Level 42
Guaranteed

THE REVIEW

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.