The Michigan Dily - Friday, October 18, 1985 -Page 7
I
Records
The Cure featuring Mad Bob.
The Cure:Mad Bob
land Co. hit Detroit
Max Karl-The +
(MCA).
German guitarist Max
latest album The Circle is typ
much of European rock. Li
continental acts, Karl's alb
American rock mannerism
thoroughly aimed at a red, w
blue market. The record sle
even boast that the alb
"engineered in the Queen's
by Nick Griffiths."
Marketing gestures aside,.
very capable , if sometimes
singer and guitarist. His alb
tains some flashy, originalr
even a good song or two
tunately, the album's slick pr
and mediocre materialt
disguise Karl's talents.
Throughout the album, Kar
like he is being restrained.I
type of mainstream rock pe
who thrives on shaprly tur
and growling vocals; he's s
meandering and unsure. The
as a result, sounds like an
cross between Bryan Adams
ba. It can't decide which sid
Atlantic it wants to be o
decides to please everyone a
up nowhere.
But, before you can give up
his album is not without roul
We can enjoy this album fo
strumentation and so
evocative guitar riffs. In fa
song is structured around a
terpiece. The title cut would
an akward love song ba
banality (imagine a clumsy,
eyed Corey Hart pining away
either lost or found) if no
passionately controlled gui
backed by ethereal keyboards
Karl is at his best when hi
with Euro-hard rock, compl
minor key strum-und-drang k
ds and politically allusive lyr
One's opening cut, "Radical P
has flashy, tense guitars, co
moaning keyboards. It's a ne
ty about alienation and rebell
it works on its own terms. W
Karl is on his own ground.
Most of the album, though
Side Two's "Timing". The
well-produced with some ve
musicians (witness Christian
artfully clean-cut saxophone li
it hems Karl in. The song is
glaze of icy synths and glitt
ars. It's so self-consciousl
wave" that it creates a tens
ween itself and Karl's
traditional '70s style. Throug
song, poor Max sounds like
wants to run out of the studio,
to a bluesy, Teutonic wail, a
away at his guitar. We can o
that he eventually got around
-Arona Pea
Beat Rodeo-Staying
Late With Beat Rodeo
The second wave of the re
country influence in America
has arrived, and like most
waves it is little more than a w
Circle down echo. Staying Out Late With
Beat Rodeo is painfully thin and flac-
cid attempt to infuse country rock
with a cheery pop feel. The result is
Karl's limp and soul-less, and the latter
ical of so quality is that which torpedoes the
ke many record.
um apes A country ballad cannot simply
s and is whine. It needs guts... a raspy voice...
hite, and too many bottles of Jack Daniels. It
eeve can needs pain. Steve Almaas' vocals on
um was "Mistake," are a travesty. Has this
English man ever been wronged by a low-
down woman? Has he ever drowned
Karl is a the fires of passion that was never meant
generic, to be in the soothing seas of a whiskey
um con- glass? NO. He hasn't. And he
riffs and shouldn't pretend that he has.
Unfor- These guys claim influences
oduction ranging from James Burton to the
tend to Ramones to Iggy Pop. Those names
mean raw energy. Power. Spines. But
. sounds Beat Rodeo posesses none of those
He's the qualities. The majority of this album
erformer was produced by Don Dixon at Drive-
ned riffs In Studios. Why didn't he take these
)mewhat New Yorkers out into the backwoods,
e album, get 'em drunk, make them stagger
unholy back into the garage, and play twice
and Ab- as fast?
le of the While lyrically inane, the songs are
n; Karl melodically tolerable. If not for the
nd ends ponderous delivery they might very
well be enjoyable, but this is cow-punk
on Karl, for people who are incapable of accep-
7h gems. ting anything beyond surface value.
r its in- God forbid a rough edge or raw nerve.
m times Wouldn't want to offend anyone.
ct, each This record professes participation
riff cen- in the current cow-punk craziness, but
I remain posesses none of the raw energy of
thed in punk, and one of the deep-rooted soul
dreamy- of country. It is a shadow of a genre
for love, that might be one of the most viable
t for a and exciting in music today, but won't
tar riff be if banalities like this are subsumed
;. . within it.
ie sticks A final point. The name is really
ete with contrived. We've alreayd got Beat
eyboard Farmers, and Rubber Rodeo, who
ics. Side needs Beat Rodeo? I don't care if the
?rodigal, band was together for five years, Beat
uched in Rodeo muddles things up. Especially
rous dit- on a record which sounds like it was
lion, and performed by the Rubber Farmers.
Ne know-John Logie
, is like
song is Lonton Philharmonic Or-
ry good
iSelke's chestra-Brahams: Double
ine), but
lost in a Concerto (Angel)
ery guit-
y "new You can picture the classical music
,ion bet- listener, naive and bewildered,
more standing in a record store and holding
hout the this album, thinking, "Well, this
he just looks o.k...."
burst in- Unfortunately, he would soon
nd bash discover how misleading the fancy
nly hope packaging was. In general, the recor-
to it. ding is a disappointment. It can be
rlstein characterized as a dragging almost to
THE MEN OF
KAPPA SIGMA
WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME
THE WOMEN OF
ALPHA XI DELTA
to the University of Michigan
with our best wishes for a
successful and rewarding year!
GO BLUE!
the point of killing the beauty of the
piece. Cellist Paul Tortelier's attem-
pts to add romantic expression are
irritating, and violinist Yehudi
Menuhin's lack of direction and in-
ferior tone quality, particularly in the
upper register, are almost painful. It
does not help that the orchestra is in-
consistent, sometimes sonorous but
mostly slow.
However, the greatest thing of which
all performers are guilty is lack of
togetherness. Menuhin, Tortelier, and
the London Philharmonic might as
well have recorded their parts in
separate studios and then had them
mixed. This is particularly evident in
the sloppy attacks, staggered en-
dings, and overall lack of musicality.
This is not to say that there are not
beautiful moments in the recordings.
When Tortelier has the orchestra's
backing to keep him from losing tem-
po, when Menuhin is in a less potent
register, and when the orchestra is in
tune it is rather nice. But one cannot
help but think these moments occur
because of chance rather than of ef-
fort.
-Rebecca Chung
D
Support the
March of Dimes
IIIIIIIIIIII BIRTH DEFECTS FOUNDATION
By Richard Williams
W ELCOME TO my nightmare.
I think you're gonna like it. So
Mr. Mad Bob (Robert Smith), the
looney (I mean that affectionately)
leader of The Cure, who bring their
psychedelic nightmare tomorrow
night to the State Theatre in Detroit,
seems to say.
Man, this tour is a big surprise.
Mad Bob is the self-proclaimed
hater of touring, especially in the
U.S., and now we're going to see
them less than a year after their
spine-tingling performance at our
own Michigan Theatre. Has Bob
gone mad? Old news, mate, he's
been mad in his own cute and cuddly
way.
Question number 1: Are The
ure fun?
Depends on what your idea of fun
is. Many think that they are all
"doom and gloom." While there is
much evidence of this all over a good
part of their material, Mad Bob can
be curiously whimsical. Look at
"The Love Cats" and "Let's Go To
Bed" and that should make things
clear.
Question number 2: What the
hell is Mad Bob talking about
anyway, I mean, I can't figure out
his lyrics at all?
Yeah, he is a difficult one. But if
you've been around as long as he
has, things can get boring. Mad Bob
likes to play games. He likes to
dream. He likes to tell us about those
dreams, though they probably only
make sense to him. And he likes to
lie. Mostly just little bitty white lies.
He figures he must be pretty smart
and witty if he can fool everyone (in-
cluding his mum). And ambiguity?
Well, it must be his middle name.
And all of this keeps things fun and
silly for us and him.
Question number 3: So what are
The Cure like live?
Well, they don't jump around like
monkeys, and they don't say much
to the audience (you know, like "We
love ya Detroit"), and they don't
rely on theatrics and basically they
don't act like rock stars.
Pretty boring stuff, huh? Na,
'cause The Cure are a very powerful
thing, as close to the mainstream as
you can get without losing that
groove thing.
What makes them groove? It's
Mad Bob poking fun at everything
including himself. No, this little kitty
cat of a man just walks around in his
own peculiar haze regardless of
whether or not the mainstream will"
have anything to do with it.
By the way, Simon Gallup is back
with The Cure, Mad Bob's old buddy,
playing bass. I think that has
revitalized The Cure and I'm expec-
ting big things Saturday night in the
city of Detroit.
IilillI!
_., .1
OFF,
\L 1()I\ c ;()I )I
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OFF
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OFF
Out
(IRS)
vival of
n music
second
ratered-
M111 P -
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VA
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on gold rings from
111
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p r
HERB DAVID
Guitar Studio
302 E. LIBERTY
665-8001
Sales - Lessons - Rentals - Expert Repairs
Repair Bows - Repair Violin " Cello * Bass
Stop by and see a Jostens
representative this week to save on the
gold ring of your choice.
Monday Oct. 14-Friday Oct. 18, 11 am to 4 pm
5YEARS
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Legend
Leo Kottke will be appearing at The Ark tomorrow night. Although his roots are in folk and the blues, Kottke has
experimented with everything from classical to guitar synthesizer, as well. Kottke, will be performing at 7:30
p.m. and again at 10 P.M.
The Universityof Michigan
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