The Alarm
Curtain Call
1988
By Steve Fulton
"Curtain Call" is promotional-only album, released primarily to promote the single "Rescue Me" to American AOR radio stations in 1988. It contains 11 tracks, the most interesting of which is alternative version of "Rescue Me" called the "Tearing The Bonds Asunder Mix" which contains less synthesizer, and an extended bridge that lets Dave Sharp go "guitar-wild". Other interesting songs are "The Stand (full version)" Absolute Reality (UK Single Version) that appeared here for the first time on CD. Also present, is the entire contents of "Electric Folklore Live".
Wednesday, January 1, 1997
Review : The Alarm : Electric Folklore Live
The Alarm
Electric Folklore Live
1988
By Steve Futon
This album is over 40 minutes long, and contains only 6 songs. The live versions of "Rescue Me" and "Rain In The Summertime" are brilliant on this album, drastically making up for the low-key versions on "Eye Of The Hurricane". The problem is that 2 songs do not make up a live album. The other 4 songs, "Strength", "Blaze Of Glory", "Spirit Of '76", and "Permanence In Change" are far inferior to earlier album or live versions. With only 6 songs, this album has far too many missing elements that would have shown The Alarm at their best. "The Stand", "Howling Wind", "Where Were You Hiding", "Absolute Reality", "The Bells Of Rhymney", and "The Deceiver" among many many others could have filled out this album and really shown what a brilliant, tight, and powerful live band The Alarm were. Instead, we get 6 bloated numbers that do more to show The Alarm's mis-direction than anything else. Wasn't it Pete Townsend that once said "any song over 2:30 is crap" ? This certainly would apply to "Electric Folklore Live".
Electric Folklore Live
1988
By Steve Futon
This album is over 40 minutes long, and contains only 6 songs. The live versions of "Rescue Me" and "Rain In The Summertime" are brilliant on this album, drastically making up for the low-key versions on "Eye Of The Hurricane". The problem is that 2 songs do not make up a live album. The other 4 songs, "Strength", "Blaze Of Glory", "Spirit Of '76", and "Permanence In Change" are far inferior to earlier album or live versions. With only 6 songs, this album has far too many missing elements that would have shown The Alarm at their best. "The Stand", "Howling Wind", "Where Were You Hiding", "Absolute Reality", "The Bells Of Rhymney", and "The Deceiver" among many many others could have filled out this album and really shown what a brilliant, tight, and powerful live band The Alarm were. Instead, we get 6 bloated numbers that do more to show The Alarm's mis-direction than anything else. Wasn't it Pete Townsend that once said "any song over 2:30 is crap" ? This certainly would apply to "Electric Folklore Live".
Review : The Alarm : Eye Of The Hurricane
The Alarm
Eye Of The Hurricane
1987
By Steve Fulton
"Eye" or "the disaster album" as my brother used to call it, came as a shock to most Alarm fans. The electronic drums on the first single "Rain In The Summertime" are a bit hard to swallow, and the synthesizers used elsewhere just seem out of place for The Alarm. These elements are used only sparingly on the album, but the production seems to highlight them, making them even more evident. What The Alarm were trying to do with "Eye" was to not re-create "Strength". They were only partially successful. Songs like "Rain In The Summertime", "Presence Of Love", "Hallowed Ground", "Newtown Jericho" and "Eye Of The Hurricane" certainly ring of a new sound, but the other half of the album: "One Step Closer To Home", "Shelter", "Rescue Me", "Permanence In change" and "Only Love Can Set Me Free", could have been on "Strength II" if they had a harder-edged production. What we get is a compromise of two song styles, hampered by an even-handed production that doesn't highlight either of them. The easy stand-out is Dave Sharp's "One Step Closer To Home", which is simply one of the best songs ever recorded. It is easy to pick out from the rest of the album because it was recorded live (the only way Dave could get it the way he wanted). "Rain In The Summertime" is brilliant song, (even with the electronics), and the haunting "Hallowed Ground" harkens back to old Alarm b-sides like "Unbreak The Promise". "Shelter" and "Newtown Jericho" have their moments, but they are just not as interesting as they could have been. "Permanence In change" is the only song with harmonica (which, strangely, was missing from "Hallowed Ground") and has an outstanding bass-line, making it come off as one of the better crafted songs on the album. The title track, "Eye Of The Hurricane" has a promising acoustic riff, but is mired in sea of swirling synthesizers, that crashes with a resounding "thud" during he chorus. "Rescue Me" is a really great song, but it is one that could have truly used a more "Strength"-style production, instead it seems almost low-key in its rock attack, the same can be said for "Only Love Can Set Me Free". There may be a reason for this (but not an excuse). "Eye Of The Hurricane" was the first Alarm album that was essentially self-produced (John Porter gets the credit for guiding them in the studio), and the problems most likely come from there. Still, "Eye Of The Hurricane" is solid album, but also one that left me wondering what the songs would have sounded like if they were all recorded a different way.
Eye Of The Hurricane
1987
By Steve Fulton
"Eye" or "the disaster album" as my brother used to call it, came as a shock to most Alarm fans. The electronic drums on the first single "Rain In The Summertime" are a bit hard to swallow, and the synthesizers used elsewhere just seem out of place for The Alarm. These elements are used only sparingly on the album, but the production seems to highlight them, making them even more evident. What The Alarm were trying to do with "Eye" was to not re-create "Strength". They were only partially successful. Songs like "Rain In The Summertime", "Presence Of Love", "Hallowed Ground", "Newtown Jericho" and "Eye Of The Hurricane" certainly ring of a new sound, but the other half of the album: "One Step Closer To Home", "Shelter", "Rescue Me", "Permanence In change" and "Only Love Can Set Me Free", could have been on "Strength II" if they had a harder-edged production. What we get is a compromise of two song styles, hampered by an even-handed production that doesn't highlight either of them. The easy stand-out is Dave Sharp's "One Step Closer To Home", which is simply one of the best songs ever recorded. It is easy to pick out from the rest of the album because it was recorded live (the only way Dave could get it the way he wanted). "Rain In The Summertime" is brilliant song, (even with the electronics), and the haunting "Hallowed Ground" harkens back to old Alarm b-sides like "Unbreak The Promise". "Shelter" and "Newtown Jericho" have their moments, but they are just not as interesting as they could have been. "Permanence In change" is the only song with harmonica (which, strangely, was missing from "Hallowed Ground") and has an outstanding bass-line, making it come off as one of the better crafted songs on the album. The title track, "Eye Of The Hurricane" has a promising acoustic riff, but is mired in sea of swirling synthesizers, that crashes with a resounding "thud" during he chorus. "Rescue Me" is a really great song, but it is one that could have truly used a more "Strength"-style production, instead it seems almost low-key in its rock attack, the same can be said for "Only Love Can Set Me Free". There may be a reason for this (but not an excuse). "Eye Of The Hurricane" was the first Alarm album that was essentially self-produced (John Porter gets the credit for guiding them in the studio), and the problems most likely come from there. Still, "Eye Of The Hurricane" is solid album, but also one that left me wondering what the songs would have sounded like if they were all recorded a different way.
Review : The Alarm : Spirit Of '86
This review in indicative of what I was writing in 1997 about The Alarm. It was before I was working officially for Mike Peters, so I went ahead and said whatever I wanted. The updated version of this show that Mike Peters released in 2006 was much better.
The Alarm
Spirit of '86 (video)
1986
By Steve Fulton
The Spirit Of '86 show at UCLA was one of the best days I have spent in my entire life. Having said that, very little of that wonderful day was captured on this video shot by MTV. With smarmy commentating by Martha Quinn, and a ridiculously bad 15-minute "extra" segment called "The Alarm Have Sounded", the video looks like it was slapped together in about 2 hours (it was). The concert segment is not much better. Without the sound, I would have given this video "3 stars" because it looks pretty good, but turn the sound up, and well, it just makes the video unbearable to watch. About half-way through the second song, Nigel Twist's bass drum is demolished by some frat-boy's football, and for the rest of the show we get a nearly bottom-less set of Alarm classics. Of course, this didn't seem to effect the sound much to the 20,000 or so people that were at UCLA that day, but the story is much different on the video. The best songs here are "Declaration", "Marching On", and "Howling Wind" because they come before the drum disaster. The version of "The Stand" is pretty good as well, but just fast-forward over "Spirit Of '76", it will make you ill if you don't.
The Alarm
Spirit of '86 (video)
1986
By Steve Fulton
The Spirit Of '86 show at UCLA was one of the best days I have spent in my entire life. Having said that, very little of that wonderful day was captured on this video shot by MTV. With smarmy commentating by Martha Quinn, and a ridiculously bad 15-minute "extra" segment called "The Alarm Have Sounded", the video looks like it was slapped together in about 2 hours (it was). The concert segment is not much better. Without the sound, I would have given this video "3 stars" because it looks pretty good, but turn the sound up, and well, it just makes the video unbearable to watch. About half-way through the second song, Nigel Twist's bass drum is demolished by some frat-boy's football, and for the rest of the show we get a nearly bottom-less set of Alarm classics. Of course, this didn't seem to effect the sound much to the 20,000 or so people that were at UCLA that day, but the story is much different on the video. The best songs here are "Declaration", "Marching On", and "Howling Wind" because they come before the drum disaster. The version of "The Stand" is pretty good as well, but just fast-forward over "Spirit Of '76", it will make you ill if you don't.
Review : The Alarm : Strength
The Alarm
Strength
1985
By Steve Fulton
"Strength" is an album made by a mature band. The Alarm made the step from their early material to "Strength", not in a giant leap, but with the help of their first album "Declaration" and its forward-looking attitude. The youthful exuberance of "Declaration" is nearly absent here, supplanted with an emphasis on human needs and personal experience. What "Strength" keeps from "Declaration" is an inherint optimism for the future, even while reminicing about the past. Electric guitars eclipse acoustics on this album, making for a full, rounded sound not heard on previous Alarm recordings. This album is filled with some of The Alarm's best songs: The nostalgic fire of "Spririt Of '76", the cautionary tale in "The Day The Ravens Left The Tower", the simple truths of "Only The Thunder" and the joyful cry of "Walk Forever By My Side". "Strength" is an album to savor, it makes you think, and stomp about at the same time.
Strength
1985
By Steve Fulton
"Strength" is an album made by a mature band. The Alarm made the step from their early material to "Strength", not in a giant leap, but with the help of their first album "Declaration" and its forward-looking attitude. The youthful exuberance of "Declaration" is nearly absent here, supplanted with an emphasis on human needs and personal experience. What "Strength" keeps from "Declaration" is an inherint optimism for the future, even while reminicing about the past. Electric guitars eclipse acoustics on this album, making for a full, rounded sound not heard on previous Alarm recordings. This album is filled with some of The Alarm's best songs: The nostalgic fire of "Spririt Of '76", the cautionary tale in "The Day The Ravens Left The Tower", the simple truths of "Only The Thunder" and the joyful cry of "Walk Forever By My Side". "Strength" is an album to savor, it makes you think, and stomp about at the same time.
Review : The Alarm : Declaration
Another review from The Alarm Archive written in early 1997.
The Alarm
Declartion
1984
By Steve Fulton
The Alarm's first real album is one of the best ever recorded by any band in any year throughout the history of rock n' roll. How can I say this? Because I truey believe it. No album has ever grabbed, shook, and thrown me the way this one did the first time I heard in 1984 and no album will ever do the same. Not a mere collection of songs, this album is a true "Renaissance" of rock music. It is filled at once, with child-like naivite`, youthful exuberance, teenage angst, and adult recollection brimming with the notion that "dreams are what you make them" that never veers towards cynicism. This was not an album of "protest" songs or "revolution" songs, but rather an epic that captures, on record, the exact moment when youth is turning into adulthood, trying to decide what to take with it, and what to leave behind. "Declaration" stands at the cusp between old and new, between cessation and change. The album embraces the sounds and ideas of previous Alarm recordings, but adds many new thoughts, instruments, and arrangements that push the music into a vibrant new mold that points to the future. The centerpiece of "Declaration" is "Sixty Eight Guns", about an imaginary gang of friends set in the year 1968. We do not have to worry, as one misguided reviewer put it 13 years ago, "just what The Alarm is going to do with their 'Sixty Eight Guns' " because those guns never existed. "Sixty Eight Guns" is not a song about rebellion, it is a metaphor for youth and friendship, for holding onto what you believe, even if the world keeps telling you a different story. In a nutshell, "Sixty Eight Guns" is a microcosm of the entire album. From the sweetness of "We Are The Light", to the fury of "Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?", from the soul searching "Tell Me" to the mysteries contained in "Shout To The Devil", from the heart wrenching "Blaze Of Glory", to the beautiful, sweeping sound of "Howling Wind", "Declaration" has it all. It is a true classic.
The Alarm
Declartion
1984
By Steve Fulton
The Alarm's first real album is one of the best ever recorded by any band in any year throughout the history of rock n' roll. How can I say this? Because I truey believe it. No album has ever grabbed, shook, and thrown me the way this one did the first time I heard in 1984 and no album will ever do the same. Not a mere collection of songs, this album is a true "Renaissance" of rock music. It is filled at once, with child-like naivite`, youthful exuberance, teenage angst, and adult recollection brimming with the notion that "dreams are what you make them" that never veers towards cynicism. This was not an album of "protest" songs or "revolution" songs, but rather an epic that captures, on record, the exact moment when youth is turning into adulthood, trying to decide what to take with it, and what to leave behind. "Declaration" stands at the cusp between old and new, between cessation and change. The album embraces the sounds and ideas of previous Alarm recordings, but adds many new thoughts, instruments, and arrangements that push the music into a vibrant new mold that points to the future. The centerpiece of "Declaration" is "Sixty Eight Guns", about an imaginary gang of friends set in the year 1968. We do not have to worry, as one misguided reviewer put it 13 years ago, "just what The Alarm is going to do with their 'Sixty Eight Guns' " because those guns never existed. "Sixty Eight Guns" is not a song about rebellion, it is a metaphor for youth and friendship, for holding onto what you believe, even if the world keeps telling you a different story. In a nutshell, "Sixty Eight Guns" is a microcosm of the entire album. From the sweetness of "We Are The Light", to the fury of "Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?", from the soul searching "Tell Me" to the mysteries contained in "Shout To The Devil", from the heart wrenching "Blaze Of Glory", to the beautiful, sweeping sound of "Howling Wind", "Declaration" has it all. It is a true classic.
Review : The Alarm : EP
This was my first review created for The Alarm Archive, my web site dedicated to The Alarm that I ran alongside thealarm.com for several years until the folded together.
The Alarm EP
1983
By Steve Fulton
This was the first official Alarm release in the USA, and also marked their first collection of songs that could not be deemed "a single". This E.P. shows The Alarm in their rawest state: bristling with acoustic guitars, and harmonica, filled with youthful idealism, and creating a trademark sound all their own. The recordings here are more like lightening strikes than mere songs, each one distinct, yet with enough common musical and lyrical elements to sound like a cohesive whole.
The Alarm EP
1983
By Steve Fulton
This was the first official Alarm release in the USA, and also marked their first collection of songs that could not be deemed "a single". This E.P. shows The Alarm in their rawest state: bristling with acoustic guitars, and harmonica, filled with youthful idealism, and creating a trademark sound all their own. The recordings here are more like lightening strikes than mere songs, each one distinct, yet with enough common musical and lyrical elements to sound like a cohesive whole.
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