Wow! This guy has it all. Side Three is the latest in a long succession of albums from one of rock and roll's foremost authorities, and it is blessed by all that came before. To coin a phrase, Adrian 'belew' me away! The funk and soul of the first two tracks alone had me literally dancing in my chair as I cruised through his official website.
Those two tracks, "Troubles" and "Incompetence Indifference", really set the stage for the rest of this CD. For those of you who might have slept through the past few decades in music, Adrian Belew has done it all, played with everyone, and designed the T-shirt! His bio reads like a walk through Cleveland's famed Hall. Names like Frank Zappa, David Bowie, The Talking Heads, King Crimson, Paul Simon, Mike Oldfield, The Bears, this man has touched an enormous chunk of the rock in rock and roll. When you listen to the song "Crunk", you can almost see the smile on Zappa's face when he first heard Adrian play.
The funk jumps out again in "Whatever", a song that really shows the David Bowie side of this complex artist. With most "journeymen" artists, you can see and hear the influence of the bands they've played with in their style and sound. With Adrian Belew, you can see and hear the influence he had on those fortunate to have played with him. The song "Cinemusic" has almost a Beatles fell to the start, and then plunges right into the signature funkadelic sounds of Belew. Third in a series of three, the first two, Side One and Side Two were released in 2005. Side Three rounds out the trilogy with an energy and innovation seldom seen in today's rock, I, for one, am hooked again.
Just a footnote by the way, the official website is an amazing wealth of rock history, and info. Links to videos, downloads, pics and related sites as well make this a very cool way to sit and listen to some very funky sounds.
Article comments