Okay, a little while back we did a Classic or Dud for Olias of Sunhillow (1976)...Now, fast-forward nine years, to 1985 and Anderson's fourth solo LP, Three Ships, positioned smack in-between Yes'
90125 and
Big Generator albums.
Long gone were the warm, Vangelis-friendly analog synths, mystical Eastern percussion and instruments, and arch-conceptual-yet-vaguely spiritual blather about Noah's Ark in space. Instead...
A completely studio-rat concoction, cruising largely on Fairlights and other digi-synths and drum programming that dominated the mid-80s, and increasingly fluffy, demystified new age lyrics mixed in with holiday chestnuts.
In short, an album that was almost 180 degrees from Sunhillow in every possible way. At one point, at the dawn of eBay, people once paid upwards of $300 for this on CD around Christmastime (currently, it fetches a comparatively reasonable but still positively absurd $50).
Why classic for me:
- Just eyeballing the musicians credits. This album somehow managed to combine the musical efforts of Roy Thomas Baker (producer of Queen), Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot), R.J. "Sex, drugs, do without the rock and roll" Parnell (drummer of Spinal Tap), Elliot Easton (The Cars) and gospel singers Andrae and Sandra Crouch. You can't dream a line-up like that up.
- Gloriously bombastic guitar solo (with "Owner of a Lonely Heart" harmonizer!) cameo by bandmate Trevor Rabin in "Where Were You".
- The soft, digital snowflake world of "Save All Your Love".
- "Easier Said Than Done" was a cool little single, and in a just world should have done better than it did. Credited entirely to Vangelis (yeah sure, Jon).
- "Oh How It Hits You" represents another highmark of bubblegum Christmas goodness. Jon Anderson meets Miami Sound Machine meets choir a la "Like a Prayer" or "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Adore the faux-organ break in the middle and also the quiet harmony-falsetto on 'crying'.
Why it is a more than arguable dud:
- C'mon, it's Jon Anderson doing a Christmas album.
- The very dated mid-80s production and the instrumentation.
- All of the Christmas covers are very rank, particularly "Ding Dong Merrily on High" and "Oh Holy Night".
- An Anderson-penned original entitled "2000 Years"; perhaps one of the most vomit-inducing tracks I have ever heard.
- The Andersonian solo album staple of including a children's choir (though at least they are not as annoying as they usually are).
In a prior review of this album, I said I'm probably one of the 20 people left on this planet who actually looks upon this album with an irrational degree of fondness (all of it completely nostalgia-driven). Are any of the other 19 on here?
― Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 03:34 (twenty-one years ago)
one year passes...