[.ca] Original Soundtrack

Art/Pop Rock's Finest Moment:
I'm almost 50 and I still haven't heard many albums better than this one. 10cc in their heyday were unsurpassed in creative, experimental rock songwriting. The beauty of their vocals, the skill of their musicianship, the wry of their wit, the edge of their rock, the sadness of their melancholy, the adventure of their extended theatrical pieces, all add up to some pure creative musical genius. And The Original Sountrack exemplifies this more than anything else they've done. I really can't even consider 10cc the same band after Lol Creme and Kevin Godley left, when they devolved into a "clever" Top 40 pop band. One listen to L or Freeze Frame and you'll see what I'm talking about. Those two put the art into art rock. Gouldman and Stewart were both talented songwriters in their own right, but Godley/Creme made 10cc the unique band that they were. How Dare You is a fine follow-up to this CD, but I always felt it a bit too slick, not as daring or unpredictable, and not even close to approaching the seering rock of "Second Sitting for the Last Supper" or the brash whimsy of "Une Nuit a Paris." Sadly, no one has supplanted 10cc in the past 20 years. I still go back to The Original Soundtrack when I want to hear something original, and it still gets my blood pumping, after all these years.

Re-discovering "The Original Soundtrack":
Although 1977's "Deceptive Bends" is my favorite 10cc album, this 1975 release has grown on me over the years. Although the silly and over-long "Une Nuit a Paris" begins to sink the album before it even begins to sail, the second track (and BIG chart-topper) "I'm Not in Love" immediately puts it back on course. Musically the album gets stronger from that point on. In addition, "Blackmail", "The Second Sitting of the Last Supper" and "Life is a Minestrone" are especially strong tunes for their humor, sarcasm, irony and harmony, the latter always having struck me as the immediately recognizable and characteristic sound of 10cc. The play on the album's title (and the film metaphor visuals on the album sleeve) wraps up the group's humor succintly (it wasn't an actual soundtrack to any film at all). This 1975 album, along with the following year's "How Dare You!" finds the band at its peak, with Kevin Godley and Lol Creme as strong forces, giving the band a rich sound with tunes that sometimes sound much like Queen, one of many competing bands for frequent radio play. And thanks also to Eric Stewart's smooth vocals, "The Original Soundtrack" finds the band quite confident in their appeal and humor with their ability to juxtapose the silly with the serious (i.e. "Blackmail" versus "Flying Junk"). However, introductees to 10cc might best begin with 1974's "Sheet Music", which provides a somewhat lighter listen. Strongly recommended to anyone interested in knowing more about some of the best music of the 1970s.

The Original Soundtrack:
If you have to start somewhere with 10cc, start with SHEET MUSIC (1974). This is arguably one of the best albums of the 70's, and certainly was a major influence on things to come in the 80's. Why SHEET MUSIC has never been elevated to the status it should have been is not a mystery. Sometimes bands are too good for their own good. Me? I think this is inspirational and would be a damn far sight better than most of the stuff you've listened to over and over again, and told is "classic". 10cc innovated, renovated and elevated pop rock music to new standards, and were definitely the most influential British band of the 7o's. Your second stop on the 10cc highway/motorway should be this album, The Original Soundtrack. Some argue it's better than SHEET MUSIC, some say it's not. Either and or, you get incredibly well written songs, emmaculate production, two of the best singers Britain has had to offer, and a band that was in complete control of their musical output. You get songs about French prostitutes, Drug dealers, Blackmailers, Minestrone, Messiahs, and so much more. These 4 guys (Eric Stewart, Lol Creme, Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman) had wit, smarts, talent and the ability to pull it all off. Every track is different from the last and you will not be bored. They beat Queen to the opera, and like it's been said previously, with alot more humour and fun, but with technical brilliance. There are moments on this album that are musically beautiful, like the introduction of "Brand New Day", or "Flying Junk". And even though it's been played to death, "I'm Not In Love" was truly a one of a kind song. No one up until 1975 had ever heard anything like that, and no one had employed such techniques to record anything like it. Now you can do it with synthesizers, but it's the sound of it that inspired so many Emulators and Synclaviers in the 80's to achieve it's etherealness. And that the message of the song is one of total denial of being in love at all, sarcasm bared, not many people got the joke. Like The Police's "Every Breath You Take", it's not really a love song. It's about someone who has some "funny" ideas in their head that they think is love. The Original Soundtrack, your second stop on the 10cc road.

Nearly perfect pop record:
Like their UK counterparts Roxy Music, 10cc (who, by the way, sound nothing like Roxy)created music that showed passion, insight, intelligence and wit. Their best albums (Sheet Music, Original Soundtrack, How Dare You! and Deceptive Bends) bring together the very best that music had to offer in the 70's. The mini rock opera that opens the album has enough hooks for 5 hit records. While Queen stole the 10cc's thunder with a mini rock opera of their own, 10cc's is both wittier and is closer in spirit to the Who's A Quick One While He's Away. I'm Not In Love became the band's biggest hit single. It's a great song full of rich ironic moments and full of astounding production touches by the band. Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman pack this 4 minute song with enough melody, lyrical insight and regret to almost make this a mini rock opera as well. The stand out tracks though are Life is a Minestrone and The Second Setting for the Last Supper. The former acts as a delightful parody of singer-songwriter cliches and still manages to work as a song outside of that context. The latter is a hard hitting rocker that captures all the contradictions of Christianity in under 5 minutes. The bonus tracks are witty but its very clear why they were b sides originally. Both could have been stand out tracks on the band's first album, but within the company of these songs are weak. Still, each has its moments.

Jukebox memories.....:
You know what??? In their prime ('72 - '78....argueably...) they were one great band. I actually bought this upon it's release when I was twelve on the strength of the magnificent single "I'm Not In Love". Although the editing on the single version was awful. This song had it all, and meant everything to a twelve year old boy. Now, most people relegate it to your typical 70's Time/Life compilations. But what about the rest of the album you say??? At a time when pomp rock was at it's height, this set knocked down the walls. Just listen to the oft ignored "Flying Junk Man", a song about a local drug pusher. Anyone reading this that already owns it knows what I'm saying. If you do like this and don't have their first 2 cd's, get them as well. Sheet Music is a classic all it's own.

• Nuit a Paris, Pt. 1: One Night in Paris/Pt. 2: The Same Night in Paris
• I'm Not in Love
• Blackmail
• Second Sitting for the Last Supper
• Brand New Day
• Flying Junk
• Life Is a Minestrone
• Film of My Love
• Channel Swimmer \o*\c
• Good News \o*\c