Reviews roundup – Chas & Dave vs. Steve Young vs. Simon Phillips vs. Daniel Meade

Reviews roundup – Chas & Dave vs. Steve Young vs. Simon Phillips vs. Daniel Meade

 

CHAS & DAVE
A Little Bit Of Us
Rockney

It’s amazing how many of the inkies and glossies seem incapable of reading a press release. Which makes you wonder whether they actually bother listening to the records either. I’ve read a couple in WH Smith, both of which claimed this was the first Chas & Dave release in 31 years. So what was “That’s What Happens” then? That came out 5 years back. What the press bumph actually said was that it was their first album to feature new Chas & Dave written songs since “Flying”. Pay attention, boys. So this 13 track collection features 7 songs with a Chas, Dave or Chas & Dave writing or co-writing credit. Which is nice.

You’ll be glad to hear that they’ve abandoned their plans for a grime meets dubstep album and instead have decided to make a Chas & Dave album that sounds like every other Chas & Dave album. Which is A Good Thing. The new Chas & Dave songs sound timeless and could have come from any time in their seventies heyday. The title track and ‘Come On Charlie’ are particularly fine, there’s plenty of boogie woogie piano and when they turn to old standards like ‘When You Wore A Tulip’ and ‘My Little Grass Shack’ it would have made my Bing Crosby / Mills Brothers loving Dad a very happy man indeed.

And the sound of Chas & Dave makes me happy as well. It takes me back to being a wee boy when there was still hope in the world. And even when they do get melancholic there is still something life affirming there. Granted I cry every time I hear “And our roads may be far, far apart, But there’s one rose that dies not in Picardy, ‘Tis the rose that I keep in my heart”, but I’ve been a walking tear since my missus died. And to be fair, I was greetin’ when I heard an old recording of John McCormack singing it in my auld Irish mammys house many (many) decades ago. Chas & Dave fans will take this to their hearts. I’m one of them and I have done.

 

 

STEVE YOUNG
The Great North Road EP
independent

About 18 months back I remember enjoying “Troubadour”, the album from Steve Young, a well seasoned musician who’d done time with Darren Hayes and Lionel Richie. That was a rather enjoyable slice of country meets pop meets folk and bow he’s back with an equally enjoyable EP.

Of course, the Great North Road is actually the Great South Road from where I’m sitting North of the wall, but we’ll let that slide. The EP kicks off with a brief intro before we head into the body of the kirk, and ‘Trembling Heart’ is a splendid song. His is a mellow, melody driven take on modern country and he’s very good at what he does. ‘Hard Times In A Beautiful Place’ continues the good work and I can’t think of any reason why fans of 21st century wouldn’t take this record to their collective bosom, given the chance.

The good work continues on the final three tracks with ‘The Greatest Love Song Of All Time’ a delightful, up, closer. This was a real treat and country pop fans should be forming an orderly queue.

https://www.musicglue.com/steveyounguk

 

SIMON PHILLIPS
Protocol 4
Phantom

Simon Phillips has drummed for just about everybody. From Judas Priest to Mike Oldfield and all points inbetween. Although his longest stint was with Toto.

But away from the world of rock, in all its variants, he’s a fusion man. This is about his ninth solo record, although the fourth under the Protocol name and sees him linking up with bassist Ernest Tibbs, guitar shredder Greg Howe and keyboard player Dennis Hamm. Which is a mighty fine band by any reckoning with the arrival of Howe taking me back to the eighties when I was a stripling and he was the Next Big Thing in shred.

Well we’ve moved on since then and his presence here really works. It’s not just jazz in the Phillips fusion mix, though, as album highlight ‘Celtic Run’ amply demonstrates. The name is a giveaway but as well as Celtic rhythms it has a fiery guitar solo which should be at odds but isn’t. Elsewhere, things are more “traditional” fusion but the likes of ‘Azorez’ are as good as it gets in the genre. It’s well produced, superbly performed and a real treat for fans of forward looking fusion.

 

DANIEL MEADE
When Was The Last Time
Button Up Records

If you head on over to Daniel’s informative website you will find out that this multi-talented Glaswegian musician has been making albums since 2003, latterly as a solo artist (accompanied only by drummer Ross McFarlane on this one) attracting the attention of the Nashville elite and supporting many famous acts along the way.

This album sucks you in from the first bars of opener ‘As Good As It Gets’ with Daniel’s voice sounding a little bit distant which only adds to the atmosphere (It was mastered at Abbey Road overlooking the famous crossing) and handling the guitar, bass, piano and organ parts with aplomb. Daniel shows a lyrical inventiveness on the thought provoking ballad ‘How High We Fly’. The acapella delivery of ‘So Much For Sorrows’ echoes great musical heroes of Daniel’s past and you just know a ‘political’ song is coming up. ‘If The Bombs Don’t Kill Us’ is this song and the one that most approximates heavy rock with a big production and message.

The title track also makes a powerful statement about alienation. The acoustic song ‘Don’t We All’ closes the album with a reflection on the changing times we live through. Finally, another word about the engineering by Geoff Allen: there is a lot of reverb and echo on the album which creates an intimate and personal experience for the listener, heart on sleeve stuff with titles like ‘When The Clown Stopped Smiling’, the most overtly country song in the set. Thanks to Garry John Kane for the CD.

http://www.danielmeademusic.com

(Reviewed by Phil Jackson)

 

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St Columba’s Hospice Tribute Fund for Linda Hamilton
http://linda.hamilton.muchloved.com/
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