20-05-2021, 19:35
MATT BERRY ~ The Blue Elephant
![[Image: R-18704740-1620968439-7242.jpeg.jpg]](https://img.discogs.com/MUHzVlAMQWRwclQBL9D-yRg3erA=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-18704740-1620968439-7242.jpeg.jpg)
There’s almost a particular tone that identifies Matt Berry’s music, IMHO. The trouble is, he’s kinda stuck in the middle of whichever genre road he happens to be tripping down at the time, and while I admittedly find myself in the same place with alarming regularity, I don’t wanna live there (MOR, that is).
Sounds to me as though he’s been listening to a lot of Jefferson Airplane lately, and other 60’s/70’s psychedelia – something of a Jim Morrison vibe in places too. He’s quite good at recreating an era in an updated sort of way – a bit of a musical chameleon – or tart, whichever way one happens to look at it! Lol! He has no apparent affiliation in any particular direction although a signature does emerge; he has a propensity for falling in love with a particular phrase and repeating it ad nauseum. Thinking about it – he is definitely a recreator – that appears to be his MO. There will be a following for the album and all sorts of compliments, I’m sure. To be fair, he must have put in quite some effort and there are a few moments where the ears do prick up, but it’s difficult to find whoever he is in here, under all the layers of others. It's all a bit muddly IMO, and there is nothing new under the sun.
(OK – retrospectively to the above, AMG gives it a 4,5 out of 5 and other reviews seem to be glowing, so chances are I am a lone voice crying in the wilderness. Wouldn’t be the first time and is unlikely to be the last!)
Something a bit Moody Blues about “Summer Sun” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgOkYc9ptm8
The only instrumental on the album - “Invisible” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szTw5vIYGkY
The aforementioned Doors soundalike - “Now Disappear” …
There’s almost a particular tone that identifies Matt Berry’s music, IMHO. The trouble is, he’s kinda stuck in the middle of whichever genre road he happens to be tripping down at the time, and while I admittedly find myself in the same place with alarming regularity, I don’t wanna live there (MOR, that is).
Sounds to me as though he’s been listening to a lot of Jefferson Airplane lately, and other 60’s/70’s psychedelia – something of a Jim Morrison vibe in places too. He’s quite good at recreating an era in an updated sort of way – a bit of a musical chameleon – or tart, whichever way one happens to look at it! Lol! He has no apparent affiliation in any particular direction although a signature does emerge; he has a propensity for falling in love with a particular phrase and repeating it ad nauseum. Thinking about it – he is definitely a recreator – that appears to be his MO. There will be a following for the album and all sorts of compliments, I’m sure. To be fair, he must have put in quite some effort and there are a few moments where the ears do prick up, but it’s difficult to find whoever he is in here, under all the layers of others. It's all a bit muddly IMO, and there is nothing new under the sun.
(OK – retrospectively to the above, AMG gives it a 4,5 out of 5 and other reviews seem to be glowing, so chances are I am a lone voice crying in the wilderness. Wouldn’t be the first time and is unlikely to be the last!)
Something a bit Moody Blues about “Summer Sun” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgOkYc9ptm8
The only instrumental on the album - “Invisible” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szTw5vIYGkY
The aforementioned Doors soundalike - “Now Disappear” …
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson
