Late Associates mainstay's glossy solo excursion sadly given another incomplete reissue
9/10 for the music, 6/10 for the re-issue
At the ridiculously young age of 39, Dundee's under-stated, under-rated operatic pop-crooner Billy Mackenzie terminated his own life at his father's house in 1997, just six months after the death of his mother. Many stated this was a tragic waste of a life and they were right - Mackenzie had a sumptuous rack of tonsils and a canny knack for crafting memorable tunes, most of them with Alan Rankine as The Associates. Did he fulfill his potential? did he hell...
After issuing a veritable array of bizarre left-field 12" singles for indie-label Situation 2 in the early '80s (who can forget the cinematic Bowie-esque White Car In Germany?), The Associates provided beer-tokens for Mackenzie and Rankine when jaunty, sparkly belter Party Fears Two broke the charts and the mould on Top of the Pops - that performance of that song goes down in history as just a touch eccentric and near-genius.
After further singles failed to scale the same heights and the album Sulk disappeared from the shops, Mackenzie and Rankine both chose solo careers, with differing success. Rankine issued two albums, one for Belgian imprint Crepuscule and one, a retake of much of the first one, for Virgin - neither sold well, nor did ace single The Sandman or the Bladerunner-esque instrumental follow-up CD, The Big Picture Sucks. A shame. A career in lecturing beckoned, although he has since returned to the producer's chair on occasion.
As for Billy Mackenzie, his talents lay elsewhere - his voice, for one. Already an in-demand contributor on a few releases by Yello and BEF, the former act's Boris Blank was duly summoned to produce a clutch of songs for what was to become his debut solo album. Outernational was and remains an accomplished fusion of glossy cinematic pop, sprinkled with state of the art studio-trickery and fairy-dust courtesy of Blank, plus Sun Electric's Thomas Fehlmann and pal Moritz von Oswald. All it needed were some songs.
And songs were perhaps what were lacking here and there but, when they appeared, they were truly wonderful. The opening title-track is as subtle as it is epic, perhaps too subtle but beautifully produced and a great way to start an album. There's also pumped-up Euro-disco to be found on Feels Like The Richtergroove and Opal Krusch (superb vocals on the latter) and HUGE balladeering on the Blank-produced In Windows All and single Baby. How the latter failed to chart is beyond me - there is so much going on in this song, you need a cathedral to cram it all in.
The other two singles on here are the opposite ends of Billy's abilities - firstly, his deft handling of Stevie Wonder's Pastime Paradise is to be applauded, an electro-reggae take on what is a classic soul song (it pisses over the risible Gangsta's Paradise remake by Coolio). Secondly, the album version of Colours Will Come still doesn't work and proved to be a duff choice for radio. Better might have been the punchy Sacrifice Or Be Sacrificed.
Frustratingly, Cherry Red have neither added nor taken away a great deal from the misguided Virgin reissue some seven years ago, save for an additional mix of Richtergroove alongside the superior and soulful Larry Heard remix of Colours etc present on the previous version.
And that leads me on to the bewildering lack of attention to detail - where are the production credits, where is the accurate discography (no mention of Pastime Paradise issued as a single) and the in-depth biog that this man deserves? What about the other b-sides from this era such as the hefty dub-house version of Opal Krusch, or Outernationale 2, or the US mix of Ever Since That Day by Julian Mendelsohn, the clubbier instrumental mixes of Sacrifice and Grooveature (different enough to be included, I might add), or even admittedly below-par Raw Stylus mix of Colours?
Thankfully, much of Outernational speaks for itself - it's a honey of an album. But, this should have been a double-CD set, once and for all. Next time, Billy, next time.
9/10 for the music, 6/10 for the re-issue
After issuing a veritable array of bizarre left-field 12" singles for indie-label Situation 2 in the early '80s (who can forget the cinematic Bowie-esque White Car In Germany?), The Associates provided beer-tokens for Mackenzie and Rankine when jaunty, sparkly belter Party Fears Two broke the charts and the mould on Top of the Pops - that performance of that song goes down in history as just a touch eccentric and near-genius.
After further singles failed to scale the same heights and the album Sulk disappeared from the shops, Mackenzie and Rankine both chose solo careers, with differing success. Rankine issued two albums, one for Belgian imprint Crepuscule and one, a retake of much of the first one, for Virgin - neither sold well, nor did ace single The Sandman or the Bladerunner-esque instrumental follow-up CD, The Big Picture Sucks. A shame. A career in lecturing beckoned, although he has since returned to the producer's chair on occasion.
As for Billy Mackenzie, his talents lay elsewhere - his voice, for one. Already an in-demand contributor on a few releases by Yello and BEF, the former act's Boris Blank was duly summoned to produce a clutch of songs for what was to become his debut solo album. Outernational was and remains an accomplished fusion of glossy cinematic pop, sprinkled with state of the art studio-trickery and fairy-dust courtesy of Blank, plus Sun Electric's Thomas Fehlmann and pal Moritz von Oswald. All it needed were some songs.
And songs were perhaps what were lacking here and there but, when they appeared, they were truly wonderful. The opening title-track is as subtle as it is epic, perhaps too subtle but beautifully produced and a great way to start an album. There's also pumped-up Euro-disco to be found on Feels Like The Richtergroove and Opal Krusch (superb vocals on the latter) and HUGE balladeering on the Blank-produced In Windows All and single Baby. How the latter failed to chart is beyond me - there is so much going on in this song, you need a cathedral to cram it all in.
The other two singles on here are the opposite ends of Billy's abilities - firstly, his deft handling of Stevie Wonder's Pastime Paradise is to be applauded, an electro-reggae take on what is a classic soul song (it pisses over the risible Gangsta's Paradise remake by Coolio). Secondly, the album version of Colours Will Come still doesn't work and proved to be a duff choice for radio. Better might have been the punchy Sacrifice Or Be Sacrificed.
Frustratingly, Cherry Red have neither added nor taken away a great deal from the misguided Virgin reissue some seven years ago, save for an additional mix of Richtergroove alongside the superior and soulful Larry Heard remix of Colours etc present on the previous version.
And that leads me on to the bewildering lack of attention to detail - where are the production credits, where is the accurate discography (no mention of Pastime Paradise issued as a single) and the in-depth biog that this man deserves? What about the other b-sides from this era such as the hefty dub-house version of Opal Krusch, or Outernationale 2, or the US mix of Ever Since That Day by Julian Mendelsohn, the clubbier instrumental mixes of Sacrifice and Grooveature (different enough to be included, I might add), or even admittedly below-par Raw Stylus mix of Colours?
Thankfully, much of Outernational speaks for itself - it's a honey of an album. But, this should have been a double-CD set, once and for all. Next time, Billy, next time.