Some Albums I Have Known

[Sock Puppet]

This thread is for individual takes (mine, maybe some of yours if you want) on specific albums, from any era. For my part, although I won’t always aim for obscurity, I’m not going to waste any pixels on stuff that has been talked about ad nauseum for ages. So you won’t get my takes on Dark Side of the Moon, Pet Sounds, Scary Monsters, Rumors, Disreali Gears, or anything by Zeppelin; instead, I will blather on about albums that, in my considered opinion, haven’t been talked about enough. This was inspired by The Man’s post about Gene Clark’s No Other, which I can’t improve upon, so for that album, just read that.

I also have no interest in rating these albums against one another, although I’ll provide my assessment on a scale of 1 to 10 on whatever aspect or quality that I feel like mentioning.

First up:
Pete Sinfield, Still



Obscurity: 9 (little known, but now available from most streaming providers)
Musicianship: 7
Lyrics: 9
Vocals: 4 (but 10 times a million for Greg Lake on “Still”)
Recording: 6 (meh, not terrible)
Standout Tracks: “Still,” “Will It Be You,” “Under The Sky”

Pete Sinfield was well-known in prog rock circles, not just as King Crimson’s main lyricist on their first two albums, as well as other prog collaborations such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but also for English lyrics duties for non-British artists, such as Premiata Forneria Marconi, an Italian band that I’ll undoubtedly discuss later. In summary, he’s known for his lyrics, but not for vocals or full-on songwriting.

As far as I know, this is Pete’s only solo album. His voice is a bit thin and reedy, but never pitchy, and he stays within the boundaries of what he can handle vocally.

The highlight of the album (IMO) is the title cut. The conceit will definitely be too precious for a lot of listeners; Sinfield recites some velvety, purply lines, with a melodramatically dreamy, whispery voice for the verses, wondering how it is to be a stream, a bird, etc. But after each, Pete finally reverts to song, just for a brief bridge, and then the immortal Greg Lake takes over in a chorus-like section, lifting the track into a sublime moment. Lake’s voice was always rich and lovely, but these brief bursts of melancholy joy are a tour de force of beautiful nonsense, as he belts out a list of mostly contrasting pairs of human archetypes, such as “tailors and tinkers, sailors and sinkers.” My favorite of these is “Beatles and Bolans, raindrops and oceans.” If you have the patience for the Moody Blues-esque intros (not as long as those, actually), Lake’s parts are among my favorite vocals ever recorded, by him or anyone else.

There are a couple other stand-out tracks. “The Song of the Sea Goat” is a trifle overlong, cycling through a soothing refrain lifted from Vivaldi (credited) over and over, as Pete bares his heart on suffering, war, God, and other such things for many stanzas/verses. The piano is lovely.

“Under the Sky” is suited for Pete’s dreamy, breathy vocal, a tranquil and satisfying little puff of a song.

“Will It Be You” is a surprisingly tight, charming little ditty, sounding more like American Country than the country-skiffle style you’ll hear from other English artists of this period, complete with slide guitar. The lyrics are sort of adorable, with stuff like “Who’ll shine my armor for the next day’s tournament.” Definitely the most accessible and likeable track on this album, unless you hate smiling for no good reason.

“Wholefood Boogie” is the only other track worth particular mention. Almost a novelty song, but with a boogie-woogie groove and suitably gravelly vocals, this bangin’ tune extols the virtues of an all-natural diet. Think of it as a sequel to the Sinfield-penned King Crimson romp, “Cat Food,” with similar indictments of processed foods with artificial ingredients and questionable farming practices.

The rest of the album is … about what you’d expect from a poet with no significant experience as a lead vocalist. Well-written poems that you might enjoy just reading off the lyrics in the insert as much as listening to Pete warble through them.

This is also one of my favorite album covers, a pencil-and-watercolor by German artist Sulamith Wülfing, “The Big Friend.” Inside the mouth of a grotesque, aquatic gargoyle is a perfectly calm, contented-looking … fairy? She lounges comfortably, while the creature that contains her remains Still.

The wiki page has the track list, and other details I’m too lazy to copy/paste.