Customer Reviews

Aeroplane

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

 

 

For those ones who always loved Tears For Fears and became a little disapointed with the first Smith's Album (Soul on Board), Aeroplane is really a good surprise. It seems he found his ownn stile, more acoustic, creating great songs as Reach Out. And, furher to a total acoustic version for Evereybody Wants to Rule, there's an amazing hard version for Pale Shelter, which is really fantastic, much better than the original one. This CD makes me very excited and curious about what will be the result of a TFF return. (Smith and Roland Orzabal have been working together for months for a new TFF project)

It took long enough to release the damn thing, but finally we have the Aeroplane EP. Overall, it's a bit inconsistent...mainly because the two remixes from the 'Mayfield' album aren't that impressive...but the other 4 tracks more than make up for it. The title track has the potential to be a strong modern rock single, and why it was never released as such is beyond me. It reminds me a lot of 'The Bends' era Radiohead...which makes sense, since Curt has covered "Fake Plastic Trees" live numerous times. The other new one, "Where Do I Go" is a dreamy, acoustic based song that would have fit right in on the Mayfield album. "Pale Shelter" is anything but embarrassing. The original is close to 20 years old now, and it was time for a refreshing update. The live acoustic of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" that closes the album is nearly perfect...Curt's voice never sounded so good. I purchased this CD for the title track alone, and it's been well worth it. Hopefully this is an indication of what the next solo effort will sound like.

The other half of Tears for Fears (as if you remember), Curt Smith follows up his first band record, the uneven Mayfield, with Aeroplane, an E.P. that consists of two new songs written with Mayfield's guitarist, two remixes of Mayfield songs, and versions of two classic Tears for Fears songs. The two new songs are okay, the remixes better the CD versions (especially the cheesy lounge version of "Snow Hill"), and the TFF songs are one for two. The rocked up remake of "Pale Shelter" is an embarrassment, which he makes up for with a lilting acoustic "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".

" I come to bury Ceasar, not to praise him " Not really. While Mayfield's self-titled debut release showed Curt Smith finding his own footing both in life and in the musical world, this EP should be taken for what it is, a bridging the gap attempt to say "hey, here's where I'm heading, sort of". Loads of bands put out non-lp, between-album singles, and this is almost like that. Almost. Aeroplane is nothing special as a song, but it's Curt being Curt and works in that respect, the rest of the EP, save "where do I go?" is mostly just Curt having fun. It's only the second time I've heard a lounge version of a song and not thought it sucked. While not Kid A grounbreaking material, at least it's not sappy pap in the Backseat Boys vein.

"Aeroplane" is the third release in Curt Smith's "solo" career, and the third disappointment. The CD contains two new songs, "Aeroplane" and "Where Do I Go," which are decent, but lyrically awkward. There are also remixes of two tracks from Curt's "Mayfield" album. Both of these tracks were better in their original versions. The only real reason to buy the CD is for the acoustic version of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," which is absolutely lovely.

It really pains me to say this but this album is not very good. With four songs on here with boring cover versions of two dynamite TFF classics Aeroplane could just come crashing down to the ground. I guess his departure from TFF really was a huge blow to his musical ability. Three of the non cover tracks are mediocre and easily forgettable. Reach Out is a good song and is the highlight of this album but you can get that on his band Mayfield's debut album. Get Roland's Tomcats Screaming Outside'. With the musical battle between Aeroplane and Tomcats Screaming Outside, Tomcats easily surpasses this one on all fronts. I,m not trying put down Curt but his band Mayfields debut is far better than Aeroplane. I definately look forward to the TFF reunion album. It will be a blast.

First was the adult contemporary sleeper (as in falling asleep) "Soul on Board". Next came the abrasive rock of "Mayfield" which was equally forgettable. Now we have try number 3. No improvement. Banal lyrics, pointless remakes of TFF classics, and uninvolving musical accompaniment adds up to another flop for Curt. At least we TFF fans have Roland Orzabal's first official solo release, "Tomcats Screaming Outside" to look forward to.

What is the point of this release? Two inferior TFF remakes, then four other songs that might be allright on a b-sides or demo collection. Don't bother with this when Roland Orzabal has put out "Tomcats Screaming Outside" It has become quite obvious who the the real talent of TFF was.