Customer Reviews

Mr Music Head

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Adrian Belew is a multi-talented guitar genius/ instrumentalist/ songwriter extraordinaire with a creative energy most artists can only dream of. Whether working as a session man for some of the best musicians of the last quarter century, functioning as a member of both The Bears and King Crimson, or pursuing his own vision with a stunning succession of solo albums, Belew seems unfettered by popular taste or opinion. When he is at his worst (which isn't very often, thankfully), Belew's guitar work is unfocused, his songwriting becomes preachy and his voice registers into an irritating whine. However, "Mr. Music Head" has none of these characteristics and is far and away Belew's best solo recording. Every song is a gem within itself; if the Beatles had remained together for another 20 years, their music would sound similar to this. As always, Belew plays all of the instruments himself, crafting intelligent pop hooks through multi-track recording. The songwriting is creative and playful, without the burden of environmental concern or condescension that plagues some of his later work. The opening track, "Oh Daddy", qualifies as a duet with his young daughter Audie, and teasingly addresses Belew's inability to find a wider audience, which given the quality of his material, is a shame. A later track, "1967", showcases all of Belew's strengths as an artist and is quite possibly his crowning achievement as a songwriter; it is a pure slice of musical perfection in a scant five minutes and 23 seconds. Recorded not long before the advent of grunge and the embrace of moody despair, one cannot imagine such a friendly, positive recording being made today; in fact, Belew's subsequent recordings would become increasingly fueled by pessimism, personal pain and environmental critique. "Mr. Music Head" is the best, most focused and most enjoyable recording of Belew's career and should not be overlooked. Personal Favorites: the piano-driven rhythm of "House of Cards", the wonderful wordplay of "Bird in a Box" and the eloquent strokes of genius in "1967". Representative Lyrics: "Oh daddy, what are you going to buy your little girl?/ I'm gonna get you Disney World!/ Oh daddy, you can hit the jack-pot yet!/ Like I told you now, don't hold your breath!" ("Oh Daddy"); "Is there a Groucho Marxist doctrine in the house calls about a lost set of keystone cops out the same way you came in through the bathroom wind-oh look! a rock 'n' roller skate and all skate slowly" ("Bird in a Box")

If you could make your guitar make any sound in the world what would it be? In the case of Adrian Belew, he can make it sound like every animal from Jumanji and quite a few you can't imagine. Unlike a lot of musicians, that's not just his focus. Belew loves melodic pop songs. He loves the Beatles. He loves much of the music of the 60's and 70's. He doesn't focus or dwell on the past but emblishes on it using it as a foundation to build new music not retro music.

Mr. Music Head was Belew's break through album. His minor hit Oh Daddy actually reached a mainstream audience (that's also true of the songs he wrote with Fripp, Levin and Brufford for the 80's incarnation of King Crimson). His adorable daughter Audie sings on the track and it isn't corny. Unlike his earlier albums Lone Rhino and Twang Bar King (both out of print and never committed to CD. You can hear the highlights on his compilation CD), the jokes are more subdued and downplayed in favor of more serious material and stronger songs. That's just as well as well because his joke material is fine to listen to but doesn't leave much of an impression compared to his better songs.

The material ranges from sublime (One of These Days) to silly (Oh Daddy). Mr. Music Head, like Here and Inner Revolution shows Belew at the top of his form. I'd also recommend his work with King Crimson-- Discipline, Beat, Three of a Perfect Pair, Thrak and Live in Argentina. The Acoustic Adrian Belew is also worth picking up. The Talking Heads albums you should pick up that features his distinctive vocals and guitar work include Remain in Light and The Name of This Band is Talking Heads (available only in vinyl and long out print but I have a copy transferred to CDR. I'd recommend doing the same thing).

Enjoy the music of the Lone Rhino.

Adrian Belew is a sheer delight. For those who have never heard him it's a real shame that there aren't any links here to sound files. Let me try to describe him for you. Imagine David Byrne if his voice had an almost operatic range and golden-smooth timbre, funnier and more complex lyrics, and several times the compositional creativity. That's sort of Adrian Belew. It's a terrible shame Belew's album Twang Bar King is out of print, although Rhino King contains a lot of the great songs from Twang Bar. I think you need Twang Bar OR Rhino King PLUS Mr. Music Head PLUS King Crimson's album Discipline to get a full sense of the guy's talents.
My one complaint about Mr. Music Head is that Belew's voice is kind of buried by the terrific instrumentation. What's with that vocal mix?? For those of us who know his voice really well we can mentally "fill in" its sound at full volume. But for a novitiate, I might recommend beginning with Rhino King to familiarize yourself with his voice before moving on to Music Head. Other than the muted vocals, the quality of the recording on Music Head is terrific.

Adrian Belew is a master of sound manipulation. From his banana Strat and sea of effects pedals he can conjure practically any sound imaginable: who else could write pop songs such as Elephant Talk, Big Electric Cat, and Lone Rhinoserous?. Throughout his long career supporting enigmatic artists such as Talking Heads, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, and Laurie Anderson, and 20 years as the front man for progressive rock icon King Crimson, Adrian has always displayed his considerable musical talents, his not-quite-in-the-mainstream pop sensibility, and above all his love of music.

All of these characteristics are on full display here. "Oh Daddy" was a minor hit for Belew, and features his daughter Audie's vocals. This catchy tune is a wry comment on the music industry, and Belew's modest position within it. Elsewhere, he creates images of perfect summer days, imperfect relationships with happy endings and Peaceable Kingdoms, where animals roam free unhindered by humans. Belew has clearly been influenced by John Lennon and the Beatles, and here he even attempts a sound collage, a la Revolution #9. However, Belew even makes this sound more joyful than sinister. Naturally, Belew decorates his songs beautifully: he plays all the instruments on this album, but that is mainly piano, percussion, and guitar synth. But he creates quirky solo lines, atmospheric backgrounds, and even a clarinet solo from that palatte.

Anyone who's ever seen Belew perform live will recognize his pure joy at being on stage and making music, and that joy comes through vividly on this wonderful disc. This is a wonderful accompaniment to a breezy spring afternoon or a summer drive to the country. Buy this CD!

Adrian Belew is one of the best guitar players around. His music is original and refreshingly different. I originally bought this masterpiece because of the Oh Daddy song, but the other pieces, Peaceable Kingdom, 1967, Coconuts, House of Cards are unbelievably great songs. It seems to me that the reason Adrian Belew is not popular is because he is writing music way ahead of his time. Buy this CD, every song is different and great and you will be in a great mood after listening to it.

I love this CD, especially the track "Oh Daddy." I'm 13, and when it came out in 1989(when I was 3), I used to listen to it all the time.

Sí, que dificil es valorar los discos de Adrian Belew. Es evidente que la mayor parte de los aficionados, se acercan a este artista, desde la perspectiva de King Crimson. Así analizado, sus discos pecan de "exceso pop". Sin embargo, si te acercas desde un punto de vista global, analizando, no solo su participación en KC, sino sus discos en solitario, sus colaboraciones y sus proyectos paralelos, llegas a la conclusión de que estamos ante uno de los principales músicos de la escena pop-rock. Este disco que comentamos, supuso su primer intento con Atlantic, después de una estupenda trilogía anterior. Los tres discos que realizó para Atlantic son sucesivamente peores, pero éste se mantiene, aún, con altos standares de calidad. Si exceptuamos el primer tema (autenticamente horrible)el resto nos muestra, una vez mas, sus inflencias Beatles. Muchos de los temas de Belew podrían ser catalogados como las grabaciones perdidas de "Revolver". NO es que suenen a algún tema en concreto, pero tienen ese sentimiento.

By the late '80s, Adrian Belew was one of the most sought after guitarists in rock music-- after three solo albums, fronting King Crimson for three records in the early '80s, session work with as diverse a group as Laurie Anderson, David Byrne/Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Frank Zappa and literally dozens of others. But commercial success eluded him. A band he was involved in, The Bears seemed poised to reach it, but their record label folded and Belew resumed his solo career.

I'll talk about the rest of the album in a minute, but into this environment Adrian Belew wrote leadoff track (and single) for "Mr. Music Head", a piece called "Oh Daddy". Featuring a vocal by his daughter asking him when success was going to arrive, Belew rips out a blast of a pop song with a superb lead guitar line and a catchy chorus. It figures that a brilliant songwriter would turn perceived failure into a triumph such as this, and in this sort of bouncy pop song Belew would construct what I feel is his first consistently satisfying album of his solo career.

One thing that's quite interesting about this record is a lot of the songs on here are piano-driven, particularly a lot of the other really great stuff (other than the opener), including great pop song "One of Those Days" and the decidingly melancholy "Bad Days" (featuring some subtle and brilliant guitar playing from Belew). Other standouts include the stunning "Peaceable Kingdom" (vocals over percussion in a sort of African-pop meets Beatles sensibilities) and the phenomenal "1967", featuring one of Belew's best vocals, both in delivery and arrangement, and a great solo guitar backing.

If there is a complaint to be made, it's that "Mr. Music Head" never really drifts out of the pop vein. I find that Belew's best work tends to fuse his avant-garde leanings with his pop sensibilities. This one gets a little too same-old same-old as it drives on.

All in all, its a good record, not the masterpiece its followup ("Young Lions") would be, but definitely a good one, and probably Belew's most accessible work.

This album is great, but why don't they release his first two albums on CD. They were his best work.

He plays most everything on this album and the songs are beautiful and varied. It's wonderfully charming and mind boggling at the same time. Buy it!