Catherine Wheel are Rob Dickinson on vocals and guitar, Brian Futter
on guitars, Neil Sims on drums and Dave Hawes on bass. They formed the band
in Great Yarmouth, England in 1990. If Rob Dickinson’s name seems familiar,
it should. He’s the brother of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson.
Before signing with Mercury Records, the band produced two EP’s on
their own, which are now collector’s items. "Adam and Eve"
is Catherine Wheel’s 5th album for Mercury, preceeded by "Ferment,"
"Chrome,"Happy Days" and "Like Cats and Dogs."
The female voice on the album is Bryan Adams’ girlfriend Cecilia. The
two just happened to be passing through the studio while Catherine Wheel
were recording. Rob Dickinson’s voice reminds me most of Eric Clapton.
If Clapton were to experiment with alternative music, the work he did might
sound like this. The first track on Adam and Eve is untitled. A quirky acoustic
piece, the song is just over a minute long. It spells out clearly that you’re
in for a wild ride on Adam and Eve.
The album delivers that wild ride, careening from one song to the next,
dragging you through from beginning to end with different moods and styles.
The second song, "Future Boy" builds slowly into a crescendo of
electric sound and drops you off a cliff into acoustic and voice. The effect
is used again in the song later. The resulting unbalanced feeling feeds
the lyrics’ plaintive and somewhat pessimistic future view. Dickinson’s
voice is strong and sure, easily carrying the song through its acoustic
passages. The crescendo, followed by a fall into acoustic softness is used
on most of these tracks, to great effect.
Next up is the first single from "Adam and Eve," "Delicious."
This is an awesome rocker, with plenty of changes in the music, jumping
from hard glaring rock, to acoustic guitar, and back again, culminating
in soft sensual piano at it’s close. The song equates sex with the
eating of the apple in the story of Adam and Eve. Cecilia’s ghostly
voice interrupts, asking with a giggle, "Was it as good for you as
it was for me?" It was.
"Broken Nose" is, perhaps, my favorite song on the album. Catherine
Wheel borrows from the whole of "U-2’s" career for the guitar
sounds on this song. As Dickinson belts out, "Hey you/You with that
same old style/You’ve been in fashion for too long" Boy era U-2
styled guitar licks fill the background. It’s like he’s saying,
"It’s our turn, you have nothing left to say."
On "Phantom of the American Mother," sixties organ sets a new
mood. "How’re you gonna feel/If Superman and Sonic Youth are fairy
tales/It’s time to face the truth," sings Dickinson. This song
is about the loss of an idealism from childhood or adolescence, a memory
of when heroes and Mom could do no wrong, the "Phantom of an American
Mother."
"Ma Solituda" opens with acoustic guitar with a Spanish feel to
it, then immediately changes to a more American sounding acoustic rhythm
and an eerie atmospheric electric guitar distortion. Any one of these opening
tracks could have been the first single. Each is strong and has its own
mood. Dickinson chooses a more raspy vocal for "Satellite," to
go with the harsher guitar work, giving this song a harder edge. The song
recalls the past of "spaceship days/when you and I were young."
In "Thunderbird" Dickinson sings, "Truth is frayed at the
edge/and bruised/and no use any more." A loss of innocence is the theme
here, recalling the title of the album, "Adam and Eve." Synthesized
strings in "Here Comes the Fat Controller" give it a sound and
feeling a bit different from the other songs, but the guitar work is similar.
It still fits in well with the other songs.
The aptly titled "Goodbye" is about ending relationships. The
line "It’s only love that keeps you from walking out the door,"
is haunting, a reminder of what love will endure and perhaps should not.
"Sometimes it’s easy/to all my friends I love/I still don’t
find it easy/to all my friends I love. . . Goodbye."
"For Dreaming" begins with a soft REM Automatic for the People
feel to it, but it builds and follows a different path than REM would. I
doubt that it’s a coincidence that REM is dream sleep and this song
is titled "For Dreaming". In my opinion, Dickinson’s voice
is used to best effect on this song. Moody and emotional, he slides in and
out of the softness and harshness on this track. One of my favorite lines
from the album is from this song: "The new taste of open lips/the last
hope in trembling hips."
The album closes as it opened, with another untitled track. It’s another
quirky acoustic piece, this one, about a relationship without closure. Dickinson
laments about wanting to say goodbye and not having the chance.
Adam and Eve has everything I look for in an alternative rock album: strong
lyrics and raging guitar mixed with a soft sensuality. The songs feel as
though they belong in the order they appear. There is a natural progression
that I didn’t want to break away from, even to review the album. Its
main theme is loss. The songs touch on the loss of childhood, innocence,
heroes, friendship and love. The story of Adam and Eve, then, becomes a
symbol of that loss. Adam and Eve is a beautifully realized album. I’m
looking forward to seeing where Catherine Wheel decides to go with their
next.
 |
 |
| Artist: |
"PATTY LARKIN" |
| Title: |
"PERISHABLE FRUIT" |
| Label: |
High Street Records |
| Available: |
Any Major Music Store |
| Reviewed By: |
Donn Jehs |
| Rating: |
 |
Patty Larkin is the consumate singer/songwriter/guitarist and no more
is it evident than on this latest album. All eleven tracks were written
by Patty and she performs not only on the acoustic guitar, but also the
mandolin, electric guitar, lap steel, bazouki, bass and several others on
an album without the traditional percussion or drums. From the opening cut,
"The Road," you become aware that you will be taken for a different
kind of ride through uncharted territory, where the lyrics are meaningful,
thought-provoking and shows that a 'hook' isn't necessary to grab the listener's
attention.
"The Book I'm Not Reading" features hand drumming and Patty's
voice appears to be electonically altered during the main verses, sounding
tinny and a bit removed then blossoming to full voice during the chorus
which gives an aural impact that is hard to describe except to say it makes
the lyrics stand out. "Coming Up For Air" features Jane Siberry
with accompanying vocals. While Jane also has a beautiful voice the mix
just did not work; it was discordant and devalued a beautiful ballad. If
it had been done as an echo effect it failed and took a potentially terrific
song with it.
The cut that follows delivers all that the one preceding promised as you
are lifted on "Angel Wings," a song about domestic abuse with
one of the best examples of Ms. Larkin's extraordinary talent with words,
"And it's a man's world/but a woman put him in it/the hand that rocks
the cradle/is the mother of us all"
Social commentary is one of Patty's strengths and "Wolf at the Door"
is a sly dig at the foibles of modern life. Once again the altered state
of Larkin's voice is used to accentuate the ironies of modern life in counterpoint
to the human voice rationalizing compromise with those ironies.
Poignant is the word that best describes the next two cuts, "Brazil,"
a touching little number in which the coast of Brazil is a sort of Edenlike
destination, and "Rear View Mirror," a song of hurt and loss.
During all these cuts the music is a beautiful background that takes you
along with the words but doesn't hide them. There is a subtle kind of wordplay
going on throughout this album as the songs seem to flow into each other,
sometimes with certain phrases, like "angel's wings" reappearing
in another form or twists on prior thoughts. Certainly there is fruit for
thought. To sum up the impact of this album let me quote from the Liner
Notes, "Be what you are. Give what is yours to give. Have style. Dare."
This album does just that. |
 |
 |
| Artist: |
"SISTER 7" |
| Title: |
"THIS THE TRIP" |
| Label: |
ARISTA |
| Available: |
Any Major Music Store |
| Reviewed By: |
JILL WILLIAMS |
| Rating: |
 |
"Sister 7" consists of Patrice Pike, Wayne Sutton, Darrell
Phillips, and Sean Phillips. They got together through a spontaneous decision
to jam in Dallas in '91 and really got their act together after moving to
Austin. They were invited on the H.O.R.D.E. tour in '94 and have been rocking
ever since. Their interests cover a wide range. Everything from Billie Holiday
and Pink Floyd to gospel, and a ton of stuff in between. You can tell when
you hear this album. It's got a really interesting sound that is nearly
impossible to put a label on, other than to say it's got a terrific beat
and spans all sorts of musical genres, while maintaining roots in R&B.
The first song on the album is the title track, "This The Trip."
It's got an urban, alternative, electronic feel and it's fairly slow with
a good beat. Patrice's voice is just lovely, yet also a bit rough during
the chorus. This is, however, one of the least interesting songs on the
album. I can't say I was impressed with this as an initial exposure to the
group. The good thing is that it gets better.
"Bottle Rocket" is next and it's very slow and pretty until the
chorus, where it picks up and gets wild. A really good song, but it's also
not lyrically that unique. Ah, so what - It's still fun.
"Know What You Mean" Is also slow and a little repetitive, yet
pretty and easy to listen to. It's got a sound very similar to "Indigo
Girls." The next song I just love. "Nobody's Home" is very
political and it's got a great sound. This is almost a dance song. The beat
is oustanding and the lyrics are meaningful. It's the most overall up-tempo
song so far, and it's a joy to listen to.
"Flesh And Bones" and "Perfect" I'll just lump in together
saying that they're lovely musically. The topics of both are similar, lost
love, and they're both worth a listen. The lyrics are great and they take
different views on the subject. I can't say that one was better than the
other or that either was the best to be found here, though. "Say Good-Bye"
is a little more dancy and a blast, but the lyics are really depressing.
It's about a love who has left and the impossibility of ever finding happiness
again. Don't let this get you down, though. It's a super song with a fantastic
sound.
It seems that "Tumblin' Down" is the newest in a rash of end of
the world songs. It's really very interesting and nice to listen to, though
perhaps not exactly hopeful. Patrice's voice can almost seem to save any
sort of unhappy subject, however. "Under the Sun" Is a song about
the sad state of the world. Combining drug use with ecological metaphors,
this is a really unpleasant look at our apathy to make changes and what
is becoming of our country. It's a rather noisy song and not exactly a favorite.
"Shelter" begins simply and has a sad, hopeless line running through
it. It's pretty and insistant in trying to convince someone to take back
their former love. The rest is a bit flat sounding, but the chorus is beautiful.
The last song is "Some Things Are Free." This is a good song to
rock to. Hopes and dreams make an appearance here and while it's a little
bit about understanding, or the lack of, it's also about doing what you
need to do to get by and being happy with that.
Then we have a hidden track called "Out Of My Hands." I gotta
say that I found it extrememly annoying to have to wait through 4 seconds
of space between every track between 11 and 57, where this song is located.
I don't mind a little pause, but that's out of control. As far as the song
goes, I'm not sure it was worth the wait, but it's nice, as are most of
the songs on this CD.
I hate to not recommend this album. The singing is wonderful, the music
is reasonably interesting, and there are some good lyrics. The problem is
that though the musical style itself is relatively genre-crossing, it's
not that different from song to song. A few things really stand out and
the rest is pretty, but it it all starts to sound the same after a while.
It's definitely above average, but only moderately, so when you take the
entire CD into consideration. It's hard to enjoy a whole album where one
song sounds like another unless you have a real thing for that one song.
I liked it, but can't say it's the best thing I've heard all year either.
This group has promise, but they need to branch out a bit more. They have
the background, they just need to put it to good use. It is fairly unique
and worthy of our attention, it's just not something I could listen to for
any extended period of time. I'm not sure you will be able to either.
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