MUSIC
I Heartland: Heartland (A&M)/South Gang: Tainted Angel (Charisma)/l Love You: I Love You (Getten)/Cheap And Nasty: Beautiful Disaster (China)/Blue Blood: Universal Language (Music F0! Nations) A day on the hard stuff teaches you many things. like how to get Ileartland. the acceptable face of heavy rock. out of the way first. If you're in the mood to rawk. you don't want piano intros. especially not if they‘re topped off by pained. meaningful moans. ()r production you could eat a pizza off. I thought. naively. that Heartland must be the stunted result of a life spent dreaming ofa 3(l-second slot on American Top Ten. in a culture where buying records by both Bon .lovi and Poison counts as eclecticisrn. But no -- the sleeve reveals that they‘re British!
South (iangare American. raunchier. and singof boys' nightsout (uh-huh). but they're staggeringly anonymoUs. reshuffling the same deck of cliches as a thousand others. LA'sI Love You are head and shoulders above that. but their advance press - ‘one ofthe most fascinating albums this side offllane's Addiction‘s Nor/ring} Shocking. is too much to live up to. The comparison with Jane's Addiction holds some
V ALBUMS
Cheap and Nasty
w ater in so far as I Love You often slip into a similarly modal sound. and they do pull together
fairly disparate elements
and sound like they're
9 havingfun doingit. Not an
epoch-making record. but a pretty good one all the
('heap And Nasty are
the most immediately
likeableofthisbunch. more spiritually akinto pub-rock than arena-
thrash. but with a trashy edge that separates them from the likes ofThe ()uireboys. I suspect they
don't like soft metal ofthe
Heartland variety too much either. w hich is fine by me.
()nly at the end ofthe day. with Suffolk quintet Blue Blood. did I hear the sound I'd been looking for ~ five boys getting together to make not a hand but a success
machine. fuelled by
ambition. spitting ottt riffs
with awesome
proficiency . so well tuned that no more than minor tinkering will ever be necessary because nothing has been left tochance. Perfection. But a kind I can live without. (Alastair Mabbott)
I Fields Of The Nephilim: Earth Inferno—Live (Beggars Banquet) Lucky buggers. the Nephs.
They 'ye taken a transparent. one-gag Sisters ( )I Mercy spoof-act
and made a career out of
it. I.i\ e and raw. [furl/t
Inferno graphically illustrates that. for all their petulant protestations. the buckskin-clad sextet are just a surrogate Iildritch and co. given a liberal sprinkling of l lomepride (these lads cover themselves with flour for mystery »- honest ) in a vain attempt to mask the similarities. For those thereby converted. all the old faves are here — 'Moonchild‘. ‘Preacher Man‘. ‘1)awnrazor'. ‘I-‘or Iler Light'- as vocals grumble. keyboards moan. drums pound and guitars flange and spit (often simultaneously). Take away the cowboy gear and ('rowleyisms and Fields would bean average rock band in need of a throat lozenge or four. As it is. they‘re hilarious. I don't know who buys this rnusic. but I bloody admire their stamina- 77 minutes (that‘s foursides. brethren ) of marvellous 1osh.('hancers. Bet they're only in it forthe dough( l ). (Paul W. llullah)
I Banderas:Bipe(ftrr)1f describing this album as ‘nice' sounds like damning with faint praise. it isn't meant to. Ilow else can you describe an album as ltish and gentle as this‘.’ Not only does Ripe require repeated listenings. it warrants them. Despite the nod towards state-of-the-art dance on some tracks. it does not really fit into current trends. The exoticism of sortie of the musical flourishes lifts the album out of the ordinary. while (‘aroline Buckley's voice adds warmth and emotion to often cliched vignettes of modern love and life. With production courtesy ofStephen
I lague. guest appearances from .lolmny Marr and Bernard Sumner and the dour video for "This Is Your Life'. it's easy tosec the originsof the ‘Pet Shop (iirls' tag. but the
complete absence ofcamp drama soon makes a mockery of that. (James Ilaliburton)
I Lenny Kravitz: Mama Said (Virgin America) 011. Lenny. you're so 7(ls. Well. yes he is. but that seems to be his whole rais'on (I'érr'e. He presents the hackneyed bad boy free spirit who at the end of the day will always stand by his woman. Ifthe songs themselves sound dated. that's becatise Kravitz yearns for the times ofdrunken Rev B jams. smoky cellar-bar jazz improvisations and horrid jackets and stripey flares. ()f course. his voice is eminently listenable. It's just that. despite appearances from Scan ()no Lennon and (iuns '.\" Roses axe hero Slash. the songs are — almost without exception — virtually forgettable. After all. who cares if ‘I’iclds ()fJoy'. which incidentally is given a reprise later on the album. Used to be performed by The ('alifornia Boys (‘hoiri’ All ofthis. ofcourse. is irrelevant. since the powers that be seem to have decided that Kravitz is I lendrix reincarnated. and his career is to develop accordingly. (James I Ialiburton) IThe Beat PeoplezThe Real People (Columbia) As the first of the coming wave of Liverpudlian bands — see Rain. Top. The Hoovers — to get round to releasing an album.The Real People gain the advantage of precedent. By year‘scnd. the hallmarks of the new Merseybeat will be well established. That is. much the same as the old ‘Beat. but with its ass kicked and its 911s pertinence fixed. After all. to most young hipsters. nicely played. summery strummy guitars and undulating harmonies are a brave new sound.
The Real People are
exceedingly good at precisely that sort of thing. coming over asa
bridge band to span two decades that are two decades apart. With the opening harmonica wail and tamlmurine-on-palm of ‘\\'onderful‘. we could just as easily be on Rear/v Slew/y (in as Top ()f The Pops. ()fcourse. it'd be pushing it to expect a young band to be completely untouched by- the hand of dance. The single. ‘()pen L'p Your Mind'. may focus on the wah-wah-free acoustic vibe. but at the same time can‘t resist a bit of dandy . jerky drumming. By and large. though. tracks like 'ln Your I lands‘ display a clarity of idea that makes The Real People the head freshener it is. offering I space and melody as a crucial counterpoint to cluttered clubpop frenzy. j ((‘raig McLean) I Green On Bed: Scapegoats (China) Every time a new (irecn ()n Red album comes along. we‘re besieged with claims 1 (usually from Rolling Stone magazine and hopeful types like Whispering Bob Harris) that the instigative duo— Dan Stuart and (‘huck Prophet — have finally : ‘matured'. at last ‘come of
Green on Bed age‘. So. how come they never sound any different? ()ld. certainly. but always the same complacent. satisfied old. Scapegoats was recorded (by Al Kooper. once of Blood Sweat and Tears) in Nashville and ‘Two Lovers' and the Neil Young-ish ‘I Icctor‘s 0111‘ (a prison lament) labour to generate a country-hobo feel appropriate to that location. Elsewhere. though. it’s standardised car-stereo boogie ofthe lamest AQR variety. lacklustre of charm and predictable of format. The pervasive feeling is something akin to Dylan circa I’rr'ewlieelin' with the Stones‘ electric blues and Television's left-field
wryness thrown in for
seasoning. (‘risply produced and intelligently
rendered it is. but. annoyingly (and the jokes
wearing thin) it's still not the record (EQR have been threatening to make since the early 80s. When that arrives. we‘ll all take notice; for now. this is
j passany competentwith
flashes of a broader potential unrealiscd. (Paul W. Hullah)
The Real People
BOOK NOW ROCK
I GLASGOW BARROWLANO ((141 226 4679)The Silencers. 19 Apr; On LJ-Sound. 21 Apr; Christy Moore . 4 May; Lenny Kravitz. 7 May; IiMF. I3 Maszhe Wedding Present. 18 May; Alison Moyet. 20 May; Living Colour. 27 May.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL(()41332 3123)The (’ommodores. 22 Apr:
Sister Sledge Odyssey. 2 May; I-.verly Brothers. 18 May.
I GLASGOW SECC ((1-11 557 6969) AC I)('. 20
34'l‘he List 5 - 18 April I99]
The Temptations. 23 Apr:
Apr; Gloria Estefan. 23—24 Apr; MCHammer. 18 May; Pet Shop Boys. 28
May; Paul Simon. 3 Jun:
lnspiral Carpets. 14 Jun;
Whitneyllouston. 17—19
Sep. Chris Rea. 28 Nov. I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S
i HALL(0316682019YThe
Wedding Present. 20
Mav.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE
I (()31 557 259()) The Everly'
Brothers. 26 Apr: Robert Palmer. 27 May; Womack & Womack. 1.3 Jun. 'lransyis1on\ amp. l8 Jun. I EDINBURGH USHER HALL(()312281155)'I‘he "Temptations. 22 Apr.
gJAzz & FOLK
l I EDINBURGH QUEEN‘S
HALL ((131 668 2019) Danny Thompson's Whatever. 25 Apr; Courtney Pine. 26 Apr: HenriTexichrio’Nana Vasconcelos. 3 May: Dave Holland Group. 5 May; Tom Bancroft ()rchestra. 17 May: Arthur II. 24 May;John Surman. 26 May; Jim Ilall Quartet. 31 May; Abdullah Ibrahim. 7 Jun.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL(()312281155) Modern Jazz Quartet. 7 May.
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL((1413323123) (‘lannad. 12 May; Harry (‘onnick Jr. I7 May: Abdullah Ibrahim. 8Jun.
LIGHT
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL(()413323123) Howard Keel. 29 Apr: Elaine Paige. 13—14 May; Cole Porter Tribute. 8 Jun.
I GLASGOW PAVILION (()41 332 1846) Rita Macneil.21Apr;BillieJo Spears. 28 Apr: A Slice of Saturday Night. 27 May—l Jun; Glen Campbell. 15
Jun.
I GLASGOW SECC (041 227 551 I ) Shirley Bassey. 15 May.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (()31 557 2590) A Slice of Saturday Night. 3—8Jun: James Last. 11—12 Jun.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL ((131 228 I 155) Rita
Macneil. 2() Apr.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CONCERT HALL((141332 3123) RPQ. 19Apr; RSNQ. 2(1Apr; Georgian State S(). 24 Apr; BBC‘SSO. 26 Apr; RSNQ. 27 Apr; Music FromThc Movies. 28
' AprlTorontoSO. 3()Apr;
(‘oncertgcbouw ()rch. 21
May; LA Phil. 25—26 May;
Tokyo SQ. 8()ct;
Leningrad Phil. 2] Nov.
I GLASGOW SECC(()41
227 5511) RSNOS;
Chorus. 26 May.
I GLASGOW THEATRE
j BOYAL(U413311234)
3 Scottish ()pera: Ira/staff.
l 20. 27 Apr. 2. 22 May; The
6 Barber ()fSeville. 26. 3f) Apt-1.9. 17.25May;
Regina.lb.18.2l.23
May. I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S
HALL ((131 668 21119) Piccolo Pack. 20 Apr;
Scottish Iinsemble. 2f) April; Alyosha Khevelev. 21Apr;Melanie
Armistead. 21 Apr; Rostov String Quartet. 22 Apr; Murray McLachlan. 23 Apr; S(‘(). 27 Apr;
Alla Vasilyeva. 28 Apr;
RNCM Wind Ensemble.
29 April; SCO. 2 May:
Meadows (‘0. 18 May; Sinfonia. 16 June.
: I EDINBURGH USHER
HALL(()312281155) RSN().19Apr;Georgian State Symphony, 21.23 Apr; RSNQ 26 Apr; Kevock Choir. 27 Apr; ERC'U. I] May.