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'Nirvana7 is not exactly a musical paradise
DTH Omnibus Page 5
Thursday April 12, 1990
Robert Plant
Manic Nirvana
Es ParanzaAtlantic
OO 12
istening to the latest Robert
Plant album is a frustrating
experience not because
it's bad, but because it isn't
any better than it is.
Certainly the concept is intrigu
ing. Using "Tall Cool One" from
1988's platinum Now and Zen as a
starting point, Plant combines dance
beats, inventive keyboards and his
trademark wailing voice, all drenched
in noisy, overdriven guitars. While
Now and Zen was focused, too often
Manic Nirvana is cluttered.
With both classic rock and heavy
metal riding waves of popularity, Plant
attempts to be true to his past while
steering the music in a different di
rection unlike Bon Jovi, for in
stance. In press releases, Plant says,
"I think Now and Zen was a little
cagey, a little safe ... I think I took a
couple of options which were a bit
soft. Manic Nirvana now reverses those
decisions." Unfortunately, in pursu
ing his admirable goal, Plant doesn't
quite make the grade.
The band from Now and Zen re
turns intact for Plant's fifth solo al
bum. Drummer Chris Blackwell, bas
sist Charlie Jones, and keyboardist
Phil Johnstone work to create inter
esting textures for guitarist Doug Boyle
to crash through. Plant's voice is
strong as always, but less in control
than on past releases. Plant and
Johnstone also act as producers, in
jecting tape and synthesizer effects
into the basic sound, for a complex
'88 to '90
The Clef Hangers
Take Two!
t's not often that a group of young
college guys band together to
record an album containing an
a capella version of Ray Charles'
S"J "Georgia on My Mind" side by
side with the jazz classic "Stormy
Weather." Even less likely is that they
would throw the two songs in with a
lineup which includes the Beatles'
"When I'm Sixty Four" and Yaz's
"Only You," and dedicate the work
to "The University Baptist Church,
Jim Beam, and all women."
In Take Two! the Clef Hangers
manage to do this and come up with
a tape which lands this side of fan
tastic. For those who may not have heard
Brian Springer
mix.
But, like fellow soft drink ad vet
eran Robert Palmer on Simply Irre
sistible, with Manic Nirvana Plant re
lies on audio equivalents of MTV
techniques like fast cutting and flash
ing images. True, the sound is com
plex and interesting, but that doesn't
necessarily make for continued lis
tening pleasure. Side one is far more
successful than side two, largely be
cause it relies more upon the straight
forward, hard-driving rock that is
Plant's heritage.
The first single, "Hurting Kind
(I've Got My Eyes on You)," leads
off the album with a winner. Boyle's
brain-melting guitar riffs over thud
ding bass, and keyboards highlight a
band in overdrive. Another success
ful track is "SSS&Q," which drapes
tongues of hard rock guitar fire over
the techno-pop leanings of Plant's
third album, Shaken 'n Stirred
"I Cried" attempts to create the
dynamic, acoustic-electric fusion of
Led Zeppelin III, but it doesn't heat
up until the middle of the song. "She
Said" starts with a flourish of key
boards before kicking into a swirling
rocker sounding like INXS on acid.
Most of the other tunes have seri
ous flaws. "Big Love" wastes the kil
ler groove and reverb-laced drums of
the verse with a second-rate chorus.
On "Nirvana," Plant gets too ambi
tious, trying to combine an excess of
ideas with a minimum of focus. "Tie
Dye on the Highway" opens with
the Woodstock quote "What we have
in mind is breakfast in bed for
400,000," before Plant launches into
Clef compilation is a
Jeff Trussell
of them, the Clefs are UNC's elite,
all-male, barbershop-style singing
troupe. Membership in this group is
highly competitive about 50 men
audition annually for fewer than 15
coveted spots. The competition is
increased by the fact that once some
one is accepted, he may stay until he
graduates, without needing to re
audition. This being the case, only
seven men, out of about 100 who
tried out, were added between 1988
and 1990.
Take Two! includes the work of
the present day Clef Hangers as well
as that of the previous troupe. Re
corded at two professional studios,
the album's sound quality is superb.
This was surprising, considering the
reputation student groups have for
turning out less-than-spectacular
W -3 J -J. I 0
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Bob and the boys: (l-r) Doug
a busy mix of muddy keyboards and
chunky guitar, to a drum beat remi
niscent of the Psychedelic Furs' "High
Wire Days." "Liars Dance" is a Zep
derivative acoustic number, but its
clashing guitar and vocal rhythms in
the chorus are cumbersome.
The sole cover tune on Manic Nir
vana is a rendition of Kenny Dino's
"Your Ma Said You Cried in Your
Sleep Last Night." This cut is al
ready receiving airplay for its "un
avoidable" surface noise Plant
sampled the bass drum from his own
scratchy copy of the original record.
recordings.
It is difficult to make a compari
son between the vocal quality of the
'88-89 and the '89-'90 Clefs. Both
groups are overflowing with talent at
every level, be it bass or first tenor.
A comparison can be made, how
ever, between the two respective
years' song choices. The first year's
compilation is more (and the word is
used lightly) daring. The second, with
some notable exceptions, is a bit on
the conservative side.
Two pre-reggae, Harry Belafonte
type tunes, "Fly in Me Face" and
"Jamaican Farewell," stand out in
Take One, the side performed by the
'88-'89 Clefs. Both renditions do
appropriate justice to Island Calypso
and to Belafonte, with a Rastaman
imitation done by Paul Bowman, '9 1 ,
in "Fly in Me Face" that is fantastic,
making for a memorable song.
A Clef Hanger version of Sam
Cook's "Wonderful World" is done
in "Clef Hanger Blues." Soloist David
Moffit, '89, manages to pull the song
Boyle, Chris Blackwell, Mr. Plant, Charlie Jones and Phil Johnstone
Nice gimmick, but the song is sub
par. In the last verse, Plant adds the
familiar lyrics "Hey hey mamaSay
the way you moveGonna make you
sweatGonna make you groove, etc."
("for the benefit of true Zep follow
ers," according to the press release).
Yes, Robert, you're calling up the
classic Zeppelin tradition, but dam
mit, how 'bout some new lyrics?
Manic Nirvana finds Robert Plant
striving for an inventive new sound.
There are several strong cuts here,
but, like Led Zeppelin, Plant too fre
quently goes to excess, trying to do
cheery vinyl effort
through its sometimes funny, some
times silly lyrics, which concern the
trials of a lovestruck Clef, too busy
to be with his girlfriend.
The Carolina Fight Songs at side
one's conclusion are entertaining but
a bit too polished. They are, how
ever, a step above the second side's
finishing number "Dear Old Chapel
Hill," a song which takes alumni
sentimentality to the limit.
The two finest songs on the first
side, and on the entire tape for that
matter, are the renditions of Yaz's
"Only You" and Judy Collins' "Send
in the Clowns." Baritone Rob Chase's
solo in "Only Y3u" is beautiful and
easily surpasses the original group's
vocal work. The entire group of Clefs
came together to record "Send in
the Clowns" without the use of a
main soloist. What is left is an in
credibly well-worked piece, with
unexpected harmonies, rhythms, and
small solos which, without the aid of
instrumentation, bring Collins' hit
to a new level.
too much. Had the concept worked
better, Plant might have produced a
definitive album for the 90's. As it is,
Manic Nirvana is rough going at best,
but excusable for its inventiveness
with the old formulas.
O miserable
CO rcsdfccre
OO enjoyable
OOOO quite good
OOOOO unmissable
On the second side of Take Two!,
three pop song remakes, Sam Cook's
"Wonderful World," the Eagles'
"Seven Bridges Road" and the Beatles'
"When I'm Sixty Four" stand out as
the 89-'90 Clefs' best work. Of the
three, "Seven Bridges Road" is clos
est to the original, and it is the best
tune produced on the second side.
The Clef Hangers fall short in their
upbeat version of "Swing Low, Sweet
Chariot" and their slowed down, styl
ized "Georgia on my Mind," an old
Ray Charles classic. A more tradi
tional singing of the spritual would
have made the song easier to follow
and more entertaining while a faster
rhythm in "Georgia on my Mind"
would have helped the song retain
more of its original jazz flavor.
The Clefs are a group meant to be
listened to live, and while their album
Take Two! is a masterpiece, the ad
dition of skits and the vaudeville the
group incorporates while on stage
makes it more than worthwhile to
hear them in concert.