Happy Rhodes - Building the Colossus

Release Information

Aural Gratification - AGCD 0029 - 1994

Personnel

Happy Rhodes - vocals, keyboards, electronic percussion, nylon string guitar, 12-string guitar, 6-string guitar, acoustic guitar, synth organ, additional percussion, active ping short-scale ...about 200 yards
Kevin Bartlett - electronic percussion, synth bass, wacka-wacka, keyboards, electric guitar, e-bow, nukelele island guitar, bass, 12-string guitar, 6-string guitar, acoustic guitar, e-bow guitar, additional percussion, organ donor
David Torn - electric guitar, loops, subliminal guitar loop, seismic anomalic electric guitar
Jerry Marotta - toms, percussion, drums
Dave Sepowski - electric guitar
Chuck D'Aloia - slide guitars, nylon string guitar
Peter Sheehan - additional percussion
Monica Wilson - 'cello
Happy Rhodes, Kelly Bird, Karen Campbell, Rachel Cooper, Theresa BurnsParkhurst, Amy Abdou, Abba Rage - talk on 'Glory'

Production

Produced by Happy Rhodes & Kevin Bartlett

Track Listing

Hold Me (Rhodes)
Just Like Tivoli (Rhodes)
Dying (Rhodes)
Collective Heart (Rhodes)
Building the Colossus (Rhodes)
Omar (Rhodes)
Pride (Rhodes)
You Never Told Me (Rhodes)
If I Ever See the Girl Again (Rhodes)
Down Down (Rhodes)
Big Dreams, Big Life (Rhodes)
Glory (Rhodes)

Comments

Even after long acquiantence (I bought the album when it first came out) I remain distinctly underwhelmed by Building The Colossus. The songs themselves seem to be up to Happy's usual high standards, and her voice is as good as ever, but the arrangements and production on this album spoil much of it for me. Too often Happy's voice is submerged beneath a simplistic dance-oriented drum machine beat and real drums sounding like a drum machine and, to my mind, making the drums louder is no substitute for genuine excitement. Altogether there seems to have been too little care taken in putting this album together: it seems rushed, slapdash, and not given enough thought and consideration.

Having said that, I do like several of the songs on the album: "Glory" is superb (although I hate the studio chatter on the intro), "Down Down" works well, "Big Dreams, Big Life" (delightful 'cello!) and "If I Ever See the Girl Again" are pretty good, and the lyrics of "Collective Heart" are wonderful. Perhaps it's significant that the tracks I like form the last third of the album.

(Review by Steve Fagg)