Faith was from that remarkable period of English music after the invasion of American rock but before the rise of the Beatles. New Romantic, baggy, grebo, punk, ska, mod etc have all been discussed and analysed ad nauseam by scholarly English rock writers. Unfortunately, they have avoided that period between 1957 – 1962 when English music was trying to deal with American rock 'n' roll on the airways by rockin' out themselves. By and large they reflected whatever was happening in the US, but then again so did the Beatles – they just repackaged it and gave it a little more verve … count the covers on the first Beatles album if you need proof. In any event the first wave of English rockers were washed away by the success of the Beatles and then subsequently they were kept in their place because most of them did not write their own material. Oddly the second generation of English rock acts from the 60s by–passed these guys altogether whilst praising the first generation Americans. Maybe they could smell a "copy" and looked to the original. Tis a pity they couldn't smell themselves.
There was much pre Beatles English rock to treasure … hold on … for fuck sake this is an Adam Faith album from 1974 … I am letting my prejudices take me off on a tangent …
This was Adam Faith's comeback of sorts, as he had just appeared in the successful film "That'll be The Day" as a aging rock 'n' roller. In truth he never was off the scene though he may have been out of the public eye – after his early 60s career he had a respectable film career as well as running a music management and production company. This was his first album since 1965.
wikipedia: "Terence (Terry) Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith (23 June 1940, East Acton, London – 8 March 2003, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) was an English singer, actor and financial journalist. Teen idol turned to actor then financial advisor, Faith was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5. He was also one of the first UK acts to record original songs regularly".
Here he takes the next step – a rock roller trying to shed his past and go contemporary.
I always find this fascinating, this desire to be "relevant" and "in touch". It happens to everyone in music and it will happen to Radiohead, Coldplay, Oasis, Gorillaz, Powderfinger, Kings of Leon … no one is exempt from the passing of time. How a musical act confronts changing times and tastes will ultimately be their measure of worth.
Do you stand you ground ?
Do you adapt to new styles ?
Or do you or adapt but bring your old self with you?
There was a rock 'n' roll revival going on in the early to mid-70s which Faith could have cashed in on but he didn't. This is a pity as I would have liked him to do something regressive like stick to his guns and do the type of pop rock he was pumping out in the early 60s – this certainly would have kept him in good stead with the rock revivalists and maybe even nascent punkers. Think Shane Fenton aka Alvin Stardust forinstance.
But in losing that he has gained a very immediate and pleasing album of introspective 70s songs …
Of all the first generation English rockers I think (and I stand to be corrected) perhaps only Faith had faith (groan) in himself to tackle new material and sounds without sounding like a dick.
The sound is nothing new and reminds me of a Kinks record from the early-70s, any number of David Essex albums, Bowie around Ziggy Stardust, or Roger Daltrey's first solo LP . And I will say now all these things are good things. The Daltrey comparison is especially not surprising as Faith co-wrote all the tracks here with David Courtney who, with Faith, launched the career of Leo Sayer. And, Sayer wrote most of Daltrey's debut solo album.
Faith's voice is cracked and slightly world weary which is nicely counterbalanced against some arrangements that are totally MOR without making you cringe. There is some real saccharine background – strings, piano solos, gentle saxes – but guess what … it works. I suspect half is the fact that the MOR arrangements are turned on their head constantly with little strange things happening throughout, like a mid-period Tom Waits album.
Tracks (best in italics)
- I Survived – a Ritchie Blackmore guitar wank at the start was totally intentional but still sounds duff to me … otherwise the song is pretty good.
- I Believe in Love – a reviewer compared this to a Ray Davies song – and I would also – maybe not thematically but certainly in phrasing and styling.
- Honey – some beautiful lyrics … again very Ray Davies circa "Celluloid Heroes".
- Foreign Lady – a touch of David Essex and the fair – not typical of the other songs on this album but a nice piece of ye olde worlde English whimsy which most English acts of the time had a go at.
- Change – shit, this could have been on Daltry's first solo album.
- Maybe – romantic and a little like Bowie around Hunky Dory … to my ears anyway.
- Never Say Goodbye – conjures up a nice romantic yearning and pleading
- Goodbye – oom pa pa … Fellini and Nino Rota go to England and do folk.
- In Your Life – again a little early Bowie and a little Broadway – but then again wasn't Bowie a little Broadway?
- Star Song – as good as any song about the trappings of popstar fame that I have heard.
And …
Yes – I think I'll keep this and add it to my small but select batch of English albums.
Chart Action
none
Sounds
I Survived
live
Honey
attached
Star Song
attached
Others
Review
Bio
(originally posted: 15/08/2010)
