 |
| Track list: 1. Byker Hill 2. The Old Dun Cow 3. Roll the Woodpile Down 4. 10,000 Miles Away 5. Betsy Baker 6. Black Beetle Pies 7. Thousands or More 8. The Dockside Rant / Sailing With the Tide 9. The Wife of Usher's Well 10. What's the Life of a Man (Any More Than a Leaf?) 11. Lillibulero 12. Go My Way Running time: 46 minutes Released: 2012 |
Bellowhead are no more. By now they have played their last gig, which is sad - but then all things must end, and better they went out whilst still darn good than living on to drop in quality. Anyhow - I said a while back that it would be a few folk-packed weeks, well the infrequency of my posting put paid to that. However I do still have to get through a couple of Bellowhead albums before I can move on to C after what seems like being stuck on the Bs forever; almost 18 months now!
Broadside never received much play from me as an album before, but spawned their biggest single, one of my favourites, and probably the worst thing Bellowhead ever did, all in one. It starts with Byker Hill, which - my only other referenced for Byker being the Grove of BBC childrens TV of the early 90s - I guess must have been from the North East. Ooh. The talk of colliers fits, at least. This has an anthemic feel to it, the whole band joining in on the chorus, and a consistent pace thumping it forward. It is let down as a song by the sheer reliance on repetition, but the sense of place and purpose in the piece redeem it.
The Old Dun Cow makes good use of bassy brass to set the tone - fitting more with a gangster film than its actual subject. There is an urgency in the vocal here, breathy and quick in places, which gives the song character and contrasts with the structure from those deep horns. The break out into saxophone solo was unexpected, and didn't add much really. Crowd favourite next; I like Roll the Woodpile Down - any tune where Paul Sartin pulls the Oboe out has an appeal - but I have never quite understood why this is every other Bellowhead fan's #1 tune. Its nice and radio-friendly, which explained why it did so well, it's short and snappy, but with that it is also very formulaic. I find it doesn't quite have the really sweet melody of a Betsy Baker or the jaunt of a Haul Away. I guess I am just being a bit curmudgeonly here; it's a fine tune, just not a personal fave.
I heard a number of these tracks twice yesterday; not thinking about this project I was re-listening to the first disc of the Farewell Tour live album in the car to and from both work and gaming in the evening. Whilst I normally try to avoid that kind of action, I don't really mind. Save one or two tracks, even if I am not being openly positive here, my general take on Bellowhead is one of a comfortable familiarity. Their best work turns that into losing myself but mostly its just relaxing. I have to forgive Betsy Baker for being from Swindon - I first saw them play it live there in the steam railway museum - because the oboe melody is probably my favourite tune in all their work. It's not my favourite Bellowhead track (I think I would have to say that's Across the Line from Burlesque), but it is right up there... despite most of what I said about Roll the Woodpile Down applying equally here - the repetition certainly applies to the melody, yet I give it a pass because it is so light, fanciful and lyrical.
Black Beetle Pies is awful by comparison. An experiment with discordance. It is actually far more palatable on record than live. Here the recording de-emphasizes the more cacophonous elements, allowing me to appreciate their intent without the roundly negative responses I always felt hearing this in concert. We pass on to a track that probably encapsulates the standard Bellowhead song in terms of the basic structure, tune, melody and style, but which lacks the true character of the band. Thousands or More is just... flat, missing something. Tunes... the other side of the band and, probably, my natural bias in terms of enjoyment. I don't think The Dockside Rant is a short and approachable pair but not a set that ring any bells for me. Nice enough, and with enough character to be enjoyable, but not their finest.
There is a darker tone to The Wife of Usher's Well - chanting over a taut and insistent string striking, a more expansive chorus, but still with contrasting voices building that feeling of tension and disquiet. I actually really like this for the sense of drama it creates, a good reset after the tune set. Hearing What's the Life of a Man I cannot but think of Tom Waits. Whilst this is a traditional number, here it is rendered in true Waitsian style... oompah, rapid chanting, tempo shifts, vocal gruffness. Very vaudeville. It is another song that relies overmuch on a repeated chorus, but the tone of the track and the energy of it carries the day here (I found the live recording went on a little too long when driving yesterday, but I don't notice that now).
Time has flown by and we're into the last couple of tracks. Lillibulero was a live staple, but to be honest it has always been an underwhelming number for me. I am maddeningly inconsistent and fickle on this, but I find the repetition of the title in this track a bit of a sore point compared with the repetition of other elements in other tracks. Go My Way is unfamiliar to me, never a live track, but I like its overall tone and it works as a closer... right up until the point it drops out suddenly and then, after a moment of silence we get a fiddle melody which shifts the nature of the track. Thankfully this builds up with the percussion and horns coming into it and there is another, fitting, crescendo before the track, and the album conclude.
After sitting through Broadside, I can see why I never really listened to it much. By now I was already used to seeing them live; I had established favourites; there are noticeable weaker tracks. However there are also some nice highs and it forms part of a catalogue that I am glad to have in full.
Broadside never received much play from me as an album before, but spawned their biggest single, one of my favourites, and probably the worst thing Bellowhead ever did, all in one. It starts with Byker Hill, which - my only other referenced for Byker being the Grove of BBC childrens TV of the early 90s - I guess must have been from the North East. Ooh. The talk of colliers fits, at least. This has an anthemic feel to it, the whole band joining in on the chorus, and a consistent pace thumping it forward. It is let down as a song by the sheer reliance on repetition, but the sense of place and purpose in the piece redeem it.
The Old Dun Cow makes good use of bassy brass to set the tone - fitting more with a gangster film than its actual subject. There is an urgency in the vocal here, breathy and quick in places, which gives the song character and contrasts with the structure from those deep horns. The break out into saxophone solo was unexpected, and didn't add much really. Crowd favourite next; I like Roll the Woodpile Down - any tune where Paul Sartin pulls the Oboe out has an appeal - but I have never quite understood why this is every other Bellowhead fan's #1 tune. Its nice and radio-friendly, which explained why it did so well, it's short and snappy, but with that it is also very formulaic. I find it doesn't quite have the really sweet melody of a Betsy Baker or the jaunt of a Haul Away. I guess I am just being a bit curmudgeonly here; it's a fine tune, just not a personal fave.
I heard a number of these tracks twice yesterday; not thinking about this project I was re-listening to the first disc of the Farewell Tour live album in the car to and from both work and gaming in the evening. Whilst I normally try to avoid that kind of action, I don't really mind. Save one or two tracks, even if I am not being openly positive here, my general take on Bellowhead is one of a comfortable familiarity. Their best work turns that into losing myself but mostly its just relaxing. I have to forgive Betsy Baker for being from Swindon - I first saw them play it live there in the steam railway museum - because the oboe melody is probably my favourite tune in all their work. It's not my favourite Bellowhead track (I think I would have to say that's Across the Line from Burlesque), but it is right up there... despite most of what I said about Roll the Woodpile Down applying equally here - the repetition certainly applies to the melody, yet I give it a pass because it is so light, fanciful and lyrical.
Black Beetle Pies is awful by comparison. An experiment with discordance. It is actually far more palatable on record than live. Here the recording de-emphasizes the more cacophonous elements, allowing me to appreciate their intent without the roundly negative responses I always felt hearing this in concert. We pass on to a track that probably encapsulates the standard Bellowhead song in terms of the basic structure, tune, melody and style, but which lacks the true character of the band. Thousands or More is just... flat, missing something. Tunes... the other side of the band and, probably, my natural bias in terms of enjoyment. I don't think The Dockside Rant is a short and approachable pair but not a set that ring any bells for me. Nice enough, and with enough character to be enjoyable, but not their finest.
There is a darker tone to The Wife of Usher's Well - chanting over a taut and insistent string striking, a more expansive chorus, but still with contrasting voices building that feeling of tension and disquiet. I actually really like this for the sense of drama it creates, a good reset after the tune set. Hearing What's the Life of a Man I cannot but think of Tom Waits. Whilst this is a traditional number, here it is rendered in true Waitsian style... oompah, rapid chanting, tempo shifts, vocal gruffness. Very vaudeville. It is another song that relies overmuch on a repeated chorus, but the tone of the track and the energy of it carries the day here (I found the live recording went on a little too long when driving yesterday, but I don't notice that now).
Time has flown by and we're into the last couple of tracks. Lillibulero was a live staple, but to be honest it has always been an underwhelming number for me. I am maddeningly inconsistent and fickle on this, but I find the repetition of the title in this track a bit of a sore point compared with the repetition of other elements in other tracks. Go My Way is unfamiliar to me, never a live track, but I like its overall tone and it works as a closer... right up until the point it drops out suddenly and then, after a moment of silence we get a fiddle melody which shifts the nature of the track. Thankfully this builds up with the percussion and horns coming into it and there is another, fitting, crescendo before the track, and the album conclude.
After sitting through Broadside, I can see why I never really listened to it much. By now I was already used to seeing them live; I had established favourites; there are noticeable weaker tracks. However there are also some nice highs and it forms part of a catalogue that I am glad to have in full.
No comments:
Post a Comment