SHEET MUSIC

"Sheet music" was 10CC's second (third if you count the pre-10CC Hotlegs) album. Released in 1974, a year after the debut, here we have another collection of sophisticated pop songs including a couple of hit singles. The singles concerned are "The wall street shuffle" and "Silly love", which together constitute the best of what is on offer here. These particular singles managed to avoid the worst of the band's tendencies towards over-indulgence.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the remaining tracks, which overall have the sound of potential singles which were not quite good enough. "Hotel" is a prequel to "Dreadlock holiday", but interestingly is written by the Godley and Crème side of the band. Indeed, the lines are rather blurred here in terms of the split which would later tear the band apart, with all four band members collaborating with each other, usually in differing pairs.

"Clockwork creep" is notable only because it contains the "What goes up.." segment which subsequently opened "I'm Mandy fly me". It is though symptomatic of other songs such as "The sacro- iliac" and "Baron Samedi" which flatter to deceive by appearing to have more substance than is actually there. Such songs leave a feeling rather like seeing the emperors new clothes in that because they sound clever, they must be good. That cleverness though is superficial, and does not stand up to scrutiny.

There is the odd hidden treasure here. "Old wild man" is a decent melancholy ballad which features the distinctive Godley and Crème harmony vocals. The feature track from a prog fan's perspective is "Somewhere in Hollywood", a 6½ minute Godley and Crème composition. The track reflects the far less commercial direction the pair would subsequently take post split.

My version of the CD is the Castle communications release from 1993, which features the sole bonus track "Waterfall". This single B-side is for me the highlight of this album, the backwards instrumental and delightful vocals combining to create a genuine little gem.

In all, an album which contains a couple of hit singles and a bunch of wanabee hits.

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