THE PHENOMENAL RISE OF RICHARD STRANGE by Richard Strange (Old Grey Whistle Test performance) скачать в хорошем качестве

THE PHENOMENAL RISE OF RICHARD STRANGE by Richard Strange (Old Grey Whistle Test performance)

RICHARD STRANGE - THE PHENOMENAL RISE OF RICHARD STRANGE - "Stunning the London and New York club scene with a powerful narrative and some devastating songs, The Phenomenal Rise of Richard Strange began life as a solo stage show, a political satire in which the eponymous hero — a top rock idol — is elected president of a futuristic European federation, then falls tragically foul of the very men who raised him to such heights. At a time when the United States were being governed by a film star, and the U.K. by a harridan, such a scenario didn't seem so odd. What was remarkable was the ease with which Strange eased the saga into a single and so solid album. Built around dynamics (if not arrangements) which had characterized Strange's work since his emergence at the helm of the Doctors of Madness, the strident opening title track and the closing "I Won't Run Away" have a dramatic power which bookends the album to perfection, guitars and saxophones to the fore. Elsewhere within the cycle, the frenetic "Gutter Press" recalls the "Doctors"' "Bulletin" in both style and subject matter, while the ballad "Who Cries For Me" features some intriguing backing vocals from Strange's former occasional writing partner, Adverts vocalist TV Smith (he appears under the self-explanatory pseudonym Radio Jones). Paying close attention to the lyrics reveals that a couple of the songs exist primarily for their ability to drive the storyline along, but Phenomenal Rise's greatest asset is the fact that much of it stands up to scrutiny even without the overall framework. It's a claim, after all, which precious few other concept albums can make, but one which is backed up by the success of the two singles drawn from the sessions, the edgy "International Language" and "Phenomenal Rise" itself — neither charted, but both attracted attention at the time. If there was any downside to the album, it was that only a portion of the entire stage show was included. Hopes that Strange would unleash a double album were dashed very early on, while plans for a conventional theatrical or cinema presentation never came to pass. However, several of the absentee tracks can be gathered up from the Live Rise album and Fools Rush In compilation, and even in abbreviated fashion, The Phenomenal Rise was both peerless and nigh on perfect. The greatest concept album ever made? Quite so." Dave Thompson