Soul Express Album Review

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This has to be my album of 2005, if not my album of the 21^st Century so far. This album is simply amazing. I cannot emphasise this enough. I have always loved Burt Bacharach and his place in the history of quality black music cannot and should not be refuted. Burt is now – amazingly – 77 years old and none of his genius has diminished. Interestingly, this album is a marked difference from what he has recorded before. Not only is this his first album in over 3 decades, it is a very personal and melancholic album. One very accurate description that I have seen has this album as "a clenched fist in a velvet glove". This is an astute and undeniable assertion. To add to this, "At This Time" is as sad as it is beautiful and haunting. I am not one for showing emotions, but much of this album leaves me welling up, sometimes with tears running down my face. Its sheer beauty cannot be articulated by the likes of I. Burt’s melodies on this album are exactly what you would expect: unique and lavishly orchestrated.

Burt adds a few vocals himself and whilst no-one – least of all Burt – would claim he is the world’s best singer, but for me his ghostly, almost timid vocals have a measured frailty that only adds to the beautiful, haunting and captivating melodies that he lays down. They are so weak in places they increase the power of what he is saying. This is a man of experience, and endless capacity to love looking at a world full of hate, fear and violence. Worst of all, a world of hopelessness. I think this has shocked the man so much that he has been moved to create this beautiful album. I would say this is his very own "What’s Going On" for the 21^st Century. I personally feel this.

Many have made a point about artists such as Elvis Costello, Dr. Dre and Rufus Wainwright making an appearance. Please, this is by no means bad. I have respect for all of these artists and their efforts on here does nought but add lustre to an already faultless album. Many have overlooked the fact that most of the vocals actually come from some very good friends of ours – Josie James and John Pagano. Both are superb and should feel proud to have taken a part in this historical recording. I would say that if you loved the style of the "Here I Am: Isley Meets Bacharach" set from 2003 then you would love this too. This set is more contemporary in places. Dr. Dre supplies some contemporary drum loops; some tracks at the outset are VERY today because of this. Imagine this alongside Burt’s dizzyingly clever arrangements that are often off-key to the point of brilliance. The result is magic.

The opening song, "Please Explain" has a slinky, funky drum loop would not be out of place on a Snoop Dog album – think "Drop It While Its Hot" - but once the keys and the piano come in with the swirling strings this tasty groove is elevated to astronomical proportions. This is CLASSIC Bacharach from the 60s meeting head on with Hip Hop culture and WORKING! If that’s not genius, then I don’t know what is. Burt’s frail and emotional vocal is spot-on: "The sun and the moon are crying…the stars and our hearts…crying…please explain". My God, I can’t get enough of this.

This theme is continued on the Josie James, John Pagano and Donna Taylor supported "Where Did It Go". We can hear where Scott Walker found his influence on this. Burt, in this song, is very fearful for his young children….how do we undo a thousand mistakes, he asks. Poignant, personal and very touching. Chris Botti is an accomplished musician and his muted trumpet performance is very much in the Herb Alpert bag. Concertmaster Charlie Bisharat lushly orchestrates this track, "In Our Time", and it gives me ice cold shivers to hear this every time. "Dreams" is another Botti inclusion, and equally pleases.

To say that "Who Are These People" is a CLASSIC is an understatement. From the opening mournful strings to the soulful synth I was instantly in heaven with this song. Elvis Costello has a great vocal skill and has worked brilliantly with Burt before, and he fits in like symbiosis to this sort of cultured groove. The song is a massive swipe at the lunatic leaders that are currently causing – and planning – much mayhem and suffering in this world. There is a lot of venom in this song aimed at the likes of the Neo-Cons like Bush and Chaney; the velvet fist packs a punch big time, especially when the line "pretending to pray…and getting away with it". This song is so angry yet so beautiful. Josie James is wonderful, and Elvis Costello surpasses himself. He sounds so much like the late, great Rick James that its scary! Josie is also at the forefront of the amazing semi-instrumental "Is Love Enough" which is another classic Bacharach composition.

"Can’t Give It Up" is also beautiful and has lyrics to match. The enigmatically titled "Go Ask Shakespeare" is an absolute KILLER, and we are treated to over three minutes of lush orchestration and urban groove prior to Rufus Wainwright coming in. I was struck by how much Rufus sounded like Leonard Caston. This song is another piece that deals with the world we live in today, and is stoical in its realisation that yes, things are bad (in fact they’re worse than you can imagine) but there will be a day when the sun will shine again. Love pays a great part in Burt’s writing and he is using this word in its greatest context – universal love for and between all things. The lyrics do not hide Bacharach’s genius and his ability to assimilate the horrendous nature of the world and relay it in a beautiful way, sprinkling hope into the message. Wainwright is both wistful and almost distracted. "Dreams" with its relentless drumbeat and anguished, off-key strings are so haunting it hurts. The spine tingling really comes into its own for me when we have the solo sax and violin. I am not keen on solo violin unless it’s in the right context. This mournful, beautiful effort is PERFECT for both and exult the performers higher than anything else does.

"Fade Away" is the penultimate song on this wonderful album and the happy strings that sweep into the piano are simply breathtaking. Warren Luening’s trumpet and flugelhorn solos are pure magic, and in addition to Josie James’ solo this rates as yet another killer. For me, though, Burt leaves his best for last. The day I bought this CD I played the album 5 times in a row. My 3 year old daughter thinks it a beautiful album, but the track that really gets me is "Always Taking Aim" which closes the album. The longest composition at nearly 7 minutes, it is an amazing foray into classic Bacharach melodies complete with full orchestration, kettle drum and sax, and live drums. John Pagano delivers the vocal right at the very end over what I can only describe as sophisticated and exquisite music. He sings so delicately "I know that things may never ever chance, things will stay the same, but I know love is never far away…always taking aim". This part of the song is so beautiful that it never fails to reduce me to a wreck. So simple yet so, so beautiful. Beautiful, sad and yet still hopeful.

I openly admit that this CD has me open up, and that takes a very special album indeed to do this. Rarely do I get moved so much. Another thing chokes me up, too, and that is the fact that music like this is VERY rare now, and those who make it – like Burt – are no longer young. When they inevitably pass away no one is there to replace them. There is not going to be another of the likes of Burt Bacharach, and no one today is going to give us this kind of material. That is something that I, as a music lover, can cry about. This type of music is something that we should celebrate, cherish and keep close to our hearts always. If you only buy one CD this year, make it this one.

-Barry Towler