|
Albums
|
Quiet Revolution
Chris de Burgh
From the opening bars of the newly released single "When I Think Of You" to the closing bars of the final (and title) track, "Quiet Revolution", this new album from Chris de Burgh clearly announces that Chris is back to his band accompanied best. For many, this is the album they have been waiting for since This Way Up. While Chris has proved himself very adept with a full orchestral arrangement, and has also released an album of love songs, a band and an album of fast, concert rocking numbers is just what the fans have been hoping for. It could be argued by some that Chris' most successful album, Into The Light, sold on the back of The Lady In Red hit single, a look at the history archives will disprove this, since the album was a chart hit in advance of the release of the single, and the strength of the album alone guaranteed its success, with the single merely bolstering the sales. And so it deserves to be again, because this album of 15 all new songs, all written by Chris is just as good, if not better than Into The Light. A combination of songs that tug at the heart along with songs which conjure up pictures in the mind, to fast paced numbers that will be concert favourites for years to come. Quiet Revolution is just what the title says. It takes the word Quiet, and revolutionises it! So, what are the stand outs, what's average and are there
any fillers? But don't be fooled, this album is not all love songs. Living In The World without a doubt expresses Chris' feelings about the media, people's ability to write him off and his rediscovered hunger for his career. Nothing Ever Happens Round Here takes the opposite view of the Eastern Wind albums Wall Of Silence. This has a happy ending, about how dreams can come true if you are prepared to make the effort and go against the accepted way and popular opinion. Hmm... Moving on, we find that Chris obviously believes that men of the world really do not understand the women (A Woman's Heart), he then adds in a whirlwind romance which ends all too quickly for the man in love, leaving him seeing her face in everyone he looks at in that melancholy, all too familiar way men seem to have, and then we arrive at the soon to be epic that is St Peters Gate. This really is Chris at his very best, with the band playing along it screams to be a film in the mind, it will be on a par with Ferryman at concerts, you will be playing it over and over. As the title suggests, it relates the tale of a man who finds himself at St. Peters Gate, and on entering finds himself shown to a room by an old man. He finds just one book, containing pictures of his life, and as he reads he hears the words "Nobody will get through, nobody not even you, can escape the judgement day". Does he escape? You'll need the album to find out(or read the lyrics of course!). Keeping a good mix of numbers though, we head off to I Want It(And I Want It Now), a song about today's consumerism which I promise will get inside your head, and you will find yourself singing away to loudly whenever it is played, and then we jump again to Natasha Dance, a slower but passionate song that brings to mind just one thing as it builds to a crescendo. Another anthem follows with Rivers of Abraham, and on we go, on a tidal wave of emotion to the final track, Quiet Revolution. "There's a quiet revolution going on" sings Chris, and he's right. This album IS that Quiet Revolution. It proves once and for all his ability to write songs that aren't simply good love songs or good rock songs, they are works of art, musical books to bring forth pictures in the imagination, and feelings in the hearts, minds and souls of everyone who listens to them. Undoubtedly they will mean different things to different people, they will conjure up different memories, and feelings, but I think everyone will agree that this is one of Chris' best albums for quite some time. The man truly is back, and it's far from a quiet revolution! Rating 10/10
|