So then there's no consensus about the quality of the
playing on "Jericho"? It's all right with me, although I have to admit
that I'm surprised to find myself among the minority here, with
opponents going as far as stating that the solo should be regarded as of
"strong conception". This I do not understand, frankly.
Then what about the following claim: The decline of Verlaine's soloing began
with "The Wonder".
Leo
created an interesting hit-and-miss column of the soloing on that
record, and to the hit-list I would add "Cooleridge" and, most
definetley, "Pillow". The latter is in its entirety one of Verlaine's
small-scaled, understated masterpieces from beginning to end, and the
solo is nothing short of amazing. Part of my amazement with this song is
that I've always thought of it as a tender reminiscence of someone dear
who has passed away, perhaps by suicide. But what do I know -- since I
can barely understand or make myself understood in English (all I write
in here is results of Google Translate-ing), I might be totally wrong
about its content.
That LP was the first of his outputs with a
real stinker on it, "Storm"; real stinkers would then not appear again
until we were unfortunate enough to be exposed to "All Weirded Out" and
"Shingaling". But more important, if we are considering a possible
starting point of the soloing going downhill, is the presence of
"Stalingrad".
A nice song, not top-notch, but with a nice flow
anyway; the weight of the title suggests that it is about something
important, although it escapes me what it could be. But this is where
Verlaine for the first time plays a solo that is little more than just
following the melody. This turned out not to be an on-off. The situation
repeated itself in 1992 with tho soloing on "Shane, she wrote this" and
"This tune", which in turn foreboded "Songs and Other Things" where
this irritating habit multiplied: "Orbit", "Blue Light", "A Stroll",
"The Earth is in the Sky" -- there are no real solos there. Even I could
play these "solos", for God's sake! It's uninspired or underdeveloped
playing -- although, admittedly, often in a context where the melodies
aren't too shabby and the surrounding guitar work is enjoyable. But what
once upon a time got me hooked on Verlaine's music was LP's with (much
stronger) tunes and *always* devastating solos. But the solos haven't
been devastating for a long time now -- even though he's done some
fascinating work here and there. "Fireflies" on "Gone Again" immediately
comes to mind; the playing on the Dylan movie soundtrack was thoroughly
good; and best of all: the two efforts he made for Luna on their '95
"Penthouse" -- the short, beautiful one on "Moon Palace" and the long,
creepy one on "23 Minutes in Brussels". I would even dare to say that
the solo on "Brussels" is the last monumental one recorded, even though
it doesn't come close to, say, "Marquee Moon", "Words from the front",
"Breakin' My Heart" or "Five Miles of You". Nor does "The Day on You",
the best one on "Songs...", and a very good one too. But it's far from
being monumental -- and I want and need Tom Verlaine to be monumental.
At least once in a while.
The non-vocal records are a completely
different matter. There, monumentalism isn't called for; and there is
none to be found either. "Around" is, on its own terms, masterful. I
don't expect that kind of music to be overwhelming. I do expect to be
overwhelmed when Tom Verlaine releases a new collection of songs. That
was, after all, why I got into his artistry in the first place.
Leif J, Sweden
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