Thursday 27 May 2010

Unleash This Man-Malcolm Roberts-A Genius In Chains


The cover is psychedelic; the back cover is square as square can be, and my emotions whilst listening to this album similarly veer from Wo! to No! in quick succession. The thing is this: I am totally knocked out by the voice of this cat, but the tired, overcooked material that he is given to interpret, leaves barely any room for him to bring anything fresh or new to the proceedings. I love the voice, I hate the lack of thought behind this debut...

Our Song- What a voice! Shades of Matt Monroe, even a bit of Scott Walker when Malcolm really opens up those pipes, but totally unique in any case-a perfect blend of study and soul. Love it, love it. A corker of a vibrato when he choses to unleash it, but never too much. I feel like one lucky boy sitting here in my London listening cave.

There Will Never Be Another You-charming orchestral opening, beautiful arrangement. Man! I love it. Mr Roberts oozes sophistication, charm and most importantly SINCERITY. I am a little bit in awe of this singer.

Be My Love-Mr Roberts comes in a little bombastically for my tastes on this, and in fact his delivery is just a tad too precise here; perfect West-End show style that doesn't sound quite so appropriate for a studio performance. A great show-case for his vocal power though-some really earth shattering notes, but the track just doesn't give me chills like the first two.

Laura-Malcolm Roberts is right back where I like him on this Johnny Mercer classic. With subtlety and mellowness, the vocals just work work work. Less is more guys, give us intimacy over power Mr producer....

All The Things You Are-A bit dull

The Night We Said Goodbye- a gently funkier groove, and great to hear the man trusted with some less familiar material. This is worth ten lackluster American Songbook exhumations.

Side Two:

Time Alone Will Tell- Too square for the man... The mandolins conspire to turn this into a wretched ice cream advert...

Misty- A clever arrangement idea has this kicking off with the middle 8 instead of verse 1. Despite another desperately unimaginative song choice, Malcolm does sing the hell out of it-with an amazing note plucked right out of the heavens at the start of the final verse. Top marks to the singer, bottom marks to the producer.

Where Or When- terribly dated, with a backing- vocal arrangement which would have sounded jaded in the 1940s let alone late 1960s.

My Foolish Heart- Stunningly sung, but again, I really really yearn for some less familiar material. Amazing singing at the conclusion...

Love Is A Many Splendored Thing- BORING, leave this overdone shit for any 2nd and 3rd league singers, give our Mr Roberts something cool. Of course he does a great job, but so would Michael Ball for chrissakes...

Tonight-A cool swinging tempo given to the West Side Story staple, and one can palpably hear the singer relishing the change of pace. Halfway through it, the arrangement gets a bit too London Palladium for me (frenzied rhythm section, wailing brass and one can imagine the cabaret cast and crew running out onto the stage to give their bows etc etc...) Yet another fantastic vocal tour de force at the end, leaving the listener in no doubt whatsoever about the vocal mastery on offer here, but very much in doubt over the point of constantly giving the record buying public new artists singing songs we could all sing in our sleep.

I believe in you Mr Roberts....

Details:

Artist: Malcolm Roberts
Album: Mr Roberts
Label: RCA Victor Mono RD 7940
Year: 1968

1 comment:

  1. Malcolm unfortunately is singing in heaven now, with his beautifull unforgettable voice!

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