There Is Loving/Margaret/Oh My/Song From The Bottom Of A Well/Whatevershebringswesing/Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes/Champagne Cowboy Blues/Lullabye
For this album former Soft Machine bassist Kevin Ayers recruited Mike Oldfield as a backing guitarist in the period before he found fame. The musical style here is considered very diverse although somewhat inconsistent.
“This one of his best records, unclassifiable, frustrating, occasionally beautiful, and nearly always indulgent. From the full on symphonic splendour of There Is Loving via the lilting Margaret and on through the almost ragtime arrangement of Oh My the record never sits still. Bottom Of A Well features a disturbed vocal from Ayers and some full on guitar work from Mike Oldfield, as does the other very weird track here Champagne Cowboy Blues.”
“Another ragged solo album from Kevin Ayers; like most of his it's a bit patchy and inconsistent, and the musical style is all over the place, but for some reason it works. The music is much like Ayers' public persona of a shabby but loveable posh hippy who has had a bit too much to drink. Unlike the previous album, this one is much more skewed towards catchy pop numbers.”
“An album that found Ayers returning to his strengths in part and completing failing for the most part. The mystical, twee There Is Loving and Margaret open the album with lush, colourful orchestration and Ayer's signature zombie Nick Drake voice. Sadly everything that follows, outside the pleasant enough Lullabye, is obnoxious, portentous or boring.”
“Generally a much more relaxed outing than Shooting At The Moon, the title track in particular being very sweet, featuring a lovely solo from Mike Oldfield. Song From The Bottom Of A Well is the most unusual and dark track on offer, and the other stand-out track, Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes, went on to become one of his best loved songs.”
No comments:
Post a Comment