CHRIS SPEDDING: SONGS WITHOUT WORDS

Advertised as a Nucleus album but, without Ian Carr's presence, I don't quite see how. Plus, it's kind if a shame that Chris never expected (or wanted) the music from these Harvest Records'-"forced" studio recording sessions to be published. (Apparently, the album's producer leaked it to a Japanese company who published it unbeknownst to Chris. In fact, Chris claims to have not found out about the existence of this publication for three or four years.)

1. "Station Song" (14:39) long John Coltrane-like opening with everybody meandering every which way like a pack of rats that have been discovered hiding under a rowboat, the trombone of Paul Rutherford is given the greatest prominence, occupying the lead position for the first two and a half minutes before giving way to John Mitchell's piano play. Roger Potter's jazzy double bass and John Marshall's drumming are also top notch as they hold everything together beneath John's DON PULLEN."Sinner Man"-like piano play. Trombone again takes the lead in this increasingly "Sinner Man"-feeling piano-based song. Chris Spedding's wewird CZ&W jazz guitar sound slowly fills the gap made by the quiescence of the rest of the band in the tenth minute and gradually becomes quite animated and reckless in its abandon. Then things slow down again, with everybody spacing out, before assuming a blues groove for the final two minutes (including a ridiculously-long finish). Not a great song. (26/30) 2. "Plain Song" (4:40) a great song on which Chris and Roger Potter jam as a duet on acoustic guitars (steel string acoustic and mandolin) and bowed double bass, respectively on something that sounds like a cover of PINK FLOYD's "Wish You Were Here" (pre-dating David Gilmour's classic by three or four years) as performed by Jimmy Page and Roy Harper for on Roy's Stormcock. An album highlight (despite its awkward sound rendering). (9/10)

3. "Song Of The Deep" (8:50) another song that feels more grounded in the Post Bop of the late Sixties with John Mitchell's piano play, Roger Potter's double bass, and John Marshall's drumming sounding much more jazz-based than rock or even Jazz-Rock. Chris's guitar is rendered rather oddly in the final mix with far more prominence and credibility being given to the centrally-located trombone of Paul Rutherford. Once again John Mitchell lays down some awesome Don Pullen-like piano play, which is, for me, the highlight of the song. (17.75/20)

4. "The Forest Of Fables" (1:12) experimental guitar and piano sounds--not conventional playing or styling. Like Don Pullen and Phil Collins running through ideas that would end up serving The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway's "The Waiting Room." (4.375/5)

5. "New Song Of Experience" (8:22) this song sounds and feels like a combo of lounge musicians giving a jazzy mash up of a DOORS pop song ("Light My Fire"). Though John Mitchell is playing electric piano on this one, he's still throwing those riffs and tactics that I'm so familiar with due to my love of Don Pullen's piano stylings. The guitar playing on this feels so infantile as to seem to express a self-sabotaging element into the music. (Did Chris want this album to fail?) Still, Paul, the two Johns, and Roger perform rather respectably despite Chris' "mood." Even the way the final sound and mix are rendered seem to indicated a half-assed attempt at polish or completion. (17.5/20)

6. "I Thought I Heard Robert Johnson Say" (3:14) a song of various sound tracks that all feel like experimentations that might end up on TALKING HEADS' Remain in Light. Cool and funky before Brian Eno's white funk was even a thing. (9.25/10)

Total time: 40:57

I'll say it again: I'm not sure why reviewers and historians want to include this within the aegis of Ian Carr's Nucleus. And, sadly, Chris hardly ever feels into it! Also, I do feel saddened as, once again, an artist's product has been undermined or even usurped by the label/production company (much as artists like Frank Zappa, John McLaughlin, John Fogerty, Nektar, Midnight Oil, Prince, and many, many others have claimed to have been taken advantage of at varioius points in their careers).

B-/3.5 stars; some great individual performances over mostly less-than-polished compositions (or, more often, what sound like practice jams) does not make for a great album. Recommended only if you must.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to BrufordFreak
• Report this review (#3203519)
• Buy NUCLEUS music online with PA partners
• Show all NUCLEUS MP3/Stream
• Go to NUCLEUS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Chris Spedding: Songs Without Words page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for NUCLEUS related discussions