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4.0 out of 5 stars
The best album nobody seems to know., February 14, 2006
This review is from: Deep in the Heart of Nowhere (Audio CD)
I found this accidentally on cassette in the late 80's and loved it, then found it again finally on CD just a few years ago. I like it so much I own it on vinyl too. Anyway, Some might not think this is so wonderful, but I think it's one of the best pop/rock albums I've ever heard. The songs are truly catchy, some of them rock, some are quite emotional, but they're ALL good. It's too bad Geldof doesn't get as much attention for his music as he does for his concert organizing. Favorites would be "This Is The World Calling", "August Was A Heavy Month", "I Cry Too", and pretty much the last third of the disc. I'd call this a must for any fans of his, or fans of better music from the 80's. Now if this album just had the same cover photo as "Sex, Age & Death", it would be 5-star.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Transcends Fad and Fashion, December 12, 2009
The cliché is that pop music is inexorably related to a specific time and sense of fashion. Those of us who liked the Boomtown Rats, for example, are usually categorized as over-dressed, "pre-punks," who turned our backs on the group when the Sex Pistols came along and showed us what REAL punks were like.
Phooey. I personally didn't discover Bob Geldolf and the Rats until the late 1980s when, still pretty much a classical music nerd, I found a stack of their records in a cut out bin. Their ship had sailed, but I took the records home and gave them a listen anyway - and discovered some of the greatest pop/rock music I'd ever heard. Geldolf can be a smart aleck, and he can be preachy. (This is rock and roll.) To my mind though, along with Bob Dylan, Bruce Sprigsteen and Tom Petty, he's also one of the best lyric writers ever to grace a pop song. I loved the "Rats." With consistently intelligent lyrics, passionate and playful tunes and superb musicianship, why hadn't the world noticed?
Geldolf fans had high hopes for his first solo LP, "Deep in the Heart of Nowhere." He was, after all, riding a crest of popularity after the "Live Aid" event, but then we watched in stupefied disbelief as the album sank into the cutout bins and then deep into the Davy Dark of forgotten pop vinyl.
Well, it just ain't right.
Another listen to this marvelous CD - after a fifteen-year hiatus in which I had lost my original LP - re-acquainted me with some of Geldolf's finest work. Sure, the synthesizers are over-used and the production just screams "1980s" - but a good deal of the music transcends that. Usually, the synths are tasteful, never detracting from the vocals and some really great guitar work courtesy of Brian Seltzer, Eric Clapton and Dave Stewart.
Where to Start? "This is the World Calling," may seem a bit pretentious these days, but the music is still strong and after awhile, I find myself swept along with it, not minding the environmental "message" at all. (Nobody likes to be preached at - even when you agree!) Like all of Geldolf's best writing, though, it seems to come from the heart and isn't just rock star posturing.
"In the Pouring Rain:" Great guitar followed by Annie Lennox's ethereal voice mixed with Geldolf's trademark bright, danceable melodies and dark lyrics produce one of many fascinating gems.
"August Was a Heavy Month" is a heartbreaker without drooping into sentimentality. I suppose these days they would call it "Emo" or "Emotional" music -- whatever the Heck that is ( I suppose Bach is the only composer worth listening to?!), but you never get the idea that the emotion is forced or an end in itself.
"Love Like a Rocket." This is probably one of my favorite pop songs by anyone, anywhere. The upbeat music doesn't lead the lyrics where you think they're going. "I Cry Too," "Beat of the Night," and "Truly, True Blue" are all memorable. "Pulled Apart by Horses " sounds like VERY dark Bruce Springsteen with an Irish accent - but I like it anyway. In fact, there really aren't any duds on the album, although after awhile, those synths might get to you.
Brilliant stuff.
.
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