Tag: be bop deluxe

This is album number two from one of the most underrated bands ever. I was quite jealous of a kid I went to school with at the time because he got to play on this album as a member of a brass band that were local to me.

This was a follow up to the awesome Axe Victim and Bill, being a chameleon-like character, wanted to move on and away from the glam sound from the first record (which is a killer album by the way). This is my second favourite Be Bop album behind Axe Victim. The songs are so strong on this and are driven along by Bill’s superb voice and guitar playing. There’s not a bad song to be seen as I love them all.

The first “hit” single was released from this album, Maid In Heaven. A superb song that really defies description. Yeah it’s rock n’ roll, but it’s so much more. Listen closely and there is a lot happening. It’s also very Queen like in places. Sister Seagull is my favourite song ,not only on the album but from the band as a whole. It’s a killer dramatic song with Bill weaving his spell with the vocal delivery as only he can, and then his guitar playing his so freakin’ cool. Another favourite of mine is Music In Dreamland. It has such a great intro before Bill starts his tale. The melody is so good on this song and we are veering into prog territory here, same with Between The Worlds which echoes Bowie and Genesis.

They are band I miss so much as they were so unique and a blast from my early teenage years.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

This is the final album from the Be Bop’s, released in ’78. In a short space of time, they released 5 studio albums and a live album, and each one is different from the previous. This album is quite new wave sounding – before it became fashionable to use the term new wave. There are lots of keyboards on this album, and I have always found it very American sounding – in line with a Talking Heads sort of vibe.

Bill Nelson’s vocals and his guitar make this album way above any other bands around at the time. I was quite sad when Bill called it a day with the band, and then he formed the short lived, Red Noise, before going solo and collaborating with too many people to mention here. My favourite Be Bop Deluxe album is Axe Victim, which is a million miles away in style from this album – as the emphasis was on the songs and the guitar. Here, however, the songs are still of great importance but presented in a futuristic style.

I love the opening track, Electrical Language, which has a superb groove and some great guitar. New Mysteries is a killer track with a very off beat and groove with some superb playing from Bill. Love In Flames is as close as the band came to a punk vibe, especially the vocal line. The start of Panic In The World reminds me of Heroes by Bowie, whom Bill was influenced by early on.

Not their best album, but still a very enjoyable record.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

This band are about as local as it gets for me as. Bill Nelson was from Wakefield, about 8 miles from where I spent my childhood. The word genius is bandied around far too often (especially in the music business), but Bill Nelson is a bonafide genius and visionary. He was never one to stand around and repeat himself. Even if what went before was successful, Bill felt the need to move on to something new. If you listen to all the Be Bop albums, they are all different, and it’s only Bill that holds them all together. He’s often talked about as a great songwriter and innovator, but he is also a fantastic guitarist.

This album would be the last of the early glam style albums before they would reflect more of what was happening around them. Often compared to Bowie (and I know Bill did admire Bowie), I think this is more to do with the tonal quality of Bill’s voice and the way he paints pictures with his lyrics. Ships In The Night was the band’s highest charting single in the UK, and the one Bill hates the most as the record company were putting him under pressure at the time. For me, it is possibly the weakest song on the album, as the two songs that precede it on the album, Fair Exchange and Heavenly Homes, are amazing tracks with a very Prog feel to them. Crying To The Sky has one of my favourite Bill solos that just soars beautifully above the music. Superb tone and feel! Other stand out tracks are the incredible Blazing Apostles, which has a very new wave vibe to it – but again a great guitar sound, and my favourite track on this album, Life In the Air Age.

Bill is still cranking out tunes in his seventies, and I urge everyone to go and check him out – he has made some incredible music.

9/10 from The Grooveman.