Harem Scarem
Big Bang Theory

The thing that surprised me the most is not finding among the official releases one of the Harem Scarem albums I adore the most, namely "Big Bang Theory," dated 1998 (just a year after the already impactful Karma Cleansing).

This album might be known to 10 people in Italy, and could I miss the opportunity to describe it? I imagine the answer is: "We don't care!" and I counter by saying: "Well, neither do I, TIE'!"... No, no, please! I was just kidding, okay? Don't go read other reviews!

Apart from becoming a collector's item by now, "Big Bang Theory" also surpasses its predecessor: an excellent hard rock where the songs are immediate yet not easy to grasp, and where modern and pop elements blend wonderfully, giving birth to an extraordinary album, which, among other things, will be the last before the blatantly pop (and unsuccessful) adventure of Rubber. The recordings will be done live by all 4 members, unlike before, where each worked on the drafting of each track individually. The lineup is the same as Karma Cleansing, namely Harry Hess (vocals/keyboards), Pete Lesperance (guitar/keyboards), Barry Donaghy (bass/BV), Darren Smith (drums/BV). Do you want a track-by-track? No? Well, I'll give it to you anyway!

Small premise: for Big Bang Theory, there are also two official versions (what a hassle, here too!): the European/Canadian version contains a different tracklist from the Japanese one for 4 songs: "Wasted Time", a rather ordinary but pleasant song; "What I Do", quite a strange song with almost techno inserts, but very sunny and with a decidedly good middle section! "Without You", a ballad decidedly normal, and the immense "New Religion" where Lesperance and Donaghy make the most significant contribution besides an exemplary performance by Hess.

If I had reviewed the European version, I would have given it 4 stars, but the Japanese version deserves 5!

We kick off with "So Blind": an excellent, driving song that grows as it progresses, with a superb solo by Lesperance, aided by Donaghy and Smith's instrumental contribution. Great performance also by Hess, who also plays the guitar with his Canadian buddy. "Climb The Gate" highlights greater simplicity, almost towards more linear rock but with great impact (if all the bands defined as rock in Italy played like this, we wouldn't have certain crap like Vasco or Ligabue!). Then comes one of the masterpieces of the album, the granite "Reload" with a great Hess and some remarkable choirs, but Lesperance takes the lead in everything: a great guitarist, need I say more? "Tables Turning" is a beautiful ballad, this time dominated by Hess with his beautiful voice. With "Turn Around" we return to hard rock tracks: it's a very sustained song with an excellent alternation between harder and more melodic solutions. It continues with "Seas Of Dissension," perhaps the only standard song saved by a good solo by Lesperance. Very nice is "Sometimes I Wish," again with an excellent rhythmic section and a consistently well-researched instrumental solution by Lesperance, starting the song in a threatening way to then make it melodic in the break and chorus. The album closes with the Queen-like "Never Have It All" with a sublime performance by Hess, "Lying," a good rock where much space is also given to Donaghy's bass and Smith's (now fused!) drums, and the beautiful piano-and-voice ballad "In My State Of Mind," which represents one of the compositional peaks of this excellent album.

I didn't let it escape me for any reason in the world when it came out, because it's really beautiful and it's a shame that no one paid attention to it, and it's absolutely worth rediscovering, because it shows Harem Scarem in great form and still capable of making great music. After "Big Bang Theory," the last album before the awful pop stint under the name Rubber (lasting two years with the self-titled album (2000) and Ultrafeel (2001), the last creative peak for Scarem will be "Weight of the world." Then, after 2002, the four Canadians will churn out decent albums, but lacking punch and only occasionally interesting.