When Queen took to the stage at Wembley Stadium, they were the biggest live attraction in Britain if not the world, Freddie Mercury was at the top of his form, and the crowd at Wembley roared in his hands. The Live at Wembley Stadium ’86 DVD and CD set is, without doubt, pure class and worthy of a place in anyone’s record collection; in terms of live recordings, this is historic.

I’ve been watching and listening to this event since I was a kid. My parents had videos full of music videos and concerts and I must have watched them all to the point of wearing them out when I was younger. Dad taped this one from the Channel Four broadcast, it was taped after David Hepworth talked to David Hepworth on the Born in the USA tour and before a Prince’s Trust concert but…I digress. The point is, I didn’t have to re-listen / re-watch this to write any words about it and I make no apologies for saying it’s the absolute bollocks of live documents.

One Vision is epic, that keyboard intro and that guitar riff before Freddie emerges from the smoke with his microphone. Even so soon into the performance, Mr Mercury is magnificent. Gimme Gimme Gimme fried chicken!

The set list for this and every Queen event was very thought out and structured and Wembley was no different. First, blind and deafen, slow and thoughtful ramping up to blind deafen them again with the closing; generally leave them speechless. One Vision and Tie Your Mother Down achieve the first rule brilliantly before In the Lap of the Gods which was dusted off specially for the Wembley dates according to the Brian May, a fan favourite. Watch Freddie posing; hear his delicate vocal delivery before the drums kick in and the woah woahs start… anyone not into it by this point has my sympathy.

The groove of A Kind of Magic here is different from the studio recording obviously, it’s beefier, rockier. John Deacon’s bass struts its way through (as it does on Under Pressure and Another One Bites the Dust which follow this). Brian May’s guitar work is outstanding and Roger Taylor drums his arms off. This is what happens when every single element of a rock band, are on the same page. Live at Wembley is full of these moments, frankly my dear.

After …Magic we have the moment. The moment Freddie gets an entire Wembley crowd in the palm of his hand. Often imitated (Robbie Williams, Guy Garvey, I’m looking lovingly in your direction), never bettered. The call and response part is brilliant. And only Freddie could end the exchange with a cheeky “Fuck you!” and get a cheer from the crowd …  Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay oh!

Crowd participation is often a risky business at live concerts, if the people don’t respond or their reaction is half hearted it wont pop and you end up looking like a bit of an idiot. Bruce Springsteen does it very well, Noel Gallagher heard the Don’t Look Back in Anger chorus come back at him perfectly at every Oasis gig I saw. Robbie can do it too. Queen and more specifically Freddie Mercury had every member of the sell out crowd with him here. Ending band split rumours with “we’re going to stay together until we fucking well die, I’m sure” delights them. The band then go into Who Wants to Live Forever; the then new song, written for the Highlander film, and the comments made before it look somewhat poignant given the passing of the band’s front man.

I Want to Break Free sounds funky and no, the band don’t perform it as Coronation Street ladies as in the video which is a tribute to the British soap (sorry, America).

If you were to skip any tracks in the presentation of Live at Wembley and you chose Impromptu and Brighton Rock Solo then Given to Sound would support you. Both of these inclusions work for the entirety of the concert and they may be good, but they don’t stand up to repeat listening. I stand by my assertion that the tracks are flawless, but some may be a little less flawless than others.

Now I’m Here is Roger Taylor hammering the drums and Freddie covering every inch of the stage, literally being here and now there and attempting to perform on every surface on that stage, vocally he never misses a moment.

As Freddie and the band disappear and ‘the guitarist gets to speak’, Brian delicately strums Love of My Life and Mercury comes back for to the fore with conductor greatness; conducting the audience to sing back the words back to him. This is live, people, this wasn’t Memorex, wasn’t auto tuned and wasn’t mimed. This was an intimate moment where you can almost be forgiven for thinking there ISNT a sell out Wembley crowd there. When you are at a live show and moments like this happen, you feel every second, and you should watching or listening to this collection too. The way Freddie’s voice dives soars and crackles Is This the World We Created is beautiful.

It is at this point in the set that the band then dive into old classics like (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care and Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart). Queen were clever at knowing when to lighten the mood, and the had a liking for songs with brackets in the titles (OK maybe not). Tutti Frutti starts off in the same kind of free jam spirit as the other two songs, but soon enough Roger is back on drums, the guitars are plugged in, Freddie’s running again and the band means business. Business and then some, because soon comes Bohemian Rhapsody.

The crowd sway, and sing along, this is after all, one of the most influential sound recordings in the history of music. It may sound shivers down your spine, perhaps more than the studio construct of the A Night at the Opera album version because you watch and hear every part flow together live (the i see a little silhouette-o of a man part is of course, played in and not recreated live, but…come on that is vocal multi-tracked gold and we can forgive that). Any way the wind blows!

After all that time on stage and all those hits, you’d expect that to be the end but Queen deliver more. A powerful Hammer to Fall and a cute Crazy Little Thing Called Love with Freddie’s ‘shitty guitar’ bring on a rocky Big Spender complete with Freddy ripping his shirt and taking the crowd straight into Radio Ga ga (clap along like a good ‘un, you know you want to).

We Will Rock You, Friends Will Be Friends and the loveably pompous We Are the Champions complete the show. The crowd sing their hearts out and Roger is immense on drums. Sonically, this is good for the ears and visually Freddie charging around the stage in a flowing white cape just tops it off.

Overall there is nothing wrong with the spectacle that is Live At Wembley Stadium at all. We will forgive you for skipping where we suggested but the concert is a journey and the crowd are invited along for the ride, even now so many years after the actual event it sounds fresh and looks amazing. The band is on form for what would turn out to be the penultimate live performance of their career (they played Hyde Park after this because a third Wembley date was not available).

Live at Wembley Stadium is evidence that Queen were amongst the very best bands Britain has ever seen and with the immense enjoyment of this, there is an inevitable sense of sorrow that it was never again like this for them or their fans. They broke the mould in music and in their live shows, they lowered the biggest video screen in Europe into the stadium for this concert, they put cameras everywhere and demanded that everything be recorded, they built the stage into the foundations of the stadium; bands don’t do that anymore, they usually put a stage up and leave the seats behind empty.

They were a one-off. Freddie Mercury was a one-off, and so many current performers owe so much to him; to Queen as a whole. Long live our noble Queen…

Words © Simon A. Moult / Moultymedia 2011. Picture © Neal Preston used for illustration purposes only.

“I’d go back to the beginning tomorrow, as long as I ended up here today” – Noel Gallagher

Noel Gallagher’s plans to return to the music world with a whisper rather than a bang don’t seem to have worked. Since the Chief himself sat in the press conference in the summer and announced the debut album Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds everyone has been talking about it. In fact the lid was blown off the plans when another band tweeted about his presence at the studio in Los Angeles. So now, with the dust settled, the promotional interviews done and dusted and the tour underway, was the wait…the hype and the expectation worth it? Given to Sound answers with a resounding YES.

Everybody’s on the Run opens the album and it is in a word, epic. It’s a huge statement musically and personally. Gallagher himself says that this, If I Had a Gun, The Death of You and Me, Stranded on the Wrong Beach and Stop the Clocks are the backbone of the album thematically. The album opener was written during the last leg of the last tour of Gallagher’s previous band, and a version of it already existed on the internet. The weight of expectation surrounding the official version of such material could crush the song, but this song flies thanks to the strings (24 piece all female, at the request of Mr Gallagher) the choir and of course, Noel’s vocal.

If I Had A Gun continues the theme of taking a chance on love, lyrically it is up there with anything you consider a Noel Gallagher classic and the middle eight, “excuse me if I spoke too soon, my eyes have always followed you around the room” is exactly what I listen to music for. It’s exactly the type of romantic sentiment Noel can come out with in full knowledge that it will be sung back to him by the blokiest of blokes in a hands in the air moment. The Death of You and Me was of course the first UK single, getting the nod over If I Had a Gun because it wasn’t what anyone expected from Gallagher. The song has echoes of The Importance of Being Idle, and a stir or two of Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon. I’d go as far as adding Daydream by the Loving Spoonful in there too. Wherever it came from, it’s familiar and yet just out there enough to hook the listener. And there’s  a New Orleans band bit in the middle too, what more do you want?

“It was a clear and conscious choice to sound different and give the listener something unexpected… a come back with a whisper, and just say to people, ‘shssssh, there’s trumpets’ ”

(I Wanna Live in a Dream In My) Record Machine is another song written for use by Oasis and it, much like Stop the Clocks, has been around for a decade. The vocal is dreamlike and wispy and the chorus lifts. This is another that has the choir and strings on it and if you heard the demo version without that you may not appreciate the wall of sound approach here, it tends to bury the vocal at times but it does have a guitar solo and a nod to Stop the Clocks in the outro.

AKA…What A Life! is the sum total of what happens when Noel Gallagher follows a song down a creative path, rather than consciously taking it there (The Death of You and Me).The song owes some inspiration to Strings of Life which is a 1987 track by Derrick May recorded under the name Rhythm is Rhythm. The result is a catchy piano riff, drum beat and guitar all laid down in one studio session and the most accidentally different sounding thing on the album. Noel tells us it’s techo, dancey and most unlike him. It’s hardly the Chemical Brothers and its far from the far out that we are expecting in 2012 with the Amorphous Androgynous, but it is a testament to Gallagher now having no-one to please but himself.

If you are playing along thematically, the people in love from the opening track and …Gun that needed to escape their environment in The Death of You and Me are now experiencing moments of pure happiness and loving their life. The gap between finding everything you’ve always wanted, and losing your mind is pretty small, we’ve all got to take chances and see where the road leads us. The lyrics and the recording story tell us that much. If you don’t want to see that within it, quite simply his track sounds amazing loud. Woohoo!

Solider Boys and Jesus Freaks is a jaunt through small town America and the attitudes within. It seems to be a happy song with a serious comment gloved inside it , almost full circle if you think of Up in the Sky from the other debut album Mr Gallagher is attached to. But, dear listener, don’t get too bogged down in political messages just listen and enjoy.

AKA…Broken Arrow is the second song to feature AKA because, like What a Life! it also had another title during the sessions. The former was called Leave Me In Peace I’m On the Side of the Angels while the latter was called Ride the Tiger. Having been given the task of listing the tracks, the Chief wrote those song titles and the AKA parts as an afterthought. In Gallagher’s own words:

I annoy myself by saying we should leave things like AKA and brackets in, when people refer to it as AKA What A Life, it annoys the fuck out of me. That’s my fault.

Musically it strums along, a little reminiscent of Part of the Queue, it’s the “leave me in peace” part where the song lifts. Lyrically the song is very strong and at a stage we’ve heard the first three singles and marvelled at them, you should be in no doubt that from Broken Arrow to the

(Stranded on) The Wrong Beach follows the characters of the album to a point where they have arrived at their little patch of heaven. Having been going so right in What a Life! the reality now hits and the characters find that the new life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be; it’s a long journey baby and where it’s gonna take me just depends on the weight of my load.

Where the journey does take us is back to the beginning, which is where the much trumpeted Stop the Clocks comes in. This is the lost track for a lot of Oasis fans. It had been worked on and almost ready for release a few times before now and in a fitting fond farewell to that previous band it sees light of day here re-recorded, featuring vocals pieced together from various takes and a powerful guitar solo ending contributed by Paul ‘Strangeboy’ Stacey (who also did the backward trippy guitar and bass in Who Feels Love and had some piano-organy moments on Heathen Chemistry and Don’t Believe the Truth).

If I am being honest I don’t think any recording of this song would satisfy everyone. There are those who think it’s buried in a wall of sound, some who love it and some who are glad to see it released. Noel himself seems to fall into that category, that guitar solo at the end really feels like it was the difference between making the album and not. We can be glad it was included because it fits the theme of the album, the whole fuck it lets run away thing that goes through the collection is resolved by stopping the clocks and going back. Stop the Clocks is the perfect way to finish the debut solo album from Mr Gallagher. It should send you right back to the beginning to do the whole journey again.

A journey is exactly what Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds appears to be and it’s good to see Noel Gallagher recording like this. Freedom from his previous band is obviously working for him right now because I don’t think you could have got this kind of depth from an Oasis album; A) because they weren’t that kind of band and B) because Noel was only writing half of the songs. This is ALL Noel Gallagher and it really sores because of that. The vocal delivery is exactly as intended, he’s clearly able to write about things he wants to in greater depth than perhaps previously and he doesn’t have to hide behind the ‘its about nothing it’s just gonna sound mega live’ response. He can now sit down and take you from A to Z on a musical journey and actually admit that it is so.

There are no apologies for the album’s epic sound either; some may believe it’s too often lost in a thick fog of sound but for everyone who thinks that there are just as many who will say that’s the album’s greatest asset. It is the Noel Gallagher we expected but it’s a bit of reach at times as well. If you think back to Be Here Now a lot of those songs are derided by their author now because they are often needlessly long and layered by guitars; take Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds to be similar only this time the epic quality is not needless, the choirs and strings are not done just ‘coz; the presentation fits and works. It’s not massive because Noel is in the biggest band in the world and no –one dares tell him to stop the excess, it’s done because Noel is starting from scratch and pleasing himself.

He was always going to get here. The solo road was just waiting for him: it’s never too late to be what you might have been.

Words © Simon A. Moult / Moultymedia 2011. Quotes taken from: NME.com interview, Intro.de oh and George Eliot (it really is all about presenting the work how you choose to).

We are here, writing many words about many great artists and we hope you enjoy reading what we have covered and what is about to come. Recently, we realised that we there was a massive hole in our coverage. It’s a Saturday night sensation, and everyone has an opinion on it. The X Factor, 2011.

So, faced with this dilemma we found a great X Factor blog, written by Given to Sound favourite, Laura. Every week she will give you the ups, downs, greats and not so greats of the competition that rules the weekend.

Enjoy the website. It’s great to have it on board… XFactor 2011 (its also in our List of Things What We Like)

Given to Sound

When writing about the Stone Roses in 2002, John McCready, “If Mike Lowe’s Beach Boys were playing in my back garden I’d draw the curtains and call the police. Conversely and importantly, I would queue for miles to see Brian Wilson.”

He argues that The Who was “nothing more than a name” as soon as Keith Moon died and that the Stone Roses lost the magic the minute Reni called it quits. He’s careful not to doubt replacement Robbie Maddix’s talent but McCready is right, when it’s over it’s over so we can be glad Oasis has breathed its last because without Noel, it would not be the same.
Liam Gallagher’s new band and new album came out to a bit of a “meh” from yours truly. I wasn’t bothered. I heard it but it doesn’t do anything for me. At a certain point in Oasis albums I became less interested in what Liam was doing with his part of the band and more interested in which directions Noel was going in.

Building on McCready’s point (aka stealing and changing the names): If Liam Gallagher’s band were singing live at Heaton Park, close to my house, I would not attend. Conversely, and importantly, I would book any available transport and put up with any venue in that London to see Noel Gallagher. You can’t create that. You know what creates that? The spark that made Oasis fans clammer for the Noel demos from Standing on the Shoulders of Giants over ten years ago. Then there’s the craving to hear Stop the Clocks and the tease that was the compilation of that same name, which didn’t feature it. The interviews about the scrapped album, the first time we read about the amazing song (I Want to Live in a Dream In My) Record Machine – brackets are interchangeable by the way, some just call the song Record Machine. You may have read the interview; it was in NME, when it was first mentioned. You may have heard the demo of it; it’s around on the internet.

THAT is what creates the feeling. The feeling that music needs this Noel Gallagher album, we need to see what Noel has shown glimpses of (literally, when you think of the sound checks) for years. We saw what Liam had to offer and it’s very commendable, I hope he goes on to achieve greatness in his own musical right. I think he can. I know Noel will.

Some may argue that he already has, that his own musical right is that band he left. That’s up to you all reading this right now. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants is an important album when you think about it. Because it was recorded after the departure of Bonehead and Guigsy, largely by Noel (with Alan White on drums) it arguably gave us the first glimpse of what a solo offering from him would be like. Also on that album is Liam’s first Oasis song, Little James.

Soon it’s all over, the questions will be answered, maybe Noel’s birds will fly as high as many expect and maybe they wont. He would not be releasing this collection if he doubted it at all. He will tell us it’s amazing, the same as Liam told us his was the best debut since some band recorded Definitely Maybe. Liam also told frequently that each new Oasis album was the best thing since Definitely Maybe, or at a push (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

And who was it that wrote both of those in their entirety? Brilliantly delivered, amazingly presented, captured a generation together, yes, but it was all built on the shoulders of one man. And he has a solo album out next month. We are all ready to hear it, it’s been waiting long enough.

Behind the Scenes Christian…

If you are reading this in the US, programme directors of radio stations near you get their hands on this single today. Call them all day and tell them you want to hear it. If you have a big family, get each of them to call too. If you don’t have a big family, GTS apologises and recommends that you join a social networking site, make friends and tell them to call their radio stations!

GTS continues to wish Christian all the best with his album and this quality single from it.

WHAT WE SAID THEN: (March, 2011)

…boyfriend from the wrong side of the tracks, maybe not even enough going for him to wear the ‘blue collar’ this time, she’ll never forget him, the leader of the pack… *sound of motorcycle riding off optional, maybe a ’56 Ford*

* the Epiphany and Dead End episodes of Angel feature  Christian’s own ’56 Ford.

WHAT WE SAY NOW

He may be the leader of the pack, but she’s not letting him on the motorcycle without her.

It’s a ‘story’ song that seems to be about a man doing the right thing, with a true country twist towards the end. The girl calls a spade a spade and informs the guy that he’s not leaving her, they’re leaving together and everything is going to be ok. Well maybe not, but good or bad it’s going to happen together. It’s the kind of love song with a twist that country artists (and Meatloaf) do so well.

Songs like this are the leverage needed for a long and successful career, Christian Kane is fine by us.

Duran Prove All They Need is Now!

Duran Duran sauntered onto the stage at close to 7-30pm which is just about 3-30am in Britain and if I was staying awake for it, it was going to have to be worth it. Bit by bit, player by player the pieces of the intro to ‘Planet Earth’ built up and the show was underway. ‘I only came outside to watch the night fall with the rain…’

‘Hungry like the Wolf’ followed before the brilliant title track of their new album, All You Need is Now.  Simon told us the song was about ‘not looking up, not looking down, living right now!’ He could have said anything, by this point the crowd was in the palm of his hand.

Duran looked confident blending new tracks with the favourites everybody loves to hear from them. At no point did it look a struggle for Le Bon to sing the older material which, lets face it, it can be for some artists. ‘Notorious’ sounded brilliant. You could be forgiven for thinking that the impressive start was bound to tail off and there would be a lull. There wasn’t. Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters was on hand to sing her part of Safe (In the Heat of the Moment). ‘How bout you and me get down, babe I know you’ve been around’… It sounded delicious.

Today Ana beamed with joy over twitter at the performance with Duran and dancing to Rio, but the band had more to give before that point including a spellbinding performance of ‘The Chauffeur’, complete with Simon in the hat and arty pink lights and images on the screens. The rendition of ‘Ordinary World’ was a personal highlight, dedicated by Simon to “absent friends or anyone really”. I love that song and Simon’s voice sounded as good here as it did in the studio version.

I couldn’t finish this review without mentioning the John Barry James Bond medley, a classy tip of the hat to the man. They played ‘Diamonds are Forever’ and various Bond themes before  slowly bringing in View to a Kill with Simon changed into a white suit.

They finished with Nick Rhodes taking pictures of the crowd, and the familiar camera shutter sound that heralded the hit ‘Girls on Film’ which even included a brief rendition of Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’, it had to be heard / seen to be believed.

Duran Duran may have been massive in the 80’s, but when they say that all you need is now, they mean it and when the Now is this impressive, no-one can argue.

 CHECK OUT OUR DURAN DURAN COACHELLA 2011 GALLERY BY CLICKING HERE

Words © Simon A. Moult / Moultymedia 2011. Images and Coachella logo used for illustrative purposes only and are licensed to “Coachella”.

We at Given to Sound are really excited about a new Manchester band called Daystar. There. That’s the first sentence done. It was a tricky one, because the Manchester thing brings with it the baggage of Madchester and ghosts of bands that swaggered into many a music buyer’s heart and strolled off having made a phenomenal impact. It may lead many to read Manchester band and switch off, preferring to cling to the memories instead.

Daystar are a five piece Manchester band with influences such as The Buzzcocks, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Joy Division, The La’s, The Kinks and The Sex Pistols. It’s easy to get protective over that and think that you’ve heard it all before. One recently defunct Manchester band with brothers in it told us over and over that the same bands influenced them. Then you’ve got, The Stone Roses; a Manchester band that made self-imploding cool well before Noel and Liam, they also had a similar list of influences.

It’s okay to have those influences, those bands made good music. It’s not the influence, it’s what you do with it that counts – and Daystar do something good.

There has to be a band out there with the balls to take back the Manchester scene. Daystar have stepped up.

The band; lead singer Simon Monaghan,  bass player Ste Woods, Ryan Arnfield on lead guitar, Jack O’Connor on rhythm guitar and Tom Mallas on drums. Formed in 2009, these boys have been making a tuneful racket in the name of live music for just over a year now and the buzz around them will only get louder in the time ahead. Read their own accounts of the attention they’ve got on radio, and television; it’s all on their site for you and we recommend that you do look because everything is written from that really nice point of view where each song on the radio, television interview and even a new follower on Twitter, is a big deal.

Of course there wouldn’t be an article to read if there wasn’t an album out there for your listening pleasure. Available to download now (Buy from Amazon or ITUNES) the album kicks off with Slip and Dive;  a few seconds of bass, cymbally drums and nice guitar work sends you one way but the vocal may surprise in that it’s not downbeat, melancholic or rough. The singer sings well and can hit actual notes. It’s a good opener, catchy; it’s got bits of the Charlatans in there for me too.  This is a feel that continues through tracks like Don’t Need This, which has a yearny vocal spiralling over it and leaves room for some melodic guitar parts towards the end. Just as the bass work gets your attention, the song is over.

The band seem to stick around the three minute mark  for a lot of the tracks (Slip and Dive-2.54, Off Our Heads- 3.02, Sleeper – 2-53), there is absolutely nothing wrong with this but they could perhaps go a little further down the road on more songs, the first two especially. The song length isn’t much as criticisms go and maybe live, or on future recordings they will have the confidence to stretch out more often because they aren’t out of their depth when they do.

The song Because You Said is an album highlight, it’s got a great intro and parts that remind me of Big Mouth Strikes Again style Smiths and I hear a touch of New Order in parts too. This song and the next, Paralysing, show that when they ask for our attention on the longer songs, there is enough to keep the listener interested; Paralysing, gives us an ending that’s all about the guitars.

The album closes with the dreamy Up Here which is about taking it easy, finding that place where everything makes sense and the world just drifts by. It’s a good way to end the album because it encapsulates the whole album; Guitar work with melody, vocals with harmony and music that ultimately puts a smile on your face.

Overall, the influences are there, you can hear Kinks, Second Coming esque Stone Roses (Ten Storey Love Song), Stephen Fretwell (Run), the Charlatans and whoever else you want to look for. It takes absolutely no effort  to dismiss a band for labels such as Manchester or the influential bands they have in their record collection;  no effort, given that the band give you all this information on their website.

Do yourselves a favour, use that as a starting point and see where the band takes you from there. The music is good, there are definite high points. There are important points to bring up here, personally speaking this album creates the desire to see this band and the music done live AND there are plenty of avenues for future material; part of me would like to see if the jangly happy melodic stuff goes out of the window if one day they get really pissed off and drunk but maybe that isn’t them. Life isn’t always grim up North and the music doesn’t have to sound filthy, vocals don’t have to snarl and nor do they have to whisper either.

The whole catergory and definition thing can scare a lot of bands in to trying to sound like something they aren’t because the comparisons would crush them but there has to be a band out there at some point, that has the balls to take back the scene. Daystar have stepped up and good luck to them.

Terry Christian says good things about the band too, but don’t let that put you off.  No, go, watch the video, read the band in their own words at their website and then download the album. Start the journey with them, we know where they have come from but who knows where they are heading. That’s the fun part!

Here are all the links for you to get clicky with:  Daystar Official Website ::. Daystar Blog .:: Daystar Facebook

Buy the album from Amazon or ITUNES

Words ©  Simon Moult / Moultymedia 2011  Image © Stephen Campbell 2011

Home is where the start is for Elbow, on Leaders of the Free World.

When you’ve written about wanting to get somewhere and you’ve written about what you feel like when you’ve got there, you’ve got to find your way home. Elbow do this with a stomp and a wink with Leaders of the Free World (2005). Whereas they certainly needed grace under pressure to complete Cast of Thousands, the band had learnt that the right approach this time was to capture ideas as and when they happened on the road, whenever and wherever inspiration hit them.

The band manage to channel the ideas into a collection that has a very developed sense of place and environment, this very clear in the opening track. Station Approach is about coming home to Manchester (station approach, Piccadilly station) and literally knowing the area well and being at home. The listener isn’t excluded if they happen not to live in this city, because Guy Garvey’s lyrics can apply to anyone wherever they are listening. Three album’s in, the universal intimacy is something they have perfected.

It’s an instant classic, lyrically it grabs you and the instrumentation is layered and builds. Acoustic guitar, piano and the mantra; “I never know what I want but I know when I’m low that I…” all combine and then Richard Jupp’s stomping drums burst in and the whole thing explodes out of the speakers brilliantly. The best thing is, lines like “Coming home I feel like I, designed these buildings I walk by” need no Garvey explanation because everyone knows what he means and what that feels like. Everyone reading this right now will know that confidence, happiness or whatever that feeling is when you are get back to wherever you call home. This is a great opener to the album.

Picky Bugger is deceptive, Garvey almost talks the verses out and the first line, “Drinking in order to feel” might just see you reaching for the button on your remote. Don’t, it grooves along and the chorus is good advice for fish:

Little Fish you count for nothing

Do your thing until you die

Keep your powder dry

It may well be about having something or nothing to do, song-writing for instance, it may well be about our place in the grand scheme of things however much you ponder life’s great questions (we might be the little fish), and it may also be about finding some fire or “mischief” to keep life interesting. The mischief in question comes with a warning, taking the powder does not make you the genius you think it does at the time. In the end though, it’s funky and I can’t get the image of Guy Garvey sitting and talking to a goldfish out of my head. Notably, the tune to Picky Bugger is slowed and reversed to provide the backing for McGreggor (b-side on the vinyl of Forget Myself).

Forget Myself is out and out one of the finest songs to be written about Manchester. Lyrically the song is brilliant and musically it’s powerful, complete with echoes of industry and construction in the opening seconds. By this point, Garvey and the elboys even making the walk through town seem liberating. It’s a song about love, or maybe more specifically what normal people do when the love life hits the skids; slumping off into town and finding a place to people watch and pull or just drink to forget.

The neon is graffiti singing make a new start

So I look for a plot where I can bury my broken heart

Of course when you do that it’s packed with people on a night out or people trying to get home from work and you’re surrounded by coupley couples  right when you’re just not in the mood.  All human life is here and people-watching is a skill. Guy gets poetic about everyone from the bouncer, the ones ‘thinking too hard’ about the way they stand, and the ones “falling in love every second song”. We know exactly the types he is singing about, and that’s the beauty of it.

The you won’t be forgotten, the me will be forgiven, ultimately it seems the love that lasts is for the city itself.

If Forget Myself is about a relationship ending and forgetting for a while, you could take The Stops as the thoughts or the conversation they were trying to escape; the point where it has to be dealt with. The verses deal with the nuts and bolts of a relationship ending; realising it’s over and knowing that the friends are about to be called in for a bit of person rebuilding. The chorus deals with the feelings that aren’t about to go away anytime soon. If one half has managed to cut themselves off the other half wont for a while; “No longer my affair” Well I can’t go there just yet (we find that out in the chorus).

The Stops is Elbow. It’s Guy’s writing and the band’s music fitting perfectly. Downbeat and quiet when we’re hearing that it’s over and then the chorus lifts perfectly to carry the beautiful words:

Don’t look down, keep staring like you’ve never seen the stars

If you need me to remind who you are

Little blossom there’s the shiniest soul just behind those eyes.

Frankly when that chorus kicks in it doesn’t matter if it’s someone’s opinion of the one leaving them, or a message to someone that everything will be ok, it matters not. That chorus is beautiful, the pictures created off those lines alone are so vivid and the song is a gem here and when done live.

If Elbow have been putting there own house in order up ‘til now, they certainly feel like they may be ready to take on the world on this album and nowhere is that more evident than on Leaders of the Free World where Guy takes on those Politicians (specifically the two George Bushs). It’s not very overt, it’s not in yer face, it’s a tongue in cheek nudge to those in power that their decisions have consequences, “the little boys throwing stones” effect everyone;

Passing the gun from Father to FECKLESS son

We’re climbing a landslide where only the good die young

Guy Garvey has said that with a change of leadership in both America and Britain, it may not be necessary to sing this anymore. Whether all the lessons have been learnt, remains to be seen. For more Elbow on Politics, your attention is drawn to the track, Snowball on Warchild – Help: A Day in the Life (uncomfortable listening if you happen to be Tony Blair).

The title track aside, most of Leaders of the Free World is about love, of life, of relationships in all their twists and turns. It’s all laid out here for the listener, there are relationships that breaking down, starting up, there’s that point when you realise how important someone is to you (Great Expectations) and, quite fitting for Elbow, there’s that point where you see your girlfriend with the guy she used to be with.

Mexican Stand Off deals with this perfectly. The lyric is short and to the point and it stings with humour.  That moment the boyfriend, the girlfriend and the ex boyfriend meet. Say it with me, people… awkward. You can hear the conflict within; the why is she with him (he’s good looking), nice to meet you (kill me, now please), I could deck this guy (you wish!).

The album ends with a masterpiece, pure and simple. Puncture Repair is perhaps my favourite Elbow song. It’s from Guy to someone but it works for anyone who has ever been at the end of their rope. The moment at some stupid time in the early morning when you are texting every number in your phone just to get a reply and the company that will make everything make sense again. At the end of the day, all that a good friend will do is patch you up, see you right and let you get on with it. This song is a thank you.

The song doesn’t last long, it doesn’t need to. It delivers and “when this whole thing is through” you should realise that you have heard an amazing album. It’s a complete joy to listen to, it bustles with confidence. Some songs rock more than previously and some tackle wider issues but there is a consistency in the work. On Leaders of the Free World Elbow are comfortable in their own skin and happy in their own space, you’ve got the video footage on the DVD to prove it.

Hannah Cullen takes photographs and is very good at doing that. We think you’d like to see more of her photographs. Click here to do just that very thing.

Photography  © Hannah Cullen, used by permission. Words ©  Simon Moult / Moultymedia 2011. Some rights reserved.

There’s new stuff up I’m incredibly proud of but most of the attention is because of the Christian Kane stuff so HUGE thanks to Kaniacs (and I’ve seen the stats to prove it).

I’ve sat and written words that get nowhere, it’s only right to point out when some words get everywhere. It’s a pleasure to write about Chris and I know there will be more to say, somewhere down the road.

In the meantime, there’s more music to hear and more words to write. Working hard on new articles that are going to be here very soon.

Peace, Love and Soul – Simon xxx

One More Shot

Here’s some of Christian Kane’s youtube videos. There’s a Given to Sound favourite from 2007, the director’s cut video to The House Rules and some other stuff as well.

If you’re not a Kaniac and you think you could be, do the reading, watch the music videos and listen, you’d be in some very good company. Chris’ websites are all on GtS as well so show them so mouse clicky love when you’re done watching.

This is a fan video made around the same tour, if the people featured have any issues with this being here please get in touch.

The House Rules music video – Director’s Cut

The man himself

That was the message emailed to me by an aquaintence in December. Christian Kane’s major label debut (second first album, if you like) had release dates and it was all official. There was  a very big feeling of “At last” in the air.

At last, the album everyone’s wanted has arrived.

At last, when you type in Christian Kane’s name in Amazon there’s an album alongside the television stuff (and not Live Fast Die Never – Angel Soundtrack)

AT LAST wider circles of people will be able to hear what Kaniacs have been saying for years. It’s not important when you walked into the house; it’s that you found your way there.

The House Rules (2010) packs a kick from the titular opening track. The House Rules should be played loud, it’s got bass and balls to it, moving on leaps and bounds from the demo that was around some years ago. It’s a mission statement for Christian and the band and an invitation to you, dear listener, to join the party. Did we mention it sounds amazing loud? The guitars and vocals just pack so much confidence within them and the fiddle sounds aren’t abandoned in the rock. “Country music, a little soul, it’s a rock and roll rodeo” you’d better believe it.

If you had any idea that The House Rules is going to be a false dawn, Something’s Gotta Give gets rid of such notions. It’s not a grower, it didn’t take a few listens, this song’s quality is instant. Lyrically the song seems to be about not taking your chances and how you your life can end up the wrong kind of comfortable when you let enough opportunities pass you by. Lyrically, the song has it as well. There’s the blue collar, boots, tumbleweed points that would have been easy to write badly, but they aren’t lazy stereotypes here. Absolute class in fact.

And this barely getting by is really getting old
And it’s hard to turn the wrench on a rusty bolt
But someday, somethin’s gotta give.

Someone who should know, once said that there was only ever four emotions you could write a song around; I love, I hate, go away, come back. Dress it up however you feel like it but that’s the way it is apparently. So really, if everyone is writing the same basic idea then how it’s done is paramount.  Thinking of You seems to be of those “come back” songs, it’s not obvious and out there. It seems to be about the feelings you inevitably get when you’ve broken away from someone, the reminders that smack you in the face, the sense memories and all that niggly stuff that you have to carry with you and YES they happen even if you’re sure you made the right move. Anyone who says they haven’t felt any of this is lying. In the liner notes, Christian thanks anyone who has ever broken his heart. If he is able to come up with this as a result then so say all of us.

Well I know they say all good things
Must come to some kind of ending
We were so damn good, I guess we never stood a chance

 The pace picks back up (and then some) with the fantastic Whiskey In Mind. Bass, drums, guitars, fiddle and a song a about a bar, a woman and bourbon. Need we say anymore? Thought not!

She said slide over and kiss me
I got more than whiskey in mind

Let’s Take A Drive is a reminder that when one half of a relationship leaves, the other half is often a shadow of the person they were and takes some, for want of a better word, rebuilding.  Let Me Go is worth mentioning here, not only is  it along the same break-up themed lines, but it strikes me that the girl being urged to find herself again in “…Drive” is the one begging the guy not to end it with her, here. Maybe not, but at least in Let Me Go the break up was probably for the best (boyfriend from the wrong side of the tracks, maybe not even enough going for him to wear the ‘blue collar’ this time, she’ll never forget him, the leader of the pack… *sound of motorcycle riding off optional, maybe a ’56 Ford*

* the Epiphany and Dead End episodes of Angel feature  Christian’s own ’56 Ford.

Callin’ All Country Women is California Girls (The Beach Boys’ one if you had to ask) meets Back In The USSR after a few Jack Daniels Old Number 7’s and a bar fight. I wish they all could be…wearing jeans and cowboy boots! Christian’s good like that you see, if you’ve got something about you, it matters not which part of the country you’re from so take heart, girls!

Seven Days, a version of which is featured on Acoustic Live in London, appears here beefed up and strutting with confidence, complete with a little bit of banjo for good measure.

No review of this album would be complete without mentioning the cover of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car. This version is anything but throwaway and while it may at first seem an odd choice for Christian to make, it fits well. There are many portraits of relationships elsewhere, people making choices to come back, self aware that they are repeating patterns or “making circles” and that they need to breakaway. It then makes sense to finish with a song where one half finds the strength to tell the other half to leave.

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision Leave tonight or live and die this way

 The House Rules gives you everything. Songs about love in all its faces, songs that make you think and songs that just make you want to shake the cobwebs off and dance a little. The party’s at Christian’s place and everyone’s invited providing, of course, you’ve come to have a good time. The band oozes more confidence here and Christian’s vocal delivery is better than ever, this album has texture and weight to it and shows more than enough promise for a follow up. Christian, the boys in the band and everyone involved are right to be very proud of this album.

Whenever you jumped onboard, you should be left in absolutely no doubt whatsoever, The House Rules.

Original words © Simon A. Moult / Moultymedia 2011.

Some rights reserved (see copyright section for details). Non original material such as images / lyrics is used for context only and remains property of the owner.