Helen of Troy

great remastered CD

Solid reissue of a great album

John Cale performs some of his best songs with a cracker-jack band. One of my favorites! There is a debased regality to Cale's voice that is as inimitable as Robert Wyatt's singing-

Still have original LP... and do prefer sound quality. Yes extraordinary musicians lined up, powerful, bizarre, disturbing but, predictable. So, TOO perfect. Who cares, it is John Cale and one of the 3 or 4 best albums he made - one of the best albums ever.

John Cale is a genius. Period. And on no albums was his genius-ness more prominent and seminal than on "Paris 1919" and the Island trilogy - "Fear", "Slow Dazzle", and "Helen of Troy", released in the early to mid 70s. Most people have a tendency to site "Fear" as their favorite of the Island trilogy, but "Helen of Troy" has always been mine.Here's why:To me "Helen of Troy" is not only the most consistent in terms of quality, but it's the most accomplished and successfully diverse. You see, Cale's solo work has never sat easily in one stylistic mold, yet every song still has his unmistakable mark in every note. And it's on "Helen of Troy" where he creates his most stylistically divergent set of songs yet, and it works perfectly.The album starts off with "My Maria", a hauntingly melodic song that manages to harness in both a spine-tinglingly beautiful chorus *and* some of guitarist Chris Spedding's gnarliest guitar shredding ever committed to vinyl. It's also got this awesome marimba thing during the verses. Then you've got "China Sea", a gem of a pop song that incorporates a heavy Brian Wilson influence; a bouncy beat, infectious melodies, a sophisticated arrangement, and Cale's beautifully gruff voice crooning about junkies and what not."Save Us", on the other hand, pre-dates the Birthday Party's chaotic skronk by about 6 years. Pounding drums, low, discordant de-tuned, aggressively strummed guitars, and manic shards of atonal organ make up the verses, while the chorus slips into what could only be described as Todd Rundgren on a particularly bad trip. Cale, of course, shouts and growls his head off the whole way through. Tortured and utterly frightening."Engine" starts off with a nice little Brian Wilson-esque piano part, then builds up into one of the most violent, cathartic explosions ever laid down on tape. Again, the Birthday Party (as great as they were) wished they could've been this scary.And then we've got the lovely, mesmerizing "I keep a Close Watch", a gentle Wilson-esque "symphony to god" that features some of Cale's most accomplished, orchestral arrangements since "Paris 1919". The lush strings and the sad, weak-in-the-knees melodies form the perfect atmosphere for Cale's bitter words about his thoroughly [messed] up love-life."Leaving it Up to You" finds Cale in [upset] mode again, and when he screams "I'd do it NOW, RIGHT NOW YOU FASCIST!", it ALWAYS makes my hair stand on end. Few pop singer/songwriters have ever grunted, growled and shouted with such heartfelt sincerity. This has to be one of the most demented, tormented pop songs in the history of rock. But that's Cale in a nutshell. Sad, beautiful, accomplished, violent, and highly emotional, all in the span of 3 minutes.Then you've got the rumbling quasi-funk of the title track (about life w/ transvestites), the tortured howling on "Cable Hogue", the glass-shattering, manic slide guitars on Cale's version of Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso", and the random, metallic noises interspersed throughout "Sudden Death" which all make up an extraordinary album of tremendous depth, well-crafted songs, and a sublimely cathartic experience.In times when bands seem content to paint themselves into the limiting, factionalized corners of specific genres and sub-genres, it's refreshing to hear Cale deftly meld so many styles into ONE unique, poetic vision. What's upsetting is that so few people have chosen to follow his lead, and that I can't really think of ANY records where the artist maintains this much control over a multitude of styles, while maintaining such a high level of gut-wrenchingly intense, heartfelt honesty. I can't recommend this enough.

Although "Helen of Troy" does not reach the astounding heights of "Paris 1919" and "Fear," it is still worth picking up for Wax Cathedral's excellent production values: gatefold sleeve and excellent remastered vinyl make this a bargain buy for Cale fans.

"Helen of Troy" is probably the tightest sounding, of Cale's three Island albums, which is really not very surprising, since it was recorded with his touring band consisting of Chris Spedding on guitar, Timmy Donald on drums and Pat Donaldson on bass. Cale's vocals sound very strong throughout the album and his song-writing generally on par with "Fear" and "Slow Dazzle". Maybe the album is not quite as varied as its predecessors and the general sound may appear slightly harder and a couple of tracks like "Engine" and "Pablo Picasso" could be hard to the delicate ear to listen to.On the other hand there are also softer melodic moment with the beautful "China Sea" ( the most Brian Wilson inspired track on the album ) and the ballad "I Keep a Close Watch", which Cale is said to have hoped that FRank Sinatra would record.A favourite of mine is the sparsely instrumentated "Cable Hogue", with heartful vocals and a Pink Floyd sounding acoustic guitar."Coral Moon", which replaced the controversal "Leaving it Up to You" is also a nice track showing the softer side of Cale.Songs like "Helen of Troy" and "Sudden Death" have a great dramatic feel to them, but Cale's version of "Baby, What You Want Me to Do", though tightly played, somehow doesn't really work in this context, and its a track that may well be the first you want to skip over.Though not among the very best Cale releases, still a very good album.

Helen Of Troy is a stylistically diverse album containing gentle ballads, angry rock and plenty of experimentation. My Maria is a slow elegy with lovely operatic harmony vocals, whilst the atmospheric title track has a complex arrangement with spoken vocal in parts.China Sea is an almost singalong pop number with a catchy tune, whilst the rock number Engine has striking lyrical imagery and a dissonant tone. There is tempo variation in the jerky Save Us whilst Cable Hogue is a mournful ballad. Reminiscent of Cale's work on the album Paris 1919, I Keep A Close Watch is a moving ballad, one of the highlights on the album.His version of The Modern Lovers song Pablo Picasso gets a fierce treatment, similar to a track like Guts on Slow Dazzle. Leaving It Up To You is in the same mould, a rock ballad with angry vocal outbursts that end in sonic dissonance. Baby What You Want Me To Do is standard rock and the album concludes with Sudden Death, an eerie slow song.Chris Spedding, Brian Eno and Phil Collins contribute their talents to the album, making it musically superb. Helen Of Troy is less cohesive and not quite on the level of Fear or Slow Dazzle, but it contains moments of brilliance that make it indispensable for the John Cale fan.

I know there's lots of controversy around this album, due to them releasing it without Cales approval but it has some solid tracks on it, if you like JC give this one a go, just don't tell him...

Heard a couple of Birthday Party-esque tracks on 6 Music and was surprised to hear they were from Cale, predating Cave's howlings by half a decade. Great record and will probably fish around for more post VU offerings, but some tracks too obviously dated and not sure where they'll fit into my listening life...

Great music from Cale.

A force de faire jouer Phil Manzanera et Brian Eno sur ses disques, cela devait finir par arriver. Et, de fait, "Helen Of Troy" sonne comme l'album le plus Roxy Music de John Cale. Mais attention, un Roxy Music pas glamour pour un sou, caustique et grinçant et bourré de médicaments. La camisole de force sur la pochette n'est pas là juste pour faire la blague, la folie guette dans chaque chanson de cet album borderline.En 12 titres, John Cale va malmener la pop music et la rock song pour la croiser, à ses risques et périls, avec les tentations bruitistes avant-gardistes qu'il affectionne tant. Il n'y qu'à voir comment il triture ici les deux reprises du disque: un "Pablo Picasso" (Jonathan Richman) tout en bris de verre éparpillés sur la moquette et "Baby What You Want Me To Do", le classique de Jimmy Reed, transformé en cauchemar schizophrène. La voix de Cale s'abime dans d'outrageants écarts tandis que les musiciens polissonnent avec vigueur sur des arrangements surprenants mais toujours alertes et incisifs.Et c'est également le cas sur les 10 autres morceaux originaux qui composent l'album. Ça crisse aux entournures, on est surpris par l'inventivité constante qui relance les titres alors qu'à la base, la composition est de toute façon très bien ourlée, subtile et mélodique en diable. L'équilibre est revêche mais diablement efficace sur un album forcément excellent puisqu'on ne s'y ennuie jamais.On a même droit à des titres de toute beauté comme la magnifique "I Keep A Close Watch". Sur ce morceau, par exemple, les cuivres jouent un petit thème décalé savoureux. C'est pourtant le titre le moins tortueux de l'album mais Cale, à ce moment de sa vie et de sa carrière discographique, ne peut s'empêcher d'y immiscer un petit quelque chose incongru voire étrange.Tout l'album est ainsi et l'écoute, pas toujours facile et donc pas forcément grand-public, est sans cesse titillée par de petites surprises harmoniques et mélodiques fort surprenantes. Ça en fait donc une autre grande réussite pour Cale, en pleine bourre il faut bien l'avouer à cette époque. En même temps, on le sait, il est dangereux de se pencher au-dedans. Oui, la folie guette, tapie là dans le coin de la pharmacie, et ce n'est pas forcément bon signe. Surtout que Cale, qui est pourtant un gars plutôt froid et versé dans l'intellect, se sert justement de la musique de manière on ne peut plus cathartique. La démence explosera en bonne et due forme sur le traumatisant et dérangeant "Music For A New Society". Là, on est encore dans l'indécis, plus dérangé que dérangeant donc, dans un entre-deux glaçant et flippant mais dont la raison est toujours viable malgré les coups de boutoir du cerveau qui s'emballe. C'est ce qui rend ce disque fascinant et unique.

Gets better with every listen.