Customer Reviews

3rd Perspective

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Nothing if not adventurous, UFO's "3rd Perspective" takes a much harder edge than their previous outing - the ingeniously laid-back "No Sound is too Taboo" - to produce something very strange. Lying outside of any simple categorisation the album combines arrangements from late 60's film & TV music with Hollywood style voice-overs and acid-jazz in another weirdly distinctive set that somehow succeeds - often only just - in avoiding falling into some kind of horrible pastiche. Examples: "Fools Paradise", a Mission Impossible derivative that is equally exciting and much more funky; "Nica's Dream", a straight lift from your favourite TV spy series c.1966 with a marvellous alto sax running through it; and, "Cosmic Gypsy", a wonderfully rolling latin-jazz workout that sounds, well like nothing you've quite heard before. Definitely not for the faint hearted but sufficiently different and, in the end, sufficiently effective to justify the entry price into a distinctly odd world.

Although criticised for sounding like a soundtrack to a 70's movie (aka Lalo Schifrin) - it's meant to be. UFO manage to keep the same groove throughout the entire album allowing it to roll from track 1 and back without you noticing. This is managed despite them pulling in a wide range of musical influences making each track extremely unique as they take you into an unpredictable direction (I'm sure I heard Tom Waits'Swordfishtrombone in there somewhere) - note the superb rendition of Horace Silver's 'Nica's Dream'.

The bass has that deep and fat sound that allows tracks like 'His Name Is...', 'The Planet Plan' and 'Fool's Paradise' to realign your heart beat. The keyboard, guitar and drum sound is just phenomenal - holding their own in a way JTQ and Corduroy would be proud of. More importantly though, are the instruments that take a couple of listens to to realise what they are. Guest vocalists on a few tracks ('Friends - We'll Be', 'Waltz (Le Serpent Rouge)', etc) bring another dimension to the music without making it sound like a bunch of musicians who can't write vocal music (believe me, I'm not a fan of vocal asid jass/funk music - and this impresses).

Only one weak track on there for me (I won't say which, find your own) but on a 60min album of solid tunes that pushes the boundaries of contemporary Asid Jass and Funk - who cares?

Acid jazz does not get any better than this. I was extreamly surprised to see all those bad reviews...but people are entitled to their own oppinion and this is mine...this CD is a rare jem and needs to be discovered soon. From the very first track which is a brilliant remix of the main theam form Enter the dragon the Bruce Lee cult classic the CD flows like a smooth river. Even though these gouys are japnese their music is uniquely international. Styles range from tight DJ sets like "His name is..." to loose 40's style glamour ballads like "Friends will be..". Over all their sound is extreamly contemporary and very very interesting. I highly recoment this masterpiece to any new jazz fanatic.

What makes this album more than just a campy sci-fi soundtrack is that the music so well produced, it also helps that the sound-byte clips are used sparing but effectively. It's tracks are similar in sound but diverse enough to listen to innumerous times. I discovered UFO via this album and have since bought the rest of their albums, but this one remains my favorite, with "Bon Voyage" coming in second. "3rd Perspective" is so tight musically that you'll be shuttled far away to another galaxy within the first song.
Also, if you like this album you may also dig Barry Adamson's "Murky World of Barry Adamson".

If there is a restaurant at the end of the universe, then this sort of music would be playing there. Its retro and exotic and is so familiar that it could be the sound track to many a good cult classic. I love it and always play some of the tracks when I DJ.

There is dark melancholy that permeates this masterfully sly espionage soundtrack. Each song tells a specific story of a person whose life is lead in the shadows:

"His Name Is....." finds a pupil learning an esoteric form of deadly defense.

"The Planet Plan" has an army colonel confessing to his belief in flying saucers and the risk of invasion. Incidentally, this cut was used as the music for the trailers of the animated hit "The Incredibles"!

"Friends (We'll Be)" details the sacrificial love of a couple whose desires can never be consumated: "Speaking with glances that tear through the chances of ways we can't ever know/ The way through the darkness lies littered with sunlight that lies in the eyes of your soul/ too much can never be whole/ Friends-that's what they'll see/ And friends-that's what we'll be."

"Spy's Spice" tracks the illicit love afair between a male and female spy.

"Fool's Paradise" sounds like the "high" of first love, imagined as a goofy scooter ride through the obstacled streets of Hong Kong. Then...the crash of reality.

"Waltz of the Red Serpent" takes place in dimly-lit dive where losers go to dance with death.

"Picaresque Eye" Picaresque is an adjective applied to a style of fiction dealing with the adventures of rogues. And that's just what this spooky narrator gives you: "The man is looking at you under city lights like a crocdile in the jungle/ The man is reaching for you in the dark of the night./ Science fiction or actuality? Illogical adventure/ Burned by your shortcomings of desire."

"Nica's Dream" We can only guess that it turns into a nightmare.

"Cosmic Gypsy" The dance macabre of the eternal nomad.

"Dice For A Chance" The casino hostesss, the dancehall girl, the prostitute-those who beckon doomed men with barks of " Hey cowboy, wanna play?" "Hey Mister, got a cigarette?" "Hey tiger, wanna dance?"

"The Moving Shadows" The fatalism of a film noir wraps tightly around your heart as you listen to bullets whiz by and the conversational fragments of criminal couple who must part ways to avoid being detected: He:"Are you trying to say something?" She: "I never try anything, I just do it!" He: "Lonely? Who's lonely?" She: "What's so excting about racing against the clock, anyway?" He: "I must never follow you, and it must follow, that you must never follow me." The sound of footseps fade off in the distance, and the third perspective is complete...or is it?

this album is a soundtrack...to whatever it is you're doing: homework, sleeping, not sleeping.. some tracks are stronger than others, but it plays pretty smoothly. before you know it, track 1 is back on..

This cd is a must have for me.... I listen to it all the time, and I still cannot get over how genius the group is. Look for their other stuffs also...

Not every song on this album is a classic (why only 4 stars), but the ones that are make this album well worth buying. A hint of James Bond intertwined through a few songs makes this spy-esque album a must have for anyone who feels they'd like an eclectic mix of World, Jazz, Electronic, and Funk.

They are clearly angling to do film scores. The first two recordings are must have CDs. This one is a demo for the film industry.