Review Summary: A great album by a lesser-known but very good musician and singer
If we take and roughly divide all music artists into three categories, we will get the following picture. There is a constellation of well-known and respected musicians, like planets in the Solar system. There is an infinite number of marginal and more remote ones that at best are known locally, at worst – only among a narrow group of admirers, friends and acquaintances. They are just like asteroids that fly in the vast Universe, appearing and disappearing. Then there are the average – of various significance, some solid, some – just staying afloat. Like satellites they are, forever tied to their sound musical orbits. Obviously, the spotlight is on the large objects. But sometimes, among satellites there are those who undeservedly remain in the shadows, even when such a satellite can eclipse a planet.
Without a doubt, the name of Rick Springfield, an actor and musician not too well known, would fail to evoke an instant association in the uninitiated listener. It has less to do with the locality of said person or his lack of talent. It might be one more attribute of contemporary biases; however, this is a topic for another discussion. My bewilderment at the absence of Mr. Springfield’s wider popularity was sparked after introduction (that turned into friendship) to his latest LP,
Rocket Science, which I would like to discuss here.
Briefly and certainly, this is a quality, or high quality, to be more precise, pop-rock. I could have stopped at that, if it wasn’t for 4 key (in my opinion) features of the album, each intertwined with the others, substantiating and amplifying them.
Firstly, press play and then, starting with the very first perky riffs of
Light This Party Up until its end, try to guess the musician’s age. Even if the song was not catchy enough and you didn’t start to bob your head, singing along “
We'll light this party up”, it is difficult to assume that the owner of the voice is 66 years old. As we progress this astonishment only increases, as it is almost impossible to imagine all this airy, snappy, inspired and radiate music is performed not by a 25 year-old rocker, still unaffected with the necessity to find new forms and to exceed or gain on his yesterday’s self.
Secondly, the main characteristic of the genre is in abundance here – and that is catchiness. The already-mentioned smash
Light This Party Up overtakes you from the very beginning; then, during
That One, you awkwardly try to join in singing “
and I know that I know that she's made me come undone”. The arena-worthy
Pay It Forward burns into the memory with its rushing “
Give it away, give it away, darling” accelerates into shyly tender and adolescently insecure
Let Me In. And it’s all topped with
Beautiful Inside and its goosebumps-giving chorus, which for whatever reason is a B-side (the song just begs to be included on the album). All the songs have very strong choruses, which again is the most important element in the pop-rock genre.
Thirdly, despite certain initial limitations of the genre Mr. Springfield manages to fill the LP with various moods. Whereas the previously mentioned songs provide a jolt of energy or positive emotions or romantic longing, the CD also has surprising
Miss Mayhem, which switches from carefree country to almost hard rock in an instant, and rhythmically restless
We Connect, and
Down, a remnant from the golden 90s.
Finally and fourthly, the sincerity that permeates the playing and singing on the album (it might have been its initial design) really wins you over. Even if Rick was driven only by commercial considerations while making the album (which is doubtful, see the 2nd paragraph), as an outcome we have a CD, which purity you want to believe from the get-go.
Have the album been released in the 70s or even 80s, it might have elicited the same adoration and sales comparable to
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road or
Thriller. But in our times of cliché, repetition and regurgitation, as well as references and self-references that border on parody,
Rocket Science is destined to be – unfortunately – a great album by a lesser-known but very good musician and singer.
Strongly recommended for multiple listens!
