Vinyl Tap: Be-Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish

I get a new turntable and dust off some old records. Vinyl Tap #43:

Meant to be played loud? Oh, yeah...An often overlooked masterwork in the United States, Be-Bop Deluxe’s melodic and sinuous Sunburst Finish from 1976 is the highpoint of this revolving-door British group’s 1972 to 1978 creative burst of a career, a showcase really for guitar virtuoso Bill Nelson. From his joyously soaring solos to delectably sublime accompaniment, his transcendent skills can transport the listener with an enthralling force.The one-two counterpunch of the opening tracks set the all-embracing tone for this cohesive, wide-ranging album. The infectiously playful and punchy “Fair Exchange” may evoke Mott the Hoople and T. Tex, and the bridge of Robin Trower-like sighs and yearning that interlace throughout the heart-tugging “Heavenly Homes” practically ache with longing, but there’s nothing really derivative about this striking album in its special alchemy of glam, pop, progressive-rock, and metal. Nelson, who also wrote all the songs and is the lead singer, is not as strong with lyrics and vocals as he is with guitar and other instruments (when is the last time you’ve seen anyone since Mike Oldfield credited with playing tubular bells?). But he doesn’t take himself too seriously when it comes to lyrical expression, and whatever tendencies he has toward spouting any prog-rock cosmic debris over the occasional complex arrangement is undercut with a sense of humor, or with a poignancy that befits and indeed enhances the tenor or meaning of the song.On one stand-out cut, the radiant and shimmering “Crying to the Sky,” the heartfelt lyrical approach — “I’m leading a band full of blues, just for you / Crying to the sky / Searching for a silver lining” — complements and resonates dramatically with the instrumental tension and build-up. And on the ‘60-style psychedelic-tinged “Sleep That Burns,” you’ll hear the colors and see the sounds in both music and words:

Go and tell your friends That you’ve witnessed the endOf the world in a dreamThe night winds are howling, seducing the trees,I wake in a cold sweatWith the sheets ‘round my knees.I’ve got a sleep that burns, a sleep that burnsGot a sleep that burns all night.I lay in the darkness with visionless eyesExhausted and reeling, all heartbeats and lies…

But for those who prefer their apocalypse on the lighter side, Be-Bop Deluxe closes Sunburst Finish with the surreal “Blazing Apostles,“ which employs such imagery as God driving “a dreamless highway in a black sedan,” while a way-cool Death "drives an airflow Chrysler on the streets of man / A hit and run driver, cruising since the world began.”

Article Author: Gordon Hauptfleisch

Gordon Hauptfleisch is a Blogcritics Books Editor, freelance writer, and book reviewer for San Diego Union Tribune Books (R.I.P.). For many years he worked in and managed bookstores and record stores, and most recently was purchasing manager for San Diego Technical Books. …

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