BIRTHDAY BLUES

Not a lot of this stuff worked for me, but feel free to check it out anyway. Almost half of the album has some of my favorite tracks. The other tracks are not so bad, though.

Do check out the light-hearted 'The Bright New Year', where Bert is probably at his most melodic on both the guitar and the vocals. 'Tree Song' is amazing in its own way. Like the previous track, it's very tacky and melodic. Plus, the lyrics are just outstanding, in which the man wishes he was many things, like a branch of a tree, a grain of corn, a glass of wine, a piece of silken thread, so that he would be very close to his sweetheart. That's very British. As much as I am allergic to romantic songs, especially some of the sappy stuff that gets put out at the time of this writing, I simply approve of this song by Bert. It is also light-hearted, and the lyrics are really charming and, in a way, fun.

But let's take a break from all the easygoing stuff because the next track is another one of those songs about addiction to drugs. 'Poison' sounds more convincing musically and lyrically than 'The Needle of Death'. Now you don't have to hear things like the 'pure white snow'. Now it's 'I know that I might from the poison', which contains a direct metaphor that to me also sounds somewhat out-dated for the year 2012. Oh, well. Overall, the lyrics are pretty strong and quite imaginative in a poetic way.

If you want something a wee-bit proggy from this record besides the marriage of folk with blues, 'Miss Heather Rosemary Sewell' sounds like a composition consisting of three different pieces that were sown together. 'Wishing Well' is just full of catchy melodies, but the first one that occurs in the beginning of the song was just instantly imprinted in my head. I once fell asleep and woke up to that tune. All it was is Gmaj-Gmaj-Ebmaj-Gmaj-Gmaj- Ebmaj, and so on. Probably played in a drop-Eb tuning, it is quite dark and charming.

As for the rest of the record, each track has its own character in a memorable tune, but only a couple of those tracks are based on some truly decent ideas. 'Birthday Blues' is very nice and tacky, and so is 'I am Lonely'.

Ratings/comments (if you have to ask):

1. 'Come Sing Me A Happy Song To Prove We Can All Get Along The Lumpy, Bumpy, Long Dusty Road' - ** ; 2. 'The Bright New Year' - ***** ; 3. 'Tree Song' - ***** ; 4. 'Poison' - ***** ; 5. 'Miss Heather Rosemary Sewell' - **** ; 6. 'I've Got a Woman' - ** ; 7. 'A Woman Like You' - ** ; 8. 'I am Lonely' - *** ; 9. 'Promised Land' - ** ; 10. 'Birthday Blues' - *** ; 11. 'Wishing Well' - **** ; 12. 'Blues' - **

Stamp: 'I like it.'