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Rating: The fourth album by Cattiva Compagnia was released in 1977, at the height of the disco and punk boom, with a not quite groundbreaking cover: a grainy silhouette of the quartet with frontman Paul Rodgers at the forefront, dressed in unsightly Japanese robe and bandana.
The work remains within the (very good) quality average of the group... There are a couple or maybe three truly remarkable tracks, but more generally one appreciates their habitual way of creating rhythm and melody with very few ingredients: a riff here, a slide guitar strike there, a few piano chords on top, a bass groove underneath, and so on. The exceptional vocal texture and the splendid blues attitude of the poorly dressed frontman, after all, would manage to give a rock dignity even to a possible Abba cover. And then there's always Mick Ralphs’ guitar teaching everyone how to proceed with few but clear ideas, fearlessly inserting wide syncopations between chords, thus allowing the songs to breathe and better savor the fine nuances of his singer's voice. The metronomic and powerful drumming of Simon Kirke and the simple yet intelligent bass of the late Boz Burrell (he passed away in 2006) close the circle.
The album opens magnificently with the song that titles the entire work, characterized by a penetrating up-tempo from Kirke, who cyclically anticipates the snare hit on every second fourth beat. Rodgers begins to describe apocalyptic visions inspired by a dream, but it's curious that for a visual representation, an image inside the cover of the Catinaccio, one of the most spectacular and rugged Dolomite groups, was chosen, with the marvelous Vajolet Towers in the foreground as they appear from Santner Pass, but with the blue sky tinged in burning red.
The prelude of "Burning Sky" and the whole album is a classic thunder, while the second track "Morning Sun" opens with an equally classic bell... it's somewhat predictable, but certainly not the voice of Rodgers, who here bravely leans on a persistent guitar arpeggio drenched in flanger, an effect extremely fashionable at the time. It's all curiously lightened by a flute in the hands of guest Mel Collins, a friend of bassist Boz given their previous common involvement in King Crimson.
"Leaving You" is a robust Free-style rock blues (the group of origin of both Rodgers and Kirke), i.e., thrifty to the max: few guitar chords, and then it's up to the singer to warm the spirits and dignify the piece. The excellent Ralphs grants himself the first solo, at his typical maximum speed of ten notes per minute, but on this occasion, he seems to focus on the style of the late Paul Kossoff of Free (who died the year before), a true and unsurpassed devil in the realm of one-note-at-a-time tortured guitar solos.
"Like Water" is a bluesy, ancestral, and mannered ballad, without verses, with just the chorus cycling, the only variation being a delightful and mellifluent slide guitar solo in the style of George Harrison. The subsequent "Knapsack" is merely an interlude, a drunken choir surely organized on the spot in the studio after abundant intake of substances for amusement.
"Everything I Need" steals the chords just like "Sweet Jane" by the Velvet Underground, but Rodgers diversifies it with a rhythm&blues-style singing, pushed to the extreme limits of his (not impressive) vocal range. The lyrics are particularly insignificant, as are the lyrics of the subsequent "Heartbeat", although it is decided and piercing in its role as a filling rock piece.
"Peace Of Mind" is composed and... presented by drummer Kirke, who speaks the first words of the text. It is a modestly inspiring ballad, and Ralphs lets us know he agrees with me by living through it distractedly, inserting a few insignificant semi-clean guitar licks. The next one, pianistic "Passing Time", is also not up to par, somewhat clumsy and poorly mixed... It's a situation I would call classic: fillers in albums are placed three-quarters through the tracklist, after firing the best cartridges at the start and before the grand finale with one or two really worthy tracks, just to leave a good memory and the desire to listen again.
And here comes the grand finale: first "Too Bad", a sweaty and heavy rock, with a textbook blues riff, often proposed during our career concerts (and occasionally also with some guest performing solos... in this regard, seen Neil Schon and Slash, for example). Even better is the penultimate "Man Needs A Woman": the words and melody of the chorus are just right, and Rodgers' voice here is more sonorous than a warning siren! It's an irresistible rock'n'roll that not even Collins manages to ruin with some uncertain alto sax honking, fortunately followed by a good tenor solo, an instrument with which he feels decidedly more at ease.
The closure "Master Of Ceremony" is dragged out, boozy and experimental among reversed tapes, an incredibly lascivious and sing-song Rodgers proceeding interminably, with an organ (probably in the hands of the same singer) holding it all together; once again Mick Ralphs, a guy of all rationality and rigor, is not having any fun and throws in four easy notes... After all, he fled years earlier from Mott The Hoople precisely because he couldn't stand glam, glitter, various drugs, chaos, and self-indulgence.
An album of old seventies rock blues, simple but made superb by the great attitude of the performers, all four of them indiscriminately, or almost (there's only one Rodgers in the world, God bless him).
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Burnin' Sky (05:19)
The sky is burnin'
I believe my soul's on fire
You right, I'm learning, the key to my desire
Waiting for the van arrive
The prisoners werw lined up outside
Jumped a wall, hitched a ride and now I'm here to stay
Love you baby anyway
The sky is burnin'
I believe my soul's on fire
You right, I'm learning the key to my desire
Ran across the country fields in all the rain
They had guns and dogs and everything
Swam the river tryin' to lose my trail
But they caught me; under the bridge, Who yeah!
The sky is burnin'
I believe my soul's on fire
You right, I'm learning the key to my desire, oh yeah
The judge said this man's a danger to humanity
We're gonna lock him up and throw away the key
Now baby, your love has sent me to jail
But I'd rather die than see you with another man
Yeah it's burnin' babe
I believe my soul's on fire
Working on the railroad every day
But they can't keep me here
And I'm not gonna stay
I got to get outta this place
Out to see you baby
Yeah it's burnin' babe
Oh, burnin'
I believe my soul's on fire
Oh, burnin'
Ah, yeah, ah oh ...
05 Knapsack (01:20)
Oh darling be mine tonight
Wont you be my baby and treat me right
Oh darling you know you're my only love
Baby baby like the sun above
She got a heart of gold and something i call soul
She got everything i need ain't no flies on me
Oh baby won't you love me tonight
Oh baby i'm gonna treat you right
Take my hand and hold me tight
Take you in my arms and love you tonight
She got a heart of gold and something i call soul
She got everything i need ain't no flies on me
Baby when you wrote that letter
It went right to my heart
When i opened the envelope
I kew we were going to part
Oh-u-oh-u baby baby don't you treat me like a fool
Because baby baby i once went to school
Oh you know that i love you and i always will
Oh baby you sent me your bill
07 Heartbeat (02:37)
I don't wanna lose myself in love again
But my heart beat keeps on hammering.
I met a little cuttie back in '66
She used to tie you up and beat you with a walking stick
I said mama call a doctor you must be sick
She told me thats the only way I get my kicks.
I don't wanna lose myself in love again
But my heart beat keeps on hammering.
Been around the world about a time and again
Met a little chick in a opium den
She put a spell on me that'd freeze a man
I said help me save me but she did it again.
I don't wanna lose myself in love again
But my heart beat keeps on hammering.
I met a little lady just yesterday
Lord she loves me in a special way
She put coffee in my tea and she love to say
I wanna hold and keep you now don't be afraid.
I don't wanna lose myself in love again
But my heart beat keeps on hammering
Don't wanna lose myself in love again
But my heart beat keeps on hammering.
12 Master of Ceremony (07:07)
Some people like to rock some people like to rollSome people like to walk some people like to rideSome people like to fly some people prefer the train rideIs sixteen coaches long
Yeah the train ride is sixteen coaches long
You say you wanna change society but you live onYou say you want change societyAnd you say you want to want to be free
People got to learn to live togetherPeople got to learn to live togetherYou can be communist a liberal conservative labor orAnything you want to beYou can be a red neck jewish man thats allright with meWe got to learn to live together
You can be a black you can be white you can be green yellow blue pinkPurple or red indian bloodYou can be anything that you wanny be please pleaseLets learn to live together
I ain`t never been to the ghetto in my life beforeBut I can understand some whites don`t have it too cool eitherDon`t quote me in saying everybody has a chance to danceHas a chance to romance a chance to danceAnd has a chance to do anything they want to doThere ain`t there ain`t no god that says you can`t enjoy your lifeThere ain`t no master of ceremony that can fill your lifeWith worry and strifeChoose your own direction
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