Search - Neutrons :: Black Hole Star/Tales from the Blue Cocoons

Black Hole Star/Tales from the Blue Cocoons
Neutrons
Black Hole Star/Tales from the Blue Cocoons
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Pop, R&B, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (17) - Disc #1


     
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CD Details

All Artists: Neutrons
Title: Black Hole Star/Tales from the Blue Cocoons
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Bgo - Beat Goes on
Original Release Date: 1/13/2004
Re-Release Date: 11/17/2003
Album Type: Import, Original recording remastered
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Pop, R&B, Rock
Styles: Disco, By Decade, 1970s, Funk
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 5017261205988, 766483189549
 

CD Reviews

If you like Man, try this!
Jan Wiberg | Helsinki, Finland | 08/06/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)

"My acquaintance with Neutrons began when I found the "Black Hole Star" LP in a library and borrowed it. I was intrigued by the obscure band name and the uninformative plain silver sleeve (if there was an inner sleeve, it had probably got lost): no track details or musician credits, if I remember correctly. The music was really interesting: kind of like progressive folksy rock with heavy use of synthesizers and occasional violin. I was particularly impressed with the final three tracks: "Dance of the Psychedelic Lounge Lizards" boasts a killer violin riff, well-placed synth and a brit-folk melody you get hooked on instantly - the vocoder used in the chorus adds to the originality of the song. "Going to India" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Commerciality fans would probably get a headache from the multiple falsetto vocals, the high-pitched synth sound and the violin solo. That's their problem - I enjoy the stickily sweet ice cream with the (not credited) sitar solo at the end as the cherry on top. "Snow Covered Eyes", a steadily driving rocker, closes the album with yet another excellent synth/distorted guitar solo and an instantly catchy melody.



I studied a good source book and found out Neutrons was a spin-off of Man, a group I had listened to for three albums worth, but found out their music was not for my taste. Actually bassist Michael "Will" Youatt and keyboardist Phil Ryan had been in an early version of Neutrons (who never recorded anything) before teaming up with Man for the albums "Be Good to Yourself At Least Once a Day" (1972) and "Back Into the Future" (1973). They left Man after that and re-formed Neutrons with guitarist Martin Wallace and drummer John Weathers.



I found out that they recorded a second album too, called "Tales From the Blue Cocoons", so naturally I wanted to hear that as well. I found this CD reissue with both albums, but ended up both pleased and disappointed.



The much-praised "Living in the World Today" boasts an intriguing, driving intro and a powerful arrangement, but the instrumental part that closes it is so outrageously long that you forget how the verse and the chorus went. "Mermaid and Chips" starts almost scarily with piano over an eerie organ backing. An impressive song dominated by the strange lyric "Every time I get a bit closer / I seem to get a little bit near". And the instrumental "Dangerous Decisions" is the most progressive tune on the whole record.



I feared that "Tales..." would be a letdown, and so it was. It's too low-key and polished, with not a single killer song like the last three on the first album in sight. "No More Straights" is just a straight rewrite of "Snow Covered Eyes", with simpler arrangement and no direction to go. There's one moody solo that promises something exciting to happen, but no. "Come Into My Cave" with its American Indian-type (?) intro is the high point, and overall the album still sounds nice, but I expected more. I had hopes for the single b-side "Suzy and the Wonder Boy", but it's just a plain ordinary middle-of-the-road rocker telling a story with no end.



Overall, still a worthy purchase, and despite my complaints, I will keep listening to this CD regularly. After all, Neutrons was an original and talented band and deserves support for that. Oh yeah, the sleeve notes cover the whole Neutrons story, with all the artwork (apparently) restored. But since I'm a fan of sleeve artwork, I would like to see the "Tales..." sleeve in it's original LP format, it looks like a true beauty!"