For October, the Mental Jukebox is dialing it way back to the eighties and going deep. Deep cuts have always been an important element of music listening to me because they’re often the songs that resonate with me most. Deep cuts are usually the ones that the true fans appreciate most. I like my singles and hits, but I love my deep cuts.
I still remember the day I got my The Raw & The Cooked CD. I remember hearing from critics about a clear delineation between the first and second “sides”, that the first half was the raw and the second half was the cooked. I honestly couldn’t tell how one side was more raw or more cooked than the other. But I do remember the album being great from beginning to end with no filler. I do like the cooked side quite a bit, especially the Buzzcocks cover “Ever Fallen In Love” and the throwback ballad “As Hard As It Is”.
The song starts and ends with that voice. There’s no one else that sounds like Roland Gift. On “As Hard As It Is”, his voice truly ascends and has a chance to shine with its slower, prodding tempo. You can hear a sturdy oakiness on the song that stands in stark contrast to his falsetto approach on “She Drives Me Crazy” and “I’m Not The Man I Used To Be”. The ballad is a refreshing change of pace for an album that mostly operates at a fast, dance-friendly tempo.
“Life's been quiet since you've been gone.”