Trevor Horn Reimagines the 80s

The moment artists can just do what they love to do then music will go right back to where it used to be. I mean back in the '60s and '70s and '80s, that's what it was.

Akon

I’m afraid I’m cheating this week. I’m cheating because I listened to an album yesterday, it’s debut and I wanted to write about it however, somethings are better left to the professionals. Whilst I was researching for the album, I came across a review by Adrian Thrills in the Mail. I like reviews by Adrian Thrills, they tend to be on my wavelength and I find myself nodding as I read the text. So, rather than offer you some half-baked amateur review I’m giving all the credit to Mr Thrills.

“The days of the straightforward compilation album are seemingly over. The past four years have seen a stream of records adding symphonic arrangements to the hits of Roy Orbison, the Beach Boys, Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley, whose 2015 anthology If I Can Dream started the trend.

Take That marked their 30th anniversary last November with Odyssey, a bumper package featuring guest singers and new versions of their biggest hits, while dance DJ Pete Tong has overseen the successful Classic House and Ibiza Classics releases.

he latest to ride the wave of orchestral reinvention is Trevor Horn. A former session musician, Horn, 69, was the voice behind The Buggles’ 1979 hit Video Killed The Radio Star and briefly sang and played bass in prog-rock band Yes.

But he is most renowned as a producer: his work with ABC and Frankie Goes To Hollywood saw him dubbed ‘the man who invented the Eighties’.

Those skills are prominent again on Trevor Horn Reimagines The 80s, a period piece featuring stellar singers and a 56-piece orchestra. It’s patchy, but the Durham-born producer’s sensitivity lends a level of artistry often missing from these compendiums.

He turns to some artists he has worked with before. Horn helped Seal to three Grammy awards with Kiss From A Rose in 1996, and the pair dovetail with effortless ease on Bowie’s Ashes To Ashes. A reunion with Simple Minds on Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms is similarly convincing.

A collaboration with Robbie Williams is less successful — a bombastic take on the Tears For Fears hit Everybody Wants To Rule The World tramples all over the dreamy, electronic glide of the original. Tony Hadley is no less showy on What’s Love Got To Do With It, but at least the Tina Turner song suits his instincts.

Former X Factor winner Matt Cardle holds his own against swirling strings on The Power Of Love, originally produced by Horn for Frankie Goes To Hollywood, while Duran Duran’s Girls On Film is sung by All Saints.

Marillion’s Steve Hogarth is superb on Joe Jackson’s It’s Different For Girls, and Gabrielle Aplin turns Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark into a forlorn lament.

But two of the most intriguing numbers feature Horn himself on vocals. He struggles to hit the crescendos of A-ha’s Take On Me, but fares better on Yes’s Owner Of A Lonely Heart. In the company of some outstanding co-stars, he is not out of his depth.

As guitarist with The Killers, Dave Keuning made a towering contribution to singles such as Read My Mind.

Now one of the world’s biggest rock acts, the group formed 18 years ago after he found singer Brandon Flowers via a ‘musicians wanted’ ad in Las Vegas Weekly.

Since Keuning retired from touring, his role in The Killers has been unclear. He hasn’t officially left, but doesn’t feature on the band’s current single Land Of The Free and is promoting a solo record featuring musical ideas that failed to make the cut for The Killers’ Wonderful Wonderful album — on which he did appear.

Prismism is a classic wingman’s solo effort. The musicianship and song writing craft are both there, but it lacks the drama a more charismatic singer would bring.

With Keuning, 42, playing every instrument except drums, his 14 new songs rattle by. There are nods to Lou Reed, Depeche Mode and New Order, and hints of unhappiness at his role in The Killers in Boat Accident and Broken Clocks.

There are some excellent songs, though. Gimme Your Heart is a touching tribute to his wife Emilie and Restless Legs an infectious funk-rock number.

Pretty Faithful is even better, an arena anthem in the making. A more forceful vocalist would add that final flourish... Brandon Flowers, perhaps?”

Adrian Thrills – The Mail Online 25th January 2019

I simply had – “I love this Album, takes me right back to my childhood, it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard in a long time!” ……Hence the cheat 😊

What’s on this week?

Head, Eyes & Teeth – Catwa Head, Rigged Eyes and teeth - Catya v3.2

Hair – Navy+Copper - Mae - M Blonds @ this round of Shinny Shabby

Skin – [theSkinnery] Amber (Catwa Applier) sorbet

Body, Hands & Feet – Maitreya Mesh Body - Lara V4.0

Physics – Temptation – 5.5 BONUS C+ D+ SuperTease - Physics

AO – VISTA ANIMATIONS *HUD 5.33*ZOE FULL BENTO-V1 NOFACE

Shape – [Elle et Lui Style] Tiffany Shape, Catwa Bento Head Catya - Maitreya Body