JAMES IHA DOT ORG .: News Archive

February 13, 1998, 12:00 am [LICD Review] Rocky Mountain News

Source: Rocky Mountain News

PUMPKIN GOES SOFT IN SOLO EFFORT; [FINAL Edition]
Michael Mehle Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer. Rocky Mountain News. Denver, Colo.: Feb 13, 1998. pg. 20.D

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Abstract (Document Summary)

This is no news flash, but Billy Corgan can be a bit domineering when Smashing Pumpkins retreats to the studio. More to the point, it was once said that he kept sidekicks James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky around only because they were intriguing fashion plates who helped flesh out the band's image.

Regardless of how much of Corgan's dictatorship is truth or rumor, songs written by Iha or Wretzky on Pumpkins discs are as rare as the hairs on Corgan's shaven head. It's of little wonder then that Iha would want to try his hand at a solo disc and write more than the token tune or two.

On Let It Come Down (Virgin), Iha not only wrote all 11 songs but sang and played most of the instruments. Surprisingly, Let It Come Down teaches us that Iha leans toward the Pumpkins' soft side, not the hard, alternative punch the guitarist usually wields.
Full Text (659 words)
Copyright Denver Publishing Company, Rocky Mountain News Feb 13, 1998

On Disc

This is no news flash, but Billy Corgan can be a bit domineering when Smashing Pumpkins retreats to the studio. More to the point, it was once said that he kept sidekicks James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky around only because they were intriguing fashion plates who helped flesh out the band's image.

Regardless of how much of Corgan's dictatorship is truth or rumor, songs written by Iha or Wretzky on Pumpkins discs are as rare as the hairs on Corgan's shaven head. It's of little wonder then that Iha would want to try his hand at a solo disc and write more than the token tune or two.

On Let It Come Down (Virgin), Iha not only wrote all 11 songs but sang and played most of the instruments. Surprisingly, Let It Come Down teaches us that Iha leans toward the Pumpkins' soft side, not the hard, alternative punch the guitarist usually wields.

At its worst, Let It Come Down sounds like '70s soft rock - acoustic, limp and drenched in romantic sentimentality. At its best, the album is a spare, somewhat affecting collection in which Iha resists the urge to impress us with high production.

His songs are stronger than his voice, but he refuses to hide behind a wall of production, instead stripping the tunes to bare acoustics with an occasional hand from Wretzky, Fountain of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger and Veruca Salt's Nina Gordon. A few songs hold up, notably the tender Silver String and One and Two. Also, the poppy shuffle of Jealousy is a much-needed, mid-disc respite from his mellow, James Taylor-like musings on love and romance. Grade: C.

Jim Lauderdale's name won't mean much to country fans unless they're careful readers of liner notes, but other artists and producers know the songwriter well. The North Carolina native has written hits for George Strait (Where the Sidewalk Ends, King of Broken Hearts), Mark Chesnutt (Gonna Get a Life) and Vince Gill (Sparkle) but hasn't had any hits of his own.

Lauderdale's latest album, Whisper (BNA Records), could rectify that, starting with the first single, Goodbye Song. Well-crafted and lean (13 songs in under 38 minutes), Whisper twangs with the conviction of someone who wants Nashville to get back to the business of classic country. The midtempo tunes (Sometimes and You're Tempting Me) are ideal for radio, but Lauderdale's real forte rests in ballads such as What Do You Say to That. And for the final touch of authenticity, Lauderdale gets the help of Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys on I'll Lead You Home. Grade: B

New York's Bogmen have a dangerous dark side that cries out in an entertaining way on the sextet's second album, Closed Captioned Radio (Arista). Mixing a light-industrial bent that brings to mind David Bowie's late-'70s sound with an anything-goes approach, The Bogmen have created a thick, impossible-to-peg sound all their own.

Songs such as Mad Larry and Failing Systems are sonic maelstroms that still manage to retain a melody, and the band backs off on simpler, more subdued tunes such as Extended Family and Seadog.

The band's ominous tendencies can become overbearing on songs such as Every Man Is an Orphan and Dark Waltz, but that same dark edge gives a healthy boost to The Bogmen's best selections, including Speedfreak Lullabye and Sloth. Grade: B-

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