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Rating: The "Cutting Crew" was a British band with strong Canadian ties (guitarist, producer, recording studio), dedicated to a genre of pop rock bordering on AOR (Adult Oriented Rock, very popular in Canada and fashionable worldwide at the time). Formed as a quartet in 1985, the group held on for three albums before throwing in the towel in 1993. This "Broadcast" (1986) is their first, as well as best-known and best-selling work.
I consider it a little gem in its genre, full of potential hits even if only one of them, namely "(I Just) Died In Your Arms", truly made it (No. 1 in the United Kingdom and Canada, inevitably). To enjoy the album, one must first come to terms with and accept the evident sound abuses fashionable at the time, like the booming drums with improbable reverbs and invasive synthesizers. Then, one must not fall into the typical snobbery of rejecting, a priori, any musical offer containing a clear commercial and pandering component. After that, since quality writing, a beautiful voice, intelligent performances, and excellent production (by Terry Brown, with a long experience with Canadian band Rush) are present, all you need is a keen melodic inclination and a pinch of romanticism to stabilize this music inside your PC, i-Pod, or CD library, ready to flood your ear canals.
As in a thousand other formations, everything revolves around the special camaraderie and musical harmony between singer and guitarist. The frontman Nick Van Eede (launched into the music business by Chas Chandler, discoverer of Jimi Hendrix) has a great romantic and evocative timbre, theoretically perfect even for progressive (in fact, he was in contention, in the mid-nineties, for the spot left vacant by Phil Collins in Genesis, making it to the "final" but unjustly losing the ballot to Ray Wilson).
The late Kevin MacMichael (who passed away at the age of fifty-one in 2002) was an intelligent, measured guitarist, with a great very round and warm sound and many beautiful melodic ideas inspired by his country of origin, naturally inclined to elegant and measured AOR sounds. He would have deserved better fortune, regarding both his health and artistic career, for example by collaborating longer with Robert Plant and not just for the album "Fate Of Nations" (1993). Kevin's guitar lightly brushes across all ten tracks of "Broadcast" with economical and creative, sonorous and sinuous interventions, with great control of touch and vibrato lever, leaving the bulk of the work to keyboards with solid "pads" and vibrant rhythmic/melodic sequences, entrusted to a true electronics specialist, guest Peter John Vettese (at the time with Jethro Tull).
I am very attached to a good half of the songs on "Broadcast", well interspersed in the album between more rhythmic and slower episodes. I primarily adore the closing track, which also gives the album its title and is played on an ethereal first half devoid of rhythm, which then plunges with exquisite class into a beautiful funky/stomping second part, capable of enriching and making the vocal melody definitively captivating.
"One For The Mockingbird" is followed without interruption, with a long and elegant mix, by the emphatic and sparkling opener "Any Colour" and surpasses it qualitatively thanks to an extremely catchy chorus and a brief but exquisite solo by MacMichael, already in full evidence in the accompaniment.
"I've Been In Love Before" and "Sahara", the former a decent success even as a single, are the atmospheric, hyper-romantic, and enveloping ballads.
"(I Just) Died In Your Arms", responsible due to its wide notoriety and recognizability for pigeonholing Cutting Crew (unfortunately and undeservedly) among the so-called One Hit Wonders, is a perfect semi-ballad that builds up in its quiet and subdued verses, only to explode in its very melodic and sexy chorus, with guitar and keyboards taking turns expertly accompanying the voice in the spotlight. I also liked the very simple video made at the time to promote the song, with Van Eede, for much of it, running frantically, chased by the steady-cam, around the stage on which the band is playing, set up in the center of a warehouse, constantly brushing against equipment, cables, technicians, and occasionally tripping over something or someone.
Having started with the wind in their sails thanks to a decidedly leading single, Cutting Crew made an unwelcome half-flop with the second album "The Scattering" (1989), in my opinion comfortably deserving four stars and containing a couple more great tracks. The third and last work "Compus Mentus" of 1992, which as a fan I rate three stars, poorly distributed at the time because they were on the verge of being dropped by the multinational Virgin, is certainly listenable, but this time lacks excellent episodes. A pity.
N.B.: the cover loaded in the review is the European one: in the American version it is completely different, played in shades of gray and with the band's name written in block letters.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Any Colour (04:43)
(MacMichael/Eede)
I dream, dream of a lonely girl
Who sleeps, lost in her lonely world
Any sunset I'd give to you
Any colour that you like, all for you
She wakes wrapped in her naked room
The air filled with a sweet perfume
Any rainbow I'll save for you
Any colour that you like, all for you
I've waited, I've waited so long for you
To show my true colours come shining through
I dream, dream of a distant girl
Who sleeps, lost in a lonely world
In a diamond, I'll shine for you
Any colour that you like, all for you
03 I've Been in Love Before (05:08)
Oooh, Oo Oooh, Cha
Catch my breath, close my eyes
Don't believe a word.
Things she said, overheard
Something wrong inside
Hits you in a minute, Ooo
Then you know you're in it, aah.
I've been in love before
I've been in love before
The hardest part is when you're in it
I've been in love before
I've been in love before
Just one touch, just one look
A dangerous dance
One small word can make me feel
Like running away
You can't say you're in it, no, until you reach the limit
I've been in love before
I've been in love before
The hardest part is when you're in it
I've been in love before
I've been in love before
I've been in love before
I've been in love before
The hardest part is when you're in it
I've been in love before
I've been in love before
I've been in love
The hardest part is when you're in it
I've been in love
I've been in love before
06 (I Just) Died in Your Arms (04:40)
(Nick Van Eede)
I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must've been something you said
I just died in your arms tonight
I keep looking for something I can't get
Broken hearts lie all around me
And I don't see an easy way
To get out of this
Her diary, it sits by the bedside table
The curtains are closed
The cat's in the cradle
Who would've thought
That a boy like me could come to this
[CHORUS]
Oh, I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must've been something you said
I just died in your arms tonight
Oh, I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must've been some kind of kiss
I should've walked away
I should've walked away
Is there any just cause
For feeling like this
On the surface
I'm a name on a list
I try to be discreet
But then blow it again
I've lost and found
It's my final mistake
She's loving by proxy
No give and all take
Cause I've been thrilled to fantasy
One too many times
[repeat CHORUS]
It was a long hot night
She made it easy
She made it feel right
But now it's over
The moment is gone
I followed my hands
Not my head
I know I was wrong
[repeat CHORUS]
08 Sahara (04:53)
Eede/Boorer
Don't let love let you down
It's been fine up to now
Sahara, I just walked into your world
Sahara, don't walk out on me now
Don't let time tie you down
It's been fine up to now
Sahara, there is life in the desert
Sahara, let the sands run away
But in my heart and in my head
I know that she'll wait for me
Sahara brings me down
She will take up all your time
Then she'll laugh and cut you down
Do you still hold a light for ... for me?
Don't let fires burn too low
Wild-eyed winds they still blow
Sahara, I just walked into your world
Sahara, don't walk out on me now
But in my heart...
09 It Shouldn't Take Too Long (04:05)
Too many times have I told you, feel your way
If it's question of answers, then have your say
Don't go giving me reasons, we all have a price
And in that moment of indecision, you'll never understand why
It shouldn't take too long, to set the thing moving
It shouldn't take too long, so long as you believe it
It shouldn't take too long, (to get what you want)
Forget the popular notion, lead the way
You've never known what you wanted until today
Through fire and water, you, you can survive
To make the best of the situation, you have to understand why
It shouldn't take too long...
When I was a boy in the summer rain
Every hour seemed days to me
It shouldn't take too long...
10 The Broadcast (06:38)
Eede/Townsend
Believe me when I say to you
That every word is true
That a change is going to come
You can hear it in the broadcast on your radio
Why are you running, was it something that somebody said?
What are you hiding from, are the voices alone in your head?
I can make it look natural 'cos the more that you see
It's the less that you know, it's the more that you give
Believe me when they call for you
As you cry out in the night
These four suspicious riders have been circling the borders
of your bungalow
But how they ever got to you
I swear I'll never know
Was it just the laws of nature that's been causing all the
voices on your telephone?
Why are you running...
Believe me and I'll pray for you (we'll give you what you wanted)
With all my fickle heart
I could sell you hallelujahs recorded on a chrome cassette in stereo
So come and make your home with me
It really isn't far
Fly down to California and become a Christian soldier on
My late, late show
Why are you running...
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