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The Level 42 emerged battered from the experience of "Staring At The Sun", the 1988 album. For multiple reasons: fans did not recognize the same approval (in terms of sales) to the album as they did to "Running In The Family", the critics demolished it, and finally the talented Alan Murphy, a guitarist who replaced Boon Gould—who had left due to a nervous breakdown—was struck down by AIDS in 1989.
The flag continued to fly thanks to "Level Best" (1989), the band's first official anthology, which sold well.
Mark King, a distinguished bassist and man of sound principles, took a deep breath and tried to put his ideas in order. In 1990, the core of the band consisted of him, the original keyboardist Mike Lindup, and drummer Gary Husband, who had replaced the other Gould, Phil, who had left for purely artistic reasons: he did not appreciate the excessively pop and commercial style chosen and approved by Mark and Mike, inaugurated with "Running In The Family". Always present was the historical handyman, the fifth element behind the scenes, Wally Badarou, immersed among keyboards, production, and arrangements.
Although Lindup was the creator of the vast majority of the tracks that would make up the new album "Guaranteed", he guaranteed only a marginal presence in the studio as he was busy in 1990 recording his solo album "Changes". In addition to Badarou, a significant contribution to the keyboards was provided by the drummer, Husband, whose mark is especially audible in the solo in "Her Big Day". The choice of guitarist made the band's composition rather ambiguous. First choices alternated: Dominic Miller, Allan Holdsworth, and Jakko Jakszyk. The latter was certainly the most assiduous, not coincidentally appearing on the cover (in the inlay, however, he is immortalized with the band, Holdsworth, editor's note) and in the four promo videos made (two for the eponymous single, one for "Overtime", and one for the third single "My Father’s Shoes"), while Miller is present in the credits. The unmistakable style of Holdsworth's solos is audible in four tracks: the magnificent "Seven Years", where King finds a way to make the bass stand out with an exceptional melodic round in the ending, "A Kinder Eye", "If You Were Mine", and "With A Little Love".
Thus honorably fulfilling the stylistic-musical aspect, thanks to the thoroughbreds mentioned above, it remained to elaborate and enhance the lyrics, as Boon, a dedicated lyricist even after having self-excluded from the project, passed the baton on the occasion of the "Guaranteed" sessions. The poetic and profound George M. Green was called to the fold (notable was his contribution in the splendid "Lasso The Moon", sung by Lindup, in the moving "A Kinder Eye" dedicated to his recently deceased mother-in-law, in "The Ape", a creature of Mark King, and in "My Father’s Shoes" (‘give me back my father’s shoes, and let me walking in….’)) and Drew Barfield ("Overtime", "Her Big Day", "Set Me Up", and "She Can't Help Herself"). For the rest, the two pillars of the band, King and Lindup, activated while the explosive "If You Were Mine" was born, music and lyrics, solo by Gary Husband.
The result is more than satisfactory. Musically, compared to the overly underrated predecessor, it positions itself on another frequency. Therefore, it's not about establishing a hierarchy: the paths taken are different. At least, one no longer falls into the triviality of episodes like "I Don’t Know Why" where King sang absurdities like: "I don’t know why you treat me like you do but baby I love you".
"Guaranteed" is a mature album that many fans bounced off, dodged, perhaps because it was a bit too full of compromises. But compromises are often a necessity. Here, Mark King no longer makes the bass scream; instead, he often makes it whisper. No, there are no echoes of "True Colours" or "World Machine", and many took it as a royal offense. Not the one writing this: evolution is often a necessity, "better" or "worse" I'd leave to others. I would avoid obsolete terminologies for a band that has given so much, so much, to the international pop panorama. Certainly, more than it has received.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Guaranteed (04:51)
Don't play this game with me
you know you came to be my world
when times were bad enough
seems I was good enough
you run out my door
you come back, and beg for more and more
just like the times before
you'll always be
Guaranteed a place inside my heart
I would never forget a single thing
always be a martyr to your heart
then you'll never regret a single thing
You think I just don't care (just don't care)
the fact is, I could not bear (could not bear)
to lose this kind of loving touch (I love your touch)
would you be bothered much?
you had so much planned (so much planned)
so take time to understand (understand)
my reasons for pulling you back to me (back to me)
you'll always be
Guaranteed a place inside my heart
I would never forget a single thing
always be a martyr to your heart
then you'll never regret a single thing
You hide so many years
(hide away)
you cried so many tears
(cried away your tears)
you think I just don't realise
(now I realise)
one thing I've come to know
(if you stay)
this pain will surely go
(all the way with me)
so soon before your very eyes
Guaranteed a place inside my heart
I would never forget a single thing
always be a martyr to your heart
then you'll never regret a single thing
Guaranteed a place inside my heart
I would never forget a single thing
always be a martyr to your heart
then you'll never regret a single thing
Guaranteed . . .
02 Overtime (04:47)
Sometimes the looks I get
from people that I've never met
it's cruel
poor hard done by you
sometimes I hear remarks
like he's a snake out in the grass
it's cruel
poor hard done by you
Well I beat around the bush a lot
don't let my feelings show
'cause if I did I'd surely hit the roof
maybe if you'd listened
you'd've known something was missing
what I say surely is the truth
Well I've been working on this overtime
you might think that I don't care
but if you look inside this heart of mine
you'll still be there
Some lovers won't admit
that all the pieces just won't fit
it's cruel
poor hard done by you
so tell me that I'm blind
to let my heart go rule my mind
it's cruel
poor hard done by you
Well I've been working on this overtime
you might think that I don't care
but if you look inside this heart of mine
you'll still be there
I've been working on this overtime
what's been done I can't repair
but if you look inside this heart of mine
you'll still be there
My wanderlust betrayed your trust
don't want forgiving
all things must change, it ain't so strange
life's for the living
(baby baby please)
I've been working on this overtime
you might think that I don't care
but if you look inside this heart of mine
you'll still be there
I've been working on this overtime
what's been done I can't repair
but if you look inside this heart of mine
you'll still be there
I've been working on this overtime
you might think that I don't care
but if you look inside this heart of mine
you'll still be there
poor hard done by you
05 Set Me Up (04:27)
Well a thing was said to me
time's your enemy
it may heal a wound, but it won't hide a scar
and the only thing to do
is to yourself be true
'cause a head that's in the clouds won't see the stars
When I was young I never walked away
I'd nail my colours to the wall
though black and white soon turned to shades of grey
there is one thing that I really know for sure
Nobody's gonna set me up
nobody's gonna set me up
There's a bitterness in you
'cause all you ever do
is to drag your spirit screaming to the floor
but you gotta make your luck
before your time is up
and they take you in your box out through the door
But I'm not saying I don't care at all
I'd rescue you before you drown
but if behind my back they start to talk
I'm a tougher kind of man this time around
Nobody's gonna set me up
nobody's gonna set me up
When you look back and see what you have done
well was it really that much fun
to laugh and kick the fallen ones
Gonna grow another skin
this one's getting thin
I've been bitten twice but never lost my nerve
well you gotta hide the hurt
when people dish the dirt
'cause if you don't try nothing that's what you deserve
There are people with their eyes of green
smiling when you take a fall
maybe a friend or someone never seen
but even with my back against the wall
Nobody's gonna set me up
nobody's gonna set me up
People said to me
time's your enemy
it may heal a wound, but it won't hide a scar
Nobody's gonna set me up
nobody's gonna set me up
And the only thing to do
is to yourself be true
'cause a head that's in the clouds won't see the stars
07 My Father's Shoes (05:14)
Even now I see him walking home at sundown
he's whistling rock of ages with his lunchbox at his side
I still recall the smell of smoke and ashes on his jacket
and that factory dust was on his shoes the afternoon he died
I swore I'd never heed that factory whistle
in a banker's cage I signed a loan against my future sins
all the neighbours shook my hand
and wished me well upon my leaving
though my father was a poor man he owned a wealth of friends
So take these boots that shine like Judas silver
and all these sad reflections on lost untravelled roads
while the rain falls on a field of bones and roses
give me back my father's shoes and let me walk in those
My stroke was good, the deals fell fast end easy
I hired the sweat of honest men and took the lion's share
my wardrobe filled with shirts of silk
and boots of tender leather
and I walked in them the halls of power
but found no comfort there
So take these boots that shine like Judas silver
and all these sad reflections on lost untravelled roads
while the rain falls on a field of bones and roses
give me back my father's shoes and let me walk in those
Lady lay these boots upon the fire
'cause lady now I swear I'll never wear this pair again
I meant to stand up straight and tall
it never was that easy
now these soles are stained from walking on the dreams
of better men
So take these boots that shine like Judas silver
and all these sad reflections on lost untravelled roads
while the rain falls on a field of bones and roses
give me back my father's shoes and let me walk in those
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