| Product: |
Absolute O'brien - Richard O'Brien |
| Date: |
22/06/08 (90 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: If you take it as being jocular, it's quite amusing in places...
Disadvantages: Creepy to the upmost!
My fondness of Richard O'Brien stemmed from when I use to watch the Crystal Maze as a girl during the summer holidays. I always found his presenting style interesting, bringing in his own unique charisma and personality to each episode of the Channel 4 game show.
Fast forward by ten years and I'm sat watching the Crystal Maze once again. Except for this time, I found Mr. O'Brien to be even more humorous than I remembered. Call me crazy but I never remembered him as being that witty or jocular. Perhaps it was just my age?
So, when I found out that the man himself had had the guts to release a solo album, I was shocked but almost intrigued. One of my good friends joked that she would get it for me as a late birthday present.
At least, I thought she was joking.
A little over a month later, I unravelled the pink wrapping paper to find a florescent pink CD poking through the corners.
Oh dear...
My immediate thought was that this CD would merely be a collection of mediocre joke tracks, capitalising on O'Brien's obvious charming personality.
In truth, the CD was something completely different all together...
1. Incubus of Love (6.50)
When I saw the opening track's title, my initial response was just to laugh. I honestly didn't expect it to be quite as serious as it was. Like quite a few of the songs on this album (as in, nearly all of them), it's a little bluesy and a big bit jazzy; I can imagine it being played in a rather seedy bar but I think that is, in fact, the direct opposite reaction that Richard would have wanted...
'Incubus of Love' comes across as being very self-pitying, as if the person is pleading with the object of their desire to just give them a chance to be their ultimate protector and lover.
Marks out of 10: 4 - if you can get over the fact that it is Richard O'Brien singing a love song...well, it's still appalling! The lyrics in themselves are extremely corny and I'm just at the beginning of trying to decide whether this is a piss take or a serious record...
2. It's Up To You (4.11)
The next track, to my eyes and ears, has to be a joke! 'It's Up To You' is a semi-inspirational track about being responsible for your own actions, even when the world is becoming tedious and diabolical (a good analogy being this album) and you simply feel like giving in.
With his trusty harmonica for comfort (a welcomed flashback to the Crystal Maze), the tune reminds me of something that a Spanish version of Duran Duran would do! This is one of the tracks on the album that you just can't help but take with a pinch of salt!
Marks out of 10: 4 - Being only two tracks into this album, it may be unfair to judge it as a whole just yet. However, if it doesn't pick up, I doubt that it's going to get a very high rating...
3. Ain't That to Die For (2.56)
As I scan over the lyrics as Ravishing Rick gives it his best shot, I still have no idea what the heck's going on. Call me spacey, but even with the lyric book staring me right in the face, I just haven't got a clue as to what he's trying to tell the listener in this song!
Trying to decode the lyrics as if they are the Da Vinci Code, I think Richard is telling the listener that if they don't use their voice, they won't be heard. Simple. I think! The tune is something out of a Cabaret bar; completely confusing and disturbing.
Marks out of 10: 4 - officially creeped out!
4. Fixation (4.18)
Deciding to take this album as the joke that I think it may be, 'Fixation' certainly uses a lot of sarcasm, which I am personally glad about. Once again, Richard uses his mocking sense of humour to tell the story of a young boy and girl who are fixed upon, uh, fixation.
The pace doesn't change, in terms of the music. I think that this track shows the O'Brien has a relatively good voice - just not one that is sexy enough to pull of this type of song. It is as if his voice, the lyrics and music are in constant battle with each other, never flowing with each other to make a half decent track. All three simply don't fit together.
Marks out of 10: 4.5 - A little better than the last track but not by miles.
5. The Dance of Love (3.04)
This one is heading back towards the Richard O'Brien that many are more accustomed to; a bloke with a great sense of humour who knows how to entertain a crowd.
This one should be taken as being a complete and utter joke with the sexual innuendo clearer than crystal. The pace of the music is again quite slow but my main issue with this track is that I fail to find Mr. O'Brien fanciable in the slightest. If it was sung by someone like Darren Hayes who I think not only has the velvet like voice and good looks to pull it off and someone who you could envisage singing such a song, I may not have a problem with. However, it inadvertently comes across as being very disturbing.
Marks out of 10: 4 - The 'that's divine' portion of the chorus, sung in a breathless, sexual way by O'Brien did very little to endear me to this song. In fact, it took away from the amusing tale he was trying to portray and just made it very scary to me.
6. One Hundred Dollars an Hour (4.01)
Reminding me a little of the Placebo track 'Broken Promises', right up until the point where he started to sing, this song tells the tale of a forlorn man, who can only get pleasure by paying 'One Hundred Dollars An Hour' to someone who he thinks might save him. Awww, bless.
I have to say that this song sounds a lot better on page than it does on CD! Lacking the depth to make it a heart felt track, it just comes across once again at being a corny attempt to fill the album.
Marks out of 10: 4 - I am really struggling to understand whether this is just a really bad joke or whether the listener is meant to give the songs a thorough and insightful listen. Whilst this song may have a good meaning behind it, it lacks the sincerity for the listener to even contemplate this whilst hearing the song. It is only when you dare to take a look at the lyrics that you even begin to consider this.
7. Rhythm of the Heartbeat (4.04)
By this stage, the album is getting really tiresome; it is stuck in a seemingly never ending rut of songs of mocked melancholy, with more or less the same mulled over, boring music, comprised of a soft drum beat and lazy guitar melodies.
'Rhythm of the Heartbeat' is certainly no exception to this. In fact, it's almost getting to the point where I want to turn this CD off and never let it be heard by human ears again. Yet, I have a review to do, so I'll give you a bit more of an insight into this number. Unsurprisingly, it involves O'Brien singing about his favourite subject; love. Yawn. It has to be said that I'm a girl who loves variety and this album certainly isn't offering that!
Marks out of 10: 3 - I'm just about bored out of my mind by this point. An up-tempo track could well save this album from getting one star.
8. I've Been There Before (3.53)
The aptly titled track, 'I've Been There Before', is nothing short of dire. I'm not even going to try and hide my distain anymore. I just can't comprehend any of this song, as hard as I try; it just fails to make sense.
The constant conflict I have with this entire album is that, whilst the lyrics are almost heartfelt cries for help, or for a new lover who actually cares, it just doesn't fit in with the cheesy backing track and breathless vocals of O'Brien. It comes across as being a desperate attempt at making money.
Marks out of 10: 3 - the sad thing is that whilst the lyrics to this are very emotional, they are put across in such a way that makes it impossible for the listener to even try and connect in this way.
9. Running with the Noisy Boys (3.28)
When the rockier drum beat and guitars opened this track, I was more than a little relieved. I thought (foolishly) that this may be the turning point that I've craved for in this album. I honestly thought that 'Running with the Noisy Boys' would be the track that made the album bearable.
In fact, it just about was. Well, at least it moved on from the topic of lost love and regret to talking about a band of brothers, each of them different, and how they lived a carefree lifestyle and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to say that I was a little disappointed that it wasn't perhaps even more of an up tempo number but it was more tolerable than the rest of them.
Marks out of 10: 4.70 - I just can bring myself to hit that button entitled number '5'.
10. I Will Always Hold You in My Heart (3.20)
Oh great, another love song with the same trumpet dozily blaring in the background, O'Brien's monotonous vocals slumbering over the same tune...you get the picture; it sounds very much like the other 8 love tracks on this record.
Maybe I just don't have the ear for jazz enthused ballads? But, as someone who prides themselves on their CD collections vast array of genres and artists, I say that I know a good song when I hear one. And this certainly ain't it!
Marks out of 10: 3 - For the most part, you can't understand a word that Richard is saying. I find that the music on here overtones it a little too much and it perhaps doesn't help that it feels like I've heard this song about a million times over already!
11. Angel in Me (5.19)
Thankfully, it is now time for the last song on the album 'Absolute O'Brien'. When the music started up, it took me back to the days when I was sad enough to watch the dreadful Channel 4 (or it might have been 5...it's that memorable, I never stored enough information about it in my brain!) programme 'Brat Camp'. Yep, that's right, the show that taught parents simply how not to raise their children as spoilt, ungrateful brats.
Anyway, as I digress, I have to say that this song proves to be the one that demonstrates just how poor this album is on many levels. The first of these being the horribly crafted tunes that sound as if they have been stolen many times before from various places. The opening to this track reminded me of a sleazy, American dessert with tumble weed ambling along at it's own pace. Secondly, O'Brien's voice is insufferably whiney at many points...
Marks out of 10: 3 - it sounds like every other song on this album.
As if you thought it couldn't get any worse, wait until you take a look at the picture collection in the booklet!
The word creepy has never been more applicable than when listening to 'Ain't that to die for'! This is another point where I come to the dilemma as to whether to take this pictures as just being bad jokes (with the number of, um, interesting poses Richard is pulling, it would be best to take it this way!).
However, there is a certain air of self indulgence here, which certainly cannot be ignored when you flip to the back pages to see 'action shots' of the man himself, donning pink and black tuxedos and traipsing around the back alleys of a disclosed street.
I think that whilst the pink colour scheme tries to denote both humour and love, it again just adds to the creepiness of the whole presentation. I hate to sound like a stuck record (like this one clearly is) but I am honestly a little freaked out by it all and perhaps failed to really discover that different dimension to O'Brien's personality; whilst, if you are familiar with his other cutting edge, unusual work such as 'The Rocky Horror Show' and 'Shock Treatment', you will be more than a little surprised when you listen to this collection.
Instead of the cheesy but entertaining rock and pop mix that you usually associate with him (Think 'Time Warp'), O'Brien takes the listener on a completely different journey with lounge/cabaret/jazz melodies that do nothing for his previous quirky image. To his credit, he did write the album himself, a fete that many professional musicians fail to accomplish. Yet, he didn't do it particularly well.
So, if you are looking for the perfect joke gift for your mate, like mine clearly was, this is the album for you. I'm trying not to take it too seriously and to see it in that light that it may have been written in; a soft, jovial light. But when you are listening to it, it seems very hard to do so to the point where you feel completely agitated by its uncanny nature.
An extremely disappointing effort from a man who prides himself on being completely unique.
Places to purchase:
Amazon.co.uk - £8.99
Play.com - New & Used from £8.14 (done via their market place)
Want to try before you buy?
Look up the 'Angel in Me' music video - it may be crucial to your buying decision!
(Note: Previously written and displayed on Ciao by myself, MizzMolko).
Summary: A really, really bad attempt at an album by the one and only, Richard O'Brien!
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