Album: Paris 1919
Artist: John Cale
Release Date: February 25, 1973
Genre: Orchestral Pop
Length: 0:31:30
Label: Reprise Records
Producer: Chris Thomas
1,001 Album Book: Yes
A quick trip to the symphony...
One of the founding members of The Velvet Underground, John Cale, with his third solo album. The album focuses more on an orchestral style of music with songs about Western European history, such as the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, where the album got its name.
"Child's Christmas In Wales" is an introductory treasure to the rest of the magnificently produced album. At first glance, the song seems to be a Christmas tune, but the lyrics rarely focus on the holiday, but rather provide deep rooted poetry inspired by Dylan Thomas. The song features powerful piano playing by Cale, wailing guitars, choral-like verses, along with an organ solo a little over halfway. The bass guitar throughout the track moves the melody along with its small but meaningful parts, all on top of the slight orchestral strings provided by the UCLA Symphony Orchestra. The song is a flawless production preparing the listener for what is to come.
The second track on the album "Hanky Panky Nohow" starts with an acoustic guitar riff with a sound reminiscent of Pink Floyd and the orchestra behind the soothing guitar playing. Cale comes in with more reverb added to his voice than the prior track, but still is able to keep his calming style of singing over the peaceful feel of the instruments. A heavily acoustic song without the need for drums, the only percussion aspect is the tambourine that comes in during the chorus. Keeping this sound throughout the track is seemingly simple but when listened to more closely the track has a complex arrangement of strings that is sure to please the ear.
The consistent build-up through only three verses in the third track "The Endless Plain Of Fortune" brings forth the heavy orchestra sound. The use of blistering regal horns allows the entire song to be an intense track even with the peace keeping arrangement of the strings. Once again, Cale makes a surface level simple jam turn into a multi-layered adventure that takes the listener through an entire story with the music itself. The smooth transitions from the calm strings to the harsh brass make this track appealing from start to end.
The fourth track "Andalucia" features the flawless build-up seen throughout the prior songs on the album, with instruments slowly coming in to eventually present a song that feels like an entire orchestral performance. The vocal performance on this song is weaker than the others, but that is the least important aspect of the instrumental talent in the song, particularly the bass. The bass continues to provide one of the most drastic parts of the track, allowing every instrument to drive along with the melodies harnessed by the bass guitar.
Compared to the relaxing sound of the guitars, string, and percussive sounds in the other tracks, "Macbeth" takes all of that and decides to give the album a more intense, angry song. The song could easily be mistaken for heavy metal, which is in sharp contrast to the other tracks. The beat provided by the drums is catchy and allows Cale to focus on his experimental background, seen through his vocal performance. The chaos issued in this song is the perfect end to "Side A'' of the album even though it is far from the best song on the album (in fact it could be argued it's the worst).
One of Cale's most well known songs "Paris 1919" focuses on telling the complex story of the Treaty of Versailles and how it provided the rise of Hitler. Despite the dark and depressing lyrics, the song is a cheerful anthem with frantic strings, and overwhelming sense of fear, while still providing a lively orchestral piece.
A very interesting aspect of the album is that Cale does what he wants. There are moments in the songs that you expect something to happen, such as an instrument to come in, a rhythm change or anything along those lines, but it never happens. He has an idea for the art he created and doesn't let a formula take that over, which makes this album a sharp departure from the familiar formulaic music structure in the majority of musical history.
I quickly grew to love this album. While he has points where his voice isn't the best or the song structure seems weird, I just remembered that this album is basically a classical music record with some vocals. The entire album takes you by surprise and brings forth sounds that are not heard elsewhere. The creativity needed to pull this off, and the genius to mix pop/rock instruments heavily with an orchestra requires talent that Cale perfected. All hail Cale!...
Favorite Songs: "Paris 1919", "Child's Christmas In Wales", "Antarctica Starts Here"
Least Favorite Songs: "Macbeth" (Still not awful, but compared to the rest it's definitely bottom tier)
Production Quality:
Mix = 10/10
Innovation = 9.5/10 (Other bands have utilized orchestral sounds, but an orchestra rarely utilizes pop/rock sounds)
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 9.5/10
Lyricism = 7/10 (Interesting lyrics that require a PHD in European History to understand)
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 6/10 (Bits of greatness with his voice, but sometimes he hits notes that he should not have even attempted)
Instrumental Timbre = 10/10
Group Chemistry = 10/10
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 9/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at my "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!