FEATURED REVIEW.............................................................22 AUG 2005
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Artist:
GREY DELISLE |
Up-and-coming alt.country chanteuse Grey DeLisle has a rather unusual day job. She is, according to her official website, "one of the most successful voice actors in Hollywood." Not exactly the most humble of statements, that, but given her extensive list of credits, we suspect it's an accurate one. We were impressed, in any event--how many successful voice actors release alt.country records on the side? Then again, how many voice actors are married to Old 97s bassist Murry Hammond?
The latest release from Grey DeLisle--Iron Flowers on the Sugar Hill label--is a heady mix of God and glam rock. Let's start with the glam rock: DeLisle seems to have developed an unhealthy fascination with Queen. The opening track on her new album is an unadvised cover of the schlock epic "Bohemian Rhapsody." Yeah, that's right--"Bohemian Rhapsody." Sure, DeLisle shaves a few minutes off the Queen version, eliminates the operatic bombast, and trades the guitar histrionics for a few plucks on the autoharp--but it is still "Bohemian Rhapsody." Some songs are hackneyed beyond salvation, and this is one. (And to make matters worse, DeLisle's plodding version includes a few lines of spoken cheeze.)
As though a cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" weren't homage enough, DeLisle hired photographer Mick Rock to do up her album art Queen-style. (For what it's worth, DeLisle's album cover does bear a certain resemblence to Queen II.) Meanwhile, the glam guitar riffs so carefully excised from the cover version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" are prominently featured on the album's third track, "Right Now" (which, thankfully, is not a cover of the Van Halen song).
Now to the God part: rumor has it that the Hammond/DeLisle family is on the Jesus bus. That's fine by us. We've no problem with people of faith, provided, of course, that they don't wear their faith on their shirtsleeves. It's just that, as we've noted elsewhere, religion seems to have a corrosive effect on aesthetic sensibilities. Now, as Ms. DeLisle is a person of faith, and as her aforementioned Queen fixation is clear evidence of a corroded aesthetic sensibility...well, you get the picture. (Yes, boys and girls, we're blaming God for "Bohemian Rhapsody.")
Murry and Grey spend most Wednesdays leading the faithful in worship at the First Christian Church of Burbank. While the parishioners must appreciate the break from Christian Contemporary, the worship sessions seem to be disrupting the couple's artistic lives. The Old 97s website reports that Murry Hammond's long-in-the-works solo album has been pushed back because, Murry has "been more in the mood to do the music up at church than work on it."
The gospel seeps into Iron Flowers as well, from "Joanna," who "did all the things the Bible taught her" to "God's Got It"--a piece of straighforward proselytization. "If you need it, God's got it / He got everything you need," DeLisle sings, "He got every, everything a poor man need." Apparently God is a Super Wal-mart.
In summation: God, glam, spoken cheeze, a few unnecessary percussive elements and the odd misplaced sample. (Not to mention an ill-conceived refrain that begins "Break my heart, the sweetest, ripest part...") Three cheezeballs.
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A NOTE ON THE RATING SYSTEM:
5 CHEEZEBALLS = UNLISTENABLE SCHLOCK
3 CHEEZEBALLS = A DIFFICULT SLOG
1 CHEEZEBALL = THE ODD FORGIVABLE MISSTEP
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