bso (06/19/82)
Anthony Phillips/1984 (Passport PB 6006) Ant Phillips has done his best to carve out a career for himself in the nearly 12 years since he left Genesis. Although he was an important founding member of the group, he is unknown to even many Genesis fans. "1984" is not a brand new album (it was released about a year ago), but it took me awhile to come across. It was worth the wait. On this record, perhaps more than any other, Ant shows us the extent of his keyboard abilities. There is precious little guitar on this lp. Much like Tony Banks' "A Curious Feelings," Phillips relies on novel textures of poly-synths and synthesized bass (and although Banks played bass guitar on his record, there is no bass as such on "1984"). The percussion (assorted, no drum kit on the album) is handled by Richard Scott and Morris Pert (Brand X), and by Phillips' Roland Drumbox. Musically, "1984" is somewhat diverse, orchestral and melodic at times, lean and commercial at others. Except for occasional Mellotron-like backups, there are no vocals. This leads to the first slight problem: some of those "lean and commercial" pieces cry out for a clever verse and catchy melody, as obvious as that may seem (maybe that's why Phillips' didn't do it). In addition, a real drummer (not to take anything away from Mr. Pert, but maybe Simon Phillips was available?) would have really brought some of this music to life. For myself anyway, this might be the main drawback of this album: it occasionally sounds like those cold, lifeless, all-synthesizing things that I'm not terribly fond of. However, when Phillips winds into the full, symphonic passages, the feel of the record soars, and it shows the power and beauty intrinsic to the music of Genesis and the like. "1984" should be considered a must for true Genesis fans, and a good bet for those into good, synthesized music. Bert Olsson mhtsa!bso