| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. All For You | | | | | |
| 2. Good Times | | | | ||
| 3. Dance | | | | | |
| 4. Hello Mary | | | | ||
| 5. The Best Inside You | | | | ||
| 6. Young Anymore | | | | ||
| 7. Sirens In The City | | | | | |
| 8. Liberty Lies | | | | | |
| 9. Walk Through Fire | | | | ||
| 10.Colette | | | | | |
| 11.In The Morning | | | | ||
| 12.Stranger | | | | | |
David Baerwald is a talented and extremely unprolific artist who has maintained some loose ties to the fringes of American progressive music. As one half of David + David, he helped create Welcome To The Boomtown, one of the more lucid statements of 1980s jazz-oriented rock (non-muzak variety). Since then, he has released a mere total of two solo albums. He was also a friend of Kevin Gilbert, and collaborated with him on occasion in the years before Gilbert's death (he has since been very critical of Sheryl Crow, and her contributive role to Gilbert's depressive state).
From what I've heard, Baerwald is a rather troubled individual himself. This might account for the low output of material released under his name. It might also validate his status as a singer-songwriter who has some purpose to his works (as opposed to the dime-a-dozen poseurs that the industry sometimes foists upon the record-buying public) -- even when the quality of his work isn't quite up to the highest standards, there doesn't seem to be much doubt that the "heart" is there. But the "heart" may not always be enough.
Bedtime Stories is the weakest of the three albums which Baerwald has issued thus far. Falling chronologically between Boomtown and his superior solo, Triage, this is a semi-successful release that suffers from its roots in L.A.-style rock radio material [which I classify as a genre, rather than a geographic division]. Actually, it's to DB's credit as an artist that the album is as good as it is -- this genre doesn't tend to produce the most enthralling music on the planet, and the fact that he managed to make a tolerable work within these limitations is no mean feat. That aside, though, Baerwald was clearly slumming with this one. He has a more distinctive voice than most in the L.A. circuit, but not by much. The actual material, similarly, if a bit better than most of this sort (rather than writing a line like "it's been years but I still love you", DB is more given to "I just called to see if my memory's correct and you mean a thing to me"), but not by enough to make this album into something really special.
Fans of Frank Zappa should also be warned that Vinnie Colaiuta's appearance on the album doesn't bring up its musical value by all that much. He gets to shine at a few points, but is mostly kept to minor, session performances -- he's obviously competent enough for the job, but those looking for mega-inventive drum lines might be disappointed with this.
Things start off with "All For You", a tight, U2-esque rock number which wouldn't have been too out of place on Rattle And Hum (not that this is entirely a good thing...). The lyrics tell the story of a young couple moving from England to Los Angeles, with the the ill-fated Lucas Riley eventually turning to a life of crime to support himself. The music is fairly good rock, which is to say that it's not anything really special (some might detect a "Closer To The Heart" refrain at times). For a song that wouldn't have been too out of place on rock radio (especially for its chorus), this isn't so bad of a start.
The artist's perspective on "Good Times" (particularly the memory recall section of the second half) makes up somewhat for the fairly tame music that weaves throughout the track. If DB weren't a good lyricist, it seem doubtful that there'd be any reason to care about him -- this, too, is essentially just a radio rock number if regarded from a purely musical perspective. (Incidentally, I found myself wondering if I was really listening to Colaiuta or just his metronome.)
"Dance" is probably the best song on the album. Combining a "Start Me Up"-esque intro with voodoo/end-of-the-world lyrics (and a stronger drum presence than before), this number suggests something much more akin to a fire ritual than a casual social encounter. It's hard to believe that something so lucid can be written within the songwriter's craft of L.A.isms. The Tower of Power horn insertions in the chorus add to both the musical and ironic worth of the track.
The album goes into a bit of a lull after this. "Hello Mary" has the "see if my memory's correct" line (mentioned above), but is otherwise one of the less interesting things here. Despite the narrative and chorus hook, there's just not that much happening here musically; for prog fans, the idea of a "Rabin-ballad" might not be too far removed from this track. VC adds a few decent fills, but otherwise just stays in the background.
"The Best Inside You" is a bit better, making it to the level of a decent pop song. The lyrics focus on the wearing down of one's personality within the corporate world, and are somewhat articulate as such -- it wouldn't be too strange to see Graham Parker cover this track at some point. Not bad for a rock number, but pretty much at its maximum potential as it is. This is followed by "Young Anymore", a rockish ballad in which the two lead characters realize their own maturity by watching their nine-year old daughter take ballet lessons -- not much really happens here musically, and the lyrics aren't that clever.
The second half of the album begins on a better note. "Sirens In The City" (a songwriting reunion of the two Davids) has a darker mood, due both of the lyrical theme and Bill Dillon's guitar appearance. The subject matter isn't too original (crime in the streets of NYC, poverty homelessness, etc) but the Davids manage to put a decent spin on their perspective. The keyboards seem more prominent here than before, for whatever reason.
"Liberty Lies" is similar to the previous track, in that the themes explored are somewhat less original than the specific lyrical approach. This time, the role of television in dumbing-down political and social life in America is the target -- the snideness of the commentary generally works better when DB is able to integrate his own position into the song. Joni Mitchell appears in the chorus, though one might wonder if this is really necessary -- she's mixed so as to be barely recognizeable.
"Walk Through Fire" is a strongly U2-inspired number which dates from the period shortly after Boomtown. Its advantages are its compelling bass line and vocal arrangement in the chorus -- its disadvantages are the fairly prosaic nature of the rest of the track and its derivative nature. The end result is a good-but-not-great track.
"Colette" easily counts as one of the more musically distinctive tracks on the album, and this mainly due to Elders's violin performance throughout the number (including a brief solo in mid-track). Urbano's slightly off-kilter drumming at the beginning of the track is fairly impressive too. As regards Baerwald's own role ... well, sadly the lyrics are mostly ordinary endeavours of the "love song" variety, and the actual song isn't much to write of.
"In The Morning" is one of the lesser tracks here, never really going anywhere in terms of music or lyrics -- the opening setting is rather commercial, and a slight improvement by the end doesn't really help. The final track, "Stranger", is something rather different entirely -- a folkish, acoustic guitar driven track focusing on homelessness and poverty (with specific reference to Vietnam veterans), this one manages to be fairly poignant without overdoing the subject matter themes.
As the reader may have noticed by this point, the "highs" and "lows" of this album aren't terribly far removed from the middle-range of quality. This album isn't recommended to prog fans in any event, and only the most completist of Zappa fans should buy it for VC's presence. Even among those interested in exploring this artist's work, moreover, either Boomtown or Triage would make for much better choices.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 22 May 1998)