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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Although seen as a slick 80's MOR artist, Hall's work (with or without Oates) is worthy of investigation. From early Americana like Abandoned Luncheonette (a seriously underrated and beautiful piece of folk-soul) to their recent stripped-down versions of Soul tunes (Our kind of Soul, Hall's work has always taken more risks than his image would suggest. Sacred Songs was recorded in 1977, and shares a lot in common with Bowie's Low in its mix of electronica and introspective rock, but was shelved for three years as the record company believed it might harm the cash cow that was Hall and Oates. When released, it was well-reviewed but was considered less radical than it would have been had it been released earlier.
It's a pretty uneven album. The first song has honky tonk piano and sounds like avant garde Chas & Dave, but it's a definite grower. Babs and Babs is quirky pop with an eerie undertone. NYC is a weird punk stomper. Best of all though are the ballads. Northstar is what Albatross by Fleetwood Mac would sound like with a soul balladeer on vocals, Survive is prototype Jeff Buckley, and 'The Farther away I am' is breathtakingly gorgeous, a fragmental piece which predates Chill-out by a couple of decades.
So, it's well worth taking a punt on this even if you are not a fan of Fripp or Hall. At its best, it's quirky and thought-provoking pop or accessible avant-garde. Imagine Marvin Gaye singing replacing Tom Verlaine in Television or Jeff Buckley recording Brian Eno songs.
It's a pretty uneven album. The first song has honky tonk piano and sounds like avant garde Chas & Dave, but it's a definite grower. Babs and Babs is quirky pop with an eerie undertone. NYC is a weird punk stomper. Best of all though are the ballads. Northstar is what Albatross by Fleetwood Mac would sound like with a soul balladeer on vocals, Survive is prototype Jeff Buckley, and 'The Farther away I am' is breathtakingly gorgeous, a fragmental piece which predates Chill-out by a couple of decades.
So, it's well worth taking a punt on this even if you are not a fan of Fripp or Hall. At its best, it's quirky and thought-provoking pop or accessible avant-garde. Imagine Marvin Gaye singing replacing Tom Verlaine in Television or Jeff Buckley recording Brian Eno songs.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
'Sacred Songs' is a good title because the album lives up to it.
With erstwhile old progger Robert Fripp involved, I was expecting 12 versions of 'I Talk to the Wind', but this is a harder music altogether; more edge.
I love being surprised by music, and despite the rampant cynicism and seeming lack of optimism in my reviews - I am quite often. That this is such an unlikely collaboration thrills me; and the fact that it works so well, makes the hours wasted wading through other desperate musics all the more worthwhile.
Mostly it's straightly geetared bluesy rock'n'soul, with a fair amount of honky-tonk piano, but with enough Fripp flourishes and finesse to lift it far above and beyond the mediocre and mundane limits of that rather confining and over-simplistic genre. Hall's a major talent on his own, but add the seriously disturbed Fripp to the proceedings and you're fast-tracking to a classic.
The diversity of 'SS' is micro-cosomed in the last two songs; 'You Burn Me Up Like A Cigarette' which is a racy, almost punk-like thrash-in-the-r-n-r basement, and the seriously beautiful 'North Star', with its iron-cable strong hook and Hall's almost country vocal, making sure the album doesn't fade away at the death. Point of fact - the stronger songs tend to come towards the end. It's as if they're lying in wait: while the McCartney-esque 'Babs and Babs' and the ambient Frippery of 'Urban Landscape' lull us into a false sense of security; songs like 'Why It Was So Easy' and the astonishing 'Survive' (the standout here, against some top opposition) hit like trains. Their immediacy can't be random, no capitulation to fate.
'SS' reminds overwhelmingly of those superb Ian Hunter solo albums. Constructed around an age-old conceit, but infused with an almost mysterious instinctive; to re-invent and improve. To re-carve something set already in solid granite (mostly by people MADE of solid granite..(!))and make new again.
I'd say it was an aesthetic manifestation, if that's not too pompous, but 'SS' is an album that makes you strive for an emotional definition rather than just gushing superlatives. It's precise and triumphant in a celebratory context. You can't be anything but thrilled to bits that you're listening to it.
The Fripp/Hall collaboration (and I'm SO tempted to call it an 'axis', but that IS too pompous..(!)), is a success despite any reservations you might have about the musical origins of our two heroes. It's a mature rock work.
Intelligent and indecent; fully deserving of its place in that miniscule and even now, ever dwindling cultural canon.
With erstwhile old progger Robert Fripp involved, I was expecting 12 versions of 'I Talk to the Wind', but this is a harder music altogether; more edge.
I love being surprised by music, and despite the rampant cynicism and seeming lack of optimism in my reviews - I am quite often. That this is such an unlikely collaboration thrills me; and the fact that it works so well, makes the hours wasted wading through other desperate musics all the more worthwhile.
Mostly it's straightly geetared bluesy rock'n'soul, with a fair amount of honky-tonk piano, but with enough Fripp flourishes and finesse to lift it far above and beyond the mediocre and mundane limits of that rather confining and over-simplistic genre. Hall's a major talent on his own, but add the seriously disturbed Fripp to the proceedings and you're fast-tracking to a classic.
The diversity of 'SS' is micro-cosomed in the last two songs; 'You Burn Me Up Like A Cigarette' which is a racy, almost punk-like thrash-in-the-r-n-r basement, and the seriously beautiful 'North Star', with its iron-cable strong hook and Hall's almost country vocal, making sure the album doesn't fade away at the death. Point of fact - the stronger songs tend to come towards the end. It's as if they're lying in wait: while the McCartney-esque 'Babs and Babs' and the ambient Frippery of 'Urban Landscape' lull us into a false sense of security; songs like 'Why It Was So Easy' and the astonishing 'Survive' (the standout here, against some top opposition) hit like trains. Their immediacy can't be random, no capitulation to fate.
'SS' reminds overwhelmingly of those superb Ian Hunter solo albums. Constructed around an age-old conceit, but infused with an almost mysterious instinctive; to re-invent and improve. To re-carve something set already in solid granite (mostly by people MADE of solid granite..(!))and make new again.
I'd say it was an aesthetic manifestation, if that's not too pompous, but 'SS' is an album that makes you strive for an emotional definition rather than just gushing superlatives. It's precise and triumphant in a celebratory context. You can't be anything but thrilled to bits that you're listening to it.
The Fripp/Hall collaboration (and I'm SO tempted to call it an 'axis', but that IS too pompous..(!)), is a success despite any reservations you might have about the musical origins of our two heroes. It's a mature rock work.
Intelligent and indecent; fully deserving of its place in that miniscule and even now, ever dwindling cultural canon.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It's the voice really, first aware of Daryl with the hits in mid 70's.
Fripps's "Exposure" as well as Hall contains PJAH & Peter Gabriel.
After early Crimson, work with Eno & Bowie, guesting on Blondie's "Parallel Lines", Robert knows his stuff. This is a very american sounding record but is well worth a listen if you have any interest on any of the previous named individuals. A little gem.
Fripps's "Exposure" as well as Hall contains PJAH & Peter Gabriel.
After early Crimson, work with Eno & Bowie, guesting on Blondie's "Parallel Lines", Robert knows his stuff. This is a very american sounding record but is well worth a listen if you have any interest on any of the previous named individuals. A little gem.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
earth magic
Can't believe this little gem hasn't been picked up by more people. There are at least 3, 5 star tracks here.
Published on 11 Jun 2008 by Mr. Andrew J. Moug
Sweet and weird
Unlikely collaberation between blue eyed soul boy Hall and King Crimsons experiment willing guitar master Robert Fripp. Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2007 by S. Stakset
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