Rick Springfield: “Surviving the 80s”
Part Three: “Living in Oz”
‘To run through the 80s sounding distinctive and inspired’. This type of formula let creating works that while were within the timeframe managed to add elements of cult and rock classic. Such bands as
Queen,
Roxy Music,
The The,
Bon Jovi,
Def Leppard,
Cinderella,
Dire Straits,
Genesis,
Marillion and others left their footprints on the sands of music despite the faithful and frankly intentional aspirations to follow the trends. And while they might not have aimed at the vogue, the shot was definitely on target. Nevertheless, because of or contrary to the sound pilings of the era, the individual set of colors was always preserved.
On his seventh album, Rick Springfield attempts two approaches, one to successful results, and the fragments of another can be located on the scene of the accident. It should be stated right away that for the most part the musician follows the well-trodden path, trying to cater to the tendencies of the moment. However, unlike the two previous releases brimming with saccharine templates of the 80s pop music,
Living in Oz possesses some originality and attempts to step off the road. So, what do we have here?
First of all, the long-player merits a complete listen from beginning to end as it is a more consistent effort compared to the two predecessors. While any of the songs from the previous opuses can easily be added to any playlist, without losing (or gaining, to that matter) much, this time there is a vague narrative to the material presented. The songs are all put in a certain context, though some are more successful than others. Secondly, the commercial appeal is still present, but in this case the artistic attempts and a search for new expressive forms are more noticeable. Thirdly, while the best cuts are all over the LP, the strongest impression is made in the very beginning.
The opening
Human Touch is an inventive robotic track, craftily working around technocracy and dominance of the machines, and the same time representing the liveliest and most arresting song on the album (the successful symbiosis of synths and saxophone is especially appealing). Unfortunately no other song reaches this level, and moreover the LP mostly shifts to the direction that can be described as pop-metal lite, bordering on power pop. So we get Rick Springfield again dabbling in a hot genre, however this time he manages to be distinctive, using know-hows of his colleagues but maintaining his persona.
Mixing his signature pop melodies with a more metal sound provided by mid-tempo rhythms and heavier guitars, Mr. Springfield produces curious results presented as standard pop-rock wrapped in a thin metal jacket (
Affair of the Heart,
Living in Oz,
Motel Eyes,
Souls). The cuts where the singer sticks to the usual format vary from decent (
Alyson,
Me & Johnny) to outright filler, which can either point towards lack of available material or uncertainty on the part of the songwriter on possible success of such consistent but single-minded album.
As a result, it can be stated that the LP turned out to be both potentially commercial and artistically competent. It is a pity that, due to some reasons known only to Rick (read the presumptions above), he could not maintain the level of the first song or switch completely to pop metal, as it would have let us to put
Living in Oz among the best albums in his discography. Nevertheless, it is a definite step forward for the 80s Springfield, since the musician struck the right balance between relevancy, originality and inspiration.
