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Rating:
"'Life'? What a terrible experience. Mick was a dictator in the recording studio. No one could stand him anymore. Yes: I really have an awful memory of 'Life'". Ouch! These words are from Ian Kirkham, the long-time saxophonist who has been in the Simply Red orbit since the "Man And Woman" tour (1987).
Mick Hucknall started to get on Stewart Levine's nerves to co-produce as early as "A New Flame" (1989). Levine: "Yes, production is something Mick has always been fascinated by. He likes being at the desk, but I say... with that voice, with the voice you have... why worry about production? You can't do both well, it's impossible".
Elliot Rashman, the manager who, coincidentally, left right after the "Life" experience (1995), adds: "Mick overdid it. At a certain point, Stewart Levine left the project; I had to do a lot to bring him back....".
Levine again: "I was clear from the start: Mick on composition and vocals, me on production. But at some point, the foundation was gone. And then this hip-hop craze... really, I never understood it....".
Exactly. "Life", Simply Red's fifth studio album, was not born in exactly tranquil conditions. The legacy left by "Stars", its predecessor, was quite heavy. With its seven million copies sold, it placed considerable pressure on the good (sic.) Hucknall. Levine, who with Hucknall has produced good records in an alchemy as fragile as crystal, points out instead that it's not difficult to follow up a bestseller, but rather a flop. Can't blame him.
I apologize for the generous preamble, essential for delving into an album that, in the opinion of its writer, lowers the bar compared to "Stars", which already lowered it compared to "A New Flame". Nothing to criticize about the band's quality, which saw for the last time the mastery of Fritz McIntyre on keyboards, Heitor T.P. on guitar, the aforementioned Kirkham on saxophone, and Sly Dunbar on drums (Gota Yashiki left not due to incompatibility with the combative Hucknall but to focus on solo projects; we will find him on the next album, "Blue" of 1998). On bass, Robbie Shakespeare and Bootsy Collins alternated. The most significant change was the stable inclusion of programmer Andy Wright, who gave an even more electronic imprint to the already quite synthetic sound of the band, taking directly the base of the track "Give It Up" by the Goodmen, which became an essential sample for the first Simply Red single to go to number 1: "Fairground".
For the rest, "Life" drags on quite wearily. The opening track, "You Make Me Believe", flows away quietly, in a low voice: "Sometimes you are my girlfriend, other times my baby, occasionally my whore" ==> written and pronounced by Mick directly in Italian. Wow, careful count, your sword has moved! "So Many People" is a serene examination of the world's situation at that time: "We are so many people, living different lives in difficult times". Indeed. Musically nice, calm, it doesn’t break the soft atmosphere of the previous track. "Lives And Loves" is also appreciated, a tormented reflection on the subject with a crescendo final where Mick demonstrates and confirms that no, he does not lack a soul voice. Really beautiful. "Fairground" sharply spikes the album: a track to dance to, musically light but impactful, radio-friendly in its DNA. It fits, come on.
"Never Never Love" must be one of the moments that ticked off Levine: la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la. Eh well: Mick Hucknall is the incarnation of a famous Piedmontese refrain: "This is my command here, and this is my house...."; if that’s what he felt at the time, he merely followed his instinct. Both "So Beautiful" and "Hillside Avenue" are insignificant, lacking personality, syrupy to the point of distracting the listener.
We go back to tapping the feet with "Remembering The First Time", excessively pathetic in its lyrics but at least musically captivating. "Out On The Range" represents the high point of the album: melancholic and funky at the same time, driven but reflective enough, it suffers a bit from monotony especially towards the end, but remains a substantial track. "We're In This Together", recycled for Euro '96, is mainly an anthem to boredom.
What legacy does this "Life" leave us, where does it lead us? The feeling is that perhaps three and a half years of waiting, also due to the exhaustive tour supporting "Stars", is too much. Another feeling is that Hucknall was tired to the point of becoming unbearable. Not by chance, after the "Life" project, the following left: Rashman (the manager), Fritz McIntyre (argh! what a loss....), and Heitor T.P., while after "Stars", trumpeter/keyboardist Tim Kellet, who would find fortune with the dance project called Olive, and bassist Shaun Ward had already abdicated.
"Life" is a mediocre album, uncertain, with little personality and many, too many, pretensions. It is not heterogeneous; it is the result of ideas pursued only in part, and to the listener, the fragility of concept where the cover, whose carefreeness is well revealed by a calmly walking Hucknall, does not find confirmation within the album is evident.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 You Make Me Believe (03:53)
Sometimes you`re my mama
Sometimes my little baby girl
Occasionally you`re my puttana
But then you`re sweet, sweet sweet love
And it makes me believe
That I should never lose you love
You make me believe
Fulfil all my fantasies
Moisten up all my warmest dreams
Hold my love in silk bandanas
And then just scream, scream it love
Cause it would make me weep
If I should ever lose your love
Cause you make me believe
But then you`re sweet, sweet sweet love
And it makes me believe
That I should never lose your love
You make me believe
04 Fairground (05:33)
Driving down an endless road
Taking friends or moving alone
Pleasure at the fairground on the way
Its always friends that feel so good
Lets make amends like all good men should
Pleasure at the fairground on the way
Walk around be free and roam
Theres always someone leaving alone
Pleasure at the fairground on the way
And I love the thought of coming home to you
Even if I know we cant make it
I love the thought of giving hope to you
Just a little ray of light shining through
Love can bend and breathe alone
Until the end it finds you a home
Dont care what the people may say
Its always friends that feel so good
Lets make amends like all good men should
Pleasure at the fairground on the way
And I love the thought of coming home to you
Even if I know we cant make it
I love the thought of giving hope to you
Just a little ray of light shining through
06 So Beautiful (04:58)
I was listening to this conversation
Noticing my daydream stimulated me more
I was crumbling with anticipation
You'd better send me home before I tumble down to the floor
You're so beautiful but oh so boring
I'm wondering what am I doing here
So beautiful but oh so boring, I'm wondering
If anyone out there really cares
About the curlers in your hair
My little golden baby, where have all your birds flown now?
Something's glistening in my imagination
Motorvatin' something close to breaking the law
Wait a mo' before you take me down to the station
I've never known a one who'd make me suicidal before
She was so beautiful but oh so boring
I'm wondering what was I doing there
So beautiful but oh so boring, I'm wondering
If anyone out there really cares
About the colour of your hair
My little golden baby, where have all your birds flown now?
09 Out on the Range (06:01)
It's lonely out on the range
That open space they call country
I wanted you, I couldn't have you
Your pills left you kind of deranged
Hopelessly caged like some monkey
I wanted you, I couldn't have you
Still into my heart you came
Here's a message from this lonely boy
Who will never feel the same
I will never feel the same
I read you while holding the page
You're open at crazy and funky
I needed you, but you weren't there
Happiness can give you the blues
Especially when it ends
I'm slowing down, can't turn you round
Into my heart you came
Here's a message from this lonely boy
Who will never feel the same
I will never feel the same
10 We're in This Together (04:15)
All eyes were closed, nobody knows
How the world wasn't able to see that they were
washed-up failures
My eyes are open, my love is strong
I am here to stay and it will always be that way
We're in this together
We're in this together
Forever
Together
My line is long, my soul it rolls
Somewhere on the train of universal feeling
My eyes are open, just like the ocean
From the people in need to the sun and the seas
We're in this together
We're in this together
Forever
Together
Forever
We're in this together
We're in this together
Forever
Together
Forever
Together
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