Saturday, February 15, 2020

Album Review: Bleu - Redhead

Redhead - the second record of Bleu - hit the stores in 2003. I found it by chance in 2007. 
Listening to Owsley, Jellyfish and Ben Folds I stumbled upon his name several times. Then I listened - and immediately bought the CD. 
About six years later, I managed to get him to Europe for a house concert. I also created this blog because of music like his.

Starting with "Get Up" - catchy, guitar driven, arousing interest in what comes next, which is ...
"I Won't Go Hollywood". It's not just a rock song, it's an anthem.
"We'll Do It All Again" - a song that you may fell in love with. For years and years.
"Searchin' For The Satellites" - a wonderful and powerful ballad.
"Could Be Worse" is again more upbeat. I remember finding the video clip on Youtube. My first thought was "What the f...k?!?" Still, it's ... interesting ;-)
"Watchin' You Sleep" - just gorgeous. Is there any other song in the world about stalking you can call gorgeous?
"Somebody Else" - for many it was the first contact with Bleu's music. It was featured at the Spiderman Soundtrack. And it's great. Period.
"You Know, I Know, You Know" - bluesy, powerful, it grows up to the end of the song.
"3's A Charm" - the powerful closing song for one perfect album.
Not to forget the hidden tunes "Feet Don't Fail" and "Dance dance baby doll dance" (a collaboration with Andy Sturmer).

The first pressing of Redhead had two songs, "Sayonara" and "Ursula Major, Ursula Minor" which were dropped for new ones on the second release. My suggestion: buy both.

Closing comments: Okay, before you listen to the record I will give you a last warning - these songs get stuck in your head (and after that in your phone or Spotify playlist). And they won't leave!
With the release of Redhead (and his following albums) Bleu has gained a loyal fan in me.

Epilogue: After Redhead, Bleu recorded A Watched Pot in 2005. Just after the record was done, Bleu was dropped from the label along with many other artists (and employees) - Sony’s downsizing was responsible for that. For four long years the album remained unreleased. I couldn't believe it when A Watched Pot was finally released in 2009, but that's another story for another great album. A Watched Pot is probably my favorite record of the last years because of its tremendous songs, but probably it's also because it lasted four long years to get a proper release for these great songs.
 

1 comment:

  1. The next line is "with your silly little crooked L.A. smile"

    ReplyDelete