Inner Revolution
Last time I checked Amazon, there were only three reviews for this reissue of Inner Revolution, two with four stars and one with two stars The chappie with two stars was complaining that it was too Beatle-esque. Me? I see Inner Revolution and its follow-up, Here as the two best albums that a modern Beatle fan could buy, far outstripping the nearest rival, the sometimes insipid Crowded House.
Adrian Belew: Inner Revolution
It's not a work of genius, mind you...there's definitely some filler (e.g....Standing In The Shadow, & Only A Dream) but Belew usually does some nutty guitar to make them listenable...and there are perhaps half a dozen catchy, witty and/or romantic which show that he wasn't only at the top of his form, he was every bit as good as the originals...plus he plays virtually all the instruments. Dramatically, though, Inner Revolution is really interesting in that there's:
So, with only three reviews I'm asking for a lot of trust from you for Inner Revolution...but I'm prepared to do so...because it's a really magic album. You probably haven't ever heard of it because it was released right in the middle of Grunge and died a very quick death. Let's face it, an exquisite Beatles sensibility and balanced Humanist wisdom wasn't exactly what the market wanted then. Perhaps now it can be viewed a little more objectively. Funnily enough, the title track, which also opens the album is one of the weakest, meaning that it's still O.K., a riffing piece of self-help philosophy: "...If there's something in your life You can't fix it with a drug Inner revolution Inner Revolution
A.B.: It really came from conversations I had with my girlfriend Martha Thompson. She studies Communication and nearly has a masters degree. The idea of an inner revolution is a theory of hers about how things can change dynamically in your life. It could be something that causes you to change or it could be you causing yourself to change. So, the general message that I read into the song was as it says: If there's something in your life, you have the power to change it. And my life has gone through some dynamic changes lately. Interview snippet from Inner Views 1992
If I appear a little dismissive of the Inner Revolution track, it's only because the next one, This Is What I Believe In discusses a similar idea so much more clearly. "...Hold tight to yourself The interlocking, almost King Crimson-like guitars keep the song chugging away until you get to the monumental slab of home-spun philosophy that makes this fundamentally optimistic man, Adrian Belew, so much more powerful than any slab of self-help positive thinking... "...All the world is a cannibal This is what I believe in... This Is What I Believe In*
Big Blue Sun is, a great McCartney-esque love song, all puppy-dog enthusiasm for the new girl in Adrian's life... "...Let me take your worries from you... Big Blue Sun
...While Birds is more like Lennon's whimsy... "...Birds, birds everywere I see... Birds
(...Beatle-ologists will, of course be hearing John Lennon at this moment singing; "No-one, nothing is in my tree..." from Strawberry Fields Forever). Birds is better heard than quoted but is deceptively powerful with quirky guitar actually makes you feel like you're on the wings of some wonderful air current. ...and I Walk Alone is unashamedly a tip of the sonic hat to Roy Orbison... Q: I Walk Alone, you have a Roy Orbison thing happening. A.B.: Yeah, that was the one song I wrote when I was on the Bowie tour. (Sound & Vision 1990) I used to lay in my bunk in the bus sometimes when I would get tired and try to think up songs. That was one I thought up and only later did I work out the chords and what it should be on the piano. Then I realized as I was doing it that it had that emotional timbre of Roy Orbison. Given that Roy was an influence on me when I was a kid, I thought it would be kind of nice to do something in that vein. Not many people write those kinds of songs these days. The only thing I left out was the big 'Roy note' that he always hit at the end of a song...[laughs]...but I didn't want to copy him to that degree. I just wanted it to have that overall quality of his voice. Interview snippet from Inner Views 1992
The album is pretty much a patchwork quilt of emotions, some up: I'd Rather Be Right Here..."...And if they told me that the world was ending today, I'd rather be right here...if I had a bumper sticker, this is what it would say: I'D RATHER BE RIGHT HERE! Cos I've had enough...and I'm willing to be out of touch, stick my head in the sand, I'm gonna sit right down and make a stand...Cos I don't wanna be a travelling man, I'd rather be right here..."
Everything..."...One big mistake some people make is when they take for granted Love will always stay the same, because eventually Love needs attention or it has a tendency to fade away. That is why I will always give...every little thing you may have...only dreamed of..."
...some down: The War In The Gulf Between Us..."...Well after all the lawyers have eaten our remains and after all the nights have swallowed up the pain well, maybe we will meet, we'll find a neutral place, the only trouble is, what will we have to say?...Nobody ever wins the war in the gulf between us..."
and some just glad to be a wisecrackin' oddball pokin' fun from the sidelines: Member Of The Tribe..."...Now what can a square man do to fit in a big round world? Well, Life might be a parade for some...but I stick out like a big bass drum. I eat Big Macs and I watch MTV, I've been a K-Mart shopper since 1983 and I'm trying...to be a member of the tribe..."
I can't recommend Inner Revolution more, it's not revolutionary, it's a blast, a really good album that you may well play for years!
Adrian Belew: Inner Revolution "...First off, don't buy this album if you're hoping to hear King Crimson. You won't. This is basically a pop album that's very Beatle-esque (on one of the songs Adrian imitates John Lennon's vocal intonations almost perfectly) and has some of the best work Belew has laid his name to..." Amazon reviewer P. Roberts "...This is one of my favorite albums of the 90's. This album, with its psychedelic undertones, actually sounds like it should have been released years before it was but hey, who says that anachronism is a bad thing?:
...The tone of this album is generally optimistic and idealistic, which is in sharp contrast to the many angst ridden albums that were popular around the time of its release. It doesn't really *sound* like a 90's album at all, but it's turned out to be one of my favorite releases from the entire decade..." Amazon reviewer D.Lee "...(the) songs on the album show you Belew's potential in writing ballads, touchy melodies and lyrics that make women cry..." Amazon.co.uk reviewer Vaclav Smerda
for more information, see:
* Incidentally, I used Belew's song as the basis for an earnest article, entitled: This Is What I Believe In |
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