Geldof's fifth effort to match the glory days of the Rats. The working title was 58½, his age - though he's now 59¼. Apparently he changed the album title after finding this book by Leslie Shepperd on the top of a piano.
Bar the throwaway single, Silly Pretty Thing, which is the only truly awful track on the album, it is something of a minor triumph. All in all the best Geldof solo album, but not a patch on anything by the Rats.
The highlights are Blowfish with its heavily distorted blues which evokes the spirit of Jimi Hendrix; Systematic Six Pack, which sounds like it should be on the soundtrack of a Tarantino western, the video with Rhys Ifans is a nod and a wink towards it. Here's to You is the most pleasant and pleasing song Geldof has ever written, even if it borrows very heavily from The Beatles. Rounding things off is a hidden track, Young & Sober, that is a throwback to DUN LAOGHARIE and The Great Song of Indifference chronologising the life of Geldof over the last fifty odd years.
Available at all good (and probably bad ones as well) record stores, download sites, and of course Spotify and We7 if you want to have a listen for free.
Track Listing
1. How I Roll
2. BlowFish
3. She's A Lover
4. To Live In Love
5. Silly Pretty Thing
6. Systematic 6-Pack (58½)
7. Dazzled By You
8. Mary says
9. Blow
10. Here's To You (Hidden track: Young & Sober)
13. Too Late She Cried
14. Baby's Going Down
According to Geldof, thirty one songs were recorded, so there are another twenty that could be released. The album will be released on 15th March 2011 in the USA and launched at SXSW where Geldof will perform and headline as keynote speaker. So it's possible the tracklisting may differ for the US release.
On the album's international release there appear to be four additional tracks, these have been listed here, though struck out until they are confirmed. These tracks were also part of the original track listing when the album was originally due to be released in mid-2010. There were snippets of these tracks on the BBC website, but sadly they are no longer there.
Geldof's website has been relauched in the style of a kindle book to coincide with the release. Funnily enough they have restored the link to this blog. Probably an accident. I give it a week before I upset them all again and it gets quashed.
There is another track that seems to have missed the cut, though it could have been a working title, or simply the Comic Relief song he did with Stephen Fry and Midge Ure.
Banker's Song
Now all we need is the Rats to release something and everyone, bar Fingers who is too busy having fun in Japan, will have done something in a twelve month period.
Some clips of Geldof performing the songs
- Here's To You
- How I Roll
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/video/showbiz/biz-sessions/3404753/Bob-Geldof-How-I-Roll.html
- Mary Says
- Dazzled By You
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/video/showbiz/biz-sessions/3404752/Bob-Geldof-Dazzled-By-You.html
- Blow
- Silly Pretty Thing
3 comments:
out on Mercury via Universal not island and i bet it won't come out in october!
Mercury it is, my sources were wrong Music Week no less! http://www.musicweek.com/hybrid.asp?navcode=81181&pubcode=1&typecode=19&subtypecode=180. As for the release date, well I can't say I'll be in the queue at HMV for it anyway. Doubtless, I'll pick it a few months down the line when it hits the bargain bins. Sad that I have all the Geldof records twice over (thanks to the Anthology release) and I hardly care for them.
As i said not coming out in October but it is a bloody good album i here.Record company men really like it want to give it a good push so that must be the reason for the delay.Do hope the Belgian shows have a good audience as i believe they are going to play some tracks of the new album there.I would of thought the only worry is wether the Belgian people who booked the gigs still want to do it with the delay in the album,i hear the band is in rehearsal so they must be still playing.Suppose will have to wait and see then.
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