Customer Reviews

Northern Dream

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

 

 

Bill Nelson's career has gone so many fascinating places. He's worn the mask of guitar hero, ambient wizard and outre film and play score generator. Prior to his time of multi-volume electronic CDs, ringing guitar and .com commercial soundtracks, there was Northern Dream.

A folky current ran through the first Be Bop Deluxe album, notwithstanding its rock and glam influences. Northern Dream, though, is an earlier, independent label work which is unalloyed folk-rock, emphasis on folk. This is a medium which works very well for Nelson. One wishes that his evolution had included a few more species of this sound.

For me, the highlight of the work is "Rejoice", a quirky bit of acoustic syncopation. The whole thing, though, is worth a listen to hear Bill Nelson prior to the time that either the daemons of commerce or the goddesses of experimentation took Mr. Nelson and whatever argonauts were at hand to places very different from this simple, folk-rock sound. Northern Dream is not a production masterpiece (in fact, it's got a sort of Dreamboat Annie charm, in that its production values are simple but add to rather than subtract from the charm). But it's sincere music, and sincerity, at this distant remove, has its own virtues....

As legend would have it, this was the album that Bill recorded in fellow band member Richard Brown's bedroom. Dang, you can even hear a toilet flushing in the background.

While the album is ten thousand light years from the techno wizardry of Roy Thomas Baker, who produced Futurama, it remains a true classic for any serious fan of the Man. The songs are indeed more inclined towards folk, but you can certainly hear Bill's guitar style developing, and his soloing is most impressive.

I still have the vinyl and the Teenage Archangel/Jets At Dawn single that came along later, also on Smile, but the CD is infinitely more convenient, and highly recommended. Go for it.

This album was, I believe, released solely through a small record store in Wakefield I used to frequent in my youth. An album photo was taken in a park near where I lived. One of the real powers for me of Bill Neslon's music is the way he takes the sights and sounds of his (and my) native Wakefield and transfigures them, weaving images with wonderful, hanting sounds. Although not featured on this album my favourite, Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape is an audio landscape painting of my native county that is so evocative it always -- ALWAYS -- makes my spine tingle.

this is Bill Nelsons first CD..definately worth listening to. Bill sits alone with an acoustic guitar and writes himself a great first Album.. Bill Nelson is the BEST guitarist to ever live and I'm sure anyone who's heard almost any of his work would agree with me..

I thought Bill Nelson was the guitarist for Be-bop Deluxe, then I heard Northern Dream, and thought, na, couldn't be. But then, further research told me that is exactly who he is. Even a music man like me, who hates genre labels and loves music and musicians that go anyplace can get caught placing the giant music pudding organism in little boxes. At least trying.


Northern Dream is a nice sleepy acoustic album, with some art rock fingerpirnts that you may expect from a piece out of 1971 England. This album is never going to grab you by the throat quick: a superficial listen may have you thinking this is a folk album

But that type of superficial listening is what would make you surprised that Nelson soon joined Be-bop Deluxe in the first place, and if you listen to the soft, subtle agility of Nelson's guitar work on Northern Dream, his soon to be hard rock heroics in Deluxe will not be a bit surprising.

I have been trying for quite a while to buy a copy of this album. It is the first album by the prolific artist Bill Nelson, who is still generating a considerable amount of new material through his many permutations.

The history of this album is that it was recorded on a shoestring with the help of friends, and received positive review through airings by John Peel on the BBC. It ultimately lead to his first big break with the original incarnation of Be Bop Deluxe, a great glam/progressive rock band.

The irony is that this album has been tied up in litigation, where ownership of the album was in question. It has gone through several reprints, and whether what you have is an legitimate original or something else is not worth worrying about, since it is my understanding that Bill Nelson doesn't get a dime from it. Thus the fact that it is not in print now, and likely never will be again. If you are lucky, and persistent, you will find a copy for less than the ridiculous $75.00 I have seen.

The music? It is a really polished fusion of folk/electric music. FANTASTIC guitar work -- his trademark. A fair number of the songs remind me of things he will later write for Be Bop Deluxe. Some of the music has a spiritual tinge -- a recurring theme that continues to show up in his work (think U2 and not bad christian rock for a parallel).

If you are already a fan, I think this is a must have. For anyone else that is curious, pick up Bebop Deluxe's Sunburst Finish or Modern Music, or for that matter, his later solo work -- Chimera, Love that Whirls, Getting the Holy Ghost Across or newer stuff like Atom Shop (and don't ignore his instrumental stuff as well). He is one of my very favorite musicians because he is always reinventing himself, and he is willing to take us along on his latest adventure, and it is more often than not worthwhile and memorable.

--hal

Avoid. I love Bill Nelson. I mean I really love him. But this is really old stuff from his pre-Be Bop Deluxe days and it has aged incredibly. This is due to the time it was produdced. The man has gone on to produce some fantastic stuff that should be investigated instead.