live recordings' by Erasure, Jean Michel Jarre and Japan up to this point, but I can't imagine much else in my collection is going to surpass the skill and cohesion on display here.

There is a varied selection of songs on offer from the older jazz influenced instrumentals like "88" to the more recent hit single "Hot Water". Every track is executed with energy and a real sense of fun. 

For once, you actually get more material on the double LP compared to the compact disc edition. The CD lacks the afore mentioned "88" along with "Turn It On" and "Mr Pink". All editions feature a new song called "Follow Me" which is a great pop tune that was used as the lead song on the "Physical Presence EP". There's nothing on the EP that isn't on the album, these were just marketing ploys used by record companies to promote live albums back in the eighties. Such ploys must have worked at some stage, but they seem very anachronistic now. 3/5

One record at a time: 243. Level 42 - True Colours

I first bought this album on CD in 2000 and then acquired this LP from eBay about five years ago. When I won the auction I assumed this record would look every bit of its forty years of age but, to my surprise it is in near perfect condition.

The album opens with the bombastic "The Chant Has Begun" which features prominent tuned tom drums that you either love or loathe. Things rattle along until a strange atonal and squeaky sax solo cuts through in what is a bizarre twist for a single. This isn't my favourite Level 42 song but I guess it must have sounded suitably anthemic to the band when they recorded it.

The next rack, "Kansas City Milkman" is a live favourite and is rightly regarded as one of the band's best. I always found the title intriguing and both the melody and groove are absolutely brilliant. This could have been a single to my ears and is criminally underrated.

The next big track on here is single "Hot Water" which lays hook upon hook and melody upon melody. Irresistible stuff. When I was a youth at school this song was held in quite high regard by kids who didn't even really like the band. Phil's drumming on "True Believers" sounds amazing and has some great interplay with Mark's bass. "My Hero" isn't on the original LP so we move to "Kouyaté" which has a Latin flavour but is probably most notable for its total lack of bass guitar. This may not seem too remarkable an observation, but when you have become accustomed to the constant chug of Mark's slap bass on all the other tracks, its absence becomes quite striking. This is another good album but it still lacks the clinical songwriting and pop sheen of the records that would drive the band to commercial success and my attention. 3/5