Tuesday, June 25, 2019

The 1985 Listening Post - Nick Mason and Rick Fenn - Profiles

Nick Mason and Rick Fenn - Profiles

#274/908
July 29 1985
Nick Mason and Rick Fenn
Profiles
2.5 out of 5

Highlights:
Malta


2 songs in and I already find this more pleasing than any of Roger Waters solo stuff. I know it’s MOR and it’s SUPPOSED to be pleasing but that doesn’t mean it isn’t. And I balked at reviewing it, since all but two tracks are instrumental. 
I’m pretty glad I was reprimanded. That opening track is bouncy and then not and then glides to other styles but never bores. 
It’s gentle, key driven prog rock and it’s perfectly fine. The title track is a top down drive into the countryside. 
But, boy…Side Two opens with an atrociously awful track, “Israel”. Musically crappy, lyrically terrible, arranged…fuck it. I’m tired of talking about this song. 
Ugh…as we keep going through this thing I find myself coming back to Brand X. It’s a Phil Collins side project (what the fuck was this guy NOT doing in the 80s??). Unorthodox Behavior starts off great with "Nuclear Burn" but then it just owns up to what it is: Jazz Fusion noodle bore. 
And that’s what’s happening here. 
Only late, with “Zip Code” do we get any sense of life but it’s a mirage. They try real hard with “Black Ice” but these guys aren’t really all that fiery. 


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