THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK

The early 10CC albums are something of an original with true art rock expressionisms and genre breaking moments. 1975's "The Original Soundtrack" is a magical album full of classic Lol Crème, Eric Stewart and Kevin Godley creativity. There was even a classic 70's pop ballad from this album "I'm Not In Love" which was all over the radio way back when I was a kiddie boo boo.."Big Boys Don't Dry"....This album has it all and resounds with that classic 10CC strangeness and angular musical prowess. The Original Soundtrack is also full of wonderful vocalizations and use of the various tones in their music... kind of a cross of Barclay James Harvest harmonies with Bee Gee structures.

The single I'm Not In Love was often heard on the Dutch radio after this album was released. I have always loved the romantic, very unique atmosphere (electric piano and slighty distorted choir vocals) of that song that became a huge worldwide hit, yet again success for Graham Gouldman who already wrote in the Late Sixties at a very young age classic singles like Busstop by The Hollies and For Your Love by The Yardbirds, what an incredible tunesmith! Another fine song on this album is the ironical sounding Life Is A Minestrone (served up with a parmesan cheese). But my favorite is the 3 part Une Nuit A Paris ("One night n Paris is like a year in any other place") featuring wonderful vocal parts, inspired piano work and exciting shifting moods, from mellow to bombastic, it sounds a bit similar to Seventies Queen but without rockguitar play. For me The Original Soundtrack is a perfect example of the category Art-Rock and perhaps their best effort.

10cc fall around the same area of the prog spectrum as Supertramp do, the, is it pop, is it prog, oh well I don't care, category. At times their sound can even be reminicint of Supertramp except with wider instrumentation. Except where Supertramp is a depressing, rainy day, my hamster died band, 10cc is a happy go lucky, let's go outside and frolic type of band.

The first half of the album is where all the excitement lies. The opener is a quirky mini epic with very proggy moments and some great piano work and vocal harmonies, and the rest of the first half is filled with intelligent proggy pop. However, the second side becomes a bit too commercial and the compositions suffer becoming boring and predictable.

Another album I played to death when it was released. this probably ties with Sheet Music as my favourite 10cc album (although Deceptive Bends is up there too). 'One Night In Paris' is truly an epic! It is actually in three parts if my memory serves me correctly, (it has been some time since I heard this!) 1) One Night In Paris. 2) The Same Night In Paris. 3) Later, The Same Night In Paris. This is really a mini-musical, almost a rock version of a Carry On film! Tremendous interplay between the four vocalists here, with all of them taking a part, or character; French accents abound, ladies of the night mix here with members of the gendarmerie and pimps. It's all wonderful stuff! Definitely needs paying attention to, preferably through headphones. This may have been the peak of their creativeness. Following this is probably the band's most famous song, 'I'm Not In Love'. A minor epic as well, it is a more straightforward piece, and has a suitably more sombre tone. Tremendous multi-tracked backing vocals, and superb keyboard washes abound here. These were good days indeed, days when the English charts had such songs as this, Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and another mini-epic, John Miles's 'Music'. All long songs, with strong melodies and interesting arrangements. 'Blackmail' finishes off what was the old side one of the album. Superb steel slide guitar from Eric Stewart dominates this busy, aggressive song. Again, subtle yet funny lyrics about, well, a man blackmailing people. The guitar at the end is wonderful. 'The Second Sitting For The Last Supper' likewise starts off side two with a bang, being almost heavy metal in the guitar department. Hoarse vocals from Stewart here, and the song possesses the wonderful verse: 'The second coming of the Holy Ghost, we need a pocketful of miracles, two thousand years and he ain't shown yet, we kept his seat warm and the table set, the second sitting for the last....SUPPER!' Brilliant stuff. 'Brand New Day' calms things down as Kevin Godley starts the song off with his unmistakeable voice. He and Lol Creme work really well here, as always, and Eric Stewart plays a big part too. 'Flying Junk' is another Stewart led song, his guitar work here again typically understated. A mid paced song, it is, in a strange way, quite biting, taking as its subject drugs. 'Life Is A Minestrone' was another big hit for the band. A Lol Creme led song, it is an uptempo track with brilliant quirky lyrics, such as the line sung by Eric Stewart: 'Minnie Mouse has got it all sewn up, she gets more fan mail than the Pope (own up, own up), she takes the Micky out of all my phobias...excellent! Ok, the chorus goes on a touch too long at the end, but it's still a melodic piece of superior art pop. Finally, we have 'The Film Of My Love' with Graham Gouldman taking over vocal duties. Here he could be singing the theme song for a romantic blockbuster. (Indeed, the album title was conceived with that idea: the tracks could be for films. Only 10cc could write theme tunes before the films were even thought of!) More innuendoes abound here, such as the classic: A close-up of yours, A long shot of mine, superimposed together, I'll zoom in on you, with a love that is true, in cinemascope forever!' Typical 10cc! The original album ends there, but here we have two bonus tracks. Unfortunately, until I get this cd (off a friend for Xmas hopefully!) I can't comment on these as I haven't heard them, but I am sure my fellow reviewer Maani will fill us all in on their worth. A classic album, from a classic band, with the usual high class production values that made this album jump out from the stereo when it was released. Four stars, edging towards five.

With their third album emerging in 75, 10 CC is coming now to their top form (as did rivals Queen did with their Fourth opus, Opera, the same year) and there are many highlights on this album (and the ones to come) that 10 CC is close to being the geniuses that England was looking for to replace the fab four. Still the same quartet, all of the members writing almost equally the tracks.

Their first "epic" One Night In Paris could be considered as Bohemian Rhapsody's equivalent and if not as well known, it is just as impressive. This opening track is close to opera-like (or at least music-hall) vocals at time and its three part and almost 9 min, make their first real masterpiece. Plenty of humour, ever changing style and dramatics, outstanding vocal harmonies, this track exudes the quaint Britishness of this quartet. Just as you thought that you had heard the best of the album, this superb quartet comes with the sublime I'm Not In Love with those oh so delicate layers and those: most likely the only love song I like, hell, just thinking of how many orgasm exchanged during this track is pure prog ;-).

The next two tracks are much harder rocking (and not just compared with their first two tracks on this one, but all of their albums so far) and Second Sitting refers to Christ's last supper, but 10 CC is busy rocking their hearts away with the same gift as Queen does. Other great tracks include the vocal-heavy Brand New Day, and the minor hit Minestrone. Only the finale is a weak track, being close to crooner material and irritatingly outside of the album's focus.

Yes, with this album, 10 CC should've gained Queen's notoriety, but sadly they will fall short (well they will get in the top 5 on both side of the pond), but the laurels were awarded to their rivals. But as Queen will reach their artistic apex in 75, little can we say the same for 10 CC who would carry on their increased ambition in the following album. How Dare You say the opposite?

Their third album has to be the strongest in the lineup. I am glad 10cc has made it to the Progressive Archives more for this album and ' How Dare You' being classic concept albums. Okay ' The Original Soundtrack' meanders a bit on side two but even so these songs are of strong material.' One Night In Paris' arguably their best composition ever. A perfect comparison would be Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody as another reviewer has already mentioned. 10cc always had a leaning toward michievious lyrics and ' One Night In Paris' is no exception. Musically very solid and I can only guess how many takes this song took before making the studio album final cut.' I'm Not In Love' probably 10cc's most successful song in terms of airplay and what dark lyrics...." I hang your picture upon my wall, it hides a nasty stain that's lying there...I'm not in love, no, no, it's because.....", classic stuff. 'Blackmail' has some of the finest guitar work. As I said side two continues with the ' film score' scene but is more of a mixed bag of songs. ' Life is a Minestrone', another great track with the atypical cunning lyrics...." Life is a minestrone, mixed up with parmesan cheese, death is a cold lasagne suspended in deep freeze...". Can't help having a laugh at the group humorous stab at life in general. Other songs that make side two really good are ' Flying Junk' and ' The second sitting of the last supper' but ' Brand New Day' and ' The Film Of My Love' are weaker in delivery and subsequently reduce this album from being a masterpiece to a solid four star rating.

[N.B. See my review of 10CC's first two albums for important general comments about the band. Also, note that my ratings for 10CC are based on their subgenre, NOT on prog as a whole.]

On their eponymous debut album, 10CC put their collective tongues firmly in their cheeks and created a lyrically and musically brilliant homage to the 50s and early 60s. For the most part, the songs were "simple" but highly effective in evoking the sights, sounds and feelings of that era. On their sophomore album, Sheet Music, 10CC had not simply matured, but had already solidly claimed its niche in progressive pop, including having exchanged 50s fun and frolic for serious 70s songwriting: though the humor, creativity and "appropriateness" in every song was still there (and more maturely), the band found its socio-political and pop culture voice, and exercised it with irony, dripping sarcasm and/or sardonic wit. As well, the group had completely mastered the recording studio and production techniques: the sounds, atmospheres, textures and effects that 10CC were creating were different from, but no less creative and "effective" than, those we associate with true "prog" bands, turning 10CC's arrangements into multi-layered, multi-textured masterpieces of sound and appropriateness.

It is important to quickly recap a few thoughts about 10CC. First, if there is one phrase that describes their approach, it is a "sense of appropriateness." That is, every detail of every song - lyrical, musical, specific guitar/piano/bass/drum sounds, sound effect, etc. - has a role to play in the overall "effect" of the song: every word, note, sound and texture is there for a reason; there is never any "filler." Second, 10CC is among the most "intelligent" bands ever (legendary prog-rock radio DJ Scott Muni put them in the same category as Gentle Giant in this particular regard): their lyrics are never secondary; indeed, they are not simply "literate" - often even radically brilliant - but are as important to the overall "sense of appropriateness" as any other element of the song; i.e., they require your attention. Finally, the members of 10CC are among the most underrated musicians in rock. Of course they are not the equal of Yes, Genesis, Crimson, etc. But that would not serve their music. Rather, they are all excellent, accomplished multi-instrumentalists who play to their strengths, Godley and Stewart in particular. Godley is a rock solid, creative and inventive drummer who is always interesting and fun to listen to. And Stewart is, as I have said, perhaps the most underrated guitarist in all of rock music: he can play in any style, and has a mastery over and control of his instrument that is the equal of any guitarist in rock - including the "greats."

On their third album, The Original Soundtrack, 10CC exhibit a comfort level with each other, with songwriting and collaboration, with the arrangements and with the studio that simply defy explanation. This is a foursome at the top of their game, digging even further into their claim on progressive pop, and showing a creativity that is every bit as "progressive" as Supertramp's "Crime of the Century," even if the "concept" here is "looser" than that classic album. In any event, this album is the second of four that I unquestionably consider a masterpiece of progressive pop, and is arguably 10CC's greatest work.

One Night in Paris. With the possible exception of "Somewhere in Hollywood" (from Sheet Music), nothing could have prepared 10CC fans for the sheer creativity of this masterwork. From the opening stereo-surround sound effects of a sidewalk café of a fleabag hotel in Paris, you know you are in new territory with the band. The story, told in three parts, surrounds the visit of an American who is "looking for love" in Paris - which, of course, means he is led to the red light district, and the seedy underbelly of the city. The song moves through a series of "movements" (and chord progressions), all perfectly arranged, and includes some of the band's most amazing (and Queen-ish) harmonies, and a huge "music hall" "finale." There is a reason why even those who only have a passing interest in 10CC consider this their best composition. It is simply stunning. And speaking of Queen, many rock musicologists believe that the "operatic" nature of this piece influenced Queen to write Bohemian Rhapsody (which came out at the end of the same year).

I'm Not in Love. Not just a sappy love song hit, this admittedly overplayed gem is among 10CC's most masterful compositions, showing a control of the studio that few bands can claim. The irony of the lyrics (he IS in love, of course) only adds to the fun of the song. A little known fact: this song has the most individual tracks of any song ever recorded in pop music: there are 22 instrument and effect tracks, and, by the end, 246 - count'em, 246 - separate vocal tracks. (Even more amazing is the fact that there are only three actual "instruments" - an electric piano, an acoustic guitar and a bass drum. The entire remainder of the "foundation" of the song is the vocal "choir.") Nothing like that had ever been attempted before, and only an engineering genius like Eric Stewart could have accomplished it with such control and panache. And if you have not heard this song on headphones, you owe it to yourself to do so. [N.B. In case you're wondering about the opening chord progression, this song was released more than a year before Hall & Oates' "She's Gone."]

Blackmail. With a respectful nod to Queen (this would have fit perfectly on DATR), the story of a blackmailer who gets more (or perhaps more accurately, different) than he bargained for is told over a truly infectious beat, with subtle sound effects (tremolo, guitar harmonics) and some truly tasty guitar work from Stewart. This has always been one of my very favorite 10CC compositions.

The Second Sitting for the Last Supper. This rocked out, angry, dripping with sarcasm anti-paean to Christianity (specifically its failure to end the suffering of poverty and hunger) has another infectious beat, some neat harmonies, excellent piano and organ work from Creme, and a great jam at the end. And despite the biting tone of the lyrics, even this minister loves this one!

Brand New Day. Although it has some really neat piano work, there is only one word to describe this song: bizarre. Bizarre lyrics, bizarre melody, bizarre progression, bizarre effects. Truly one of the band's strangest songs and arrangements - but a very good indication of where Godley and Creme would go with their first solo album, Consequences.

Flying Junk. Opening with a seriously "effect"-ed autoharp, this pun-filled anti-ode to a coke dealer is simply 10CC at their most 10CC-ish, with a deceptively simple arrangement, including some tasty Stewart guitar fills. Best line: "Ooh, he's a snow job - ooh, and his shovel's gonna cover you."

Life is a Minestrone. With a slight nod to Frank Zappa, this anthem to silliness even earned a minor accolade from the master himself. The puns, double entendres, and food and pop culture references fly faster than a speeding bullet in this hysterical pastiche. Just a couple: "I'm leaning on the tower in Pisa, had an eyeful of the tower in France, I'm hangin' 'round the gardens of Madison" (i.e., Madison Square Garden.); "The seat of learning and the flush of success relieve a constipated mind"; and, of course, "Life is a minestrone, served up with parmesan cheese; death is a cold lasagna, suspended in deep freeze."

The Film of My Love. With his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, Graham Gouldman does his best lounge lizard impression in this not-so-subtle ode to sex, told over the kind of cheesy mandolins you hear on Italian gangster movie soundtracks, and, of course, using numerous references to movies and film production techniques. If you haven't figured out the double entendre in the title, consider this line: "A close up of yours, a long shot of mine, superimposed together - I'll zoom in on you with a love that is true." Still don't get it? Let me spell it out for you: "film" = semen.

A hysterical and highly appropriate ending to an album called "The Original Soundtrack."

[Of the two bonus tracks, "Good News" sounds like an experimental demo, and is not particularly interesting. However, "Channel Swimmer" is among the band's best B- sides, a truly pretty song and arrangement with a nice Stewart solo and an ironic twist ending.]

There's an Oscar in this

For me, 10CC are a band who flatter to deceive. They write pleasant pop songs, then wrap them up in apparently complex, but ultimately straightforward arrangements. Sometimes this works well for them and they come up with irresistible hit singles. On other occasions it is less successful and they are left with a track for one of their albums. From time to time, they may come up with something which is not liable to be commercially successful in its own right, but is nonetheless highly credible, but such instances are relatively rare.

The first track on "The original soundtrack" is one of those exceptions. The three part "Une nuit a Paris" is one of the few truly structured pieces 10CC have recorded. Admittedly when you break it down, it is little more than three consecutive pop based songs, but they are put together to form an excellent suite. The piece takes the form of a stage show script with various characters and a narrator. As such it is predominantly vocal with brief instrumental links.

Thereafter, the tenets mentioned above generally apply. On the plus side, we have the singles taken from the album. Of these, "I'm not in love" is the finest. This tale of a lover in denial is almost entirely made up of processed voices, the closing instumental section in fact being a multi-tracked vocal extravaganza. As I recall, this was the first time such a technique had been used in this way, the sound the band created being unique at the time of its release. The songs has gone on to become recognised as one of the masterpieces of pop. "Life is a minestrone", the other single from the album, is a more conventional pop rock song. The food related lyrics are either delightfully witty or nonsensical, depending on your affection for the band.

"Second sitting for the last supper" sounds like is has come straight from the Paul McCartney songbook until you listen more closely to the lyrics. McCartney was never that cynical.

With 10CC, the talent and cleverness can misfire as often as it strikes a chord. Here, "Blackmail", "Flying junk" and "Brand new day" are cases in point. Ironically, "Blackmail" does have a superb instrumental outro.

My favourite track though is the soppy "The film of my love" which is filled to the brim with film references and puns. The wonderful melody is supported by a lush instrumental backing, the song having a simultaneously retro and contemporary feel.

"The original soundtrack" finds 10CC pretty much at their peak. For the most part, they have tempered their tendency to be too clever, and come up with a fine album of carefully crafted pop.

IMO this 10CC album is the peak of their creativity. And only God knows how far they brought us. The band just developped on their unique style. Opera, pastiche, mocking.

The opening number is just an amazing work. Lyrics, as usual, are so effective. So true. for someone NOT knowing France that much. All the clichés are hold in here : girls, girls, girls. But believe me : Paris is more than that. Anyway, this eight minute song is another of their opera's. Brilliant, funny, astonishing. Great.

As a teenager in 1975, I felt in love with "I'm Not In Love". Who the hell couldn't ???

It is one of the best slow I know. Ever in the music industry. It might over shade the whole of "The Original Soundtrack" as "Bohemian Rhapsody" did for "A Night At The Opera" and therefore affect the final rating. But this song belongs to one the greatest EVER in my musical life.

10CC came to the max of their brilliant studio skills. Wonderful harmonies, fantastic vocal arrangements, acid lyrics, superb melodies. These are items to be featured here.

Do you fancy some crazy beat ? Just turn the original LP version to B-side and listen to the incredible "The Second Sitting For The Last Supper" with the inevitable lyrics relating to some other last supper's sitting of course.

I should have attended their concert at the Belgian university at the time of touring for this album. Unfortunately, their décor was too big to fit into the (relatively) small concert hall. Concert was postponed, rescheduled, and cancelled again. Meaning that I never saw the band playing live. A major disappointment in my loooooooooong music life.

It is true to say that the second part of this album is weaker. But how the hell is it possible to write twice "One Night In Paris" and "I'm Not In Love" ???

Still, the hit single "Life Is A Minestrone" brings us back to the best of their music. Straight forward music, enjoyable lyrics, catchy rhythm and another highlight.

I have been soothe with "The Original Soundtrack" in my mid teenage days. It passed in my veins so often that I can only rate it with four stars. Not a masterpiece but a great album. A fantastic and harmonious album my friends.

Prog music is of course not on the "rendez-vous" (as "10CC" would have said). What you'll get here is creative, inventive and melodic music.

Four stars.

10cc´s third album The Original Soundtrack is a bit different from the previous album Sheet Music which is an album I really enjoy. Humour is still a big part of 10cc´s music which is really great. I love their humour. The humour is toned a bit down on some of the songs though and The Original Soundtrack is generally more commercial than Sheet Music. There are still some great songs here though that makes the presence of 10cc on a prog rock site legitimate.

The album starts with the wonderful Une Nuit a Paris which is a mini epic of some sort. The humour is great here and even though french people might not enjoy this much I think it´s hilarious. There are many different sections in the song and the arrangement is really great. A pure masterpiece song if you ask me. I'm Not in Love is a very commercial song that I didn´t enjoy for a while. It was just too commercial for me to enjoy but I am converted now. It´s still a bit too commercial to ever become my favorite song, but listen to the arrangement in that song. This is such high class and typical for 10cc to be able to make such intrigueing compositions. I also enjoy Blackmail very much and again the lyrics are clever and funny. The rest of the songs don´t stand out that much, they are just good and not really excellent which is kind of a shame. The last song The Film of My Love does stand out though for being exceptionally bad. Yes the humour is there, but the music sounds like german schlager music to me. This is truly horrible and not worth my time.

The musicians are all outstanding, just look at the arsenal of music instruments they play. The singing is as always very impressive. Both lead and harmony vocals are very well arranged.

The production is excellent and can´t be praised enough. I´m so impressed with how this sounds. The many layers of instruments and voices are controlled to perfection. You have to listen to this album if not for the music then for the beautiful production.

The Original Soundtrack is a bit of a mixed bag to me as I think there are a couple of excellent songs and even a masterpiece song in Une Nuit a Paris, but most of the songs are pretty average and there´s even a very horrible one too. I´ll have to go for a 3 star rating here as there is simply to much mediocrity here to satisfy me beyond that. I think it´s recommendable though.

A Nuit A Paris has similarities with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody that was released the same year. But while Queen was a hard rock band, 10cc was a pop band. 10cc also did not have a guitar player like Brian May or a vocalist like Freddie Mercury, neither did they have the same originality or talent or grand vision that Queen did. So 10cc is really a (very) poor man's pop version of Queen. But they (tried to) hide their lack of musical originality and their lack of instrumental and vocal skills behind a wall of humour and sarcasm (and very high production values). It sometimes works, but most of the time it doesn't.

On this album, it works for about the first 15 minutes. That is, the first two tracks, the aforementioned, almost nine minute long, A Nuit A Paris. And the very good and very emotional, and at the same time ironic ballad, I'm Not In Love. These two opening tracks set the expectations for the rest of the album quite high. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is utterly disappointing in this light. The rest of the album reverts to the bands earlier style from the first two albums and offers very little for the prog fan to enjoy.

This album, like all 10cc albums, is only for fans of this band. There are a lot of other bands you need to consider in the prog related world before you turn to 10cc.

But if you do want to explore 10cc you should probably start with their next album How Dare You! which I think is a stronger album overall.

This seems to be 10CC's most popular album, although to me it is good, but not as good as How Dare You. And although they had some airplay from their first two albums, it was I'm Not In Love that received major attention for the band. That song, light and airy on the outside, has an intriguing arrangement, with vocals mixed together with similar sounding keyboards, to create a beautiful effect.

The central piece of the album is Une Nuit A Paris, a multipart cabaret styled piece, that showcases quite a few vocal styles. Blackmail is a character piece, one of many 10CC recorded about shady characters, this one being a blackmailer.

The Second Sitting For The Last Supper is a somewhat humerous request for the return of a certain messiah. Brand New Day begins as if it is going to be one of those light maudlin ballads, but excellent production, especially with the vocals, keeps it interesting. Flying Junk is not bad, a throwback to the first two albums. Life Is A Minestrone, the other single from the album, is a delightful, silly party song.

The Film Of My Love I think was supposed to be a parody of old film music, but the schmaltz overtakes whatever Godley & Creme were trying to convey, and makes the song embarassingly hard to listen to. The only bad song on the album.

4 stars.

10cc albums give something for everyone. Bittersweet lyrics going with stunning arrangements to make wonderful love songs. Witty lyrics and musicianship you can listen to and enjoy. It isn't spontaneous it is meticulously planned music, but it manages to hit all the right spots. Like all great music you can listen to it and hear different things each time. Original Soundtrack is one of the band's greatest achievements. 10cc had already hit their stride before this album, so they deserve credit for stretching the boundaries of their genius even further. You can't help loving "I'm Not In Love" which was one of those chart toppers of high quality, and extraordinary for its time. It has the same effect on listeners today who get lost in the ethereal multi-voice arrangements. As for the ambitious, three-part "Un Nuit A Paris", I read a claim that it even influenced Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" which was recorded several months later. "Life Is A Minestrone" and "The Second Sitting For The Last Supper" also shine with greatness on this album. Each track is quite distinct. Some, such as "Blackmail", are unique. "The film Of My Love" isn't the best loved but the bonus tracks "Channel Swimmer" and "Good News" are rather enjoyable and make up for it. If you want guaranteed quality classic art-rock, this album should do the trick.

I will continue to review 10cc's fabulous albums of the seventies and now we face their third studio record, called "The Original Soundtrack". It was released 1975, now fourty years ago and it is perhaps their most famous and common album. The cover goes in black and white and shows a film machine and a screen where a film is played. I have spent many hours of my childhood in second hand shops searching for cheap vinyl records and long before I was interested in non-Swedish music this black and white record was a common sight in the record boxes. Is it strange that this record is so common? Not at all, it is an absolutely wonderful record.

It is the third album with the fabulous four musicians Eric Stewart, Lol Creme, Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman and their capabilities fourty years ago were extraordinary. With "The Original Soundtrack" 10cc took one more step into a progressive and pretentious direction. The album starts with a long suite, the amazing "Une Nuit a Paris"(10/10) of almost nine minutes which is so totally wonderful. It is something special with the atmosphere which is present all over this album. It feels like the musical theme is romantic, old films, shows and love. It feels like 10cc did a hit album by not trying to do a hit album. The musicians use a lot of instruments and almost every song here is as perfect it could be. "I'm not in love"(10/10) is a perfect atmospheric romantic piece and "Blackmail"(10/10) is a heavier rock song of splender. "The second sitting for the last supper" is one of the highlights in 10cc's carreer(10/10). It is a progressive and inpiring track with different themes in a row, I love it. Then comes "Brand new day"(10/10) a soft and lovely piece and then comes "Flying junk"(10/10) which is progressive and beautiful as well. "Life is a minestrone"(8/10) is great but a bit too humouristic for me and "The film of my love"(9/10) is an almost perfected ending of this album.

As you have seen on my ratings on every track a really love almost everything I hear on "The Original Soundtrack" and it is hard to pick favourite songs. What is sure though is that the band now had become very professional and probably was on its peak. What is so great with 10cc is that every member sings a lot. Eric Stewart is lead singer on: Une nuit a Paris, I'm not in love, Blackmail, The Second Sitting for the last supper, Brand new day and Flying Junk. Lol Creme is lead singer on: Une nuit a Paris, Blackmail and Life is a minestrone. Kevin Godley is lead singer on: Une nuit a Paris, Blackmail and Brand new day. Graham Gouldman is lead singer on Une nuit a Paris, Blackmail and The Film of my love". That was a bit more Eric Stewart than the others though. A perfect album of amazing music that should please both prog and rock listeners well. My rating ends at 4.8 which is as close as five you can get. Five stars!

10cc's style of progressive pop with cheekily comedic touches is, over the course of their career, a rather hit and miss affair. Like much other comedy, when the jokes work, it's great, but when they fall flat it's all rather embarrassing.

On The Original Soundtrack, however, the band are on magnificent form, with even the rather cheesy Life Is a Ministrone being more endearing than annoying. On top of that, they are a little more adventurous here than they would be for much of their later career, opening the album with the theatrical Une Nuit a Paris (parodying multi-part prog epics by spuriously suggesting that the song is split into several parts, "One Night In Paris", "The Same Night In Paris" and "Later the Same Night In Paris"), and then having it segue into the shimmeringly beautiful and uncharacteristically sincere I'm Not In Love. Perhaps their finest hour.

Cheesy listening.

10CC's first album for the Mercury label seems to be held up as their masterpiece.I am probably one of those fans who like them for the wrong reasons.I love their quirky complex song structures on the first two albums but I find their pastiches really tiring at times and no more than on this "The Original Soundtrack " .The opening track "Une Nuit A Paris" a sort of mock musical replete with Parisian street sounds and sung with a particularly annoying mock French accent is particularly irritating. I appreciate that it is cleverly constructed in a clever for the sake of being clever way and has a couple of interesting piano led passages but there is something cheesy about the whole affair and at over eight minutes the song really tests my patience. Even worse is the schmaltzy closing track "The Film Of My Love" clearly a early film music pastiche is utterly excruciating and has my vote for worst 10CC song ever.

On a brighter note, the album is home to "I'm Not In Love" -truly one of their finest creations and "Life Is Like A Minestrone"which could easily have come off "Sheet Music" complex structure,catchy chorus and witty lyrics.However apart from those two songs there is really nothing else on this album that really appeals to me.Even the only really rocking tune- "The Second Sitting For The Last Supper"palls after a few listens and reveals it to be rather pedestrian. The actual production is very strong but that is not really enough to save this album.I am deducing this album a whole star for the wretched closing track. 2 stars.

Not only was this the breakthrough album for 10CC internationally, but it was the beginning of my obsession with the band when I was quite young. For that reason, I love this album, mostly for personal nostalgic reasons, and I have avoided reviewing this album because it would be somewhat slanted. But, when it comes down to it, most reviews are slanted toward personal preferences anyway, right?

Though I was obsessed with this band for a while, I was also disappointed since I based my love for the the band on this album and their debut, self-titled album, which are their best. "Bloody Tourists" comes close, but after that, except for a track every once in a while, the other albums never did anything much for me no matter how hard I tried.

At the time of the release of this album, the band was pretty much broke. However, they had one song that saved them from total popularity failure, and that was "I'm Not in Love", which has always been a personal favorite of mine and still is. It was this song that convinced the record label to back up the album, and, as we all know, was the thing that saved the band from totally becoming forgotten. The other songs for the album were already recorded, so the album was released within a week of the promise of backing up the album. Thank goodness!

The album starts off with a operetta, a three movement suite called "One Night in Paris", a totally progressive song that tells the story of a British traveler experiencing prostitution in Paris, a somewhat satirically funny track that could very well have been the thing that inspired Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". An excellent start to this album, and it made the critics and public sit up a listen. Following this is "I'm Not in Love", that lush and beautiful ballad that almost everyone knows. For me, it brings back memories of my pre-teen years, lying on my bed in my bedroom with my transistor radio on my pillow playing this song and watching the summer breezes billowing the curtains and my first experience of where music could take me if I let it. This is followed by "Blackmail", another satirical song that has a cool beat and features some of the experimental signature guitar sound of the band with a backdrop of art pop funkiness.

The fun continues onto the 2nd side with another favorite of mine, "The Second Sitting for the Last Supper", a stab at religion and a multi-layered, yet rocking track that still shows the many side of the band; their pop singing sound that has a level of complexity to the song structure, with vocal styles that reflect the faux exuberance of the chorus that always leads into a hard rocking guitar solo and riff. This is what the band does best, when it mixes so many styles into one song and make it all seem so natural. "Brand New Day" eases up a bit with a more theatrical, symphonic sounding track, again with that layer of sarcasm in trying to make the redundancy of living one day after another into something interesting, but you can almost see it all acted out on a stage. "Flying Junk" wears it's Beatles inspired sound on it's sleeve, but it is just complex enough to make it interesting. It's a mid-tempo rocker featuring a nice guitar solo in the instrumental break, a bit of a dark feeling with meticulously placed chords and simple embellishments throughout. "Life is a Minestrone" is the hilarious political and societal comment that became the second single from the album, one that was somewhat known around America, but not as huge as "I'm Not in Love" probably because of the lyrical content not being as relatable. The chorus flips the somewhat complex bridge to a basic boogie style, and these meter changes might have been too much for most of the pop audience. Even so, it's a great song. The last track is the very- retro sounding "The Film of My Love", that sounds like a lounge song from the early 60s, something that you might hear serving as a theme song from an old movie, with the words "over and over" being repeated over and over again. Funny, but probably not the best way to end the album.

This album is definitely the most progressive of the band's albums. It also proves that art pop can be progressive as it takes the style made famous by The Beatles and takes it up a few more levels, and even manages, most of the time, to keep it sounding relevant. I'm not exactly sure if the American public understood the satire in 10cc's songs or the complexity of their pop style, but it never became the classic album that it deserves to be. I wish the ending wasn't so weak, but I understand the humor behind it all. Even with that though, I still consider this an art rock masterpiece that so often gets overlooked because it has that pop edge to it, but if you really listen to the music, you can hear the brilliance and the dashes of progressive music behind most of the songs on this album.