![\"Peter_Murphy\"](\"http:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Peter_Murphy.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLove Hysteria: <\/span>Peter Murphy\u00a0<\/strong>(Cherry Red CDBRED570)<\/em><\/p>\n Enough time has elapsed since the appearance of Peter Murphy\u2019s second LP, to make a critical re-evaluation desirable and necessary. Often unfairly dismissed as a mere throne-warmer for Bowie, the LP shows both experimentation and originality, taking on a more positive and eclectic sound, even if Murphy doesn\u2019t entirely leave his gothic roots behind him.<\/p>\n \u2018All Night Long\u2019s staccato glockenspiel opening picks up on the age\u2019s vogue for all things Japanese, with some building, overarching vocals complementing the picture and completely belying the nightclub feel of the title.<\/p>\n \u2018His Circle and Hers Meet\u2019 has voguish metal-bashing supported by slicing guitar work over Murphy\u2019s characteristic stentorian vocals; keyboards soar like uplighters in the background. A track to loosen the rigid spines of many of the Batcave crowd, who were still following Murphy in his solo days.<\/p>\n \u2018Dragnet Drag\u2019 creeps up on you slowly, then the scattering rhythm kicks in, and Murphy tells his tale of inescapable peril with puzzling, wistful lyrics.<\/p>\n \u2018Socrates the Python\u2019s hypnotic Eastern rhythm is a stand out, with its meditation on belief and credulousness a surprising subject for a song in an era notorious for its shallow materialism.<\/p>\n The pleasing, winding rhythm of \u2018Indigo Eyes\u2019 , with its triumphal stops, makes up for some impenetrable lyrics on the challenges of the spiritual life.<\/p>\n \u2018Time Has Got Nothing To Do With It\u2019, a reflection on the certainty of death and mankind\u2019s fetishistic fascination with it, is put over in a gentle vocal over a typically 80\u2019s repetitive, piping backing and processed drum rhythm.<\/p>\n A longing for a different situation is subtly put in the lyrics of \u2018Blind Sublime\u2019, an otherwise straight-ahead train-like rock rhythm that should have sat very comfortably in 1988\u2019s pop charts, had the era\u2019s pop kids been a little bit more open to it.<\/p>\n \u2018My Last Two Weeks\u2019 has another fascinating keyboard figure, but a distant lyric that doesn\u2019t bear up to analysis rather undermines the impressive atmosphere of the track.<\/p>\n \u2018Funtime\u2019 closes the original LP, its Iggy-like lyric and delivery an obvious affectionate tribute to an old idol that even the most uncharitable among you will definitely enjoy.<\/p>\n This expanded edition\u2019s second CD also brings in the demos of much of the LP\u2019s content, with \u2018I\u2019ve Got A Miniature Secret Camera\u2019 providing a surprisingly funky diversion in an otherwise rock-heavy assemblage. \u2018Blind Sublime\u2019 is one of the original LP\u2019s great strengths, but surely four extra versions is pushing it?<\/p>\n The LP\u2019s unfortunate lack of success only serves to remind us why some other stars are reluctant to step outside of their comfort zone, and the price some pay when they do. BUY HERE!\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Indestructible:\u00a0Four Tops<\/strong> (Soul Music Records Classics) SMCR5111<\/em><\/p>\n The mention of their name is enough to transport us all back to a particular place and time when Motown staked its unique place in the world of pop music, and sweet soul music was welcomed into all our hearts. Twenty years on, The Four Tops\u2019 glory days may have been over, but they could still worry the music charts with their updated sound.<\/p>\n As the recently re-released and expanded edition of their 1988 \u2018Indestructible\u2019 LP shows, this classic band were still doing what they were good at, but to an older and more world-weary audience than in their 60\u2019s heyday. A mixed bag of songs on the eternal issues of love, regret, disappointment and the sheer joie de vivre we\u2019ve all felt at some point; it doesn\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n Title track \u2018Indestructible\u2019 is a solid, shaking rolling beat with those electronic drums, omnipresent in the 80\u2019s, which now tend to date a record badly, but who can possibly grumble when these great, throaty voices take hold of the song and build it up, up and still further up until you\u2019re feeling the best you\u2019ve felt since, \u2026well, since you last heard it.<\/p>\n The simple sentiment expressed in \u2018Change of Heart\u2019 and the heartfelt duet of \u2018If Ever A Love There Was\u2019 with its lush strings and deep, thumping drums will have the soft hearted among you going belly-up, and why not?<\/p>\n \u2018The Sun Ain\u2019t Gonna Shine\u2019 a regretful lament over the loss of a former lover, is expressed in a winding rhythm that leads into a typically 80\u2019s echoing sax solo, the production a million miles from the similarly named tour de force from the Walker Brothers.<\/p>\n \u2018Next Time\u2019s bright, echoing bass and processed drums do not detract from a great tune with excellent supporting harmonies. Its placement next to the barnstorming UK hit \u2018Loco In Acapulco\u2019 is a good two-pronged button-pusher, with its repeated three-note guitar solo and jokey despair-to-elation story, irresistible to all but the curmudgeonliest of listeners.<\/p>\n \u2018Are You With Me\u2019s descending spin leads us to a good, driving beat with a challenging message to the lady in question, and good supporting sax, even if the chorus is a little weakly written.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m Only Wounded\u2019s plaintive voice over a \u2018candle light\u2019 backing and twanging bass gives us another great \u2018getting back up\u2019 song, wound around another lifting sax solo.<\/p>\n \u2018When You Dance\u2019 is a typically 80\u2019s production, all tinkling piano, brassy chords and bright drums, a little redolent of that confused musical decade to be considered a classic, but enjoyable enough in its place. The original LP closes with \u2018Let\u2019s Jam\u2019s bright guitar, finger snaps and honeyed vocals, a real confection, with those saxes hanging round \u2018til the end.<\/p>\n Bonus tracks are three, surely unnecessary remixes of \u2018Loco In Acapulco\u2019, \u2018The Four Of Us\u2019, and an extended \u2018Indestructible\u2019, a sign of a musical decade that never knew when to call a halt.<\/p>\n The collaborations on this LP read like a Who\u2019s Makin\u2019 Hits\u2019 of the 80\u2019s, making good use of talents as diverse as Narada Michael Walden, Aretha Franklin, Lamont Dozier, Diane Warren and Huey Lewis. Some would turn their nose up at an LP of this era, but I\u2019d like to bet if I lent them a copy of this CD reissue, it would be in the feeder tray, sharpish. BUY HERE!<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\nFour Tops<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAny Trouble<\/h1>\n