TO THE HILT

I got all the Golden Earring studio albums and To The Hilt is the hardest one crack..

The first 3 tracks may seem rather pedestrian,and by the time you get through the title track,you may wonder that nothing is going on here. But there is lots of little things brewing in the first 2 songs. Title track is weakest on the album,but thankfully also the shortest.

Thankfully also that the last 4 tracks are great.

Nomad is indeed weird in the middle section,but I love it. Imagine you have been walking in circles in the desert ,with the sun hammering at your eyeballs for 6 1/2 hours,and about to pass out. But before you do,you see a fata morgana and trip out.This segment sounds exactly what you may have going through your head just before.Brilliant.

Sleepwalkin' and Latin Lightning are grooving toetappers.

Violins is like a day in a life in Barcelona,in 10 1/2 minutes.Rather unique song with a lovely string arrangement by Robert Jan Stips.

Talking about RJS.I think he adds some great soundscapes and atmospherics to the GE sound,especially in Nomad.

George Rinus and Cesar are great throughout.Drums seems a bit too lound in the mix and guitar a bit low.

There are not many lyricist where I really listen,but I do really like Barry's.

'I guess nobody knew-The Barcelona Zoo Has an albino monkey-that can trigger the mood, And provoke-monkey motions. So when the sh*t flies high- Through the Barcelona sky-the crowd stands by A-cheering!.. (From Violins.)

So not as easy flowing like Moontan and not as easy to digest as Switch,this is somewhere in between,but also much darker.

Having owned the GE albums since Moontan as they were released,I must admit,I give them limited listenings these days. But this is the one I put on the most.

Probably 3.75 *

For the GE newbie start with Moontan(Euro edition)w/ 5 tracks .A classic

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