Scarlet And Other Stories - All About Eve

...that out of their system Scarlet returns us to the gentler side of the band. Brichenos acoustic playing is reminiscent of Richie Blackmores recent medieval style of music, or Mostly Autumns releases, but of course you heard it here first a mixture of classical spanish and conventional rock rythmns.

The doleful guitar of December sets the scene for a whistful and introspective tale set amongst the cold images of winter, Regans voice ...
...guitar filling the gaps. The music here as with all of the album is layered to make for a much bigger sound than that of a four piece. Again there seems to be a vying for space between singer and lead guitar, mayby a sign of the tentions that would split the band and cause Brichenos depature, only to see him surface in the seemingly oddest of places, The Sisters Of Mercy.

Blind Lemon Sam starts with a very new depature for the band, ... more

How do you follow such a debut album as the one produced by All About Eve. They not only produced a classic of our time but almost invented a whole new genre of gothic/ hippy/ etherial music. So the problem facing them for the second foray into the studio was how do you top that, do you give them more of the same and be accused of being a one trick horse, no matter how good the songs , or do you venture into pastures new and try to redefine yourself in terms of originality. All About Eve, for their "difficult second album" did both. They managed to produce a set of songs that still have all the hallmarks of their work but have flavoured their sound from slightly different ingrediants.

On the familiar side you still have the etherial qualities of Julianne Regans glorious and haunting voice, though with a somewhat added maturity, the imagary is still that picture book, little girl view of the world that stops short enough of twee to keep it romantic and credible. The music still has that massive range of dynamic from minimal guitar accompaniment to full on over the top epic overture. What is new is a bittersweet and often darker feel to the songs, more mature themes and slightly edgier feel to the album. although the first album saw them rubbing shoulders with the top gothic bands of their day, such as the Mission, the out put of that period seemed a bit fairy story and almost other worldly. This album sees them on the darker fringes of the real world and having created a sound all of their own.

Road To Your Soul builds through vocal harmony to launch into a mellow half paced ballad, the ever present images of gypsy wagons and endless journeys still present, building until a massive vocal chorous reminds you of the power and richnes of Juliannes voice. Musically understated the song is driven very much from the front, the rest of the band being held back from taking the song into the territories of epic rock, and then the song slips back out as gently as it arrived, a very different opening to an album.

Dream On is a more standard AAE format and would not have been out of place on the first album. Again great use of the dynamics within the music, the musical troughs of mellowness make the returns in volume all the more powerful.

A more up beat layer of jangy guitar opens up before Tim Bricheno is finally allowed to open up with his trade mark guitar sound, making Silver and Gold and rollercoaster of power and control, from full throttle one minute to a crawl the next, Some moments of the song seem to have to much competition between the two main players.

With that out of their system Scarlet returns us to the gentler side of the band. Brichenos acoustic playing is reminiscent of Richie Blackmores recent medieval style of music, or Mostly Autumns releases, but of course you heard it here first a mixture of classical spanish and conventional rock rythmns.

The doleful guitar of December sets the scene for a whistful and introspective tale set amongst the cold images of winter, Regans voice leading from the front with some nice Pink Floyd-esque electric guitar filling the gaps. The music here as with all of the album is layered to make for a much bigger sound than that of a four piece. Again there seems to be a vying for space between singer and lead guitar, mayby a sign of the tentions that would split the band and cause Brichenos depature, only to see him surface in the seemingly oddest of places, The Sisters Of Mercy.

Blind Lemon Sam starts with a very new depature for the band, Delta Blues. A strange mixture of classic AAE vocal pieces and arrangements but underpinned by slide guitar, a very strange mix moving from the shores of the Mississippi to the sounds of rural England at a turn. It sort of works but makes you feel that the band are searching for something new. A search that is carried on in the next song More Than the Blues, Banjo and violin melding worlds. Ric Saunders from Fairport Convention once again providing those duties.

A return to more standard AAE is provided by Tuesdays Child, haunting, floating and powerful at a turn, layered vocals sit on layered guitars, a wave of etherial sounds interlaced by driving rock choruses and Tim Bricheno being allowed a small but perfectly formed solo within it all.

The whistful and stark music reflects the tale of the Empty Dancehall, the band at their romantic best and heartachingly poiniant, strings back up the sentiment and leaving you in a mellow and tearful mood. Even at their most down beat the band still produce the most beautiful of music to back it up. Only One Reason carries on from that lonely place that they have taken us to and takes our hand and leads us back out through its optimism and positive reflections. The second half of the song kicking into a full on rock anthem but naturally stoping well short of cliche, one thing this band has is restraint, they let you know how good they are by taking you with in spitting distance of brilliance and letting you imagine the rest.

The album plays out in the same understated way that it began The Pearl Fisherman, and the bitter sweet battles of love and loss. Just an acoustic guitar and lots of layered vocals, the first album had the brilliant Marthas Harbour and this is the equivilant song for this album.

Although very much a work in its own right, it will certainly appeal to those who revelled in the first album, but also I would recomend it to those who love great and understated acoustic guitar work and fantastic female vocal. It has an eclectic pedigree made up of such diveres references as Fairport Convention, Pink Floyd and the Mission. It is at turns mellow, haunting, powerful, sparse, epic and every shade of emotin in between. Another true classic album that needs to be re-aired to a new generation. 

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