Customer Reviews

Rock Bottom

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you haven't heard this album, just set aside forty minutes, buy it and listen. Aside from Wyatt's own personal tragedy associated with the record, there is a quality of awake (as opposed to drowsy) magic which makes ROCK BOTTOM probably the greatest record released under the umbrella of pop/rock. Side one on the old vinyl is simply faultless - the first three tracks blend into one, with such beautiful melodies tears come to the eyes. And the singing, often wordless, reaches places that only the most authentic blues singers or flamenco artists reach. Yes, it is that good. It let us all see that you could be white, British and go 'out there'. As a result, this record quietly changed the face of British music for ever. Via punk, new wave and the still ongoing work of hundreds of musicians that make up British music's wealth. The album also shows why snobbism is wrong in music. All the players here were respected jazzy musicians, but none had contempt for pop music or melody. The results are stunning. You can also check out RW version of the Monkees 'I'm A Believer' if you don't believe how un-snobby he was and is. And, yes, it rocks, as the title would suggest. Totally unique, weird, lovely and as deep as the sirens' song, this is the best album to leave England's shores bar none, including Sgt Pepper (which it's not that far from in beauty) and its real secret - despite the well-known personal gloom - is its utter free flying joy. As a footnote, Wyatt is still going strong, producing some of his best work 25 years after Rock Bottom. That's the strength of his spirit - lesser mortals would have given up after such a milestone. That he is still 'obscure' is one of the mysteries of the modern age - this is also one of the most enjoyable albums ever made. Do I sound convinced?

I'm hesitant to write anything about this album. It is too good and things that are too good typically transcend language.

So, for what it's worth, I have harbored a theory for many years which consists of the following. If a capable artist is able to allow his or her work to become completely subjective that artist will touch upon something completely objective. That is to say, the artist will come to terms with something that is true to almost every human being.

If you were born near the middle of the 20th century somewhere in the western world, "Rock Bottom" will contain something important for you. Less politicized than most of Wyatt's work, (his outwardly-directed commentary here feels more sociological and personal: "I fight with the handle of my little brown broom...I pull out the wires of the telly-phone...I hurt in the head and I hurt in the aching bone...) "Rock Bottom" is musically and lyrically a work of deeply personal conviction that more than makes up for the immature indulgences of "End of an Ear". In fact, you are forced to wonder if this music would have ever existed had Wyatt not lost the use of his legs in what amounts to a needless, unfortunate accident. While the new cover does the original a bit of disservice -- things do not go swimmingly on this record -- the songs remain the same. Which is to say, the songs can be uplifting and remarkably painful all at once.

There's no reason to guess about what Wyatt came through to arrive at this point. He was an immensely gifted drummer and with "Rock Bottom" he emerges as an immensely gifted writer. I have heard no other record that is filled with such melancholy and determination and self-awareness. Each listening, no matter how many years intervene, provides the listener with a new sense of humility and gratitude. "Rock Bottom" is a singular document in music and in life. If you find yourself in need of something to believe in, try this.

Rock Bottom: Bottom of the sea. Rock Bottom: Bottom of rock music. Rock Bottom: Depressed - nowhere lower to go. Rock Bottom: Paralysed from the waist downwards.

Rock Bottom was made after Robert lost the use of his legs. It has a dark, subaqeous quietude about it; like crawling across the seabed, slowed down by the weight of water. But the urge for anaesthesia is counterbalanced by a blissed-out, oceanic feel. The songs (if we can call them that) all traverse this contradiction: elated, out-of-body; but simultaneously in a state of traumatic aftershock.

This is a beautiful and harrowing record. Like all Robert's best work, it faces intense emotional issues with innocence; even equanimity. That is what makes it so heartbreaking. `Rock Bottom' is desperate, but it has a childlike hopefulness. Worked up in Venice, overlooking the lagoon, its unique sonorities are largely rendered on a toy keyboard bought by Alfreda, Robert's wife. I guess late at night Robert would look at the water, lit by moonlight. He would start to dream. The dreams went into his keyboard. A record came out of all this; and it's one of the five best of all time.

Released in 1974, this wonderful album is quite possibly Robert Wyatt's best solo effort and showcases his excellent writing abilities. Sadly, this brilliant work was released following a terrible accident in which Robert fell out of a window, broke his spine, and became wheelchair bound - in fact, the basic shape of the album came together during his 8 month hospital stay. Overall, this album has a warm, spacey, and intimate feel and is very stripped down with superb production by none other than Nick Mason of Pink Floyd fame. It is a personal favorite come to think of it.

Along with Robert (synthesizers, piano, vocals, guitar), several musicians associated with the Canterbury rock scene played on the album including Richard Sinclair (bass); Hugh Hopper (bass); Mike Oldfield (guitar); Fred Frith (guitar); Ivor Cutler (voice, baritone concertina); along with Gary Windo (bass clarinet, tenor); Mongezi Feza (trumpet); Laurie Allen (drums); and even Robert's wife Alfreda Benge (voice). The performances on the album are all excellent but very restrained and soft - almost contemplative in fact. Discreet synthesizer washes color a lot of the album, along with delicate percussion and acoustic piano parts. Robert's vocals are...well...very Robert - I like them quite a lot actually.

The six tracks merge seamlessly into one another and are almost hypnotic at times, with subtle electronic effects and spacey synthesizer parts accenting each piece. The overall tone of the album hovers somewhere near a soft drone, although it is occasionally punctuated by an excellent bass guitar/electric guitar line, odd spoken word passage, and drum part here and there, but nothing overbearing in the least. This is a very reflective album with a touch of sadness (perhaps), and the quiet music reflects this mood well.

All in all this is a superb album from the Canterbury scene that sounds nothing like music typically associated with the genre. Very highly recommended.

For a person that originally started out in the early days of the English Art Rock scene, Robert Wyatt has come a long way. Still remaining something of a cult figure, for his uniquely English style of Canterbury scene music, that Incorporated elements of Post-Psychedelic, mixed with Improvisational rock-rhythms and highly articulate songwriting, coupled with a quaint retro-whimsy, that not only referenced a subsequent form of 'Instrumental Jazz', but also linked art-rock and psychedilia skillfully together. He has remained on the musical fringes commercially, but remained critically acclaimed, even if that acclaim hasn't translated into mainstream sales, happily churning out albums that immensely pleased critics, and his fanbase. But It wasn't really until 2003's exceptional "Cuckooland" (and a subsequent 'Mercury Music' prize nomination), that people are starting to catch wind of this guys remarkable talents.

"Sea Song" is the most gorgeous of songs, initially a sad sounding song, it has the willfully detached & melancholic tones, of singer-songwriter derived music, but the droning synths and delicate keyboard & harmonised vocals feel more like left-field ballads, are thoroughly steeped in a decidedly sombre tone, with Robert plaintive lyrics: "You look different, every time. you come.... From the foam-crested brine, Your skin shining softly in the moonlight, Partly fish, partly porpoise, partly baby sperm whale..... Am I yours? Are you mine to play with?", coupled with the quirky nautical theme. A song that is as, slight and lyrically searching, as it is wonderfully sad, funny, and very, very strange. It redefines what the accepted notion of what 'Pop' music should be.

Second track "A Last Straw", is more subdued, Nocturnal, intimate & reflective. The downtemp bass & ringing Hi-Hat open the beginning of this track, before Wyatt's high-pitched voices bursts forth with: "Seaweed tangled in our home from home, Reminds me of your rocky bottom, Please don't wait for the paperweight....Err on the good side". The sound is one of an Jazz-improvisational feel coupled with jazz-tinged piano chords, mixed with the warm sounds, and atmospheric drums, that are more in line with the cerebral and hypnotic relaxed mood of electronica. Curiously...Wyatt, begins to use his voice as a atmospheric instrument, adding 'Wah-Wah' sounds over the lush arrangements, that although proves to be slightly disconcerting at first, although after a few listens it begins to feel as integral as the music being played, before the track then begins to drift out, with a simple, lightly subtle ethereal background of piano composition.

"Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road", features huge trumpet and Saxophone arrangements, with a decidedly 'Afro-centric' percussive drum beat layered underneath the warm soothing synths. Think a more improvisational unstructured Jazz, with a nice helping of swirling psychedelia, mixed with a weird turntable 'spin-back' effect, that seems to be simultaneously distorting the sound & Wyatt's voice, over which he textures the sound with vocal 'Hums' & 'Ahhs', before choosing to sing some 3 minutes into the track, one of the strongest tracks, held together by the strangest of ideas. Track 4 "Alifib" leans towards, the eerie detached, reflective electro-synth, that feels like the evocative, mournful, sample-laden downtempo sounds of electronic outfit "Boards of Canada", that starts this track, with delicately plucked guitar shuffling quietly in the background. Wyatt lets the track slowly build momentum, and along with the melancholy synth, is arguably inventive and builds on the abundance of ideas throughout the album, and although the unusual sounds, may disorientated new listeners, they demand several listens to fully appriceate.

"Alife" uses a crackily sound distortion, with a odd off-kilter tabla-esque percussion and gloomy piano, a decidedly downcast saxophone, that punctuate the sound with wild Sax flourishes broaden the sound. Wyatt sounds like he's having a theatrical conversation with someone (or indeed himself??), whilst the instrumentation gathers pace, with drums gaining in tempo, whilst the Sax shrieks, with the unrestrained fury of the 'Free-Jazz' that someone like the legendary 'John Coltrane' so vigorously championed. It will at this point become a little clearer to most, that with each song, Wyatt is pushing the level of experimentation on each successive song, moving from more accepted Pop-conventions, into a more left-field Progressive Art-rock sound and becoming more increasingly psychedelic, that have some listeners (like myself) applauding his genre experimentation and attempts to offer a varied suite of songs that although broadly based in conventional genres (Pop / Rock ), are fused and intergrated with other genres to thrilling effect: (Jazz / Art-Rock / Progressive / Psychedelia).

"Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road", is possibly closer in overall sound and composition to "Sea Song", with more jaunty feel....but a driving and militaristic Drum beat pounds over the top, with a stunning electric style Guitar, that immediately evokes comparisons to 'Pink Floyd' , with a uniform tone, ranging from the pastoral, but swiftly making the excursion into more lilting 'Space-rock' rhythms, mixed with gentle Violin, that isn't usually applied in these sorts of tracks, yet remains frequently intriguing, feeling like an appealingly mannered, very English form of psychedelia, before the track takes a complete U-turn and morphs in a distinctly theatrical dance production based on the idea of a cosmic and rustic theme. The transition into theatrical music, will surprise many, and I myself had to check to see, if it was indeed a hidden track that had started playing, as it seems a slightly strange choice to finish the album on, but theres no denying that The melancholy strings and plaintive piano are beautiful, and feels like an underrated orchestral epic.

Giving this album 5 Stars, hasn't been a difficult decision, as Wyatt has a sound that is uniquely his, and his ideas and styles are so varied that, it's an album that has enough ideas to double the 6 tracks that make up this album. It's a album that'll certainly blur (or indeed Change) your preceptions of what can be accomplished within Popular music, and even though his music isn't something associated with retail performance, he is most definitely deserving of the critical praise heaped upon him. But the harder decision to make is who to recommend this album to??? Newcomers would (as it pains me to say it) , be probably better served with a 'Best of' (try his : 'Greatest Misses' album for starters), as it's a easier introduction to his music, as the decidedly quaint and English eccentricities that are littered throughout this album, may cause first timers to wonder, 'What all the fuss was about?', but those that are familiar with his work: fans or otherwise (I downloaded a couple of tracks....loved it, and then bought the album), are advised to add this exceptional gem to their collections immediately.

Avant-Garde. Wyatt captures a fleeting moment of revealing humanity on record. Not an easy task and probably something too etherial to plan. A full range of human emotions flows through Wyatt, and a profound energy is present. It is hard to find such powerful and "real" recordings these days and it holds up as a landmark of musical expression. A very very special record.

It seems there is little I can add to the already thoughtful analyses posted here, but I love this album with such a passion that I had to get my two cents in:

"Rock Bottom" is progressive rock's answer to the "Dark Night Of The Soul" album which includes the wondrous likes of Nico's "The Marble Index", The Kinks' "Village Green Preservation Society", Neil Young's "On The Beach" and "Tonight's The Night", "The Who By Numbers" and Sly And The Family Stone's "There's A Riot Goin' On". And who in the prog field was more capable of making such an album than Robert Wyatt? Backward Spanish horns going at 200 MPH; airy keyboard textures; wordless, eerily searching vocal experiments; sharp, piercing sax squeals; elegiac violins matched to Ivor Cutler's insane ramblings: what the hell is this? Although most "Dark Night Of Soul" albums are song-oriented, the largely instrumental tracks here say as much in their bizarre ebb and flow as any amount of wordplay; given that, the lyrics are also a hoot and a half. By turns beautiful, melodic, humorous, violent, searching, cathartic, humble and epic, the album manages to subvert all of these moods, so that one finds beauty in pain, and pain in beauty. One of the keys which makes this such a seminal work is that all six songs seem to flow into each other naturally, wandering from mood to mood so that each note sounds 100% authentic--and yet there is also a method to the madness. Overall, this is one great Taoist truth of an album, the like of which will most probably never be repeated again. I'll bet you didn't expect that from your average prog-rock hero, now did you?

Rock Bottom was primarily written & recorded during Wyatt's recovery from a horrific (alcohol induced?) fall from a fire escape which left Wyatt, a fine drummer, paralyzed from his waist down. To know the kind of transition Wyatt was making while putting together this beautiful record only deepens the tremendous emotional resonance contained within. The unitiated listener still has a maginificent pop record to devour.

Wyatt retained his experimental tastes, his hickory-smoked wonderboy voice and sense for haunting melody. The first offering, "Sea Song" is a trance-inducing couch trip. Over tipsy, swirling keyboard chords, Wyatt recites his Cockney ode. The scat sung coda, however, is where this song takes flight. He sounds completely vulnerable here, scatting in a fairly unorthodox way over this sad, euphoric chord progression, while also sounding very sure of himself, vocally. Alternately triumphant and devastated, the passage sounds as though he's actually coming to grips with the idea that he's a changed man. Creepy in a luxurious way.

The record shifts into a very fluid, dark jazzbo mode, with Wyatt's vocals becoming increasingly slurred and one with the overall musical tapestry. Nick Mason's clean, simple production really pays off in these songs -- the crisp hit of a cymbal bell, a mountain of reverb on the horns, the sweetly textured bass guitar, some David Gilmour slide work. It's all very rich. (Note: Floyd fandom is not a prerequisite to the enjoyment of this record)

The record finishes off on a rather experimental note. Still very trance-like, whispering and spoken passages surface. While these left-field flourishes aren't entirely satisfying to this listener (some of it is just plain bizarro), they exist within the context of lush, moody, melodic music, so Joe PopMusic should be able to deal. I'm Joe PopMusic & look at me.

Rock Bottom is surely not a record for everyone, but I've been surprised by some of the people I know who really fell for this record; people I felt sure would find it too slippery, too obtuse, really loved it. Most of them didn't even know Wyatt's story, so it stands up with or without the melodrama.

Although a big fan of Soft Machine's "Third" back in the early seventies, I couldn't ever come to grips with Robert Wyatt's peculiar singing on 'Moon In June'. It has taken me a long time to open up my mind to this unique artist. It was the constant references to this album as a 'classic' that finally wore down my resistance. Well, of course, the more I read, the more I come across albums that I missed that are supposed classics. When you finally hear them, the reaction is usually of the "I guess you just had to be there" variety. Not with this one - it's a corker and sounds fresh to me, despite the fact that it's over 25 years old.

Any album that sounds so inventive and can affect me so much after a generation has passed is, indeed, a classic! I hope his madness fits in nicely with your own.

I've been a fan of the Soft Machine for a few years now and decided to check out what was described to me as Robert Wyatt's "singer/songwriter" work. That title carries some connotations (not bad) that led me to believe that what I was going to hear was a voice with an acoustic guitar, but with Wyatt's unique voice and creative stamp. After getting to know this amazing album, I can definitely say that "singer/songwriter," as it's usually used (from folk artists to less-worthy lite rock) doesn't really accurately describe this music. I guess I can't complain too much though, since Wyatt wrote the songs and he's singing. As usual, so much for labels, which this album proves in spades--there's no use trying to classify it, and to cage this bird with a label would only restrain its wild beauty.

Rock Bottom is a great record. As a fan of Soft Machine, I was pleased to hear his familiar unique voice and also his quirky, sometimes impressionistic lyrics in a less psychedelic jazzy jam style than the Machine records. There is jazz influence and playing on this album, but I can't say it would be helpful to call the whole thing jazz. Like I said before, labels won't do this music justice.

This album is great, but it's pretty weird too. If you're a big classic rock radio fan, you'll probably be turned off on first listen, but then again most people will probably take a few listens to really get familiar with this music. Besides, if you're exclusively a radio rock fan, you probably won't find this record. Either way, don't give up after one listen.

The opening track is layered with synths and wanders slowly as Wyatt curiously describes a lover using ocean metaphors and ends with the conclusion that they are both mad. It's a pretty trippy track with lots of texture and a gripping lyric. What really makes this track priceless for me is Wyatt's wordless vocal solo that closes the song. What a voice! The second track contains some more great scatting, as Wyatt makes his voice sound quite a bit like a brass instrument. Innovative use of his voice and other instruments paired with some desolate lyrics bring this one closer to expression of his feelings after the accident that paralyzed him from the waist down.

"Little Red Riding Hood" is great, starting with a bizarre, unique brass arrangement, with stream-of-consciousness lyrics that really provide the listener with a window into his feelings about his physical and mental state. The backwards vocal at the end really sounds great along with the galloping groove set first by the trumpets. The companions "Alifib" and "Alifie" present some more innovation with a whispered word as percussion and another atmospheric soundscape that leads into another bizarre lyric about eating Alifie (I guess you'll probably have to listen to it yourself to get the idea) both sung by Wyatt and with a spoken word section. The closing track, "Little Red Robin Hood" has some really wicked guitar and yet another quirky vocal a cappella closing section.

I'm pretty well aware that this description fails to capture the essence of Wyatt's masterpiece and also makes it sound pretty strange as well. Unfortunately, like many classic works of art, Rock Bottom has to be experienced to be appreciated and better understood. Words really can't do it justice, of course, but my hope is that the words in this review at least encourage you to check it out and have the unique and awesome experience of listening to this music for yourself. It might not be mainstream enough to please everybody, but if everything sounded the same, records like Rock Bottom wouldn't be so special. Keep your mind and ears open wide and I think you'll be rewarded. Hope you check it out!