Customer Reviews

After a Satellite Sings

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After the Satellite Sings was my re-introduction to Bill's work after years away. After Be Bop Deluxe's demise, I was disappointed with Red Noise and drifted away. Be Bop fans, please come back, all is forgiven! I simply can't get enough of this CD. It all comes together here, strong melodies, inspired lyrics, wonderful themes and some of the world's best guitar playing make this my favorite BN work. I simply can't understand why Bill isn't one of the most celebrated artists in the world. Maybe if more people took the time to listen to "Satellite", it would come to pass.

After The Sattelite Sings is a brilliant blend of drum & bass + ambient, classic guitar rock and even jazz in some songs. All of which Bill Nelson is very, very good at. The standouts for me are Old Goat, Tomorrow Yesterday (Dreamster 2.L.R), Rocket To Damascus, and Beautiful Nudes. This album predates David Bowie's Earthling by a year, which covered some of the same territory only he needed Trent Reznor's help.
As great an artist as Bill Nelson is, I don't think he will ever be fully recognized for his talents, and that is a real shame.

I've had this CD since its initial release, & I am honestly surprised that I haven't worn it out -- CDs are really only good for 10,000 plays or thereabouts. It is one of the few albums I have ever owned that I can literally play over & bloody over again for 10 hours at a time -- and never grow tired of it.

I keep meaning to burn a copy of it with only the outright RAWK TUNES MAN, but I find I'd be missing the sweet jazz guitar of "Streamliner" (George Benson, eat your heart out), or the interaction of marimba & bass on the latter half of "Phantom Sedan."

But enough of that. What I want to point out is something that even many hard-core fans overlook.

In the winter of 1995, Nelson got to humming a few snatches of melody that were hanging around. With these snippets & a few stray bits of lyric on scrap paper, he retired to his studio at the back of the house.

Once there, he created the melodies, wrote the lyrics, set down the percussion tracks, sang, built harmonies, laid down synth & bass, & pushed everything into reasonable shape. Okay, he did add an Octapad bit from one friend, & a bass line from another, & he had someone to engineer the tracks who could say, "No, Bill, if you touch that I'll slap your hands." Other than that, he put the whole thing together, then brought it to someone else for mastering.

All told, from the Beethoven-like distraction at the onset to delivering the tapes for finalising, Bill Nelson took 28 days.

Twenty-Eight Friggin' Days.

Every time I listen to this CD, I waver frantically between inspiration & utter discouragement. I mean... geez... 28 *days*! Most of us would work 28 YEARS to make something this good!!

Bill Nelson - After The Satellite Sings (Gyroscope)

Bill's new CD After The Satellite Sings, first off is dedicated to memory of Beat Poet Jack Kerouac. Second this marks a
new page in the recording career of Bill simply because this time around he has incorporated the current use of the 'urban
street, dance club rythmns & beats of the tribal jungle, hip hop craze'. Like back in the late'70s & early '80s when he made use
of the then Punky & New Wave beats to his advantage, a similar approach has been taken again this time around. Though, this
is his first guitar/vocal release since the brilliant Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars released in '92, of the 16 tunes only 2 are
instrumentals. As usual, Bill has made great use of his spoken word samples that appear here, there and everywhere. Tunes of
special interest are "Flipside" with its kooky alien dance grooves (this must be what they dance to on Mars!) and "Streamliner"
which grooves on a simple clubby beat. Both have a slight spoken rap by Bill in the middle while Jazzy New Orleans trumpets
appear from time to time as Bill supplies lusty & tasteful Jazzy Blues git lines on both tunes. The instrumental "Wow! It's a
Scootercar SexKitten!" is a wild lil' tune that is more of a cartoon cut up and would be at home on a childrens t.v. show or the
Flintstones! This tune grooves to a synth Rock 'N' Roll riff thats that recalls Bill's New Wave Red Noise period. It's cool and
Rocks. "Blink Agog" again is based on clubby grooves with Bill unleashing some of the hottest red & white noise from his axe!
This whole tune sounds like a musical scientist at work in his lab... or his Secret Studio! Things are jolting and flying everywhere
out into the zones. Bill adds exquisite textured Bluesy git rythmns throughout. This song in particular I believe would have been
a perfect example of what a collaboration with Jimi Hendrix would have possibly been, had he lived and they got to work

together. Oh well, maybe in the next world. I'll leave you with a line from this tune 'I rise and shine, I play for time, I boost those
big-time blues guitars...Blink agog... Blink agog... get this CD now and let your satellite sing! -Jay Siekierski

The past few years of following Mr Nelson's work has been tantalising with half finished introspective recordings that can matter only to the most ardent of fans.

But.....

After the Satellite Sings is a triumph!

The guitar is back with a vengeance with all the styles any one could muster. BB King meets Joe Satriani whilst having a chat with Eric Clapton on the way. With the introduction of full-on Drum n Bass rhythms backing up well written concise melodies, catchy tunes and a return to humour, Bill Nelson has created perhaps his best album since the Be Bop/Red Noise Days.

Outstanding.

THIS cd is really where it's at, man. Bill's wailing guitars and peculiar Bowie-esque falsetto (don't forget that BN did it first!) are just what the doctor ordered. Oddly etherial and rockin' crunchy at the same time, this disc is what all BN fans that have been struggling thru all his lo-fi home recorded newage doodles for the last 10 years, has been waiting for. Very close to the old Be Bop Deluxe or Red Noise albums in spirit and context yet with a very modern and hi-fi sensability. Can't wait for the next one!

Bill Nelson, one of the guitarboys of the 1970's with his band Be Bop Deluxe, returns from trip to dreamsville with the strangest souvenirs.

Nelson played the tape-like time machine, crawled across the years, and listened to rebel radio to turn-on, transmit, and transmute.

He "does" drums'n'bass on 'Deeply Dazzled' and 'Flipside' - while interjecting his unmistakable guitar sound.

Bill is the Duke of Wonderland, in excellent spirits, drivin' thru America in search of prairie angels, and dreaming of beautiful nudes.

You want guitar howl? Try the solos in "Tomorrow Yesterday", "Old Goat", "Ordinary Idiots", or the numerous solos towards the end of "Blink Agog" (while turning your horns to haloes!)

Great songs, great guitar playing, and a must for any-era Bill Nelson or Be Bop Deluxe.

as a rabid be bebop deluxe fan, i lamented bill nelson's foray into experimental electronica.

slightly interesting at best , i found myself completely disassociated from the former frontman of my all time favorite band.

sometimes i would pick up one of his solo efforts, only to be disappointed.

AND THEN..."after the sattelite sings" blew me away.

it is so different from the dreck you hear on the radio, or for that matter, the internet "alternative" stations.

jazz, rock, electronic, blues. it has it all.

of course, it has no commercial potential, because it requires thought and attention. but for folks whose musical taste is not formulated by the playlist of 3 classic rock stations, it's an oasis.

i pray to jebus that there is more on the way.

This is truly what BE-BOP would sound like today. In a day when rock music is in a rut, BILL NELSON still remains fresh. With great melodies, blistering guitar solos (could have been stretched out a little longer) make this a must have for any BE-BOP/BILL NELSON fan. Sounds better after repeated listenings. BUY IT NOW!

as this c.d.shows quite clearly-there are some "musicians"who absolutely defy the laws of reality-this music is pure MAGICK it is fun and playful too,very atmospheric,poetically refreshing one could say it is the purest bill nelson essence it can dance around the wildest ideas of what music is and go beyond that easily is it for listening or planting the seeds of the NEXT BIG THING ?this is a mystery where these songs originate from-has this man mutated into something else?give it a listen and try to define it you cant really,it is beyond definition-but it sure sounds GOOD,even riding though america in a shiny car in the night