GLORIOUS FOOL

An album that came out during the beginning of Phil Collins' flurry of activity as a record producer (a brief period in the early 1980s in which he produced and performed as a session drummer for albums by John Martyn, Frida [of ABBA fame], Philip Bailey, Eric Clapton, Howard Jones, Adam Ant, as well all of his solo albums--a period which happened to coincide with the launch of his solo career), it opens with a remake of John's minor hit, "Couldn't Love You More" from his 1977 album, One World, the album that introduced me to this songwriting, guitar genius.

1. "Couldn't Love You More" (3:59) a bit sappy with the Collins/Mowtown b vox. Clapton's lead guitar work is also a bit dated. (8.75/10)

2. "Amsterdam" (5:27) now here's a different sound from John Martyn's guitar. The chunky fretless bass of long-time Martyn band mate Alan Thomson is also interesting for its amplification and exaggeration. Phil's drums here are too ? Phil Collins. Phil did, however, manage to get a pretty extraordinary performance out of Mr. Martyn--and a nice subdued keybaord performanc out of former blues-rock piano-pounder (see Jeff Beck Group) Max Middleton. (8.75/10)

3. "Hold On My Heart" (4:39) Phil's "Burt Bacharach" song that he later re-worked and rerecorded for the 1991 GENESIS album, We Can't Dance. This version is nice, but the Genesis version is iconic. (8.75/10)

4. "Perfect Hustler" (4:42) highlighted by its wonderfully active Caribbean percussion work (thanks, Danny Cummings!) Definitely showcases how versatile and malleable John's vocal stylings could be. (8.66667/10)

5. "Hearts and Keys" (7:33) quite an atmospheric coup, this song definitely does well to almost capture the magic of my favorite John Martyn song of all-time, "Small Hours" from 1977's One World. I know, however, that John could've done it without the electronic keys and fretless bass. It's Phil's tom-tom play that makes this song a perfect match for John's vocal. Definitely a top three song for me. (9.25/10)

6. "Glorious Fool" (4:58) obviously Phil was a big fan of John's One World album as this song kind of replicates the "Big Muff" and "Dealer" songs from that 1977 album. Very cool song. (9/10)

7. "Never Say Never" (4:56) a Phil Collins "flash" song intended to occupy a big space with its big sound and "big" performances (drums, guitar, and vocals). A little too much Phil--it actually overshadows the protagonist's performance. (8.666667/10)

8. "Pascanel (Get Back Home)" (3:48) the weakest, most one-dimensional song on the album despite the interesting synth work. (8.4/10)

9. "Didn't Do That" (4:20) a great display of the way the contemporary jazz trends of the time could infiltrate the pop music scene. (8.75/10)

10. "Please Fall in Love With Me" (6:07) Great, sensitive vocal work that gets overwhelmed by the drum work of the second half. (8.75/10)

11. "Don't You Go" (4:43) a valiant attempt to capture John's classic heart-wrenching song rendering that, for whatever reason, seems to fail to succeed. Too bad. (8.66667/10)

Total time: 55:16

Phil Collins' production certainly comes shining through as it was so different from any of John's previous album releases. I think, overall, that this was a good move, though not all of the re-worked Collins/Motown versions of Martyn's songs stand up quite as well to their originals. On an interesting side-note, this was the first meeting and collaboration between John and long-time bandmate Alan Thomson's bass--a partnership that would last to the end of John's career (and life).

B/four stars; a nice addition to any prog lover's music collection that contains a nice if different (Phil Collins style) presentation of John Martyn's music but certainly nothing essential.

Decline in artistic integrity results in a surge in commercial success, though in the end it's the earlier material that most surviving fans remember fondly. Sound familiar?

This has about as much in common with his folk rock phase, say, "Solid Air" as MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHY's 1980s successes have to do with his early progressive country phase, or, for that matter, PHIL COLLINS and GENESIS superstardom with "Selling England by the Pound". Why mention PHIL COLLINS at all? Because he produced this overly lubricated chart bound affair and contributed percussions.

With that out of the way, one could see this as a continuation of a trend that began with the prodigious "One World" in 1977, and is certainly the logical offspring to "Grace and Danger", just not as consistent or enjoyable, sacrificing genuineness for a variation on early 1980s seductiveness that is ironically a turnoff.

On parallels to COLLINS, as time went by, he became more and more about "I'm a great drummer", and so his banging got high in the mix and insisted on itself. That was beginning to happen in his own career at the same time, and gone was the subtlety of "In the Air Tonight" for instance. The colossally failed funk rockers "Amsterdam", "Perfect Hustler" and "Never Say Never" do much to degrade "Glorious Fool", but even the ballads "Hearts and Keys", like a fossilized DAVID SYLVIAN in terms of dynamism, and the lackluster title cut lack any emotional tilt, while the reasonable remake of "Couldn't Love You More" doesn't add to the song's legacy.

If this was all there was, I would gladly award my first 1 star rating to a MARTYN album, but it's salvaged from the wreckage by a handful of above average numbers, the best of these being "Pascanel". "Didn't do that" proves he could have done better with the aforementioned duds, and might have inspired the likes of a few now renowned Senegalese artists. "Don't You go" has been oft covered and represents Martyn's best excursion into a unique take on trad sounding folk, as opposed to his more transparent "Spencer the Rover" from some time back.

While this is clearly a 2 star album, it's better than his others of that caste, while any fool can see it's worlds away from his glory days.