Briefs

Rip It Up, Issue 80, 1 March 1984, Page 28

Briefs

Nina Hagen, Fearless (CBS) Ms Hagen’s newie has nothing new or exciting, to otter. In tact, it's hard to imagine that the same "wunderkind" who brought us such classics as 'Aufrummel' and Smack lack' could produce something as uninspired and trivial as this. Quirky rhythms and synthesised vocals abound, but they provide only thin cover for a lack of real substance. What is missing is Nina's old personality and presence which, sadly, she seems to have abandoned in favour of a technically excellent but very bland sound. One or two good tracks excepted. Fearless is a nonevent. RR

The Neighbours Vocal At the Local (Jayrem) A disappointment. Recorded from the mixer last August at the Ponsonby Hotel by Doug Rogers and repeatedly remixed by Lee Connelly and Paul Streekstra, the emphasis is on clarity rather than energy. 'Seen It Coming' and Down, Down, Down' make the grade but only because pace carries them through. Meanwhile, Funky Kingston’ is stiff, jaded and boring and 'Love Is Never Cruel' limps under some flat honking. The album lacks virtually everything a good live album needs and so certainly fails to do justice to the typical Neighbours' gig. Not the way to bow out. GK Alberta Hunter

Look For The Silver Lining (CBS) Veteran producer John Hammond continues his sympathetic and tasteful collaboration with octogenarian marvel Alberta

Hunter. Pianist Gerald Cook again directs the . small-combo settings for Alberta's freely swinging vocals.. Songs include gospel, ballads, blues, standards and originals, even a French love song. Alberta Hunter is a treasure. KW Blue Oyster. Cult Revolution By Night (CBS)

A from more consistent album than their last studio outing Fire of Unknown Origin. 'Shooting Shark' and Light Years of Love' are the standouts and Feel the Thunder’ is appropriately titled, sending your speakers into reverb plus. There is no filler on this driving, no-nonsense album but I wonder if the band has any audience in Godzone in.1984.DP Renee Geyer, Faves (Mushroom)

' The- best , soul vocalist ‘in Australasia (and. many would extend that accolade further afield) presents a retrospective drawn from a decade's albums and singles. And although it's divided into sides for 'Dance' and Romance’, Geyer s wide range of recording styles makes the collection a. little lumpy. The latter grouping works well enough, partially because the majority of tracks - are drawn from 1974 s Ready To Deal. The dance side, however, veers from 'Say I. Love You' to steamy funk to an unfortunate exercise in semimetal. Nonetheless, individually, the vast majority of these cuts present impeccable evidence of Geyer's marvellous talent. Furthermore we get seven tracks a side, including a fine recent single that never got released in NZ. PT Willie Nelson, Without A Song (CBS)

Is it five years since Stardust put Willie Nelson centre stage? Nelson, who is putting out more albums than seems sensible, is here reunited with producer-arranger

Booker T. Jones for another series - of immaculately crafted ballads. As with Stardust, Willie shows his extraordinary ability to recast a (too familiar?) song as his own. The feeling is languid, the music delicately textural. Charming, although some will find it sluggish. Clarence Clemons KW and The Red Bank Rockers Rescue (CBS) Springsteen's sidekick steps out. (Well one really can t blame him, seeing that Bruce has spent about 18 months mixing his current album.) Yet Clemons is loathe to stray from the format he knows and so what we get is a sub-E Street Band with a second-hand Gary Bonds soundalike on vocals. Clarence, y'see, just blows the solos and does some co-writing. Not surprisingly the best number is the one that Bruce donated. Worst is probably the bashing handed out to Resurrection Shuffle'. OK Clarence, back in behind the Boss now. . PT Cocteau Twins Head Over Heels (4AD)

I've always been wary of 4AD bands. It happened a while back with the purchase of a certain horrendous Mass album and from such an unsettling beginning my phobia has increased.. The Cocteau Twins' Head Over Heels does little to dispel the unease. For the life of me I "know not. who the Cocteau Twins are but the female sings in .a small, high-backed wailing voice. - a twee Siouxsie without the barbs. Around her chime soothing guitars, commencing a lament that attempts to build up some form of atmospheric tumult.

All sounds a bit too much? Well, .it is fine in small doses, especially 'Sugar Hiccup' and the more meaty In the Gold Dust Rush' but all too soon suffocates

in lachrymose sentiment. The real shame is that the Cocteau Twins - envince no real pang, they lack the truthful recollection redolent of, say, the Go-Betweens. In this, respect, Head Over Heels is just plain drippy. A great - flaccid stinker me, thinks. SIT Christine McVie (Warner Bros) • It's easy to dump on this stuff, too easy. Alter all it's not so long ago that McVie was responsible for many of those Rumours running rife around the planet. Here, separated, from the corporate personality that encompassed Nicks' feather-brained fantasies and Buckingham's quirky talent, Ms McVie's silken voice: and manicured music appear pure poolside LA. But even with that normally languid approach her talent still glistens. It's a fine line between the coolly relaxed and the simply lazy and Christine McVie is careful not to cross it. This album marks the fifth and final ' soloist to step out from under the big Mac. It also marks the most consistently successful. PT