Customer Reviews

Sound on Sound

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In these days of CD reissues and hindsight reappraisals, there are too many albums that are being retrospectively labelled as a 'forgotten classic' or an 'obscure masterpiece', whilst their creators find themselves elevated to the status of 'neglected genius'. Very few are worthy of such audacious epithets but 'Sound on Sound', finally released on CD twenty years after its vinyl debut, is one where such proclamations hold water.

Bill Nelson had established his name as singer/songwriter in the mid-seventies with Be Bop Deluxe, releasing five studio albums in five years, each of which progressed their initial Ziggy-plays-Yes hybrid, evolving it into a highly distinctive quasi-futuristic commercial rock sound. By 1978 Nelson was lauded as one of the most gifted and creative guitarists this country has ever produced, regularly featuring in the top-ten polls run by the music press, and lionized by magazines such as International Musician and Guitarist. Yet he was becoming increasingly bored by the musical limitations of his role as axe hero and the expectations that went along with it. He thus split Be Bop and, with one ear on New Wave acts such as Magazine and fellow labelmates Wire, and another on the emerging electronic influence of Kraftwerk and The Yellow Magic Orchestra, he produced a record which sounded unlike anything else released that year. With its angular rhythms, layered synthetics, and Dave Mattacks' idiosyncratic drum patterns, 'Sound-on-Sound' was immediately notable for its total absence of guitar solos. To many Be Bop fans, still in a quandary after the minimalism of the previous year's `Drastic Plastic' release this was like Jimi Hendrix recording an album on the flugel horn. Yet, as Bill himself sung, with Be Bop he was "out of touch" but with Red Noise, essentially a troupe of session musicians rounded-up for recording purposes, he was cutting edge, and that meant discarding the self-indulgent guitar solo that had been the trademark of rock music for well over a decade and an intrinsic part of his own previous work. Yet the most exceptional feature of this album is not the way it rejects conventional rock cliches, although that in itself is refreshing, but the actual songs themselves. This is by far the most commercial record Nelson ever made, each track a pop gem, every chorus a radiant burst of understated sing-along passion. Titles like 'Art/Empire/Industry' and 'Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric)' belie the outright catchiness of their hooks. This was pop music of the future, firmly grounded in the now, whilst simultaneously waiving goodbye to the seventies and the musical excesses that went with it.

'Sound on Sound' was indeed a record ahead of its time - but only just! Within eighteen months David Bowie would release his own rock/pop/science fiction vision for the eighties, 'Scary Monsters' (recorded with Be Bop and Red Noise keyboard player Andrew Clark), and the synth-pop movement, typified by Ultravox and Gary Numan, would storm the UK charts, giving birth to New Romanticism en route. Yet somehow, unlike his peers output, 'Sound-on-Sound' still sounds fresh, as though it were recorded last month rather than two decades ago. Perhaps that is because the resonances of this sole Red Noise album can still heard today in major label acts such as Elastica, Ultrasound and Gay Dad, as well as in underground outfits like Cardiacs (their entire recorded output - thirteen albums worth - all contain variations on the 'Sound-on-Sound' template).

Now turned fifty, Nelson continues to make albums, last year signing to Robert Fripp's DGM label. Since the late-eighties he has become increasingly infatuated with capturing the creative spark at work, improvising material direct to tape and describing it as 'sonic snapshots', sketches rather than finished pieces. This resulted in many of his innumerable CD releases sounding like a collection of half-baked ideas haphazardly flung together as opposed to the fully-rounded soundscapes he used to construct. Although his latest, 'Atom Shop', is something of a return to form, 'Sound-on-Sound' captures Nelson at his creative and artistic peak. Buy it, enjoy it, stay young (and keep in touch).

Richard Scarr

I don't know if I would categorize this recording as `the best Bill Nelson album ever', like another reviewer - but it's certainly right up there at or near the top. The problem with such `top album' lists with an artist like Nelson is that his creativity is so very diverse - he works so well in so many genres that it's hard to pick a single `best' recording. One only has to look at (rather, listen to) his incredible album of music for Jean Cocteau's classic film LA BELLE ET LE BĘTE to understand the breadth and depth of Nelson's creative spirit. Cocteau is an artistic hero to Nelson - and LA BELLE is a fine homage to the master. As founder and guiding light of legendary UK band Be-Bop Deluxe, Nelson produced some great guitar-driven, intelligent rock and roll - Red Noise is sort of an extension of that, with some of the punk-rock sensibilities and attitudes of the late 1970s (the album was originally released in 1979) thrown in for good measure. The incredibly varied solo albums that he has produced - and continues to produce - illustrate that he has a lot yet to offer.

After the breakup of Be-Bop Deluxe - which Nelson described as a weight being lifted from his shoulders (being in a band for a long stretch can feel like that, even in the best of situations) - Nelson put together Red Noise. Andy Clarke, the keyboard player from Be-Bop Deluxe, came along, joined by Ian Nelson (Bill's brother) on saxophone and Rick Ford on bass. On this recording, drumming chores are handled by Bill, with some tracks featuring Dave Mattacks. Mattacks, from UK folk-roots band Fairport Convention, might seem like an unlikely choice for such a high-energy outfit as Red Noise - but he holds up his end more than adequately. For the tour that followed the release of this album, American Steve Peer was enlisted - there are some live tracks available (originally the b-sides of singles) that showcase his work.

Nelson's rock and roll/sci-fi visions that he expressed so lucidly over the years in Be-Bop Deluxe take full flight on this album - and the energy level is cranked up to the top right from the first bars of the opener, `Don't touch me (I'm electric)', right through to the last notes of `Revolt into style'. Close editing - VERY short pauses between some of the tracks - gives the whole project a feeling of unrelenting, driving energy. The pairing of `Stay young' (the final track on side one of the original lp), with its final line of `Stay young...and keep in touch' with `Out of touch' (the first track on side two of the lp) is especially effective (and humorous). The pace is almost draining - there are no slow tracks here, so get ready for a ride. Every track is a great one - there are no throwaways here. For me, the album's highlight is a song that I think was also one of the `most perfect singles ever released' - `Furniture music'. Every time this cd makes it into my car player, and that song comes on, I find myself hitting the `replay' button several times.

This is an album from the late 1970s that I find just as entertaining here in the 21st century - but I think that's where Mr. Nelson has been leading us all along...

Okay, it ain't the CD itself that's bad. True, it's only a set of LP tracks, so 38:20 is a kinda short CD, but we expect that sometimes, especially with rarities. My problem is that I like liner notes, & especially so for an artist as complicated as Bill Nelson. Bad enough I don't get the lyric sheet, but this is one of the very few albums where Nelson worked with more than two or three musicians.

"Bill Nelson goes New Wave"? Nelson LED the New Wave, if anything. I suppose if April Wine & Bad Company are New Wave for *you*, dude...

Best tunes (no losers): Furniture Music; The Atom Age

Buy it. Enjoy it. If you know anything about British pop music of the 1970s & '80s, savour the following.

Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric)
BN: vocals, electric guitars, drums
Andy Clark: Yamaha grand piano, Mini Moog
Ian Nelson: alto saxophones
Rick Ford: bass guitar

For Young Moderns
BN: vocals, electric guitars, Mini Moog, drums
AC: Yamaha CS80, grand piano
RF: bass guitar

Stop/Go/Stop
BN: vocals, electric guitars, drums, Mini Moog, vocoder
AC: Vox Continental, Yamaha grand piano
RF: bass guitar

Furniture Music
BN: vocals, electric guitars, Mini Moog, drums
AC: Yamaha CS80, Mini Moog
RF: bass guitar

Radar In My Heart
BN: vocals, electric guitars, bass guitar, drums
AC: Yamaha CS80, Yamaha grand piano
IN: alto & tenor saxophones

Stay Young
BN: vocals, electric guitars, harmonica, electric piano, bass guitar, drums
AC: Vox Continental, grand piano
IN: alto saxophone, string machine

Out Of Touch
BN: vocals, electric guitars, drums
AC: Yamaha CS80
IN: Synthaphone, Wurlitzer piano, string machine
RF: bass guitar

A Better Home In The Phantom Zone
BN: vocals, electric guitars
AC: Yamaha CS80, Yamaha grand piano, Mini Moog
IN: alto saxophone, clarinet
RF: bass guitar
Dave Mattacks: drums, STS-3 synth drums

Substitute Flesh
BN: vocals, electric guitars, percussion
AC: Yamaha CS80, Mini Moog
IN: Wurlitzer piano, string machine
RF: bass guitar
DM: drums, STS-3 synth drums

The Atom Age
BN: vocals, electric guitars, drums
AC: Yamaha CS80, Mini Moog
IN: tenor sax, Wurlitzer piano, string machine
RF: bass guitar

Art/Empire/Industry
BN: vocals, electric guitars, Mini Moog, vocoder, percussion
AC: Yamaha CS80
IN: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, Wurlitzer piano, string machine
RF: bass guitar
DM: drums, STS-3 synth drums

Revolt Into Style
BN: vocals, electric guitars
AC: Yamaha CS80, Yamaha grand piano
IN: altosaxop[hone
RF: bass guitar
DM: drums, STS-3 synth drums, percussion

The great thing about Bill Nelson's music is that he obliges you to bring out the adjectives in describing it... In fact, parts of this slam-bang take on futuristic pop take adjectives to the limit! "Don't Touch Me-I'm Electric": if you took away the shiny synths and extreme professionalism of the musicians, this would sound right at home on a hardcore punk album. "Brave New World for Young Moderns" settles into a charging groove where a just-bordering-on-insane piano solo dances all over the peremiters of the space station. "Stop/Go/Stop", "Keep Young and Stay In Touch", "Out of Touch": if you listen closely, these could be superhyped takes on 1920s pop -the kind you hear on old "Betty Boop" cartoons. Full of nonstop invention, strange sounds, rythmn changes, they take a few listens just to grasp everything that is happening. I love 'em! "Radar In My Heart" has a perfect lounge-lizard 1940's melody, set to a takesyourbreathaway tempo. "Build A Better Home In The Phantom Zone" is THREATENING, and it builds and builds, and the resolve at the peak of the instrumental break is stunning. Really, just so the reader will understand: this music isn't an "aren't-we-cute" excercise in whimsey; no, there is passion and sweat here, and though Bill often sings in metaphor and allusion, and plays different roles for each song, there is a dead-on seriousness to this disc that more than makes up for its lack in tempo variety; an urgency that, if you actually hear what he's saying, you just can't take lightly. "Art/Empire/Industry" and "Revolt Into Style" are anthemic in the best sense. And- amazingly, the disc doesn't end on a frantic note... but with a pause, a refelection, a gathering of forces, an almost classical acculumation of... hah hah! You'll just have to hear it.

I first heard Bill Nelson's Sound on Sound album upon initial release in 1979. I purchased the CD in 2004. Nothing has changed. The music is as fresh as it was 15 years ago. In fact after listening to the CD (I might add I have not heard the album in over 10 years since I use to borrow it from a friend) it is very apparent to me why the traditional music industry is imploding on itself....thank God!
Sound on Sound is one of those rarities that expects the listener no patience. It explodes off of the turntable/CD/DVD player with immediate excitement. Sure Don't Touch Me (I'M Electric) reeks with 70's analog vs 80's digital, but that is the beauty of this entire affair. The album crackles with snap your finger pop, embarcing synth textures, but never losing the melody.
If you enjoy being on the cutting edge of music it dosen't matter if you are 10 or 60, introduce Sound on Sound to your friends. If they like music for music sake they will applaud your musical wisdom.
Sound on Sound is a sonic crystal ball.

Bill Nelson, has created a masterpeice with this CD. An unforgetable listen.. I mean it goes from great song..to great song..to great song. including songs such as Don't Touch Me (I'm electric), Build a better Home in The Phantom Zone, Stop/Go/Stop, Furniture Music/ Art/Empire/Industry..I think I just mentioned half the LP, proving my point farther that this is with no doubt the best album of all time. there is nothing like it..and then add Bill Nelson's great guitaring and it's considered a masterpiece. (I have the lyrics off the Vinyl too!!!)

Bill Nelson, the hotshot guitarist for Be Bop Deluxe, broke up that band in 1978 to form Red Noise. He pretty much stopped with the guitar solos in favor of hyperkinetic pop. This angered longtime fans of Be Bop's glam/prog mix with lengthy guitar solos, but Nelson was changing with the times.

The music is mostly synth-driven guitar pop with some occasionally wild runs and clever time signature changes. Lyrics are Sci Fi in nature with lots of intellectual overtones and erudite charm. If you like early XTC (White Music & Go 2 era stuff...) or Sparks then this is right up your alley.

There was only one Red Noise album. The band was dropped from the label EMI before the second one could be released. Nelson later went on to do more electronic pop records then veered into ambient noodling, soundtracks, then home-made guitar pop again. His latest album is on Robert Fripp's label DGM and is called "Atom Shop". It kinda reminds me of Red Noise in a way, but more updated with modern instrumental sounds.

Intended to be the next Be Bop Deluxe album, SOUND ON SOUND was light years ahead of it's time, using elements of what would become techno, industrial, and the still in it's infancy new wave/synth pop.I still remember how blown away I was the minute DON'T TOUCH ME, I'M ELECTRIC burst from my speakers. "What the hell is Bill up to?" I asked myself. "Genius," was my response. Be Bop Deluxe's finale DRASTIC PLASTIC only hinted at this sound. RED NOISE was something totally alien at the time. Be Bop were more explorers than something unheard of.You can bet if Trent Reznor had an older brother, he would have nicked this album from him and found much inspiration on this disc.ATTENTION SONY MUSIC: Would you PLEASE issue GETTING THE HOLY GHOST ACROSS on CD now!?!

SOUND ON SOUND was Bill Nelson's first post-BeBop Deluxe album and virtually his last really polished effort before he went all DIY in the 80s. It's sort of an odd hybrid, call it Prog-Punk. A friend remarked it is like punk played by skilled musicians. The music is aggressive, jagged and mannered, the sound dense yet precise. This recipe works best on "A Better Home in the Phantom Zone". While there are some delightful surprises, like the harmonica break in "Stay Young", the relentless manic thrust gets a bit wearying. It feels like Nelson is trying too hard.

In BeBop, Nelson established himself as a full fledged guitar hero. But there's only one proper guitar solo here (solos being so un-punk) on "The Atom Age". Still, the tracks are dominated by Nelson's guitar, and he's probably at his career peak here, with masterful tone and technique. But he's beginning to spread himself thin, like playing drums on half the songs. Frankly, the tracks where studio stalwart Dave Mattacks sits behind the kit sound more grounded. And Nelson was always a minor league songwriter, albeit one with a terrific sense of melody. Unfortunately that skill is only on show in the rousing closer, "Revolt Into Style".

So this album will appeal to Nelson completists as a bridge between his BeBop Deluxe heyday and home studio solo work. It may also appeal to any prog-punk enthusiasts lurking out there.

Hyperactive, manic,frenzied--"Sound-on-Sound" is a blitzkrieg of sped-up robotic rhythms, sharp-edged razor guitars, brilliant imagistic lyrics and of course Bill Nelson's uniquely private vision of tomorrow as seen through the lens of Cocteau, Huxley, and Monty Python. Nelson was certainly aiming at all this during the last days of Be-Bop Deluxe. Anyone who listens to Drastic Plastic (particularly cuts like "Love in Flames" and "Superenigmatix" can clearly hear echoes of the then burgeoning punk/new wave sound). But "Sound-on-Sound" takes that sonic ethos to the nth degree and beyond. It's true that the pace of the album is exhausting and it's certainly true that the accelerated tempos of most of the songs will wear out even the most assiduous listener. But the studied art-school-sheen-cum-punk-attitude of songs like "A Better Home in the Phantom Zone," "Art/Empire/Industry" and "For Young Moderns" are simply too good to ignore. Comparable to Devo, XTC, The Normal and Ultraxov, it's a shame that Red Noise was able to crank out only one album. "Sound-on-Sound" is a must have for anyone interested in the development of electro-punk during the late 70s. Fans of Red Noise might also want to try finding the difficult to find EP "Aquitted by Mirrors."