Love and Money
All You Need Is...

James Grant in '93 said: "I'm not very proud of it, it's not a great record."

I, more honestly, would have said: "I'm James Grant, Glasgow, Scotland, an excellent lyricist, versatile guitarist, leader of Love & Money, I create great music but don't have very clear ideas."

Indeed, because the debut album, this one, is an indie rock with psychedelic reflections that annoys at first listen, captures attention at the second, and enthralls by the third.

The second, "Strange Kind Of Love", is a harbinger of pleasant pop, excellently arranged, offspring of that 1988 filled with minor key melodic lines where many have made a breakthrough.

The third, "Dogs In The Traffic", is brit-pop crammed with country: in fact, by his own words, the label rejected it at the time, like, are you nuts? Where are the radio singles? So much so that Grant begged to have the more intimate and less commercial tracks included in the album.

This "….all you need..." is an infantile and futuristic shock at the same time, but must be accepted and understood. Minimal contribution from Andy Taylor of Duran Duran, who unleashes all his anger by producing the track that opens the album, Candybar Express, a sharp and distorted start that could mislead the listener. Just like the second, River Of People, perhaps better placed in the second album, which indeed carries the genes that will later be of "Halleluja Man" and "Jocelyn Square".

From "Twisted" onwards, for me, it’s magic.

Maybe because it's all new. Let me explain: until a few months ago, as a worshipper of the second album, as soon as I approached this one and launched "Candybar Express", bleah, brrr, I instantly turned it off. Recently, I've decided to give it chance after chance. Here, my third eye opened.

The naivety of "Dear John", especially, both for how it's musically conceived (simply and wonderfully) but also for the twisted lyrics passing through the title track that pushes and dares on a beat so rock it makes it believable and makes you jump in the driver's seat, which is a problem for me since I've run out of license points.

You’ll bash me, but at the end of the album, I won’t mention the tracks deliberately to motivate you and send you on an exploration, I heard pieces of Radiohead. You say: sacrilege! Maybe, but it was 1986 my friends, put it all in perspective. And understand me: these days I am rediscovering 'Mediterraneo' by Mango, I who have always hated Mogol, and this album. I am living strange days in the musical realm, strange days as Franco Battiato rightly sang.

Oh, by the way: James Grant has just released a new single with a supergroup, they are three guitarists, you all who are half-drugged from the 60s coming from Woodstock or things like that, I think you'll like it, search on YouTube Butler, Blake & Grant: 'Bring An End'. You're welcome, eh.