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Fear

John Cale - Fear Audio CD

A fair review of the John Cale "Fear" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all John Cale reviews here, or go back to the John Cale tabs.

Band: John Cale
Title: Fear
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-08-09
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Fear Is a Man's Best Friend 2: Buffalo Ballet 3: Barracuda 4: Emily 5: Ship of Fools 6: Gun 7: Man Who Couldn't Afford to Orgy 8: You Know Me More Than I Know 9: Momamma Scuba

A NAGGING FEAR
"The Academy in Peril" is a rare accomplishment and ranks as one of the best of its time. Varied as it is, Cale's work has always presented a confusing amalgam to my ears. "Drella" is self-indulgent nonsense and in my opinion should be considered as some of the worst of pretty much any time. As for the period-defined music of "Fear" (with its "Before and After Science" cover art as well as its then de rigueur Eno collaboration) let's just say that it's been a lot of years and I still can not get the bass intro to "Barracuda" out of my head. That and the fact that Barracuda's chorus -- by 2007 clearly prescient and naggingly accurate -- "the ocean will have us all. . . " may in fact prove to be true in more ways than we may have originally guessed. Which means that Fear will likely survive even as we each perish.

Cale at his Best!
The album was also his follow-up to his much acclaimed "Paris 1919" 1973 album. Fear was the first of 3 great albums John Cale released on Island Records during 1974-75. Compared to "Paris", "Fear" shows the more rocking side of Cale, but it's still the songs and melodies that Cale highlights.

The title-track starts off quietly with Cale on piano, but ends off with Cale yelling "Fear is a man's best friend". Great opener.

The soft melodic side of Cale is represented by "Buffalo Ballet", "Ship of Fools" and "You Know More Than I Know" - all outstanding songs.

It's no secret that Cale has a great admiration of the work of Brian Wilson, which clearly shows on the harmony vocal arrangement on "The Man Who Couldn't Afford to Orgy"- On his next album "Slow Dazzle", Cale wrote "Mr Wilson" about the Beach Boys leader.

Though several tracks like "Barracuda" and "Gun" feature odd solos and sounds ( brings thoughts back to his Velvet Underground days ), most songs are actually very catchy and it's an album with a great variety of styles that you can listen to again and again.

Note that the 2 CD compilation "The Island Years" features the complete "Fear" album along with his two other Island albums + plus a handful of great bonus tracks; anyway this is a great album in its own right!.

Uneven but good album, on "The Island Years" set.
All three Island albums have something to offer, and there's some extra material on the set. This is a good record, but its of marginal value with "The Island Years", which has Cale's entire output from his time on Island and (at least as I write this) is comparably priced to this release.

After producing a series of varied albums in moods and success, John Cale finally hit his stride with 1974's "Fear". With a band that included Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera, Cale put together a great record, and while its a bit uneven (like I feel most of his output), there's so much great work on here.

The album's most well known tracks-- the opener, "Fear is a Man's Best Friend", and "Gun", are somewhat paranoid exercises. The former features some chamber-esque piano, a loping bassline, and a manic reading of its title over a growling bass as a coda, the latter, a straightahead rock tune is famous for its dual solo-- Manzanera's guitar was run through Eno's synthesizers and somehow the two produced something magical. In contrast with this, there's "Buffalo Ballet", a pained, almost lazy-feeling ballad that lives on a razor-edge of tension.

Much of the rest of the record is very good, although not quite reaching the same heights-- "Barracuda" is a good enough bizarre rock song, "Emily" is a pretty ballad but I don't think it particularly suits Cale's vocal delivery, "Ship of Fools" is a nice enough pop song, and "You Know More Than I Know", with its fumbling choruses, shows Cale's development of the sort of Lou Reed "match the lyrics with the music" concept. But "The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy", with its bizarre "seductive woman" voiceover, feels very dated, and "Momamma Scuba" is really quite extraneous-- "Fear" and "Gun" capture this feel much better.

Still, its a good record deserving consideration, however getting ahold of "The Island Years" is a better idea.

Great heights of brilliance
The title track is a brooding rock ballad with tempo variations and poetic lyrics, one of the most angst-ridden songs in the canon of rock. There are at least 3 masterpieces on this album of dark rock and clever humour.

Gun is another manic excursion into dark emotional territory, brilliantly executed and with perfect synergy between voice and instruments. It has all the anger of punk, but sounds even more menacing for its complex arrangement and intelligent lyrics.

Providing comic relief just when it is need most, The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy has a lovely breezy melody and propulsive rhythm with sensual female vocals by Judy Nylon. This song very cleverly breaks the spell of the eerie and mournful tone of the tracks preceding it.

The rest isn't bad, but not as immediately memorable as the aforementioned. For example, Buffalo Ballad is quite a pleasant gentle ballad and Barracuda is an engaging mid tempo rocker with an edgy riff. Emily and Ship Of Fools are both mournful, atmospheric ballads.

I highly recommend the Island Years collection, a 2 CD-set that contains this entire album, Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy, plus some previously unreleased tracks. That collection properly demonstrates the genius of John Cale in the context of the era.
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Scattershot brilliance
From his early avant drone experiments to the manic organ, viola and bass work with the seminal Velvet Underground and beyond, Lou Reed once described Cale as the Beethoven of rock music, and he is not far off. There are few musicians around today as accomplished as John Cale. Cale's solo output, like Lou Reed's, is admittedly inconsistent, and the album Fear as well has some rough spots amongst the gems. To me, not every song here is a winner or terribly memorable. However, it is worth the price of asdmission alone for the songs "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend", "Ship of Fools" and "You Know More Than I Know. " This is a good starting point for those interested in Cale's work. Less experimental than some, but still quite edgy. Some great musicians back him up on this lost classic of the Seventies.

You can see a complete list of all John Cale discography, or go back to the John Cale tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.