Post by stefancrosscoe on Mar 16, 2018 14:51:22 GMT
Artist: Thomas Dolby
Album: The Flat Earth
Genre: New Wave
Year: 1984
Standout tracks: Dissidents, The Flat Earth, Screen Kiss, White City, Mulu The Rain Forest, I Scare Myself and Hyperactive!
Despite of The Golden Age of Wireless (1982) having gotten mostly postive reviews, it was still at the time seen as a bit of a commercial "failure".
However, Thomas Dolby was not the least worried and had already began working on his follow up album along with some very talented group of people and where he would once again bring back some gifted musicians who had worked on his debut, such as Bruce Wooley, Matthew Seligman and Kevin Armstrong.
Adele Bertei and Robyn Hitchcock would also play a noteable part in the making and where Lionel Richie (to my surprise) ended up doing some of the backing vocals in the making of the album which would end up as Dolby's international breakthrough release.
He was now more than ready to get rid off his quirky and eccentric image from his first album and where he had felt that the "geeky" synthpop professor had finally weared out his welcome. However, the most obvious change was not visually but musically as his desire to focus on a more mature and atmospheric driven record, something he did not get to do on his debut.
The Flat Earth is seen by many (Dolby included) as something of almost being an "mini-album" and where there are only about 7 tracks, still the length of it is only 5-6 minutes less than on its predecessor, yet it ended up feeling a little "unfinished" at times and one could only wonder of how it might have sounded if he had not gotten a glowing hot phone call from his record company while being busy working in the studio.
It turned out that his now almost 2 year old single She Blinded Me With Science had reached top 5 on the american Billboard charts and the video had become a big favorite among the viewers of MTV.
Thomas Dolby was now about to be promoted heavily over the Atlantic ocean, as such an possibility does not come knocking twice on your door.
So with that knowledge, the record session had to be put on ice for a while, and Dolby was put on the first plane towards the United States in an attempt of trying to make him into a popstar.
"Sadly" for Thomas Dolby it meant that he had to put on the whacky appearance of the quirky synthpop professor, probably due to some pressure from the record label who wanted a more commercial or sellable "product", and since the american audience had gotten to know him well as the funky "geek" from She Blinded Me With Science music video, Dolby just had to "endure" his brief period as a popstar within then next few months.
01. Dissidents - Kevin Armstrong and Matthew Seligman brings along with them a tight and funky jam on this opening cut and where the sweet voice that of Adele Bertei fits very well to Thomas Dolby's singing.
02. The Flath Earth - The warm and beautiful title track was actually one which Dolby had in mind as the first single from the album, however his record company did not see any commercial "value" in it, and sadly it was never released. A damn shame as it easily stands as one of the finest moments of this lovely record.
While the opening song had a certain resemblance to some of the material from The Golden Age of Wireless, this felt like something very new and different but in a fantastic way.
03. Screen Kiss - Is for me the real highlight on this album and are probably the finest song Dolby ever wrote.
A number which brings up his love/hate relationship towards Los Angeles city, and especially Hollywood (where he would spend several years living).
"Suicide in the hills above old Hollywood
Is never going to change the world"
The downbeat/sad story gives the listener a small close-up of the lesser glamorous side of the town and the people living there, and brings along an haunting and very atmospheric melody/music and where much of it feels far more improvised than of what Dolby had done before, and also where the lovely basslines of Seligman brings the whole album a warmer, almost dreamlike feel to it.
04. White City - Sounds almost like the beginning of Blade Runner for a few seconds, but then it soon changes into an extremely upbeat and irresistible catchy synthpop piece which feels like it could have come directly from his debut album.
05. Mulu the Rain Forest - This one I had some "troubles" with for a while, I just could not seem to warm up to it, but one day while I was walking outdoors (in the woods) a the early morning hours, it just fitted so damn good and I could not understand why it took me so long before it happened, but I am glad it did as this song is all about atmosphere and have become one of my favorite Thomas Dolby songs.
06. I Scare Myself - A fantastic cover of Dan Hicks original song, and one which continued Dolby's journey towards a richer and more improvised sound.
Sadly it did not sit too well with the audience, but for Thomas it was a clear statement that he wanted to move forwards and not just rely on his more radio friendly material, which might have come as a surprise for those who only went to his shows expecting to hear more She Blinded Me With Science for the hundredth time or more.
07. Hyperactive! - The albums hit single, which Thomas had written with Michael Jackson in his mind, but when he never heard from the american superstar, he decided to do the song himself. But still it did not do as well as his record company had hoped for, as it had done poorly in his own homeland and where it did not manage to achieve the same chart success as She Blinded Me With Science. However, it has since become one of his most loved and famous songs and one which surely got a whole new generation hooked to its ridiculously upbeat and funky melody when it was to be included on the GTA: Vice City (2002) game and official soundtrack two decades later on.
It had became very clear that EMI records and Dolby did not exactly see eye to eye on this release, and where one part wanted to milk the one-hit wonder cash cow completely dry, the other wanted to be left alone and make music which was less "sellable" and more personal.
As an result, The Flath Earth ended up sounding like an album which came with two halves, and where one is atmospheric, improvised and personal, and where the rest is more in touch with his former synthpop works from the earlier days, which for me was very close to getting the best of both worlds.
Considering that the album feels a little "rushed" in certain places, it still shows what Dolby as an songwriter and musician was more than capable of doing and who had grown several notches as an artist since his last record release.
Thomas was certainly not just another "one-hit wonder" but someone who had much more to offer and would soon take a little "time out" to focus on working within the movie business, writing music and film scores, but more importantly end up doing maybe his finest contribution as the "fith" member of the british pop-rock band Prefab Sprout, when he took up on the job as the albums producer, which in return ended up as a very profitable and creative collaboration that resulted with several classic album releases later on in the 80s and early 90s.
The Flat Earth may not be as tight, catchy or accessible as The Golden Age of Wireless, however it is a damn fine second album and one I might have given an even higher rating if it had included maybe one or two extra song in the same quality as the best ones of it.
The 2009 remastered CD version is absolutely a release worthy to check out, as it comes with some interesting words written by Dolby himself in the booklet inside, and also brings along some fine gems featured as bonus material.
8,5/10