I was all over the Power Station album in 1985. The supergroup made sense. Robert Palmer, one of the greatest voices in music, was on top of the world at this time, so who better to front the band. The unrelated Taylors, John and Andy, arguably the two most talented members of Duran Duran, along with one of the funkiest drummers alive, Chic's Tony Thompson, would complete the quartet.
Musically, "33 1/3," as the debut is sometimes called when people realize that's the actual title, is to my ears, exactly how a record by these four guys should sound. It worked, and I played it to death, even the cover of the T. Rex classic, "Bang A Gong," which you either loved or hated.
One and done, that was Power Station's career, until 1996, when they reunited for "Living In Fear," a record I hated immediately. 30 years later, I couldn't tell you what it was that turned me off. I only know the first single "She Can Rock It" left me cold, and their cover of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" was twice as long and half as sexy as the original.
So imagine my surprise when I decided to listen to "Living In Fear" for the first time since 1996, and found myself digging most of it. As the record played, it started to come back to me. This record is only occasionally funky. Most of it sounds like Palmer's harder rocking hits like "Discipline Of Love" and "Addicted To Love," which is fine, except I am not sure that is what I wanted in 1996. Now, with fresh ears and no expectations, "Living In Fear" sounded pretty damn good.
I still don't like "She Can Rock It" or "Let's Get It On," and their cover of George Harrison's "Taxman" is a missed opportunity. But with a few snips, "Living In Fear" is something I will go back to with pleasure.
19 comments:
I'll give these a spin when off work, but in the meantime your cover song of the day sounds to me like what Paul Weller would do with George's song!
C in California
Not my cuppa. Oh well...😎
So you might say with a few tweaks it's...simply irresistible?
Your willingness to give an album a second, a third, a fifth listen with open ears is always admirable. And something I don't always have the patience for. But one thing always puzzled me: why did they take 11 years to do a followup? I know they all have busy schedules but it was awfully successful.
I liked the Taxman cover myself, but the record paled in comparison to 331/3. My US version has Power Trippin' in the place of Let's Get It On. The Let's Get It On (99) on Rhythm & Blues, a woefully neglected but excellent Palmer album, was pretty good and fairly true to the original.
I'll have to check out the Living In Fear version.
I agree "Living In Fear" paled in comparison to the debut. I think that's what made me forget about it. It wasn't "as good," but years later, sounds a lot better.
Oh I guess the Let's Get It On is only OK. It's better on Rhythm & Blues, and not so needlessly long. One commenter on YouTube had a great line. He said the song as presented on the Living In Fear album "sticks out like a banana in an Italian salad". Ha!
I'm pulling the CD for reevaluation. It's not available on Qobuz.
Kinda a nice congruency...I post a rarity of day song on my FB page - hey, yesterday I got 11 likes! - but I've decided that tomorrow's song will come from Robert's "Pressure Drop " lp.
I had no idea they released a second album. And I kind of lost interest in them when they toured in the 80s w/o R Palmer
I listened to it today and I agree wholeheartedly that it is waaay better than I remember. A few weak songs but pretty darn good really. Cleveland Jeff
'half as sexy as the original.' Which would still make it, any other standard, pretty damn sexy, no?
Thanks for this, Sal. I enjoyed the shared songs. I had always thought the saga of Power Station ended when Michael Des Barres replaced Palmer, who left to record Riptide. Apparently this reunion album was a little cursed as JT left the sessions to be replaced by producer Edwards, who would pass away shortly afterwards.
Any love for D2’s other half’s Arcadia project and the So Red The Rose album, with ‘Election Day’? It very much wears its influences on its sleeve. Lots of stellar guests. For me it’s one of the better D2 albums. Just curious of your thoughts. Thanks for all you do, sir! :)
Additional: Any thoughts on Rod Stewart’s Out of Order album, which includes significant involvement from 3/5th of Power Station? It certainly has more energy than most of what he did in the eighties.:)
I'm glad you feel that way.
I am listening to "So Red The Rose" right now and really enjoying it. Don't remember it doing much for me at the time, but I am digging it. And yes, "Out Out of Touch" is def one of the highlights of Rod's 80's output.
weird it ain't on Apple Music, only have first one expanded nothing else.
Same on Qobuz. when something isn’t available on one streaming service, it’s usually not on the other ones either. I think. Not sure because I only have the one, but I’ve looked on Apple and found same stuff missing as Qobuz. By the way, Qobuz pays artists better than any other streaming service.
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