Disc 1
The first disc contains the
original stereo mix of the album, along with a bonus track. It opens with “Orphans
Of Babylon,” a groovy rock song that is part progressive rock, and part pop,
with some rather catchy elements. It’s an enjoyable song, a good opener. It’s
followed by “Twilight Capers,” which has more of a glam rock vibe and some
unusual lyrics. These are the song’s opening lines: “All the white horses ran bleeding to the end/Shot through the heart by
dear devoted passion.” I also really like these lines: “I can see his broken grin/His fallen hope,
his glorious sin.” This track also features an odd and kind of delightful
ending, like the studio was suddenly overrun by tiny aliens. Then we get “Kiss
Of Light,” which was released as a single, and again shows the band’s talent
for interesting lyrics. “She tortured my
body and made me feel sorry/Though I thought I was right.” “The Bird
Charmer’s Destiny” is a short, kind of pretty track, the vocals backed by some
nice work on keys. It leads straight into “The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow,”
which has its own peculiar beauty. “The
night has had its way with me/This game is growing rather grim/And some of us
must sink or swim.” That’s followed by “Bring Back The Spark,” which on the
original record, was the final track of the first side. It is more of a
straight rock and roll tune, a lively and fun song.
The original album’s second
side is dominated by a series of songs that together make up one large piece of
music, the Modern Music Suite, inspired by the band’s experiences during the
tour of the United States. The first track begins with the sound of a radio
catching bits of various programs as some unknown listener hastens to change it.
Then finally he or she finds what he or she is looking for, a Be Bop Deluxe
song, and in fact the album’s title track, “Modern Music.” I could do without
that sort of silly introduction, but once the song begins in earnest, it is
quite good, and ends up being one of my favorite tracks. “When you're lonely and you're far away/When those steel guitars begin
to play/Please don't let them steal your heart away.” It leads straight
into “Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone),” which is a fun song with a lighter
sort of vibe. “When will this journey be
through/I’d like to make love to you.” That in turn leads straight into “Honeymoon
On Mars” and then “Lost In The Neon World,” two short numbers. Those are
followed by “Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids” which has a sort of exciting
vibe to it, with a hint of disco to its style at times. This is one to cut
loose to, and is another of my personal favorites. This series of songs
concludes with “Modern Music (Reprise),” which ends with a weather report, back
on the radio.
Interestingly, though the series
of connected songs is finished, “Modern Music (Reprise)” does actually lead
straight into “Forbidden Lovers,” a nice dose of 1970s rock and roll, complete
with cowbell. It would be difficult to not enjoy this one. “I’m glad they came/To taste your pain/We're
both insane on a crazy night/Such a crazy night.” That leads straight
into “Down On Terminal Street,” a more interesting song that opens with a
bright burst of energy, a glorious explosion, which seems to clear the way for
an intriguing set of lyrics, and a stronger, more vivid landscape. Check out
these lines: “I heard a voice like winter
call my name/Said very soon that I would join them there/And all the creatures
born of ink and rage and lies/Crawled off my pen and ran across the page to die.”
Now those are some damn good lyrics. The original album concluded with “Make
The Music Magic,” a song that has a light, pretty feel.
The first disc ends with a
bonus track, “Shine,” which was the flip side to the “Kiss Of Light” single. It
has a sort of funky vibe, which I dig. And in fact, on the original single for
this track, the band renamed itself Funky Phaser And His Unearthly Merchandise,
a goofy name, to be sure, but fun, fitting with the feel of the song. This one
is actually a groovy jam, nearly eight minutes long. It gets fairly goofy and ridiculous toward the
end, when there is suddenly a spoken word bit: “Did you see what he did? Did you? I thought he was going to
disintegrate.” But don’t worry, it doesn’t get too bogged down in that, and
the funky music continues. Like all the songs on the original album, this one
was also written by Bill Nelson.
Disc 2
The second disc contains the
entire album, but with new stereo mixes, along with “Shine” and two other bonus
tracks. These new mixes, to my ears, seem to bring the vocals more clearly into
focus. Everything has a stronger clarity, and I greatly prefer these new mixes.
The two bonus tracks at the end of the disc are early versions of “Forbidden
Lovers” (complete with count-off at the beginning) and “The Bird Charmer’s Destiny.”
CD Track List
Disc 1
- Orphans Of Babylon
- Twilight Capers
- Kiss Of Light
- The Bird Charmer’s Destiny
- The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow
- Bring Back The Spark
- Modern Music
- Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone)
- Honeymoon On Mars
- Lost In The Neon World
- Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids
- Modern Music (Reprise)
- Forbidden Lovers
- Down On Terminal Street
- Make The Music Magic
- Shine
- Orphans Of Babylon
- Twilight Capers
- Kiss Of Light
- The Bird Charmer’s Destiny
- The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow
- Bring Back The Spark
- Modern Music
- Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone)
- Honeymoon On Mars
- Lost In The Neon World
- Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids
- Modern Music (Reprise)
- Forbidden Lovers
- Down On Terminal Street
- Make The Music Magic
- Shine
- Forbidden Lovers (First Version)
- The Bird Charmer’s Destiny (First Version)
This deluxe version of Modern Music was released on December
13, 2019 through Esoteric Recordings. By the way, apparently on that same date
there was released an even more deluxe edition, with five discs (the fifth being a DVD).
No comments:
Post a Comment