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Rating:
I reluctantly force myself to write something about Prefab Sprout, even though this time - I tell myself - I'm giving myself a treat for review No. 50. Sure, it would be easy to lavish the usual extravagant praises on Paddy and company, but what would remain then? And above all, if some unfortunate person had never heard a note of theirs and read this writing, what would they take away from it?
And so there is nothing left but to try to describe the album. Yes, but how? All the best adjectives have already been used. Synth-pop tearjerkers, Paddy who has a slap-worthy face but sings and composes divinely, a band that gave its best in its time, and then...and then "Steve McQueen." Yes.
When I look at the cover, I can't help but laugh, I won't hide it. Surely it didn't seem to them that they were overshadowed, after that so evocative image symbolizing the gateway to the treasure of "Steve McQueen." And trying to write a follow-up to that miracle, we know, was practically impossible: too many chords had come together in the right place at the right time, too much magic surrounded those grooves. And yet.
And yet, it so happens that where magic doesn't reach, talent, dedication, or perhaps just huge effort does. Certainly, they aren’t enough to have that extra "something," but you're definitely starting with an advantage. And so this "From Langley Park" is the album where perhaps the effort to avoid making one miss its predecessor is most felt. Not even in "Jordan" is so much dedication heard, because by then they were already in another phase. And then, first and foremost, Paddy. Never heard him sing so well, so expressive, with his heart on his sleeve. In The Golden Calf and the opening The King of Rock n Roll (fancy that) he even rivals Elvis. In Cars and Girls he paints a portrait of lost youth..."some things hurt more, much more than cars and girls". Even in the reinterpretations of "Steve," he manages to add something extra; the concluding Nancy and Venus of the Soup Kitchen are nothing but b-sides of Blueberry Pies and When The Angels, or at least it seems that way to me. And then, there's I Remember That, so elegiac as to be almost immaterial, soft and unreachable. Like the stars: unreachable, but impossible to stop admiring. A tale that isn't a tale, just four minutes of pure and rediscovered enchantment. What else? Stevie Wonder on harmonica in Nightingales and Pete Townshend with the acoustic in Hey Manhattan, but they sound like cameos, nothing more.
So what's wrong, then? A reggae perhaps, which you just wouldn't expect from these guys. Or the ending, slightly underwhelming, but I had already said that. Here, if I had to say what's missing here, perhaps it's just sincerity: the same sincerity that is impossible not to seek after you've heard Bonny or Desire As. Here there's professionalism, immense talent, camaraderie. But everything seems more "constructed," somehow more artificial. Prefab Sprout, you realize at the end of the album (and twenty-six years later), after all had fallen into the trap: they had sought a replica where it was unattainable.
So, what have you said so far, dear reviewer? Everything and its opposite. It's not possible to talk about certain artists with your head, you have to do it with your heart, and your gut. And talk about imperfect albums, but not for that reason undeserving of oblivion. Or not?
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 The King of Rock 'n' Roll (04:22)
All my lazy teenage boasts are now high precision ghosts
And they're coming round the track to haunt me.
When she looks at me and laughs I remind her of the facts
I'm the king of rock'n roll completely
Up from suede shoes to my baby blues
Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque
Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque
The dream helps you forget you ain't never danced a step
You were never fleet of foot, hippy.
All the pathos you can keep for the children in the street
For the vision I have had is sweeping
- New broom, this room, sweep it clean
Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque
Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque
High kickin' dandy, fine figure fine cut a fine figure fine oh yeah ;
Long legged candy, fine figure fine cut a fine figure fine oh yeah ;
Now my rhythm ain't so hot, but it's the only friend I've got
I'm the king of rock'n roll completely
All the pretty birds have flown now I'm dancing on my own
I'm the king of rock'n roll completely
- Up from, suede shoes to my baby blues
Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque
Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque
High kickin' dandy, fine figure fine cut a fine figure fine oh yeah ;
Long legged candy, fine figure fine cut a fine figure fine oh yeah ;
Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque
Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque
02 Cars and Girls (04:27)
Brucie dreams life's a highway
Too many roads bypass my way
Or they never begin
Innocence coming to grief
At the hands of life - stinkin car thief
That's my concept of sin
Does heaven wait all heavenly
Over the next horizon?
But look at us now, quit driving
Some things hurt more much more than cars and girls
Just look at us now, start counting
Ehat adds up the way it did when we were young?
Look at us now, quit driving
Some things hurt much more than cars and girls
Life's a drive through a dust bowl
What's it do, do to a young soul
We are deeply concerned
Someone stops for directions
Something responds deep in our engines
We have all been burned
Will heaven wait all heavenly
Over the next horizon?
But look at us now, quit driving
Some things hurt more much more than cars and girls
Just look at us now, start counting
What adds up the way it did when we were young?
Look at us now, quit driving
Some things hurt much more than cars and girls
Little boy got a hot rod
Thinks it makes him some kind of new god
Well this is one race he won't win
Cos life's no cruise with a cool chick
Too many folks feelin car sick
But it never pulls in
Brucies thoughts, pretty streamers
Guess this world needs its dreamers
May they never wake up
But look at us now, quit driving
Some things hurt more much more than cars and girls
Just look at us now, start counting
What adds up the way it did when we were young?
Look at us now, quit driving
Some things hurt much more than cars and girls
But look at us now, quit driving
Some things hurt more much more than cars and girls
Just look at us now, start counting
What adds up the way it did when we were young?
Look at us now, quit driving
Some things hurt much more than cars and girls
03 I Remember That (04:14)
Nothing sounds as good as "I Remember That"
Like a bolt out from the blue, did you feel it too ?
- I remember that
Name me one little thing, you'll be wanting to keep
As you give up the ghost as you sink into sleep
Maybe her face in the morning, maybe his in the evening
Maybe words never spoken, aren't they the ones worth hearin' ?
Say I remember that
Nothing sounds as good as "I Remember That"
Like a bolt out from the blue, did you feel it too ?
- I remember that
Nothing sounds as good as "I Remember That"
Like a bolt out from the blue, did you feel it too ?
- I remember that
'Cos that's all we can have, yes it's all we can trust
It's a hell of a ride but a journey to dust
And there's nothing pathetic listing clothes she'd wear
If it proves that I had you, if it proves I was there
Say I remember that
Nothing sounds as good as "I Remember That"
Like a bolt out from the blue, did you feel it too ?
- I remember that
Nothing sounds as good as "I Remember That"
Like a bolt out from the blue, did you feel it too ?
- I remember that
Did you feel it too ?... I remember that
Did you feel it too ?... I remember that...
(chorus adlib)
04 Enchanted (03:47)
I've been asking what is new, like my streetwise buddy do
Body talk seems big with him, so it's conversations in the gym
Ooh enchanted ooh enchanted
"Pray Forsooth" and "I Adore" ain't the ticket anymore
So how'd you recognise a king ? You ask yourself can that cat swing
It's time to learn tiger stretch tiger burn
Ooh enchanted
And the calendar pages blew
Like the Montagues, like the Capulet crew
Ooh enchanted
We're addicted to friction too
Comin' down the years, plain enchantment
That's the glue that binds and bonds
The dying to the new, plain enchantment
Ain't no purple rain quite like it
Here's something to dwell upon
Now we're living next we're gone, so if you've love please pass it on
'Cos it's a disbelieving world, but sensitive as any girl
It's time to learn tiger stretch tiger burn
Ooh enchanted
And the calendar pages blew
Like the Montagues, like the Capulet crew
Ooh enchanted
We're addicted to friction too
It's time to learn tiger stretch tiger burn
Ooh enchanted
And the calendar pages blew
Like the Montagues, like the Capulet crew
Ooh enchanted
We're addicted to friction too
Ooh enchanted now we're living !
08 The Golden Calf (05:06)
Once upon a time I stalked the streets on raining evenings
When the distant sea blended with the sky
Past Coliseum's filled with brass on pavements carved from toasted glass
I carried in my heart a word or two
You dashing horseman all gone away
Left you a stable bill to pay
And now the golden calf has turned to clay
All my feelings dressed in gloves
Couldn't touch your windswept harbour love
White and open-necked you would still play
I'd resort to sleepwalking to catch the mood that fills the sails
With harvest nets and tides don't ever bring
But every night was Halloween, and every friend fell in between
And how capricious nature ruled my mind
You dashing horseman all gone away
Left you a stable bill to pay
And now the golden calf has turned to clay
All my feelings dressed in gloves
Couldn't touch your windswept harbour love
White and open-necked you would still play
Once upon a time I stalked the streets on raining evenings
When the distant sea blended with the sky
Past Coliseum's filled with brass on pavements carved from toasted glass
I carried in my heart a word or two
But you would always make me see today
You dashing horseman all gone away
Left you a stable bill to pay
And now the golden calf has turned to clay
All my feelings dressed in gloves
Couldn't touch your windswept harbour love
White and open-necked you would still play
I sound so different these days, I barely can believe I'm Me
If I didn't know better, I would swear I was someone else
Lord I can't believe, I don't believe I'm me
But who on earth could I be ?
You dashing horseman all gone away
Left you a stable bill to pay
And now the golden calf has turned to clay
All my feelings dressed in gloves
Couldn't touch your windswept harbour love
White and open-necked you would still play
10 The Venus of the Soup Kitchen (04:28)
The Venus of the soup kitchen is waiting there for me
And all us poor cripples who've been in the wars
And up sleeping on her floor...
Woah !
When you're scared of down and out
You keep it to yourself and if anyone suspects
You say : "Who me ? Hardly !"
You tell him "Thank your stars, this isn't Derby day
'Cos it's clear you've got the gift for backing the wrong horse, Charlie."
Woah !
When you're scared of down and out
You camouflage your fear with a fakin' D.J. smile
And maybe some boogie dancin'
But there's no need to be proud
Hey if something's hurtin' you
Could be it hurts your brothers too
From Langley Park to Memphis
Last night, last night I dreamed I dared to raise my head
The Venus of the soup kitchen stood over me
Singin' : "Sometimes the job gets you down
You're ashamed that the word will get round
Well all you poor cripples who've been in the wars
End up sleeping on my floor."
Woah !
Now some will spin you yarns to keep you quiet for a while
But you know that's not my style, who needs fancy footwork ?
'Cos none of it adds up, no it doesn't weigh a thing
And it doesn't buy you beer, from Langley Park to Memphis
Last ight, last night I dreamed I dared to raise my head
The Venus of the soup kitchen stood over me
Singin' : "Here you are, and I won't tell you've no one else but me
Every night I know you'll be here staring hungrily
Well here you are, no I won't tell 'cos everyone I know
Wanders down here every night they've nowhere else to go."
The Venus of the soup kitchen is standing there over me
Every night I'm gonna be here staring hungrily
The Venus of the soup kitchen is waiting there for me
And all us poor cripples who've been in the wars
End up sleeping on her floor
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