Alright lads,
On request, tonight I'll be doing another song by song review, this time of Colin Hay's 'Company of Strangers.' For those of you, who like me, had no idea who Colin Hay is here's his wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Hay. Basic summary, he's Scottish (of course a plus), former member of 'Men at Work', Zach Braff likes his stuff and he's acoustic/ rock/ country. I know none of his work going in to this but, hey, let's give it a bash.
Album artwork, is fine, if not a little simplistic, but, we're talking early 2000's country, my expectations for the quality of album artwork is therefore significantly lowered.
1. I Got Woken Up
That's one gruff voice there. I like it, kind of twist on the traditional country with electric guitars and gospel singers. To be honest, I wouldn't have made this the opening track, there's basically no intro so you are thrown in at the deep end. But, the rock and jazz influences are, at the risk of sounding square, interesting. The lyrics are pretty upbeat, clichéd but work for his style. That sax at the end is just stunning. To quote the Lizzie McGuire Movie (Fuck you, it's my blog and I'll quote what I want)
'I mean if you're into the Alanis Morissette-y alternative, dark, like brooding, I-never-go-out-into-the-sunshine-and-my-life's-a-miserable-black-hole-of-depression kinda thing, then you'd think they stink. But I mean for a like driving-around-in-the-car-with-the-top-down-putting-on-your-lip-gloss-loving-life kinda thing, they're good!'
That's the review of the track I'm going with and the one I will stand by...
2. Small Town Big Hell
How country is that title? 'Superstitious mind can kill the truth', you are preaching to the choir Colin. This has some kick arse violins in the background. This track is a lot easier to take seriously than the first track. But, my does he love his singing devil extended metaphors. He has such a raw, powerful voice that it would be difficult for him to sound bad. Also, he has a delightful falsetto. That little wavier to his voice is just lovely when he tries to convey emotion.
3. Lucky Bastard Oh, he's got the funk. You can really hear the Scottish in him when he says 'Bastard'. This is just funky as hell, can't stop nodding my head along. It's good, but to be honest the backing gospel singers saying 'bastard' just sounds off to me. I think the song would be lessened without them but they just can't pull that off. It's decent, it's just really funky.
4. Company of Strangers
Now, the title track, this should be good. Well, it's incredibly dramatic. I can't get over the tone in his voice, it sends shivers down my spine. He'd be brilliant live. Now, this is great. The lyrics, the arrangement and when the drum beat kicks in, ooft. That's nice, very nice. This is a great track, I think I like him a little more with male backing singers than with the female singers. Though, I admit the gospel female element of the opening track is perfect. This has a decent shot at being my favourite track.
5. No Win Situation Shit, Colin gone a little techno. Now, we see a little more of that Rock element come in to play. I think this song is extremely relevant to a lot of the guys I know girlfriends... I like when singers take a somewhat sad topic and put it in to a slightly more upbeat context, it provides a great contrast. That electric guitar is incredible. Good follow up to Company of Strangers if not a little in another direction.
6. Dear J Is that a sitar in the intro? It's really just a nice ballad to break up the album. It's pretty good, just after those two power house tracks, it's a little bit of a let down. But because of the strength of his voice and the talent of his band, it is by no means a bad track. It's just fine though.
7. Small Price to be Free This is lovely. Sort of song you would hear in a little Western bar while you were holding hands with someone you love. It be a good first dance song, I reckon. It's very moving. It's a ballad too but it seems to have more sentimental value behind it than the previous track. Apart from the fact that is about death...it'd be a good first dance song. I love the lyrics, his whole Reaper metaphor is really well integrated. Genuinely lovely.
8. How Long Will it Last That's some raw emotion. That's what you can do with a voice like that, convey any emotion just with your tone, amazing. I like the song, but it's a little contrived in comparison to the lyrics of the last song. The metaphors in this song, since metaphors seem to be his thing, are just a little more forced than in most of the other tracks. I would have liked a little more range in his voice, which he has already shown, in this to convey his changing intensity of emotion. I think that would have worked well.
9. Lifeline This is very 'montage of having fun with your friends on a beach' kind of song. Very happy, upbeat but again about a woeful subject. It just makes everything in you life which is the tiniest bit relevant seem ever so better. Again, electric guitar and lyrics are just incredible. He has managed to very well not to overuse electric guitar solos which is often done by many artists. He has very good balance between the various elements to his music. This might have been a better opening track.
10. Don't Wait Up This is very country. It's like drunken cowboy, slumped over his porch with a guitar and a bottle of Jack. The song is basically a walking cliché, well it's not walking...but you get what I mean. I like country music, so obviously this appeals to me. While it's not too different from the rest of the album, I think it would be difficult to paint this as a country album, this is definitely a country song. It's just a nice, well put together, slow dance to it, song if not a little dragged out in the latter half.
11. Beautiful World
Just by the title I had high hopes for the song, I was not disappointed. It's humorous, rhyming and just happy. I smiled start to end. It is just brilliantly life affirming. About those simple pleasures that if you allow yourself to indulge in you can drown out all the bad shit around you. Also, about how despite how good things get, you'll always have those bad little niggles but you know what, make the most of life. It's cheesy as hell, yes, even cheesier than I sound talking about it. But it's rather wonderful.
12. And If You Only Knew Technically, the finale of this album. I could have used this song a couple of months back, it's again very life affirming, you are more incredible than you know, kind of tune. It's good but, to be honest, not the great exit I was hoping for. It's a good track but not a great final track. Which every album should have. It leaves you feeling like you started, a little disillusioned.
13. Company of Strangers (Acoustic) Bonus!
Okay, so I listened to the deluxe version which came with this bonus track. Thought I might as well review it while I was here. I like the original and because his voice is so wonderful the acoustic version doesn't disappoint. It also allows you to hear the full impact of his voice. I don't like it more than the original but it is very very good. His voice is just great.
Overall Thoughts
Going in knowing nothing about Colin Hay, I was pleasantly surprised. He clearly has a great deal of respect for his craft and, his voice, is just mind blowing. Seriously even if you don't listen to the whole album give him a listen just to hear his voice. Plus, it was way less country than expected, he has more country stuff, give American Sunshine a listen if that's what you want.
7/10 (Right, I didn't think it was musically complex enough to get a 8 but I thought a 6.5 was definitely under selling it)
Favourite Tracks (Because who can pick just one?)
Company of Strangers, No Win Situation and Small Price to pay. Beautiful World just missed the list but it's damn good.
Aye, an upbeat summer album, listen to him if not the whole album.
Rose x
P.s. Please do leave any album, song, artist suggestions in the comments. More reviews soon my friends.
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