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Rating:
Ballads Glam Stripped to the Bone
or an acoustic concert by the relatively unknown Steve Harley
In 1998 Steve Harley dusted off his guitar... wait, let's take it easy. First of all, someone might wonder who Steve Harley is. Steve Harley is an eclectic artist who, in 1973, with his Cockney Rebel, climbed onto the whimsical bandwagon of glam and shortly after reached success solely thanks to the radio hit "Make Me Smile". Unfortunately, he was soon forgotten, and I say unfortunately because his abilities go far beyond the chart-topping song, offering us long symphonic suites like "Sebastian" and "Tumbling Down" or captivating gems like "Judy Teen", circus-inspired music (the clownish "Mr. Soft"), or romantic ballads far from any clichéd standard (above all "The Best Years Of Our Lives"). His first three albums are considered masterpieces in their genre, but shortly before the '80s, the singer succumbed to a not very impactful new romantic style, and despite some splendid songs like "Star For A Week" or "(Love) Compared With You", he soon fell into the limbo of the "missed geniuses", while David Bowie and Bryan Ferry continued to ride the charts with the only merit of knowing how to sell themselves well.
Steve Harley was at fault for diluting his style and not knowing how to reinvent or market himself, but who are we to hold a grudge against him for 20 years and not give in to the poetry of this album? Now we're in 1998, probably in some small theater in London, the same London that many years earlier had turned its back on glam too soon to be burned by punk iconoclasm. On stage, there's a man now on his way to gray hair, accompanied only by his trusty acoustic guitar, harmonica, and violin, a man who wants to sketch with a few pencil strokes a glimpse of his dream where refined folk-glam meets Bob Dylan, without any tricks or deception. He tells us his stories with simplicity, where once circus bands and orchestras walked, now his rough voice and nervous guitar slide by. The concert begins with an energetic "My Only Vice", and we immediately realize we don't miss his past at all: the way he presents the old hits is essential without any pretentiousness and especially without that annoying "I'm wiser and have the right to be a whining acoustic" attitude. "Judy Teen", "Mr. Soft", and "Bed In The Corner" still sound cheerful and not aged at all; "Star For A Week", "The Best Years Of Our Lives", and "(Love) Compared With You" in this new slowed-down form seem even more poignant. The harmonica embellishes "Tumbling Down" and "The Last Time I Saw You", and while the classic "Sebastian" is kept quite similar to the original, the circus-like "Mr. Soft" appears hysterical and agitated. "Only You" is a candle flame that quickly moves to the rhythm of the summer wind, and "Sling It" doesn't lose the charm of the ancient storm. Completing this picture (calling it unplugged is reductive) are the cultured "Riding The Waves" and an abbreviated and ironic version of "Make Me Smile".
Who are we not to forgive this London artist when, with a handful of instruments and some songs from 30 years ago, with a few guitar strokes and the typical courage of those forgotten too soon, he manages to move us and remind us without nostalgia?
From "Riding The Waves (For Virginia Woolf)""Then she whispered, "Look, the honey-coloured ball
Is lifting its way into another morning"
Then she flicked the back of her neck, defiantly,
And for such gestures one could fall
Hopelessly in love
For a lifetime
The sun has risen now
And set the fibers burning
We got the feeling of riding the waves"
Tracklist
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