"And Guess What I Found..." Part 2: 71-78

July 07, 2021

Apart from a couple of dissenting voices, most people who responded to last week's post agreed with my take on the Cinerama Valentina, i.e. that David should be credited for branching out and experimenting with new forms but that ultimately, much of the album doesn't really work terribly well.

Valentina isn't entirely a disaster though, and although there's one more track from the album in this week's list, there are a couple that feature a bit higher in my ranking.

I should also point out that - as was the case with my review of TWP's back catalogue - there are not really very many Cinerama songs that I actually dislike. Just as was the case with Suddenly It's Tuesday, by the time we get to the second post we're already onto songs that I would describe as flawed but at least OK.

Anyway, let's get to the music, shall we?

78 Larry's

(John Peel Sessions: Season 3, 2007)

The third collection of Cinerama Peel session tracks catches DLG and co. right in the middle of the transformation from Cinerama back to TWP. The three sessions, recorded between 2002 and 2004, included a few songs that would end up on Take Fountain.

I'm quite fond of the TWP 'Larry's', and it made it to a comfortable mid-table position on Suddenly It's Tuesday. Listening to this version, recorded in May 2003, it strikes me that making the first half of the TWP version percussion-free was a sensible move. This is no criticism of Kari - who was an excellent drummer - but the inclusion of drums in the opening section of the Cinerama version doesn't work nearly as well. On Take Fountain, the first half is strikingly sparse, giving the song real emotional clout; it also provides an effective contrast with the later crescendo. Here, the percussion makes it overly hesitant and ponderous.

77 Diamonds Are Forever

(B-side of Health & Efficiency, 2001)

A perfectly competent cover, but you can't help feeling that by this stage Gedge has done this kind of thing a few times too often. Rescued from complete mediocrity by the staccato bursts of gnarly guitar.

76 All The Things She Said

(John Peel Sessions: Season 3, 2007)

See the comments above. David doesn't sound entirely comfortable in the quieter passages of this t.A.T.u. cover, but the enjoyably noisy (if rather predictable) sections edge it just above 'Diamonds'.

75 524 Fidelio

(Valentina, 2015)

One of the better Valentina tracks, simply because the relatively straightforward and unfussy arrangement doesn't throw the kitchen sink into the mix and actually matches the song fairly well.

74 Yesterday Once More

(B-side of Superman, 2001)

Another one of those perfectly decent but unnecessary covers. Has a bit more oomph to it than the two above, and has a pretty nice 'build' towards the end, but you kind of know exactly how it's going to pan out from about 30 seconds in.

73 Model Spy

(B-side of Dance, Girl, Dance, 1998)

Pleasant enough but rather inconsequential instrumental that has spy-related 60s TV show theme written all over it. Perfectly acceptable b-side, but your Cinerama collection isn't really going to be denigrated by its absence.

72 Elenore

(John Peel Sessions, 2001)

Recorded for John Peel in June 1998, 'Elenore' is a cover of the 1968 single by The Turtles, best known for 'Happy Together' (covered by Jason Donovan in 1991).

The Cinerama take strives for a sort of baroque, measured psychedelia, and just about pulls it off, but it still falls well short of the exuberant sunshine-psych of the original.

[The YouTube video below is not one of mine, so you don't need to tell me that it's not a very appropriate image to go with the song!]

71 Unzip

(Disco Volante, 2000)

The first 'proper' Cinerama album track to appear on the list is not a terrible song: there's an engaging lightness of tone and the wide range of instrumentation is deftly arranged (a notable contrast to the Valentina songs). However, it's all just a little cloying and treacly somehow, emphasised by the somewhat sleazy lyric ('just unzip your inhibitions / but honey, leave on those shoes') that sees David create a similar narrative to 'Dare' ('you don't have to whisper every time you speak / and you don't have to jump at every single creak').

The lyric references The Singing Ringing Tree, a bizarre German 1957 children's fantasy film, that was parodied by The Fast Show.