Whilst I've been aware of RT since his days with Fairport it's taken me 30 odd years to get into his work, to accustom to his deadpanflat voice, to understand the intricacies of his guitar playing.
This new album is quite superb and deserving far more than the paltry 3-4 star reviews it has so far garnered.
Sound quality is wonderfully clear and crisp, benefitting from being recorded in his garage [rather more prosaic than the front parlour of the title].
Production is pure, simple and homemade with occasional double tracked vocals and sparse accompaniment from accordion and percussion.
Particularly enjoyable is the ascerbic Should I Betray.
"Should I betray you to your spouse
The wife who waits back at the house
She doesn't know that your a louse"
Posted on: 20 August 2005 by J.N.
Sho-nuff J8. I'm enjoying my copy too.
RT's lyrics and guitar playing are woefully underrated. Here's one of my favourites:-
All your magic and your ways and schemes
All your lies come and tear at your dreams
When the spell is broken
(Can't cry if you don't know how)
When the spell is broken
Now you're handing her that same old line
It's just straws in the wind this time
When love has died,
There's none starry-eyed
No kiss, no tears,
No farewell souvenirs
Not even a token, when the spell is broken.
I think a lot of people can't get to grips with his dark side, and tales of love gone wrong.
John.
Posted on: 21 August 2005 by j8hn
quote:
I think a lot of people can't get to grips with his dark side, and tales of love gone wrong.
It's the side I like the most. There's a particularly black song I saw him play live but did't catch the title the character in the song is rummaging through his girlfriend's secret drawer of secrets??
That song about the Vincent is dark innit ;-)
Posted on: 21 August 2005 by J.N.
John;
The track to which you allude is 'Cold Kisses' from 1996's 'You? Me? Us?'.
A good primer for people new to RT, as it's a 2 CD set. One is acoustic; the other electric.
And yes, with '1952 Vincent Black Lightning' RT manages to convey a story about an inanimate object from the UK with a romantic/nostalgic resonance that works.
The names of a lot of American cities and cars seem to easily lend themselves to sounding good in songs. It's a lot more tricky to engage the listener with a song about a Ford Anglia from Wolverhampton.
John.
Posted on: 22 August 2005 by j8hn
Thanks John,
It's good to have an expert on hand.
Posted on: 22 August 2005 by Top Cat
quote:
Particularly enjoyable is the ascerbic Should I Betray.
I like RT - I've seen him live 8 or 9 times in the past 7 years or so - but the new album has left me a little disappointed. Perhaps I need to listen some more to it to 'get it', but I feel it's not as cohesive as it could have been, and there are few stand-out songs. I subscribe to the RT Mailing List, and I'm not alone in feeling this way, though the consensus is that it is a grower.
One of the most criticised songs from FPB is "Should I betray"- and this is also echoed in the reviews I've read.
However, it's RT and even a weaker album by RT is better than the better albums of most other artists, so who am I to criticise?
John, whose favourite RT this week is "Beeswing":
She was a rare thing
Fine as a beeswing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child
She was running wild, she said
As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay
And you wouldn't want me any other wayPosted on: 29 August 2005 by BigH47
I've ordered In Yer Front Parlour. Will comment after it arrives.
Howard
