YOUNG MEN GONE WEST

Getting led astray

I must admit I was surprised to find City Boy appearing on this site, my experience of them being largely based on their only major hit single, "5705". That track is of course a simple, catchy pop number without a hint of prog. "Young men gone west" was the first City Boy album to see a change in the line up, with Tony Braunagel sitting in on drums for the departed Roger Kent. Braunagel would not actually join the band though, and no drummer is credited on the album sleeve.

This album does not quite follow the pop ethos of ten songs, five on each side of the album, but only in that there are six tracks on side two! Apart from that, what we have here is sophisticated pop of the 10CC variety, pure and simple. There is a sort of overall concept to the album which mainly focuses on a young man's experiences with ladies of ill repute.

The opening "Dear Jean (I'm nervous)" is the longest and best arranged song on the album, with a fine guitar ending. Incidentally, the LP sleeve mixes up the track order of the first two songs, showing the second song "Bordello night" as the opener. The 10CC similarities are most evident on tracks such as "Honeymooners" with its clever lyrics and jaunty, shuffling melody and "The runaround" which features high range melodies.

It is difficult to pick out highlights here, if one track appeals to you, chances are they all will. The theme of the album though is rather appropriate, as here City Boy are being led astray from any prog sensibilities which might have been present on their earlier albums, into the crowed arena of sophisticated pop.

I want to thank Alec at Alec's Record Shop in Whitby for getting me so close to the music of City Boy. Following "Dinner At The Ritz", this album once again delivers a create album full of interesting music and that certain unique City Boy quality and charm. For those not familiar with City Boy are really missing out...imagine the creativity of 10CC with the craftmanship of the finest progressive rock bands of the 70's. Musically City Boy blend funk, rock and prog elements to create their signature sound with expressive vocals and clever lyrics. This album offers a nice mix of ballads and rockers and is an excellent listen. I also am a big fan of the title track "Young Men Gone West" which is my personal pick from this album.

Where would City Boy take their music after the masterful performance on Dinner At The Ritz?

There are generally two ways that an artist/band can go about after releasing a strong album. Either you continue pushing the music into the same direction in order to uncover more potential within the music and push the material to a higher artistic ground or scratch everything and start over from the top. One might assume that the second alternative is an easy way out of the high expectations that the audience might have on the follow-up and that's true even though moving away from a familiar formula will most probably alienate the existing fans base. Queen managed to achieve a comedic effect by following up the grand A Night At The Opera with the light-hearted A Day At The Races, which is probably one of the most successful transitions in the history of rock music. This was really not the case with City Boy.

The band returned to the short song format where most tracks keep around the 4-minute mark and featuring a wide array of styles that will remind you of their debut album from the previous year. I guess that the pressure from the record company began getting to the sextet and Young Men Gone West definitely has a huge hit potential with every track clearly designed to become a potential chart topper. Ultimately all this effort was clearly wasted since it often requires a lot more than great songwriting to please the masses and 1977 was really not a great year for the Art Rock scene.

The album does deliver a few moments for me, especially the majestic ending with The Millionaire, but it lacks the consistency that I expect of a great studio recording. Not a terrible album by any standards, just not really a special nor a rewarding experience for any fan of Art Rock.

***** star songs: The Millionaire (4:26)

**** star songs: Bordello Night (3:04) Honeymooners (3:55) She's Got Style (3:20) Young Men Gone West (4:05) One After Two (3:29) Man Who Ate His Car (3:00)

*** star songs: Dear Jean (I'm Nervous) (5:33) Bad For Business (3:33) I've Been Spun (3:24) Runaround (3:19)