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Golden Earring - Cut CD (album) cover

CUT

Golden Earring

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ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars The last albums from this excellent Dutch band were not really thrilling, and I had to be quite optimistic with their previous one to rate it with two stars.

This album is unfortunately not good at all. At least in its initial phase.

The opener must be one of their weakest track ever. Loads of wind instruments, funk-pop- rock of the poorest quality. One option only: press next. Or double next to avoid the evitable funky ''Future''.

Finally, some fine basic rock enhanced with good keys from Jan Stips breaks the boring mood. ''Baby Dynamite'' is the first acceptable song from this ''Cut''. ''Lost & Found'' can also be categorized as such, but when I listen the atrocious ''Last Of The Mohicans'', the desolation totally invades me.

Another good track is the disco-rock ''Twilight Zone''. Some sort of ''Miss You'' (Stones) emanation. Bearing in mind what the listener had to endure so far, it has to be considered as a highlight. Actually it is a good song and since it lasts for about eight minutes, it is raising the level of the whole work substantially even if some might argue that is it too repetitive. But I prefer repetitive and good than short and weak.

Almost the same feel about ''Chargin' My Batteries''. Nothing revolutionary but a simple and effective rock track with melodic vocals.

I quite don't understand the way that the band (or their management) decided the running order of their tracks on their last five albums or so: the first three or four were always amongst the weakest which is quite bizarre. At times one doesn't even have the strengths to listen further. And, it is again the same with this ''Cut'' since the closing ''Secrets'' is quite decent as well.

Two stars finally.

Report this review (#219649)
Posted Wednesday, June 3, 2009 | Review Permalink
5 stars Okay I understand the difference between a PROG review vs Basic Album Review. Mine will be a basic rock album review as it relates to GE albums.

I assume anyone reading this is thinking about getting this album since they are interested in GE. I am a GE fan. I have over 20 of their albums and have been a fan since about 1982. Cut was the their first album I ever heard by them. I have most of their releases from 1970 and on. I do not love every song by GE. In fact there are almost entire albums I cannot listen to (To The Hilt is my least fav album by them). I write this review in 2012. It is not a review of how it fared in 1982 but rather - is it listenable now?

With this mind -- my review. (1 to 5 stars.)

Overall notes. CUT is one of my favorite GE albums. I think as a whole the album shows how much they learned in the 70s about making music. They had done all the experimental lead flute, jazzy, prog, extra long stuff and got it out of their system. By 1978 they turned to more AOR rock songs. 1978-1989 is my favorite era of the band. They spent time developing each of these songs. They all have very distinctive grooves and I don't confuse GE with any other band.

1 - THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT. Rocker. This is a song with a "gang vocal". As Barry sings the main vocal at times the rest of the guys join in to sing the counter lyric. "YEAH", "BULLSHIT", "CONFESS". etc I find the song structure excellent. There are sections with horns which add to the feel of the song. This song and "Clear Night" from NEWS sounds very similar and I generally play them back to back in play lists. 4/5

2 - FUTURE. Bluesy Rocker. I love this song. I belt out the chorus at the top of my voice every time I hear it. "Its gonna happen in the Future...Ohhhh ohhhhhh ahhhhhhh ohhhhhh". I find this song very catchy. GE went through several stylistic changes. This song fits right in with their 1980-1986 song structure. 5/5.

3 - BABY DYNAMITE. Light Rocker. Great grove on this song. I like how unrushed the song is. The ending coda lasts for over a minute with bass / drums and guitar flourishes. its classic 80s GE.

4 - LAST OF THE MOHICANS. Rocker. Again the guys get into a great grove. Bass and drums working to keep it thumping along. Barry and George do 2 part harmony, which I love. Like the previous song the ending is a nice long play groove with some "nah nah naaaaaah" ending vocals. 5/5

5 - LOST AND FOUND. Light Rocker. Another great groove starts things off. Barry handles the main singing with George handling the counter point vocals. I love their songs in this style. 5/5

6 - TWILIGHT ZONE. Rocker. I'm sure everyone has heard this song at least a million times. It was all over the radio and MTV in 1982. I first GE by this song. One of their best groves. This song has classic George guitar riffs and flourishes. Some great gang vocals which was part of their 80s sound. On the long album version there is a great middle section with bass and drums followed by George's lead guitar coming in and riff'ing the hell outta the song. The band surges on and right back into the main chorus. Most people know GE by Radar Love or Twilight Zone. And then another extending ending. 5/5

7 - CHARGIN' UP MY BATTERIES. Light Rocker. I really like the lighter side of GE. Its George handling most of the vocals. The rhythm section is again carrying this song on. Its so catchy. One of my favorite GE songs ever. 5/5

8 - SECRETS. Rocker. Not for everyone. I admit I was thrown back the first time I heard this song. Its not your typical song structure (sounds like bird calls in the middle there?). I have learned to listen to this song. Only because of the hundreds of times I played this album. DO NOT Judge this album based on this song. I think the band had put the first 7 songs down and just jammed out this song out. You will need to be hardcore fan to appreciate it. 2/5

Report this review (#762636)
Posted Saturday, June 2, 2012 | Review Permalink
TCat
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
3 stars Golden Earring is one of those bands that had a few really great songs that helped them advance to stardom, but tried too much to replicate success thus putting out a lot of sub-par material that unfortunately took a toll on any rock god status that they could have earned. Most people are familiar with their two huge hits, which were actually excellent songs, both "Radar Love" and "Twilight Zone". But they also had some excellent, even progressive songs, that weren't huge hits, but should have been considered classics, including "She Flies on Strange Wings", "Vanilla Queen" and "Candy's Going Bad", among others. But their sub-par material outweighed their quality music, and unfortunately, that is the reputation they ended up with, just another fairly minor band, when they had the capability of being much better than that.

Two of Golden Earring's original members stayed with the band through it all, guitarist and vocalist George Kooymans and bassist, keyboardist, and guitarist Rinus Gerritsen. Both Barry Hay (vocalist, guitarist and etc) and Caesar Zuidersijk (drums and percussion) would join the band a few years later, before the band's rise to fame, and would also become long-time members who would also remain with the band afterwards. Ever since 1987 the band would remain a quartet of these four musicians, and something has to be said about their loyalty through it all. Although the band had additional international success, they would only see minimal success in the US with the two mentioned singles. However, they were able to release a total of 25 studio albums, 8 live albums, 2 major compilations and 74 singles worldwide. Only 2 of those albums would crack the top 50 in the US, "Moontan" and "Cut".

"Cut", which was the bands 16th album, was released in 1982. The fact that is was one of their most popular albums lies in the fact that it had their 2nd big hit (in the US) on it. Unfortunately, it was released in the middle of a string of albums that were quite average, and overall, it was also quite average. It was the luck of the draw that it would get to be as popular as it was, even though the album couldn't seem to pull out another successful single, even though it was full of radio friendly songs. However, the album isn't a complete write off either, and most of their albums seemed to always have a couple of decent tracks among the several weak tracks, all of them fighting for notoriety, but not getting it.

The album is made up of 8 tracks and has a total run-time of 38 minutes, the longest of which is the full almost 8 minute version of "Twilight Zone". The band line-up was, at this point, the classic 4 person line up. The album kicks off with "The Devil Made Me Do It", which was the track that tried to be the 2nd hit off the album. It is produced with slick horns, and has a nice upbeat and catchy style to it. It had all the makings of a hit, but just couldn't generate the excitement of the first single, plus the face that the word "bullsh*t" appears a few times, and the radio stations in the US just weren't into playing songs with naughty words in them. It could have been their 3rd hit, easily. The addition of horns also gives the track more excitement and substance. But the next track "Future" takes the spark right out of the first track, with a moderate, sneaky sounding track that at least has a faster 2nd theme that appears a few times. But it was a song that sounded too much like other songs that had been done before, with that slight espionage feel that many of their tracks had. But it lacks anything really memorable.

"Baby Dynamite" has the Golden Earring attitude, but is a moderate track with guest synth work by Robert Jan Stips that make it sound like many of the synth laden songs of the decade it comes from. The track is just one song in the band's pile of mediocrity. "Last of the Mohicans" sounds a bit more promising with a nice, infectious guitar riff, and a bit more upbeat, but nothing more as the rest is too poppy sounding and the vocals have no real emotional pull. The chorus is too corny and stereotypical. "Lost and Found" is the twin brother to "Twilight Zone" but shorter, with a similar riff, but the band doesn't capitalize on it much, thus turning it into just another song.

"Twilight Zone" finally comes next to rescue the album from mediocrity. The song has everything the public wanted from Golden Earring. That sound of espionage again, the infectious bass riff that gets played along with forever in the long instrumental break, almost sounding like it was inspired by a disco beat, yet it was still a fun and exciting track anyway. It gave the public what they wanted. I just don't understand why the band didn't take a cue from this and Radar Love that this is what the public wanted, songs that stand out and generate excitement, not run of the mill songs with nothing to grab a hold of. Yes, the song is repetitive, but that is the charm of it as it continues and grows in intensity through its long instrumental section. The vocals even generate the excitement working along with that cool, dirty guitar sound that created a rock anthem. They proved they had the ability, yet, for some reason, they missed it more than they hit it.

"Chargin' Up My Batteries" features the synth work of Stips again, and after the excitement of the previous track, it sounds like their batteries have gone dead. Its just pop fodder, not what the public wanted to hear. It didn't even get a chance to be a single, though it could have been a perfect jingle for Eveready. The last track is "Secrets" and is even worse.

There is no doubt that Golden Earring had it in them to be remembered as a better band than they were, but, their search for the next big hit just put them in the sad pile of mediocre bands. They did have great songs other than their two hits, but they all came along in the 70s, and the fact that Twilight Zone seemed to come out of nowhere amid a string of bad albums should have been the band's wake up call to get serious again, but they never would. If you are looking for a collection of their best songs, I would suggest the first half of "The Continuing Story of Radar Love" which has some of their better earlier songs on it while the 2nd side is more hit and miss, but it is pretty much all you need in the band's discography, plus a few of their better tracks in the 70s. "Cut" is just basically another mediocre album in the middle of a bunch of other mediocre albums of the band in the 80s that just happened to generate a hit.

Report this review (#2248082)
Posted Monday, September 2, 2019 | Review Permalink

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