The Link 11 CD Review

            ***************
            *  cd review  *
            *      by     *
            * neptune/tsr.*
            ***************

this month i have decided to do TWO cd
reviews: one recent cd, and one very
OLD one, just for a change.

first off i'll review the recently
released one, so wiggle that joystick
to continue!


        ERIC CLAPTON: UNPLUGGED
        -----------------------

UNPLUGGED seems to be a very popular
(ie. unoriginal) name these days....
artists such as mariah carey, and i
think boom crash opera, have both made
albums bearing this title, as well as
old ERIC himself.

however, despite the overused name,
clapton's music is far from unoriginal:
he has a distinctive style which i think
many people will enjoy.

some of you smarter ones may have
already worked out that this is a LIVE
album, which is what gives it much of
its character. it is full of acoustic
versions of many of eric's old songs,
which actually sound quite good.

i hadn't heard any of these songs before
UNPLUGGED was released, but apparently
many of them were hits (before my time).
and now clapton is again having great
success with these new versions of his
most popular songs.


most of you will have heard at least
two songs from the album, the two which
have been put out as singles and are on
the radio a lot:   LAYLA and TEARS IN
HEAVEN.  if you liked these, you'll like
the rest of the album too, because the
same style is heard throughout, with
eric's funky-sounding acoustic guitar
forming the basis of most of the songs.

of course, TEARS IN HEAVEN is the song
which won heaps of grammy awards not so
long ago. it is probably the slowest,
sweetest song on the cd, and is about

clapton's young son, who died in a
tragic accident a few years ago.

probably a lot of people didn't like
that song (because it was too slow), but
found that they did like LAYLA. the good
news is that most of the songs on the
album are similar to LAYLA in their
style, and there aren't many slow ones.
the live sound is very authentic and
enjoyable, and you can tell that the
audience are having just as much fun as
the guys up on stage.


the natural, acoustic sound seems to be
very popular at the moment in the music
world. many artists are having huge
success without resorting to the use
of synthesisers and drum machines. some
recent examples include YOU DON'T TREAT
ME NO GOOD, IF I EVER FALL IN LOVE (in
which there are NO instruments other
than the human voice); and also songs by
artists such as boyz 2 men (END OF THE
ROAD, as well as their new one); mr.
big (TO BE WITH YOU); excess (ONLY
WORDS); and of course kylie minogue (I
SHOULD BE SO LUCKY).
            NB: one of those was a joke.
in fact, even a "heavy" group like FAITH
NO MORE have gone for a much more "easy"
feel with their latest song. and i must
say it's a nice change from all the
hip-hop-house-rap-crap music that's been
dominating the radio station's playlists
lately... but back to the main point:

eric clapton's contribution to this
trend is probably the BEST so far. every
song on the album is a gem, and if you
liked LAYLA, i recommend you go out and
buy this cd straight away!

            ----------------
 PINK FLOYD: THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
 -------------------------------------

ok, so i'm biased. pink floyd are THE
best group ever, and that's that. so i
was pleased to find out that i actually
do have an excuse to include this in the
REVIEWS chapter: just recently was the
20th anniversary of this album's date of
release! yes- 20 years... older than me!

but don't let that put you off. this
album is an absolute classic. anyone who
likes pink floyd should have it.. anyone
who doesn't just has NO TASTE at all!
of course, you will all at least know
what the cover looks like... it's got a
black background, and a triangle with
a rainbow coming out of it (for physics
students, a prism splitting white light
into its component frequencies by
diffraction).

and here's a statistic for those who
say pink floyd sucks... this album is
in the GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS as the
best selling british album of all time..
and i think also for staying in the
album charts for the longest of any
album ever. it was in the top 100 album
charts for around 7 years, or something
ridiculous like that.

so this is a very famous, very popular
album we're talking about here. as far
as i know it's available on cd, but i
also  know someone who has a copy on
pink vinyl!

for those unfamiliar with pink floyd:
you probably all know the song "another
brick in the wall part 2", the one that
goes "we don't need no education". other
songs by them include MONEY (on this
album), and just a few years ago, on
the album A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON,
the song "learning to fly" was pretty
popular, so you may have heard that one.

for floyd fans, this album is a classic.
it is their first (and some may say
best) major album. it was released in
1973, when the band had already released
a few minor albums such as OBSCURED BY
CLOUDS and ATOM HEART MOTHER, which
no-one has ever heard of (or wants to...
even i think they're pretty bad).

but this one went through the roof when
it was released. with songs such as
MONEY, TIME, and of course the classic
BRAIN DAMAGE (!), it launched pink floyd
as a band way ahead of their time. many
innovative techniques are used, with
recordings of real sounds interspersed
through all the songs (the cash register
which forms the rhythm in MONEY, the
alarm clock in TIME and the mad laughter
in BRAIN DAMAGE) and also many high-tech
electronic sound effects which were very
advanced at the time.

look, there's no use trying to describe
it... they have a unique style which you
can't explain to anyone who hasn't heard
it. so instead of me raving on, just
go out and BUY the fucking thing, listen
to it and be amazed... then buy (or get
copies off me) their other albums and
turn into a total floyd-head!

i actually haven't listened to them for
a while now, but i've got most of their
albums and still listen to them every
so often... so anyone who wants to get
copies of their work can just contact
me and tell me what you want.

anyway, that's enough of my crap: if
you've been bored, then you always could
have hit the fire button...

so i'll see you all next month (if the
ed. lets me write anything else after
this effort!)... and by the way, i need
more contacts, so send to my address in
the addies section...

                     /NEPTUNE april '93!

PS: a 20th anniversary issue of this
    album is now available.


     ******* end of chapter *******