Customer Reviews

Time of the Last Persecution (Reis)

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

 

 

Can there be anything better than discovering someone long forgotten ? The idea of giving someone their very long overdue due has certainly prompted me to write this .Suffice to say that all the comparisons made to ray davies and nick drake are right on. Not that Bill Fay sounds anything like either of them, but on the strength of this album his name deserves to be spoken in the same breath .
Recorded in 1971 the album has a strong spirtual /religous theme, which may have alienated reviewers back in the day but in todays climate reveals someone who is making music for personal and artistic reasons instead of financial ones .
As for the musical style it is not hard to see why Wilco's Jeff Tweedy is reputed to be such a fan. It's somehow reminsecent of Tweedy's more intense and ruminative moments on the current' a ghost is born'.
What also comes across clearly in the liner notes to the CD, written by Bill Fay himself, is what i nice guy he is. There's not a trace of bitterness for a career cut short by commercial failure (his contract wasn't renewed after he recorded this ) All he talks about is how grateful he was to be given a chance to record the albums he did.
In conclusion the overall imression you get from this amazing example of singer songwriting ,which will be the best retro album you'll buy this year if you purchase it, is of a man full of honesty and purity of heart making something he truly believed in.
May his revival continue..

Some ink has been spilled comparing Bill Fay to the likes of Nick Drake, Ray Davies or a one-man Lennon/McCartney. All of which is perfectly understandable when you listen to his eponymous 1971 debut. This album is another story entirely.

While still being infectiously melodic, PERSECUTION is far darker & self indulgent. If I had to compare it to anything I'd say it's a cross between Leonard Cohen's SONGS OF LOVE & HATE & Skip Spence's OAR. Doom-laden, apocalyptic imagry abounds. On the cover Fay looks like a long lost member of the Manson family. Yet, as paranoid & bizarre as it all is, Fay's penchant for melody shines through. Where his previous release was grandly orchestrated, PERSECUTION strips things down to Fay's piano & some rather dated 70's Rock backing. But one can't help but be amused by the lead guitarist's bursts of over-the-top shredding.

As with all of Fay's work, the melancholy is pervasive, especially in haunting ballads like " I Hear You Calling", "Dust Filled Room" & the flamenco inflected "Marigolds". Fay's lyrics verge on the arcane else where. The sheer obtuseness of "Release Is In The Eye" & "Inside The Keeper's Pantry" can't help but further the notion that Fay was suffering a nervous breakdown at the time. (A legend, Fay gracefully dispells in the liner notes). But without a doubt, both songs are unforgettable.

Granted some of the prophetic imagry gets more than a little heavy handed. Titles like "Till The Christ Comes Back" & "Time Of The Last Persecution" are enough to make your eyes roll. But eerily prescient numbers like "Plan D" & "Pictures Of Adolf Again" make up for it. By album's end, Fay seems to have all but curled up in a fetal postion, clutching his Teddy Bear. A sentiment that would be downright mawkish if the rest of the album weren't teetering so on-the-brink.

It's no small wonder Fay was dropped by his label after this & fans of his more approachable work are likely to find this an acquired taste. But just give a few spins & you'll find out truley remarkable this album is. It's one of those records like, OAR or Captain Beefheart's TROUT MASK REPLICA. You may not listen to it everyday, but it's too unique to part with.

Also recommended: BILL FAY,FROM THE BOTTOM OF A GRANDFATHER CLOCK (a stunning collection of early demos)& TOMORROW TOMORROW & TOMORROW (a series of late 70's/early 80's recordings).

4.5 stars.

Time Of The Last Persecution is a CD that I first listened to after hearing Bill Fay's debut disc. While I found that disc over-orchestrated, I liked several of the songs on it. But it did nothing to prepare me for this - a very dark disc where exorcising of demons seemed to be taking place.
After first listening to it and thinking that it was not too bad but nothing extraordinary, I put it back on the shelf for a month or 2. Coming back to it, I found it hard to take it out of my disc player. It has now become one of my favorites by anyone, when taken as a whole.
The arrangements are a bit like what you might hear the band Chicago play back in 1970 if they were playing a really dark, heavy set of songs. Lots of horns. Rock backing that's heavy on piano and acoustic guitar. On listening to the disc, it's understandable why Fay looks so unkempt on the cover, compared to his last album. He has clearly gone through some rough times and come out on the other side with this collection.
I love several of these tracks, the first 3 in particular are a great listen if you have enough time to listen to all at once.
One thing is certain - I don't have any other albums that sound like this one. I have to recommend this and ask listeners to be patient and not expect anything they already know - certainly not Dylan, Davies or Drake, as the cover sticker implies. Though you can certainly hear all 3 influences in Fay's fine writing.
File under Heavy, Takes Time To Get Into But It's Worth It. Helps if you're open to something that is sounds like an exorcism took place just prior to recording.

I came to this artist, and this particular CD, by my beloved Mojo magazine. I have been rarely dissapointed by their suggestions, and it was thanks to them that I discovered artists that now stand as some of my favorites, like Nick Drake, Jude Sill, Stephen Duffy and The Lilac Time, to name a few.
In this case I'm not sure about how this music is going to grow on me. I have been listening to the CD and find it hard to believe they gave it five stars.
In any case, Bill Fay is NOT Nick Drake, he definetely sounds more like in an American tradition, and sometimes he is seems trying to sing like Bob Dylan. There was some myth about he not recording anything from the early 70s., but he is not Syd Barret either. His songs are really good, but nothing from outer space.
There are a couple of things that disturbed me. First, his voice reminds me of Ringo Starr's, which is fine, but takes away all the seriousness of the whole thing. Number two, I strongly dislike the guitarrist's work, it's too loud and amateurish.
Nevertheless, and all that said, I do believe Bill Fay is a serious composer, and his work deserves to be more widely known among the other great songsmiths of his era.