There’s always that vital question with cover albums, that question which, all too often, the artists forget to ask themselves before they commit their insipid re-workings of classics songs to tape: “Does the world really need this?” Eddie Bezalel, the man hiding behind the scenes of Headless Heroes’ debut, is something of a connoisseur of the form by now, having worked as a sound engineer on Mark Ronson’s trillion billion selling Version, one of the most famous cover albums of recent times, and an album which provides a useful counterpoint to this one. Version went BIG. It took rocking, anthemic songs like Radiohead’s “Just” and the Kaiser Cheif’s “Oh My God” and somehow made them even more suitable for stadium performance. Obviously The Silence of Love is smaller, but it’s interesting to look at just how much it represents the antithesis of Version – wherever Bezalel can strip away, he does, leaving the lyrical and musical progressions of I Am Kloot, Nick Cave and Vashti Bunyan to fend for themselves, albeit ably aided by the vocal talents of Alela Diane.
The tracks here are provided by a pretty diverse group of musicians, the most famous of the bunch is probably cult favourites The Jesus and Mary Chain, who’s “Just Like Honey” is marvellously reworked into a barebones acoustic and vocals track. There’s a wonderful intimacy to Diane’s voice, even on the more instrumentally filled songs she maintains priority, she always remains the centre of attention, and with good reason. The penultimate track, “North Wind Blew South”, represents the album’s climax, heavy string sections introducing Diane as she puts forward the case that could give any song in the world a new lease of life.
The problem lies not with the band, or with Bezalel’s interpretations, but with the question asked at the top. There’s nothing wrong with any of the songs on show, and certainly it’s an album I can imagine myself revisiting, but with talent spilling out like this, it’s hard not to ask why, why, why a covers album rather than a fully-fledged Headless Heroes debut? Do we put it down to lack of creativity on Bezalel’s part, now a second-time offender in this particular avenue of musical crime? It seems not, given that many of the songs are re-worked entirely, he certainly has an understanding for the inner workings of pop music. The problem is, perhaps, that the album is too good for its good. Because of the quality displayed, I can’t help but feel disappointed that what we have is “merely” a very good covers album, rather than the dazzling work of art that could have been.
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Other albums by this artist
bezalel didn’t work at all on ‘Versions’
he hasn’t even met Ronson… where did you get that from??
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/h8mq/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/11/new-band-alela-diane
http://www.trht.net/artist/Eddie+Bezalel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/15/the-killers-james-blunt-review
& more. Of course it’s possible that this is some sort of Chinese whisper and we’ve all read the same dodgy source, and I’m willing to accept that, but nearly ever other review I’ve read of this CD mentions the fact that Bezalel is at least an associate of Ronson.
http://www.trht.net/artist/Eddie+Bezalel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/15/the-killers-james-blunt-review
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/11/new-band-alela-diane
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/h8mq/
& others. Of course it is possible that it’s one big Chinese whisper and we’ve all read the same dodgy source, and I’m perfectly willing to accept that, but every review I’ve read of this CD mentions the connection with Ronson.
Thane, can you pleaseyplease delete one of those, making me look like a RIGHT CRETIN.
Here’s the scoop. Hugo Nicholson produced the Headless Heroes album. In short I had an idea and he did a great job of brining it to life.
While I’ve met Ronson a few times and he’s a gentleman, we are far from associates. I did receive a credit on versions (which was exaggerated).
The reviews you site as references, have not been fact checked and contain erroneous information.
I would recommend checking http://www.denofheroes.com for a more accurate reference for the genesis and motivation of the album.
thanks for taking the time to listen.
Best,
Eddie Bezalel