The Divine Comedy – ‘Foreverland’ a belated review

Amazingly, this is the Divine Comedy’s 27^th year, and their eleven albums span 26 of those years. This is the first since 2010’s ‘Bang Goes the Knighthood’ although Neil Hannon has also put out a second Duckworth Lewis Method album and dabbled in opera and classical pieces in the intervening years. This though is a welcome return from Hannon in his main guise and is possibly the highest quality Divine Comedy release to date.

Everything you’d want is here, lascivious artwork, humorous history referencing lyrics, orchestral pop production and fabulous crooning. Other musicians are involved but Hannon has a go at everything himself too. The title track is a vocal arrangement masterpiece, a highlight, not just of this album but of the musical year. It’s a rich tale, almost a shanty of a pining for paradise, and the chorale refrain of ‘What are we looking for…’ is a true show stealer. The lead single ‘Catherine the Great’ is the best historical song since Boney M’s ‘Rasputin’, it ought to be on the national curriculum and has some great lyrics; “She had great hair, and a powerful gait, Catherine the Great” and “If I could touch but the hem of her dress, tell her a joke, bake her a cake, Catherine the Great” don’t get you then are paralysed from the brain down. ‘Funny Peculiar’ is classic call and response music hall pop, a duet with partner Cathy Davey and has a whistling solo. If I’ve not sold this too you yet, then you’re obviously not trying hard enough. ‘The Pact’ moves us effortlessly through the world of show tunes and ‘To The Rescue’ returns us to more straightforward pop band form whilst managing to namecheck Marilyn Monroe and Che Guevara in one line.

Second single ‘How Can You Leave Me On My Own’ puts some humour into loneliness, ‘When you leave I become a beer swilling, time killing moron, I surgically remove all the green food from my diet’. It’s jaunty and sad and features a donkey noise effect. It’s nowhere near the best song here but it’s still almost perfect. ‘I Joined the Foreign Legion to Forget’ is a bar song extraordinaire, and tackles the same subject from a different angle, running away to be alone and forget. When the album hits one of it’s few lesser songs the arrangements and musicality raise it above previous albums. ‘A Desperate Man’ is a story of a fugitive in a nun’s disguise set to a tango. ‘Other People’ is a very short song, opening with a vocal only as if drifting through time from a black and white movie before becoming awash in luscious strings then ending abruptly. The closer ‘The One Who Loves You’ is another soft pop belter and has the immortal line ‘Finding the one…who is with you besotted, Is like finding the lesser spotted dodo in Soho, so rare’.

This is the consummate Divine Comedy album, a summation of all the previous parts merged into a complete one. One of the albums of the year.

9/10

If you move quick and it may already be too late, you might be able to pick up the deluxe edition which includes ‘In May’, Hannon’s second involvement in operetta, in which he scores (and here sings) the words of Frank Alva Buecheler’s play in the form of letters from a son to father as he grapples with terminal cancer. It’s in stark contrast from the main album. It’s not without humour, but it is black humour and the tale is sad and tragic and often harrowing as hope is lost, sometimes rekindled and finally extinguished. It’s a tough listen because of the subject matter but it’s gripping and very good. Song cycles (as they’re often referred to) are often hard work and a struggle to get through, this one not so though, it’s tale draws you in and you desire to see how this plays out even through the setting of constant piano and string quartet and is sombre almost exclusively. It’d be a shame if this is only ever available only via this limited deluxe CD set as it deserves a much larger audience. 

DAVID BOWIE – ‘Who Can I Be Now?’ – The TDWS Box Set review

About a year ago, the first in a series of David Bowie box sets arrived on the shelves, ‘Five Years’, covering 1969 – 1973. It held six studio albums, four of them new remasters and two live Ziggy era albums, both available previously, as well as a sort rare 2003 mix of the ‘Ziggy Stardust’ album and a two-disc collection (Re:Call1) containing era curios and some genuine rarities. Within weeks Bowie was back with some of his most challenging, amazing music ever. A year later following the incredible ‘Blackstar’ and the passing of the great man himself, and volume 2 arrives. ‘Who Can I Be Now?’ covers 1974 – 1976 and houses three original albums, all masterpieces. There’s an alternative version of one of these albums, a 2010 mix of ‘StationToStation’, two previously available live albums of the era, one appearing twice (David Live, original mix and it’s 2005 Visconti mix) and ‘Re:Call2’ a largely superfluous collection of single edit hack jobs. And most notably, ‘The Gouster’, a previously unissued album. You what? Unreleased mid-seventies Bowie!!

So, what do we make of 'The Gouster' then, the real dangling carrot of the ‘Who Can I Be Now?’ set, a so called unreleased album from the mid 70's? Obviously that phrase is a little misleading, 'The Gouster' is basically a first draft of 'Young Americans' that was dumped and morphed into the latter following some recording sessions with John Lennon. There's nothing here that's previously unheard, so era hailing Holy Grails like 'Shilling The Rubes' remain just a tantalizing snippet accessible via YouTube or the murky world of bootlegs. A shame but let's judge this album on what it is, and the track listing is at least true to what was put together at the time. The album opens with the exquisite full length 'John, I'm Only Dancing (Again), it would have been a great album opener at the time, marrying Bowie's new direction tidily to his recent past. This track was first made available in 1979 as a standalone (12") single, the mastering here is smooth and respectful, no over the top pumping up of the volume with no subtlety. 'Somebody Up There Likes Me' we know from 'Young Americans' so what can you say, a Bowie classic of its era. Of greater note is 'It's Gonna Be Me' a track dropped from 'Young Americans' that waited for its debut until Rykodisc’s 1991 re-issue campaign. This is that first heard non strings version, and it is amazing (though I prefer the with strings version personally). To us mortals what you hear makes you think 'why was that dropped', it is stunning with a drop dead vocal, a career highlight if recorded by virtually anyone else, a consummate soul ballad yet for Bowie it's a cast off. Tony Visconti has suggested Bowie felt it was too personal for release at the time, listen from 4m10s to 5m16s and you'll understand what he means, Bowie is stripped bare and vocally bares his soul in one of the great moments of his whole recording career. If for nothing else, then 'The Gouster' is worth its resurrection here for simply giving this song it's long overdue place as a centerpiece of a fully-fledged Bowie album. 'Who Can I Be Now?' is another song that had to wait for the Rykodisc era to make itself publicly known. If it didn't follow 'It's Gonna Be Me' it'd surely be hailed as another moment of sublime delight, it's that good, a lost classic.

'The Gouster' then concludes with three 'Young Americans' staples. 'Can You Hear Me' was the soul ballad classic that survived the chop, here there is an alternate version with a different vocal getting a first official airing (though familiar via the world of bootlegs). It's chilling, I may had made a little tear hearing this for the first time at this quality on the 'The Gouster' today. It's a ‘Bowie is really gone’ moment. The familiarity of 'Young Americans' provides some light relief following this. We all know this song and the fact that it became the title track of the finished album is no bad thing despite the quality of what was left off. 'Right' brings 'The Gouster' to its belated conclusion, and again we have a different mix with a different vocal take.

In conclusion on the subject then, 'The Gouster' is and sounds complete as a Bowie album. Despite the inclusion of the disco 'John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)' it is a bit more one paced that 'Young Americans' turned out to be, soul ballads dominate and in that sense with it variety 'Young Americans' is more the classic album of the two. In this CD/digital age there would have been no issue, everything could have been released, but 20 mins per side was the order of the day in the mid 70's. There could have even been a great double album here, but what was is what is, 'Young Americans' is a deserved jewel in the Bowie canon, and now we can at least appreciate that 'The Gouster' would have been so too.

So what about the other ‘extra content’? ‘Re:Call2’ is pale distant cousin of last year’s collection. It’s a collection of ham-fisted single mixes that for the most part rips the soul out of its songs, just listen to the sacrilege committed to ‘Young Americans’. Completely unessential. The 2010 Harry Maslin remix of ‘StationToStation’ is better, the mixes play on the songs main hooks, elevate the vocals and reveal subtle detail. Originally put out as part of that year’s remaster/reissue deluxe set of the album, it’s a fun version, but again hardly essential. The live set ‘Nassau Coliseum ‘76’ was also part of that set. I enjoyed it at the time but have returned maybe once in the last six years, Id’ve liked to have heard a first official airing for one of the many soundboard sets that have made it onto bootleg over the years, some have much more interesting set lists. ‘David Live’ also presents as well as the original mix the 2005 Tony Visconti mix with some extra tracks. Some peoples favourite live Bowie album (not mine, ‘Stage’ always held a soft spot for me) is not really improved by this mix. The album had its character in its flawed performance and the 2005 mix smooths it over a bit for me, losing its main appeal. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just not different enough, though on a plus side Mike Garson is perhaps a little more audible on keyboards in places, and the tracks that weren’t included on the original (but did appear on the Rykodisc re-masters/re-issues) are nice to have.

Then there are the three studio albums that are the building blocks of this collection. What can you say about ‘Diamond Dogs’, ‘Young Americans’ and ‘StationToStation’ that has not already been said many many times before? Not a lot. Each is a fantastic ten out of ten album in its own right, simply put, genius. Like much of this set they are in fresh remastered form here, despite many remasters already over the years. And the sound is full and respectful, never mishandling the legendary content though perhaps not adding much to the last versions to present themselves. But you know what, that’s secondary stuff, it is such great great music.

And so then, we now have the ‘Lazarus’ cast recordings to look forward to with three unheard tracks from Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’ sessions. There’s also ‘Bowie Legacy’ the inevitable seasonal hits compilation that was always going to appear this year, then onto next year as Bowie’s European Cannon will get the box set treatment and who knows what else? But for this set, it’s not quite the supreme thing that ‘Five Years’ was, the music it represents though is 10/10, ‘The Gouster’ is 9/10, its other ‘bonus’ content is 6/10. The booklet is nice, and simply because of the music it’s impossible to give the set a whole anything less than 9/10.   

David Bowie - 'The Gouster', the TDWS review.

So, what do we make of 'The Gouster' then, the real dangling carrot of the new ‘Who Can I Be Now?’ set, a so called unreleased album from the mid 70's? Obviously that phrase is a little misleading, 'The Gouster' is basically a first draft of 'Young Americans' that was dumped and morphed into the latter following some recording sessions with John Lennon. There's nothing here that's previously unheard, so era hailing Holy Grails like 'Shilling The Rubes' remain just a tantalizing snippet accessible via YouTube or the murky world of bootlegs. A shame but let's judge this album on what it is, and the track listing is at least true to what was put together at the time. The album opens with the exquisite full length 'John, I'm Only Dancing (Again), it would have been a great album opener at the time, marrying Bowie's new direction tidily to his recent past. This track was first made available in 1979 as a standalone (12") single, the mastering here is smooth and respectful, no over the top pumping up of the volume with no subtlety. 'Somebody Up There Likes Me' we know from 'Young Americans' so what can you say, a Bowie classic of its era. Of greater note is 'It's Gonna Be Me' a track dropped from 'Young Americans' that waited for its debut until Rykodisc’s 1991 re-issue campaign. This is that first heard non strings version, and it is amazing (though I prefer the with strings version personally). To us mortals what you hear makes you think 'why was that dropped', it is stunning with a drop dead vocal, a career highlight if recorded by virtually anyone else, a consummate soul ballad yet for Bowie it's a cast off. Tony Visconti has suggested Bowie felt it was too personal for release at the time, listen from 4m10s to 5m16s and you'll understand what he means, Bowie is stripped bare and vocally bares his soul in one of the great moments of his whole recording career. If for nothing else, then 'The Gouster' is worth its resurrection here for simply giving this song it's long overdue place as a centerpiece of a fully-fledged Bowie album. 'Who Can I Be Now?' is another song that had to wait for the Rykodisc era to make itself publicly known. If it didn't follow 'It's Gonna Be Me' it'd surely be hailed as another moment of sublime delight, it's that good, a lost classic.

'The Gouster' then concludes with three 'Young Americans' staples. 'Can You Hear Me' was the soul ballad classic that survived the chop, here there is an alternate version with a different vocal getting a first official airing (though familiar via the world of bootlegs). It's chilling, I may had made a little tear hearing this for the first time at this quality on the 'The Gouster' today. It's a ‘Bowie is really gone’ moment. The familiarity of 'Young Americans' provides some light relief following this. We all know this song and the fact that it became the title track of the finished album is no bad thing despite the quality of what was left off. 'Right' brings 'The Gouster' to its belated conclusion, and again we have a different mix with a different vocal take.

In conclusion then, 'The Gouster' is and sounds complete as a Bowie album. despite the inclusion of the disco 'John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)' it is a bit more one paced than 'Young Americans' turned out to be, soul ballads dominate and in that sense 'Young Americans' is more the classic album of the two. In this CD/digital age there would have been no issue, everything could have been released, but 20 mins per side was the order of the day in the mid 70's. There could have even been a great double album here, but what was is what is, 'Young Americans' is a deserved Jewel in the Bowie canon, and now we can at least appreciate that 'The Gouster' would have been so too.

9/10

This review will form part of a larger 'Who Can I Be Now?' box set review.