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| UK - Danger Money Band: UK Tracks: - Danger Money - Rendezvous 6:02 - Only Thing She Needs - - Caesar's Palace Blues - Nothing to Lose - Carrying No Cross Best effort by Wetton with the support of Bozzio and Jobson Well this work stands alone so far and it's great also after 23 years!! The title track remind us of the best moments in King Crimson's "RED",concerning the instrumental parts, instead "Carrying no Cross" contains probably one of the finest keyboards' solo in the hystory of prog music... The ballad "Rendezvous 6.02" is much pretty, considering an amazing Moog solo by Jobson; the track the "Only thing she needs" has got a quite modern sound, different and very distant from the classic prog tracks, with the wonderful drum pattern of Terry Bozzio in the introduction. "Nothing to lose" is the only commercial track of the album, in the mainstream vein , while naturally it's better in the Live version of "Night After night" (the Tokyo show); talking about Caesar's Palace Blues I still prefer the Live version, but anyway it doesn't affect the high quality level of the other tracks.<BR>This work represents John Wetton at his top, before changing his route radically!! Batteries not included Allan Holdsworth and Bill Bruford left U.K. immediately after the band's much-praised 1978 tour, so there were quite a few people who expected U.K.'s remaining members, John Wetton and Eddie Jobson, to Call it a day and to work on new projects. Surprisingly, they decided to persevere and to maintain the U.K. name, employing new drummer Terry Bozzio and rearranging some songs from earlier sessions ("The only thing..", "Carrying no cross") for Jobson's extended synthesizer flourishes. Finally, their second offering also met with some commercial success (US charts #82), although it is not so well remembered and often considered as a disappointment in relation to the extraordinary musicianship of the band's debut. And yet, in some ways, "Danger money" can be called an improvement over its predecessor: For one thing, Wetton ditched the histrionic vocal chants and integrated his vocal compositions much better into the music, particularly on the radio-friendly title track and on the album-closing "Carrying no cross". Also, the whole album hangs together pretty well; it is, both lyrically and musically, more similar to a soundtrack, with certain themes, textures, and sounds continually recurring, always mixed with Various moods and Unexpected instrumental workouts. U.K. are unavoidably losing some of the variation that made the band's debut so brilliant, but the compositions still have a attractive complexity -- somewhat reminiscent of Jobson's previous work in Curved Air -- while offering enough pop hooks to keep Asia fans interested as well. It begins with the 8-minute title track, possibly telling about the feelings of those involved. This song had the potential for massive radio airplay if only Jobson's solos hadn't been so lengthy, and Jobson's unquestionable virtuosity does not always make for a great listening experience throughout the album. Jobson does succeed in filling the Space vacated by guitar, but too often he Steps away from delicate, well-crafted soundscapes in favor of noodly solo sections and cheesy textures which appear very outdated today. Perhaps he should have listened to his own work with Curved Air ("Metamorphosis") and replaced some of his first-generation Casio keyboards with a solid piano. Although U.K. didn't consider themselves New Wave, some of this genre's concerns are covered on this album; "Rendezvous 6:02", with its thoughtful, soft vocals and romantic keyboard accompaniment resembles The Police's calmer Ventures such as "Every little thing.." and "Secret journey". Things become more engaging with the fast-paced, soundtrack-like "The only thing..", actually the only song on this album which comes close to the intricate interplay of instruments on U.K.'s first record, followed up by the musically more adventurous and quite b Full throttle I'm happy to see that people are still listening to this album. I bought it back then in 1979 - and it has stood the test of time in my record collection. "The Only Thing She Needs" is a minor miracle. I still listen to it regularly and find it totally amazing. The ultimate head-banging get-it-all-out song. Buy Uk Danger Money at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.comJamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! |
