Chameleon [Import]

Bill Nelson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 4, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1981
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Fabled Quixote UK
• ASIN: B000086B9R
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,347 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. City One

2. Science & Sacrament

3. Machine Voodoo

4. Chameleon

5. Circular Tour

6. The Shape Of Things To Come

7. Astro Logic

8. Tropicus

9. O Vee

10. On The Beam

11. Mex-Arcana

12. Man Machine

13. Hip-no-tize

14. New Dream Island

15. Blue Sky

16. To The Sea In Ships

17. Blonde And Built To Last

18. To A Child

19. Rosalia

20. Golden Shrine

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Bill Nelson is both an enigma and a highly public person whose motivations sometimes seem shrouded in complex mysteries, yet whose sometimes prodigious output amounts to public development of song ideas and musical experiments. He has been both a guitar hero and the background figure in any number of art installations, exhibitions and theatrical presentations. Nelson has nonetheless built up a strong and loyal fan base around the world.

Nelson's career began in earnest with the recording and release of a solo album, Northern Dream, which was financed by the owner of the Record Bar, a local Wakefield record store. The initial pressing was limited to 250 copies one of which found its way to BBC disc jockey John Peel. This resulted in the executives from EMI's Harvest label contacted Nelson with the intention of having him record for the label.

Nelson formed Be Bop Deluxe, which remained together until the recording of Drastic Plastic in 1978, by which time the mantle of guitar hero was beginning to weight heavy on Nelson, who was intent on expanding his horizons. The band had quickly developed a reputation for quirky songs and musical pyrotechnics, facets demonstrated both in the studio and in a live context -- Live! In the Air Age remains a brilliant document of a greatlive band.

Red Noise was the next phase of Nelson's plan for life, originally intended to begin with Drastic Plastic -- never the same thing twice, in either musicians or styles. Sound on Sound was a fluid, expert document that demonstrated Nelson's ability to experiment.

Abandoning the Red Noise experiment, Nelson reworked the album and released Quit Dreaming and Get On the Beam via Mercury Records. This period proved to be the commercial peak of Nelson's career. For Nelson, the main advantage of this was that he was able to completely rebuild his home studio, providing him with the facility to experiment more and more, resulting in the release of the first Orchestra Arcana album, which combined synthesized soundscapes with sound bites and tape loops. Nelson also worked with many others, including Gary Numan, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Harold Budd.

While the various wrangles somewhat derailed Nelson personally, nothing seemed to slow him down when it came to productivity; in fact, it appears that stress improves his output.

Working as hard as ever into the 1990s, Nelson continued to produce and collaborate with other artists, facilitated by new management. His solo output became somewhat sporadic, with Luminous appearing in 1991 and several other albums, each on different labels, appearing in the years afterwards, though he has recently returned to normal with the limited-edition releases of My Secret Studio and Confessions of a Hyperdreamer, totaling six full CDs of songs, instrumentals and sonic experiments. Practically Wired...Or How I Became Guitarboy is a first guitar instrumental album, while After the Satellite Sings both experiments with the new territory of drum 'n bass while reflecting the kind of styles Nelson had eschewed as being too evocative of Be Bop Deluxe and his guitar-hero days.

He has worked on film, television and video scores, directed a variety of videos, toured as part of Heroes De Lumiere with his brother Ian, worked with Roger Eno, Laraaji and Kate St. John under the Channel Light Vessel name. Flashlight Dreams and Fleeting Shadows is the next chapter in Bill Nelson story, His first DVD offering, mixing a old and new pieces to his visuals produced in that typical 'Nelsonian' way.

Product Description

Chameleon is the hardest-to-find of Bill's 70+ albums. It was never released to the buying public, and has remained the most sought-after album.

In 1981 EMI's library music division, Themes International commissioned and released an album of Bill Nelson compositions which, due to the nature of library music, was not advertised or promoted and as not many were pressed is a very rare album - it recently fetched over £300 on e-bay!

Library music is a term applied to recordings made specifically for television, film or radio use and is only available to producers, directors and programme makers via library music companies. These companies commission composers to write and record music that could be useful to other media producers in a number of situations.

The tracks were originally given different titles to the ones here, but they were changed by the library company to better describe the music to potential clients. As the original titles have long since been lost, the titles on this first publicly available release are those appended by the library music company.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming new CD from Bill Nelson, February 12, 2003

By 

Lloyd K Walker (London, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chameleon (Audio CD)

This CD is a gem.

Composed in the early 80's as library music this music has only now been released to the public. For those familiar with Nelson's music, Chameleon recalls his music of that era and doesn't feature the found sounds that are so common in his newer work (e.g. Whistling While the World Turns or the mammoth Noise Candy). That means more of Nelson's playing which is what attracted me to his work back in the Be Bop Deluxe days.

Each song was written to create a musical atmosphere and Nelson is successful on every level in conveying those moods to the listener. In his liner notes Nelson refers to it as "...an add little album, a curio in many respects..." And that it is. But it's also a joy to listen to - well worth the twenty year wait.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars standing the test of time, May 6, 2003

By 

bruce the dog (colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chameleon (Audio CD)

I'd heard an old scratchy vinyl copy of this album about 10 years ago but it was not until now that it's beauty hit home.
It would be controversial to say that this disc is better than his recent material, better to state that it is merely different. The simple melodies and no-nonsense instrumentation with hints of Bill's famed guitar make this one of my favorite of albums. This album sits closer to the Orchestra Arcana camp than Chance Encounters. Simple, thoughtful, engaging and surprisingly resistant to the passage of time

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hmmm??, November 15, 2008

By 

Taj Limahl (Salem, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chameleon (Audio CD)

This album is for hard core Bill Nelson fans only. While composition wise, the musical arrangements are as interesting as ever, the instrumentation (cheesy synthesiser sounds and tinny drum machines - no doubt state of the art in their day)is very early 80's and, I have to disagree completely with another reviewer here, and say that it is very much of it's time and has not aged well at all. For sublime instrumental music of an ambient and meditative nature, check out Nelson's "Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights".