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[hsut@purdue-ecn.ARPA (Tsun-Yuk Hsu)]

Here are some reviews I posted to net.music. We're having a few UUCP
problems here, so at least love-hounds people will see this...



	Two reviews of somewhat obscure, not very new albums:


Peter Blegvad	THE NAKED SHAKESPEARE

	A curiosity from Virgin, not released in the US, I believe. Peter
Blegvad used to be a member of Henry Cow (with Fred Frith, Chris Cutler etc.)
so I was expecting this to be a wild experimental album. (I'm not familiar
with the Henry Cow albums, but enjoy the Art Bears, which had similar
personnel.) Well, it was different... By the way, Andy Partridge of XTC
helped with the production.

	After reading the lyric sheet on my way home, I was ready for some
complex and challenging music. The album had terrific, hilarious lyrics!! 
A few samples:

	"The man had nothing on.
	 His dinner was still warm.
	 He couldn't have been dead for long,
	 His head was on the wrong way round..."

				(from Lonely Too)

	"Some say he stole a line from Ezra Pound.
	 Who knows it hasn't lain there for centuries,
	 Just waiting to be found?..."

				(from Powers in the Air)

	And so forth. Most of the songs had similarly witty and literate
lyrics. So I was really disappointed when I put on the album. It seems
that Blegvad had put all his ingenuity into the lyrics and decided to
scrawl a few tunes (though some of them are good ones) to accompany his
marvelous words. The music, while not top-40 trash, was very accessible
(hardly a fault) but not very interesting or challenging. Blegvad's
singing was, again, very competent but nothing to write home about. The
only song that had music which matched the strange lyrics was "Irma",
a little dirge about a rape. 

	So if you like accessible music with bizarre lyrics, you can
do worse than get The Naked Shakespeare. Otherwise, don't bother.



Chameleons	SCRIPT OF THE BRIDGE

	Also known as Chameleons UK, this young group recently released
a second album, WHAT DOES ANYTHING MEAN, BASICALLY? SCRIPT is their
first album and has been released in the US, with fewer songs and
a different sequence of tracks. I have the UK pressing, which has about
52+ minutes of music.

	Several commentators have said that the Chameleons sound like
the early U2. I don't feel they're really that similar. The Chameleons
have a youthful energy that shines through the unfortunately less than
ideal production.

	On the whole, SCRIPT is a little uneven, but an amazing first
album. There is a lack of variety on some of the tracks, but this could
be due more to the sloppy production than anything else. And because of the
production, the lyrics are, with a few exceptions, hard to understand
(no lyric sheet was included.) The best songs have rich echoing 
guitar textures usually with an infectious bass line
and a booming drum sound. The vague, declamatory vocals recall
occasionally R.E.M. or the Cure. The good tracks on this album are
very impressive for a first album. My favorites include Don't Fall,
View from a Hill and Less Than Human. 

	In summary, a fine album and recommended for fans of U2 or R.E.M.
or anyone who enjoys strong, guitar-based songs.


	"I must have died a thousand times
	 I'm less than human I surmise
	 I'm less than human in your eyes..."

						Bill Hsu
						pur-ee!hsut

	Department of Eccentric Esoterica, Purdue University