Customer Reviews

Fear

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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"Fear" laid the groundwork for the diverse and highly emotional nature of the 3 "Island" records, and is the first to introduce Cale's slightly reinvented, dichotomous modus operandi of balancing beautiful, sophisticated pop and tortured rage. Here Cale dives headlong into the dark, sometimes violent emotional turmoil prevalent on all three Island records.

Before "Fear," Cale created the baroque and highly accomplished "Paris 1919," a hauntingly melodic record fusing orchestral arrangements with slightly off-kilter pop and occasional country leanings. However, "Fear's" opener, "Fear is a Man's Best Friend," makes it immediately clear that Cale is taking us down a far darker and more disturbing path than before (albeit more refined than the floor-scraping cacophony he helped create in VU). Quite deceptively, the song begins with a catchy piano riff, but gradually devolves into Cale screaming his head off and beating the snot out of his bass until someone pulls the plug. A pivotal pre-punk moment; utterly primal and kind of scary!

Throughout, Cale navigates eclectic territory with fairly consistent results. Some songs are achingly pretty, like the country-ish "Buffalo Ballet," the mesmerizing, lush "Ship of Fools," and the weak-in-the-knees "You Know More Than I Know." Others are manic, visceral rockers, like the violent classic "Gun," featuring Roxy Music's Ray Manzanera's blistering guitar. However, the blues-raunch of "Momamma Scuba" is utterly forgettable. Hilarious, winsome pop gem "Man Who Couldn't Afford to Or*y" [I can't believe Amazon made me censor that word] shows subtle shades of Brian Wilson (a big influence on Cale). Cale successfully ties most of these varied stylistic threads together with his impassioned singing, grim/sardonic lyrics, and a knack for engaging hooks.

While "Fear" may be a bit of a mixed bag, it remains an awesome record that holds up quite well over 30 years later.

This is definitely one of Cale's best albums. With help from such great musicians as Phil Manzanera and Eno (or non-musician as he likes to call himself), this album is filled with great lyrics, melodies, and production. Songs range from the hard rocking Gun (with a great Manzanera solo treated by Eno: like Roxy Music!), to the pretty ballad Emily, and songs like the powerful Fear is a Man's Best Friend and Ship of Fools lie somewhere in between. Unlike his other two album for Island that followed this album, the production is crystal clear and not overproduced, and all the songs are very strong, maybe with the exception of Momamma Scuba, which is kind of weak in my opinion. It has a similar guitar riff to his crazy cover of Heartbreak Hotel which would appear on his next album Slow Dazzle. If you can find it (I believe it's out of print), get the 2cd Island Years set because it has better sound than the import version, plus the previously-unavailble-on-cd b-side Sylvia Said is a great song, on par with the best songs on the album. If you're curious about Cale's work, start with this one. And if you are interested in his other work, get Paris 1919 (great orchestral rock), and Fragments of a Rainy Season (great solo live album; it showcases just how great a musician Cale is, esp. his piano playing skills).

This album provides me with immense depth of experience. I sink into it. Like a backdrop to my existence. The melodies sound homely, relaxed, affable, inviting. It is not troubardour music, but the casual sound reminds one of that ambience. Yet, if you listen closely you hear that this is scary, crazy, unsettling music, ingeniously written.

I am constantly astounded by this album, the production, Cale's singing, the backing vocals, the clever melodies, the weird ideas in the background, and the overall harmony of it all. Effortlessly. This is where beauty and ugliness meet, and never before have I heard these contrasts so easily balanced. In that sense this is where beautiful "Paris 1919" and the scary "Music for a New Society" meet, if you like.

Fear is easily one of Cale's best solo albums. It was recorded at the height og his career. This is my favorite period of his career, which is known as the "Island Years." Every song on this album is incredible. Fear is a Man's Best Friend is one of my favorite songs by Cale. Gun probably is my favorite. Barracuda is another great song. Ship of Fools is another great song. It almost sounds like a Vintage Violence type song.

It is hard to not compare John Cale's solo career to Lou Reed's. Cale is much more consistent than Reed. Reed has some really incredible albums such as Transformer, Berlin, The Blue Mask, New York, Songs For Drella (done with Cale), and his new album Ecstacy. Reed, however has some albums that aren't that good. Cale does have his so-so albums, but he has a higher rate of good albums. Fear and Paris 1919 would equal any Reed album.

This album is very hard to find, so I would reccomend buying it online. I highly reccomend this album to any fan of Cale, Reed, or VU.

Fear was the first of 3 great albums John Cale released on Island Records during 1974-75. The album was also his follow-up to his much acclaimed "Paris 1919" 1973 album. Compared to "Paris", "Fear" shows the more rocking side of Cale, but it's still the songs and melodies that Cale highlights.

The title-track starts off quietly with Cale on piano, but ends off with Cale yelling "Fear is a man's best friend". Great opener.

The soft melodic side of Cale is represented by "Buffalo Ballet", "Ship of Fools" and "You Know More Than I Know" - all outstanding songs.

It's no secret that Cale has a great admiration of the work of Brian Wilson, which clearly shows on the harmony vocal arrangement on "The Man Who Couldn't Afford to Orgy"- On his next album "Slow Dazzle", Cale wrote "Mr Wilson" about the Beach Boys leader.

Though several tracks like "Barracuda" and "Gun" feature odd solos and sounds ( brings thoughts back to his Velvet Underground days ), most songs are actually very catchy and it's an album with a great variety of styles that you can listen to again and again.

Note that the 2 CD compilation "The Island Years" features the complete "Fear" album along with his two other Island albums + plus a handful of great bonus tracks; anyway this is a great album in its own right!

There are few musicians around today as accomplished as John Cale. From his early avant drone experiments to the manic organ, viola and bass work with the seminal Velvet Underground and beyond, Lou Reed once described Cale as the Beethoven of rock music, and he is not far off. Cale's solo output, like Lou Reed's, is admittedly inconsistent, and the album Fear as well has some rough spots amongst the gems. To me, not every song here is a winner or terribly memorable. However, it is worth the price of asdmission alone for the songs "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend", "Ship of Fools" and "You Know More Than I Know." This is a good starting point for those interested in Cale's work. Less experimental than some, but still quite edgy. Some great musicians back him up on this lost classic of the Seventies.

There are at least 3 masterpieces on this album of dark rock and twisted humor. The title track is a brooding rock ballad with tempo shifts and vivid imagery, one of the most angst-ridden songs in the canon of rock.

Gun is another manic excursion into dark emotional terrain, brilliantly executed with perfect synergy between voice and instruments. It has all the anger of punk, but sounds even more menacing for its complex arrangement and literary air.

Providing comic relief just when needed most, The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy has a lovely breezy melody and propulsive mid-tempo rhythm with sensual female vocals by Judy Nylon. This song very cleverly breaks the spell of the eerie and menacing tone of the preceding tracks.

The rest isn't bad, but not as visceral as the aforementioned. For example, Buffalo Ballad is quite a pleasant gentle song and Barracuda an appealing mid tempo rocker with an edgy riff. Emily and Ship Of Fools are both mournful, atmospheric ballads.

I highly recommend the Island Years Anthology, a 2-disc set that contains this entire album, Slow Dazzle and Helen of Troy, plus some previously unreleased tracks. That collection properly demonstrates the genius of John Cale in the context of the times.

Varied as it is, Cale's work has always presented a confusing amalgam to my ears. "The Academy in Peril" is a rare accomplishment and ranks as one of the best of its time. "Drella" is self-indulgent nonsense and in my opinion should be considered as some of the worst of pretty much any time. As for the period-defined music of "Fear" (with its "Before and After Science" cover art as well as its then de rigueur Eno collaboration) let's just say that it's been a lot of years and I still can not get the bass intro to "Barracuda" out of my head. That and the fact that Barracuda's chorus -- by 2007 clearly prescient and naggingly accurate -- "the ocean will have us all..." may in fact prove to be true in more ways than we may have originally guessed. Which means that Fear will likely survive even as we each perish.

There are at least 3 masterpieces on this album of dark rock and clever humour. The title track is a brooding rock ballad with tempo variations and poetic lyrics, one of the most angst-ridden songs in the canon of rock.

Gun is another manic excursion into dark emotional territory, brilliantly executed and with perfect synergy between voice and instruments. It has all the anger of punk, but sounds even more menacing for its complex arrangement and intelligent lyrics.

Providing comic relief just when it is need most, The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy has a lovely breezy melody and propulsive rhythm with sensual female vocals by Judy Nylon. This song very cleverly breaks the spell of the eerie and mournful tone of the tracks preceding it.

The rest isn't bad, but not as immediately memorable as the aforementioned. For example, Buffalo Ballad is quite a pleasant gentle ballad and Barracuda is an engaging mid tempo rocker with an edgy riff. Emily and Ship Of Fools are both mournful, atmospheric ballads.

I highly recommend the Island Years collection, a 2 CD-set that contains this entire album, Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy, plus some previously unreleased tracks. That collection properly demonstrates the genius of John Cale in the context of the era.

This is a good record, but its of marginal value with "The Island Years", which has Cale's entire output from his time on Island and (at least as I write this) is comparably priced to this release. All three Island albums have something to offer, and there's some extra material on the set.

After producing a series of varied albums in moods and success, John Cale finally hit his stride with 1974's "Fear". With a band that included Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera, Cale put together a great record, and while its a bit uneven (like I feel most of his output), there's so much great work on here.

The album's most well known tracks-- the opener, "Fear is a Man's Best Friend", and "Gun", are somewhat paranoid exercises. The former features some chamber-esque piano, a loping bassline, and a manic reading of its title over a growling bass as a coda, the latter, a straightahead rock tune is famous for its dual solo-- Manzanera's guitar was run through Eno's synthesizers and somehow the two produced something magical. In contrast with this, there's "Buffalo Ballet", a pained, almost lazy-feeling ballad that lives on a razor-edge of tension.

Much of the rest of the record is very good, although not quite reaching the same heights-- "Barracuda" is a good enough bizarre rock song, "Emily" is a pretty ballad but I don't think it particularly suits Cale's vocal delivery, "Ship of Fools" is a nice enough pop song, and "You Know More Than I Know", with its fumbling choruses, shows Cale's development of the sort of Lou Reed "match the lyrics with the music" concept. But "The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy", with its bizarre "seductive woman" voiceover, feels very dated, and "Momamma Scuba" is really quite extraneous-- "Fear" and "Gun" capture this feel much better.

Still, its a good record deserving consideration, however getting ahold of "The Island Years" is a better idea.