Customer Reviews

Squeezing Out Sparks & Live Sparks

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an album that came close to changing my life! In 1978 I first heard this while browsing for vinyl at the local college record store. Parker and the Rumour were playing, introducing me to what we called "new wave" at the time. Trouser Press used to debate whether Elvis Costello or Graham Parker was the best band of this new era of rock and roll, giving the edge to Parker because of the back-up band! History may have chosen differently, but this is an album that can still bring a tingle to your spine! If you have not heard it, you owe it to yourself to give it a listen. If you like it, then you need to find a copy of "Live--Alone in America" to hear the most stripped down, soulful version of someone who completely "gets it" even if his talent is not singing, but interpreting.

It is amazing that of all the names that emerged from the New Wave era that Graham Parker's name hasn't figured more prominently in North America. "Squeezing Out Sparks" combines great tunes with intelligent and thought provoking lyrics that covers a variety of subjects. The UFO craze of the 1970's and the future X-Files are covered in "Waiting For The UFO's". Teenage angst and hormones are addressed in "Local Girls" and "Saturday Night Is Dead". The album is in fact an amazing analysis of the human condition in "Nobody Hurts You", "You Can't Be Too Strong", "Passion Is No Ordinary Word", and "Don't Get Excited". All told, this is an album that never bores. The Live Sparks version adds an interesting dimension to an already memorable album.

Squeezing Out Sparks closes the seventies British pup rock era on a high note. Yes, the music is loose, unpretentious and back-to-basics rock & roll; however, there's something left out, and something new added. Gone is the rebellious "angry young man," and in his place is an intelligent adult burning with a need to speak his mind. Past the point of "playing for the hell of it," Parker's compositions are eloquent expressions of passion and understanding.

The emotional center of the album is the burning acoustic ballad `You Can't Be Too Strong.' I understand how the line "It's just a mistake I won't have to face / Don't give it a name, don't give it a place / Don't give it a chance, it's lucky in a way" is easily interpreted as an indictment of abortion. Another interpretation may be that Parker is resentful that after releasing three albums, critics have pigeonholed him as a "good time" pub rocker. `Passion Is No Ordinary Word' questions the selfish act of sexual conquest: "Everything's a thrill / And every girl's a kill / And then it gets unreal / And then you don't feel anything." And although critics may have approved of his previous work, Parker names himself as his worst enemy ("Nobody hurts you...harder than yourself" from `Nobody Hurts You'). `Love Gets You Twisted' again examines the value of romance, sex and relationships.

Parker faces his fears in `Protection' pleading "Turn off all the information," but is unable to escape to a safe haven. If peace and tranquility are not possible on Earth, they may be awaiting in the skies above (`Waiting for the UFO's'). Both `Saturday Nite Is Dead' and `Local Girls' are aggressive, peddle-to-the-metal rockers from the Rumour. Squeezing Out Sparks is a brilliant and sophisticated ending to the seventies ushering in, well, how about five skinny punks from New York.

This is my favorite album of all time. Period.

I saw Parker and the Rumour when they toured for this record, at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. I was 15 or 16. It was the best live show I have ever witnessed, by anybody. I've seen hundreds of shows, and never seen anything like it before or since.

The stage is low, about a foot higher than the seats in the front row. There is an apron around the stage, sort of like an orchestra pit without the hole. From time to time Parker would drag his mic stand around with him and prowl across that apron at the front row. It was menacing and scary.

The force of the performance was overwhelming. I have never seen a band play with commitment like the Rumour did that night. They played as if their lives depended on it.

During the show keyboardist Bob Andrews (stage left, the side I was on) kept encouraging people in the front rows to get up and dance, which they did. By the end of the show the stage was packed with people while the band played "Mercury Poisoning". And they were all about 100 feet away.

I might suspect that my memories were idealizated versions of what that concert really was, if not for Live Sparks. Listening to it now, I've still never heard anything like it. From Parker or anybody.

I saw Parker again on the Another Grey Area tour, he was good. I saw the Rumour back up Garland Jefferies (also at the Guthrie) and they were very good.

But can anyone find another live album that sounds like this? It's hard like hard punk, but it swings like R&B. It's very simple song structures, played simply, by a band that can play very complicated music. The confidence in their playing is overwhelming. The lead guitar playing is incredible. The rythmn section sounds like a pissed off clock. The rythmn guitar playing...etc.

For those who didn't get this when it was released, buy it and you'll feel you've stumbled upon some great lost rock civilization that you never knew existed. Graham Parker, one of the the 3 Angry Young Englishmen (with Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson) of the late 70's New Wave movement, proved he was superior to Jackson and the equal of Costello with this release. What he didn't have was Elvis' staying power and growth potential, but catch this album to hear an artist at the absolute top of his craft and at the absolute top of an entire pop genre. Listen for Brinsley Schwarz on guitar standing out as the consummate lead instrumentalist.

Without a doubt, "Squeezing Out Sparks" is Graham Parker's finest work. He most thoroughly demonstrates his versatile songwriting abilities here. His songs range from hilarious ("Waiting for the UFO's") to the somber ("You Can't Be Too Strong") to angry ("Protection"). Though Parker still puts out quality albums such as 2001's "Deepcut To Nowhere," he will never match this phenomenal achievement. I have failed to find one song on the album which I would not classify as excellent. My personal favorite would be "Passion Is No Ordinary Word" (We've got new idols on the screen today, although they make a lot of noises they've got nothing to say, I try to look amazed but it's an act, the movie might be new but it's the same soundtrack"). You shouldn't pass up on the witty, creative genius that is Graham Parker.

Ah, to have a touchstone like this in your career: an album that clearly defines you as an artist, and is a critical or financial success (or both!), to boot. Some do it with their first albums (Velvet Underground, Sex Pistols), some wait until their second or third (Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan)....Graham Parker was on his fourth try out when he recorded the album by which all others in his career would be judged.

Squeezing Out Sparks is the high water mark of Parker's career for a variety of reasons: first, the Rumour had solidified into one of the best rock bands of the seventies, as comfortable playing reggae riffs as well as traditional rock and, of course, that spare, lean, "new wave" sound. Second, Parker's vocals are impassioned without being histrionic, or overly Van Morrison-esque (as was the case on Howlin Wind). And third, the songs, the songs, the songs! Easily Parker's best set. Here you'll find no filler, no overt bitterness, and a healthy dose of pure Parker cynicism. This is sharp, cynical paranoia with a beat. You can dance to it.

From the opener "Discovering Japan," through more universal concerns ("Passion is No Ordinary Word", "Love Gets You Twisted"), and on to the proto X-Files "Waiting For the UFO's", this album doesn't let up. GP and the Rumour whip up a lean, driving pub-rock/new-wave stew that varies enough to keep the casual listener interested and yet maintains a "band" sound throughout. Truly a defining moment for the Rumour.

As a lyricist, Parker uses ordinary language to put across his most subtle intentions ("I try to straighten out but I'm tangled up, it's true/I can't see the other point of view/And love gets you twisted"). Simple, direct, and compelling, especially with Brinsley Schwarz's guitar providing a great melody and the the rhythm section of Andrew Bodnar (bass) and Steve Goulding (drums) laying down a granite-solid bottom.

I can't say enough good things about this album. Also, as a bonus, the CD includes "Live Sparks," which is the album in concert, along with the song "Mercury Poisoning," which was the first Parker diatribe against a former record company (see also "Success" from Mona Lisa's Sister).

A masterpiece that belongs in the collection of ANY serious music fan.

It pains me to see artists such as Graham PArker ignored while the world fawns on no talent acts that have all the substance of a breakfast cereal with no fiber. All you have to do is to restrain the airheads that buy all that other music, make 'em listen to a few cuts from this record and you've done your good deed for the day.

Parker is an angry guy - but better than that, he's a literate angry guy who actually has a point to make. Many can say the same thing - but it's his essemtial sense of style and wit that makes it happen so well.

"When I pretend to touch, you pretend to feel" can sum up so much in such a short space. This album pushes and tugs at you with a relentless fury and it simply demands that you listen to it. It won't allow you to put it on as background muzak - it gets in your face and says _HEAR THIS NOW!.

Of course, some folks might not want a CD to be in their face and might find a CD doing this to them to be a tad scary - but hey - it's Graham Parker and you have been warned. Listen to the record at least three times and it'll be on your short list forever.

This is what the CD age should be about. The music is superior pop. "You Can't be too Strong" still kills, the live stuff just makes it a huge bargain and this is Parker's absolute best.

This is truly one of the definitive albums of the 1970s--and the closest Graham Parker has ever gotten to perfection in both songwriting and execution. The Rumour, as always, are remarkably tight, backing Parker with sharp, snarling instrumental work. The lyrics are superb--both funny and affecting. Standout tracks include "Discovering Japan," "Protection," and of course, "You Can't Be Too Strong." One of the best albums of the 1970s--as good as the best work from his contemporary, Elvis Costello.