Love At First Light Although the beat is a little stiff, I really like this track. It has a great melodic flow, and a nice reflective mood. I think the vocal delivery works in its favour also. As we find regularly Joe has some somewhat odd lyrics, but I think that is something that works for Joe, and gives his songs a certain character that is somewhat unique. The further we get into his catalog the more remarkable it seems to me, how high he kept his writing standard. Although we may quibble about high and low points in it, I think in the short form he is amazingly consistent.
Love At First Light It's the crack of noon ... The first line is another twisted common expression, just like the title. Another slow track, love song for someone who's name may be written on a matchbook somewhere. Right from the start the story grabs you and you can almost see Joe sitting there with a smoke waiting for his lover to awake after having a great night. These kind of songs is what we'd gotten used to from albums that got released years after the original JJB. Now you can hear what they sound like with the original lineup. No programmed stuff, synthesizer or distracting percussion. Just Dave playing brushes (!), Joe on regular sounding piano and Gary and Graham in minimal mode. Great chorus, with Joe's piano echoing the track's title. Excellent songwriting, story and arrangement.
In that vein, I would draw a parallel between Volume 4 and Elvis Costello's Brutal Youth. Not so much about re-creating the past but rather building new things using the same tools.
3 great songs in a row here with more to come. The first 2 songs are OK, but for my taste, Awkward Age is when this album starts getting really interesting.
"Love at First Light" has nothing special going for it, but really, it is yet again a nice, melodic tune. The vocal right off the bat is very good. Like much of the album, it is unassuming and still so hooky. Nice interplay between Jackson & Maby on the instrumental section. I am a particular fan of the vampire verse for its humor and phrasing. Like some of JJ's other lyrics, "Love at First Light" is gender neutral: either character could be man or woman, choose your gender.
Fairy Dust This is one of those tracks that, at this stage at least, I can't place until I hear it. I love the guitar and rhythmic structure, particularly at the start. I reckon this is a really interesting track musically, and certainly works great as an album track. There are some very cool drums. I think the piano lead break works really well, and I love it when Joe kind of steps into his jazzy pants. To be honest I am not really sure what his angle is on the lyrics.
Fairy Dust Uptempo rocker that deals with a bunch of gay clichés. It's got a great piano solo that ends with a chain of back and forth piano notes that eventually drop you off back in the song. Solid album track, no brilliance here.
The arrangement and production on this one is fantastic, fitting in perfectly with the first four songs. However, like you Mark, I'm not sure either about the lyrics...
Volume 4 has the distinction of featuring one of my all-time favorite songs (“Awkard Age”) and one of my all-time least favorite songs: “Fairy Dust.” I simply find this song obnoxious. Oh well, they can’t all be winners; better music ahead.
I love odd time signatures so I'm a fan of this song in 5/4. Joe keeps up with the references back to earlier work, here (lyrically) to Heaven and Hell.
The lyrics are about gay men trying too hard to be macho/"straight-acting," with gym-hard bodies and military haircuts, who mock and exclude more effeminate guys. The title phrase is initially used (by the song's cruel narrator) to denigrate those who don't fit the fashionably masculine mold, but by the end, Joe seems to be saying we need a little "fairy dust" to counteract all the toxic masculinity. It's all very similar to the famous lines in the second verse of "Real Men" (as well as parts of "Fit"), which also seem to be about internalized homophobia causing some gay men to reenact the worst parts of straight masculinity. From reading his autobiography, it seems Joe felt personally rejected by that crowd, so this is a more satirical take on the same broad observation/complaint. I can appreciate the sentiment behind the lyrics, but like a lot of his more satirical songs, this one feels too much like a one-liner for my tastes. The instrumental solo is great, but the rest of the music is sort of grating and repetitive to me--the first of several missteps on the album, IMHO. (I also can't help but cringe at couplets like "Think you're pretty smart...poetry and art").
Cheers mate, I appreciate the insight, it left me scratching my head. Unless a lyric particularly grabs me, I often don't get around to checking them out, because more often than not the delivery is what will win or lose me. With this one I looked at the lyrics yesterday, because I assumed it was a song about drugs lol ... It left me scratching my head
Little Bit Stupid I don't mind this song, but it is probably one of my least favourite here. Sure it's nice to have the somewhat driving thump of the beat, but this is one where the lyric and chorus actually grate on me a little. Not enough to skip, but enough to mildly annoy me.
Little Bit Stupid Those first drum beats could announce Kinda Kute, they sound good with the distorted bass and a fifties sounding vocal. Modest organ solo and this song about dressing up (in drag?) is done ... kinda cute or just a little bit stupid ?
This always struck me as another parody/pastiche, this time aimed at glam rock and the scene surrounding it. Another one-liner kind of song that wears out its welcome to me pretty quickly. I'd have to say the lyrical juxtaposition with the previous track is kind of interesting, though--if "Fairy Dust" was about the vapidity of the masculine clone scene, "Little Bit Stupid" is about the vapidity of the more "fairy dust" -tinged glam scene. I just wish they didn't feel so much like like genre exercises as opposed to fully fleshed out songs. I have a similar reaction to them as to "Hit Single"--they succeed too well in embodying the very vapidity that they ostensibly mock. Upon further reflection, I'll add that one thing that elevates both of these a bit more than "Hit Single" for me, though, is the sense that they fit the album's theme of revisiting and rethinking the youthful feelings and experiences associated with the time of the original JJ band. As is often the case with JJ, even when a song doesn't connect with (or even outright annoys) me, I can still appreciate aspects of its intent.
In het nederlands, juxtaposition is "naast elkaar plaatsen." Vapidity is "vlakheid" of "flauwheid." Ostensibly is "ogenschijnlijk."
LOL--I translated the words he questioned into Dutch...he replied with (basically) "Well, say it that way, then," and I replied with "I'd think the English speakers might find that kind of difficult." In fairness, the Dutch translation of "juxtaposition" was more like "to place next to one another," so I can see his point on that one. Sorry to get off track. Wasn't sure how to respond to his original comment, and probably didn't make the best choice. I'd be happy to delete those posts.
