Customer Reviews

Dou3le

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

 

 

I'm not sure why this CD isn't available, but Double is a great band. You might have heard their 80's single "Captain of Her Heart" and thought they were a one-hit-wonder.

Well, the two guys that make up Double are extremely talented musicians and songwriters. Their songs don't rely on overused, predictable rock progressions. They incorporate really interesting changes. And their lyrics are thought-provoking and stiring.

Some of my favorite songs on this album are "Devil's Ball" (unbelievable violinist brought in for this song) and "Gliding" (a quirky tune that starts off rather cutsy and then hits you with some ominous and intriguing changes).

Actually, there's not a song on this album that I don't like or feel the need to skip over. That alone makes it a great album in my book.

The ONLY reason that I don't give it 5 stars is that some of their sound palette is a little dated. That's certainly doesn't stop me from listening to this CD as much now as I did in the past, though.

Cheers.

Coming out of the same Euro jazz/R&B/pop/funk universe that spawned Level 42,Spandau Ballet and of course the long lived and highly successful Sade this band (pronounced doob-lay by the way) were an oddity even in that world. They were Swiss for one thing and not only that,even for such a bountiful and diverse genre their overall sound was unconventional. Proving with their debut album Blue that they could have a big international hit with the song The Captain of Her Heart but even so one hit wonder syndrome hit them particularly hard. They re-emmerged a couple years later with this album in 1987. By that time most of their contemporaries in their genre had either faded away quietly or had adapted their sound to a poppier style that could get them more airplay on American Top 40 radio. Double did neither and stuck true to their sound,flavors and strenghs. Their debut album had been possessed of some highly funky elements which,considering funk was never a hugely popular genre overall as it might've seemed helped get them some crossover attention. This album maintains the moody,minor chorded jazz piano and vocal style that had defined them from the beginning but is less commercially ingrediating (to a degree) and focuses on developing more of their songwriting style which borrowed as much from 40's standards as it did jazzy 80's Brit soul. The arrangements,everything from vocal to musical on songs such as "Fire In Disguise","Gliding","(You Don't Let Me Get) Close Enough" and "Devils Ball" possess the kind of chilly funkiness one might gather from certain Sade numbers and offer up some very compelling lyrics along the way as well. The ballad "Prove Your Love" is a wonderful and sturdy arrangement that,without any overstatement would actually have made the likes of Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer proud. The fact that so much of the bands songwriting style borrows harmonies and melodic exchanges from the old American masters shows you that the art of creating popular song with many intricate and complex parts sewn together had note abandoned everyone even in the 1980's The closing instrumental "Megarhythmdance" is really spellbinding,far different than even the most complex tune from the debut. It's sort of a dance-funk arrangement mixed with these rather intricate jazz fusion/afro-polyrhythm styles that puts it very much in the avante garde of pop but all the same there's a familiar sound about it that cannot be explained. Perhaps,as with the rest of this album it creates a highly intimate atmosphere that's very relatible. As with much excellent pop music over the years that didn't become a huge commercial hit this album got barried over the years to the point of being forgotton. But I advise anyone interested in the sort of qualities I mentioned in this review would be strongly advised to give this album a listen.

Remember a time (for those of us who actually remember early MTV and VH1)when music videos were eventful and fun to watch?--- The cinematography and film-like quality that was utilized in the days long before computer generated software and hardware took over music videos?--- One music video from back in the day whose images and non-computer visual effects were captivating was that of Double's "Devils Ball"...Images that were inspired by Faust and Dante's inferno.The song itself was one of the smoothest and slickest tunes I had heard at age 17 (trumpet by the great Herb Alpert included)... "Fire In Disguise" was also a highly worthy song of having its own music video; Unfortunately,one never surfaced and after the second album "3",Double as a duo-band went their separate ways(artistic differences) to pursue each of their own individual and continued ideas and projects.

"Devils Ball" was the popular hit off of Double's second album, titled "3". The song is an effortless and seamless combination of mid-tempo pop-jazz,R&B, a dash of soul and some very memorable laden musical and lyrical hooks and a fascinating melody. I always thought that there was a mysterious and melancholy vibe to the tune. Lyric-wise, it seems more of an instrumental since the verses are very few (almost sparse) but carry an impact; Those few lyrical lines are pure poetry about a soul trying to keep his demons at bay...Overall, the musical structure of the song itself is impeccable!

The rest of the album "3" felt like a mystical and mysterious journey on both a musical and visual (the mind's eye)level when heard in its entirety. The album,as a whole, could have easily been used befittingly for a soundtrack to a full length feature film.As for genres and styles,Double was an expert duo and band in combining elements of pop-jazz with a bit of classical (on the more slower-tempo ballad tunes) with the exotic ("Lakes in the Desert")."Lakes in the Desert",with its atmospheric Mid-eastern, or Arabic influences is an absolute mind opener and bender as one can literally visualize the Sahara desert and the sheer beauty of an oasis.Maloo's style of vocalization is brilliant in its melodic approach and repetitive mantra-like state---is it a teasing playful one or a pleasing prayerful one? It sounds as if Maloo was meditating while performing the song (or, was he inspired by a dream he had one night and the melody of the song just had to be committed to paper at the piano the next day?). When other artists try to combine so many different elements and genres under one roof it ends up leaving the listener with a bewildered and confused state of understanding; It leaves the listener with the very dour impression that there was a lack of focus and the execution was just all over the place. Not so with Double's approach to "3". One can detect various musical styles and genres, yet, Double managed to keep it all thematically coherent (as I stated earlier, the possible theme could be one of taking the listener through a journey of the imagination)...Even the Felix Haug penned and performed instrumental,"Megarhythmdance", with its electronic-synth harpsichord sound,has a positively quirky character to it in such a great and unexpected way; It simply fits with the other tracks and closes out the album on an uplifting note.

Unlike their previous album,"Blue", "3" is an experimental departure or progression away from its predecessor's more cafe-lounge jazz themes(absolutely NOT to be confused for elevator muzak) and hip-swing jive vibe. While "3" does maintain some of those elements, there's a more edgier and almost soft-rock approach ("Fire In Disguise") with a couple of modern (for the time or era of the late 80's) club-like,light R&B dance tunes ("Close Enough" and "Devils Ball")that strongly demonstrate that Maloo and company can definitely get down and get funky without it coming off as forced or forged. Lead singer Kurt Maloo knows his soul-funk,smooth groove side.

How does "3" sound today?Double knew how to use certain elements in their music to keep it going strong for the decades to come(elements of classical and jazz never die).They also never allowed the popular synth-driven sound of the 80's to take over their material nor permitted the project to be put on auto-pilot.Listening to "3" today, I can understand why only "Devils Ball" received decent airplay on VH-1 but not overplay (read as overkill) because in essence and retrospect, Kurt Maloo and Felix Haug were ahead of their time with this vastly underrated treasure trove of fantastic tracks!They could not be pigeon-holed or held captive to just one specific genre or style of music to satisfy the MTV masses of the time--- In America/stateside this album should have received more attention and accolades.This is an album of pure creative substance, not heavily marketed filler.