Sic Semper Tyrannis

Op Zop Too Wah

All right. So, I’ve taken a little break from all of the “influential artists/ albums” talk, but I’ve still got a couple I want to tell you guys about.

So, when I was working at the music store, trudging through some bad times, Adrian Belew, the singer for King Crimson, (for which I had already fallen), released an album called Op Zop Too Wah. It wasn’t his first solo record, but it was my introduction to his solo stuff. I knew beforehand that Belew was an incredibly talented guitar player, but this album displayed his pop songwriting sensibilities that were kind of understated with his work in the ultra-technical King Crimson.

Belew was influenced by the Beatles’ songwriting and you can hear it in a lot of his melodies and I think his voice has never sounded better than on this album. I was also intrigued by the fact that he plays just about all of the instruments on his albums. One song in particular that blew my mind was called “I Remember How to Forget.” This was a polyrhythmic song, (meaning it was in at least a couple time signatures at the same time), a technique I first heard with Frank Zappa. I can still hear it in my head: the drum part during the entire song is in 6/8, and during the verses, he sings and plays 4/4 over that and then during the choruses, it’s 5/8 over the 6/8 drum beat. Pretty heady stuff, in theory, but it still managed to sound like straight-ahead rock, somehow.

I also liked the catchy song “Something to Do” quite a bit. Here are the lyrics:

Something To Do
Try to lose your attitude, put it in your boots
or stick it where the sun doesn't shine
try to have a good time, it's something to do
I read a good book, buy a pair of shoes
maybe I'm a strange kinda dude
but, hey, maybe it's you, it's something to do

I understand unhappiness
an excellent plan for a martyr to have
but what is the sense of having regrets
it's only just a waste of time

I look at the sky, I walk in the yard
study little birds with binoculars
so, call me a nerd, it's something to do
Try a day in the park, play in the dirt
or go to the mall if that's what blows up your skirt
what can it hurt?
it's something to do

So, this album is pretty evenly split between hard-charging rock songs, straight-up pop songs, beautifully layered slow songs, and crazy experimental guitar stuff. And another cool thing about the album is the fact that most of the songs segue into each other to make it seem like a cohesive piece of art and not just a collection of songs. This is still one of my favorite albums of all time and it goes on every long road trip with me for cranking during that difficult last hour on the way back.

This is yet another album that I highly recommend, especially for any of you guitar players out there.

posted by Mike @ 2:48 PM