Sound-on-Sound

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Sound-on-Sound
Studio album by
Bill Nelson's Red Noise
Released16 February 1979
StudioTownhouse Studios, London
Genre
Length38:23
LabelHarvest
ProducerJohn Leckie, Bill Nelson
Singles from Sound-on-Sound
  1. "Furniture Music"
    Released: February 1979
  2. "Revolt Into Style"
    Released: May 1979

Sound-on-Sound is the sole album by English

dystopian themes, which the musician tried to present in a humorous way. The album cover, featuring a bed-ridden robot, was photographed by Bishin Jumonji

Promoted by the singles "Furniture Music" and "Revolt Into Style", Sound-on-Sound reached number 33 on the UK Albums Chart and perplexed fans and music critics, with criticism centred on its 'artificial' sound. EMI, Harvest's parent label, dropped Nelson in July 1979, rendering Sound-on-Sound their only album. It has been re-released by Harvest several times, including as a deluxe edition in 2012, and has been reappraised in a positive light by critics.

Background and recording

Since their 1972 inception, Bill Nelson was the leader and guitarist of eclectic rock band Be-Bop Deluxe, with whom he achieved some success,[2] but later found himself restricted as the group's guitarist.[3] With the band's final album, Drastic Plastic (1978), Nelson felt his ideas were marginalised compared to those of his bandmates, describing the record as disrupting the "transitional stage" he envisioned exploring between their previous album Modern Music (1976) and what became Sound-on-Sound. As such, he dissolved Be-Bop Deluxe, feeling that beginning a new band was "the only way to do what I wanted to do."[4] He had wished to dissolve the group before Drastic Plastic was recorded, but was persuaded by the band's management to continue. "Had I gotten my way," Nelson later said, "the Drastic Plastic material would have been recorded as the first Red Noise album. Instead, I adapted it for the final Be Bop album."[5]

The Minimoog is one of the most-used synths on Sound-on-Sound.

By forming Bill Nelson's Red Noise, the musician again exerted creative control, paying the other members as session musicians. He described the decision to form a band, rather than present himself as a solo musician with "an anonymous backing group", as a way of "hiding" and avoid being trapped "in a specific mould" if he achieved major success, saying: "This way I can change whatever cover I have to work under when my ideas alter or develop."[4] Be-Bop Deluxe keyboardist Andy Clark joined Nelson in Red Noise, with the line-up completed by Bill's brother Ian on saxophone and jazz bassist Rick Ford. Drumming on Sound-on-Sound is split between Nelson and Dave Mattacks.[6] The group recorded the album at Townhouse Studios, London, with producer and engineer John Leckie.[7] Nelson had worked with Leckie since the first Be-Bop Deluxe album and found their partnership had developed into a "very give-and-take" fashion.[4]

Recording the album was a simpler process than any Be-Bop Deluxe record due to the prevalence of synthesizers, which Nelson felt were "much richer,

Yamaha CS80.[7] Several songs on the album were remixed at Utopia Studios, London.[7] Upon completion, Nelson felt unusually proud of the album, whereas with Be-Bop Deluxe albums he "couldn't bear to hear them for two months afterwards."[6]

Composition

Nelson wrote the songs on Sound-on-Sound about "mundane, domestic things," citing "electronic appliances, factories...the paraphernalia of the times," and commenting that the album's instrumentation and arrangements reflect this.

1984-style portent."[11]

The music is characterised by its mechanical synthesizers, harsh guitars and frenzied rhythms.

Twist & Shout' build-up but with modern instrumentation and techniques."[4] He wrote "Stop/Go/Stop" – which features the line "To Central Information, from Intelligence Patrol/We all must follow orders, obey remote control" – in 1977 about his future-wife Jan while he was still married to his first wife. He married Jan by the recording of Sound-on-Sound and reflected on the song: "I'd been trying to tell Jan how I felt about her through my songs. They were born out of this heady love I was feeling for her."[4]

Release and reception

The sleeve of Sound-on-Sound was designed by Japanese artist

hi-fi in mind," saying that the record should be "played at high volume in a room with no views other than those afforded by the use of subliminal image video apparatus."[7] Nelson said he wrote the notice with his "tongue firmly in cheek".[5] During the band's live performances, the group wore Red Army-style matching uniforms and used intricate lighting to "underline the point of the music," according to Nelson, who elaborated: "The songs are about the impending gloom of 1984, the austerity and the indoctrination. But I wanted to present the band as the perpetrators rather than the victims. The uniforms are part of that."[4]

After disbanding Be-Bop Deluxe, Nelson gave

UK Singles Chart, with "Revolt Into Style" reaching number 69 in May.[15] In the United States, where the album was released by Capitol Records, it was a commercial failure.[9]

Sound-on-Sound was released to polarising reviews from music critics, some of whom panned its intricate sound and compared it unfavourably with the work of Talking Heads and T. Rex.[4] John Orme of Melody Maker derided the album for its "transparently contrived" music, which he equated with the bed-ridden robot on the album cover.[4] Nelson was upset at the poor reception, telling interviewer Mark Williams that he felt reviewers chastised the album for sounding "artificial" when this was the intention of the album. He also rejected criticisms of the album being too dense and layered as "it was recorded so much more simply than the Be-bop albums."[4] Following the album's disappointing sales in the US, Nelson was dropped by Capitol.[9] In the UK, EMI dropped Nelson altogether in July 1979, alongside other groups like Wire, as the label was slimming down its roster and looking for more commercially viable artists.[9][14] By that point, Nelson had been working on a second Red Noise album, which was intended for an August 1979 release, but the dropping left the tapes with EMI. He reworked some of the material for his solo album Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam (1981); Nelson's prioritisation of solo material effectively ended Bill Nelson's Red Noise.[9]

Retrospective assessment and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Great Rock Discography
7/10[17]
Record Collector[11]

Sound-on-Sound went

Are 'Friends' Electric?" by three months, highlighting their "striking commonality".[11]

Michael Waynick of

techno-rock forces."[16] The music magazine Sound on Sound, established in 1995, was named after the album.[21]

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Nelson.

Side one

  1. "Don't Touch Me, (I'm Electric)" – 1:50
  2. "For Young Moderns" – 4:24
  3. "Stop/Go/Stop" – 3:10
  4. "Furniture Music" – 3:31
  5. "Radar in My Heart" – 1:36
  6. "Stay Young" – 3:11

Side two

  2. "Out of Touch" – 3:31
  3. "A Better Home in the Phantom Zone" – 4:26
  4. "Substitute Flesh" – 3:29
  5. "Atom Age" – 3:01
  6. "Art/Empire/Industry" – 2:45
  7. "Revolt into Style" – 3:23

2012 bonus tracks

  2. "Wonder Toys That Last Forever" ("Furniture Music" B-side)
  3. "Acquitted by Mirrors" ("Furniture Music" B-side)
  4. "Stay Young" (live at Leicester De Montfort Hall, 8 March 1979) ("Revolt Into Style" B-side)
  5. "Out of Touch" (live at Leicester De Montfort Hall, 8 March 1979) ("Revolt Into Style" B-side)
  6. "Stay Young" (Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session (17 February 1979)
  7. "Furniture Music" (Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session (17 February 1979)
  8. "Don’t Touch Me (I’m Electric)" (Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session (17 February 1979)
  9. "Out of Touch" (Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session (17 February 1979)

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of Sound-on-Sound[7]

Bill Nelson's Red Noise
  • Bill Nelson - vocals, guitar, drums, synthesizer, keyboards, bass, percussion, harmonica, vocoder
  • Rick Ford - bass
  • Andy Clark - keyboards, synthesizer
  • Dave Mattacks - drums, electronic drums
  • Ian Nelson - tenor and alto saxophone, Wurlitzer, string synthesizer
Technical

References

  1. ^ "Sound-On-Sound – Bill Nelson". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  2. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Be-Bop Deluxe Artist Biography by William Ruhlmann". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Robbins, Ira. "Bill Nelson". Trouser Press. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Williams, Mark (24 March 1979). "Bill Nelson: The Sound Of Household Appliances". Melody Maker. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Sound-on-Sound". Bill Nelson. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Mitchell, Tony (1979). "Revolt into Style". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e Sound-on-Sound (liner). Bill Nelson's Red Noise. Harvest. 1979.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ a b Randall, Mac (August 1992). "Robert Wyatt & Bill Nelson: Tough Guys Don't Dance". Musician. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Green, Jim (November 1981). "Bill Nelson: Triumph of the Bill". Trouser Press. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d e Waynick, Michael. "AllMusic Review by Michael Waynick". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Easlea, Daryl. "Bill Nelson's Red Noise". Record Collector. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Deluxe Edition". Record Collector. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  13. ^ "My Bizarre Double Life In The Pop World Of The Eighties". Beverly Glick. 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  14. ^ a b c McDonald, Steven. "Artist Biography by Steven McDonald". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Bill Nelson's Red Noise". Official Charts. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  16. ^
    ISBN 1-85227 745 9
    .
  17. ISBN 0862413850
    .
  18. ^ Sound-on-Sound (liner). Bill Nelson's Red Noise. Harvest. 1999.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ "Bill Nelson's Red Noise". Option. Sonic Options Network: 68. 1987. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  20. ^ Mckay, Neil (31 October 1999). "The Only Ones to Know". Sunday Life: 35. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  21. ^ Humberstone, Nigel (1995). "Bill Nelson: Guitar Boy In Wonderland". Retrieved 30 April 2015.

External links

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