Search - Anthony Phillips :: Sides

Some great material, some awful material

woburnmusicfan | Woburn, MA United States | 04/09/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a 1979 album by former Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips. I got this album shortly after it came out, and it took me 24 years to get why it's called "Sides". Side 1 of the LP was Phillips' attempt to write more accessible, radio-friendly music. The opening cut "Um and Aargh" IS the most accessible cut I've heard in the 11 Phillips albums I've owned, with a lyric about trying to break into pop stardom. (Hint: For pop stardom, avoid repeating a lyric like "Hospital Carolina, so who needs Rudolf Steiner?") The other four tracks are poor, comparable to the weakest material that has shown up on Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks' solo albums. The only cut I find listenable is "Holy Deadlock", about a bad marriage. The worst is the awful funk attempt on "Side Door". Side 2 returns to Phillips' customary progressive rock. The first two cuts, "Sisters of Remindum" and "Bleak House", are pretty forgettable, but "Magdalen" and "Nightmare" are as good as anything Phillips has ever recorded. "Magdalen" is similar to the style of Phillips' previous album, "Wise After the Event", with pastoral acoustic verses and a rock chorus. "Nightmare" is an instrumental based on a 7/8 riff that rocks harder than anything else Phillips has done; it's reminiscent of some of Steve Hackett's solo work. So there's three great songs and a lot of drek--half an album that's 4 stars, and half that's 1-1/2 stars. On average, we're at the lower end of the "pretty good" range. The CD includes a bonus track that wasn't on the LP (I'm just as happy not to hear a song that wasn't good enough to make this album) and an instrumental version of "Magdalen".Phillips is assisted by bassist John G. Perry and ex-King Crimson drummer Michael Giles, who both played on "Wise After the Event." Phillips shares lead vocals with Dale Newman and Dan Owen, but why bother? Neither of them sound much different than Phillips.(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)"

Into his own

John Sposato | Syracuse, NY, USA | 07/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got the original U.S. Passport/Jem LP out of the blue at a yard sale. This is the only the second solo LP of Ant's I've heard so far. Longtime Genesis crew members/hit & run staff Dave Owun and Dale Newman do some vocals. King Crimson alum Michael Giles plays drums. More rock-focused than the first two, which were mostly instrumental and sounded like something from the Middle Ages. I can't fathom what made Ant want to use a foosball table as the centrepiece."

As usual, Ant is self-analytical, NOT pretentious

R. L. MILLER | FT LAUDERDALE FL USA | 11/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There's a reason why Anthony Phillips' work is mostly instrumental. It's because his voice is limited in range and pitch control, a la Lou Reed. In his first two "song albums", he copped out and used other people at the mike. But this time he took it himself, using the prudent measure of not writing or singing the lead lines outside his capablities. You can hear that in the folksy ballad "Lucy Will", where he counterbalances the seemingly simplistic melody with a tricky time signature in the verses. It also shows up in "Holy Deadlock", a wry sort of ditty about marriage breakup and community property dilemmas that he backs up with the same sort of plunk-a-plunk guitar accmpaniment later used by former Genesis bandmate Mike Rutherford in the song "Follow You Follow Me". Socrates had an old aphorism that went like this; "The first step to wisdom is to know when you know not." Phillips is the musical embodiment of that. If you're a great writer and player but don't have that great a voice, don't strain the pipes. Go more for expression than the high notes. And as this album proves, you're better off tailoring the melody to your own vocal abilities than witing stuff session people have to sing for you. That's how an album by a mediocre singer gets 5 stars."