[Review] Andy Summers: XYZ (1987)
“Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” (Proverbs 17:28)
Kronomyth 3: Flow my tears, the policeman sang.
For years, I used to make lists of albums I wanted to purchase, sometimes daily. I would even make lists of my lists, counting how many times a particular album appeared in a list. I’ve since discovered this odd habit (list-making) is not uncommon among people with high-functioning autism. At any rate, Andy Summers’ XYZ was a perennial candidate for these lists, as was Bewitched. (I had wasted little time in picking up I Advance Masked, and thus it never had a chance to make the list.) If you’ve heard Summers’ first two albums with Robert Fripp, XYZ is a very different affair. Recorded with David Hentschel (a sort of poor man’s Alan Parsons, I suppose), the album features run-of-the-mill pop music for its time: slightly edgy production, familiar melodies, atmospheric synthesizers and guitars, etc. The new wrinkle here is Andy Summers’ voice. He sings on every song except the instrumental title track. This is actually a bad thing, because Andy Summers does not have a good voice. I’m sure Sting with a severe cold sounds better than this. I’ve survived worse (Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Anthony Phillips), especially when the music is interesting, but that’s not the case here. The music is surprisingly boring for a sonic auteur of Summers’ standing. David Knopfler’s solo work is edgier than this, not that I’m suggesting that Knopfler isn’t interesting. It’s just that I expected more from Summers, especially after songs such as “Mother” and “Sally” (although the opening Love Is the Strangest Way shares Sally’s perverse tastes). The Police parallel holds occasionally, nowhere more than Nowhere, which cops from “Message in a Bottle.” And, when Summers sings alone, you get a Sting-y vibe some of the time (Hold Me, The Change). All by way of saying that you may want to cross this one off your list. Robert Fripp’s solo albums up to this point were much more exciting, and you should probably pick up at least one David Knopfler album (and definitely check out Stewart Copeland’s Klark Kent adventures) before venturing this far in the musical alphabet.
Original elpee version
A1. Love Is the Strangest Way (4:20)
A2. How Many Days (Andy Summers/David Hentschel) (5:21)
A3. Almost There (4:30)
A4. Eyes of a Stranger (4:47)
A5. The Change (2:53)
B1. Scary Voices (4:37)
B2. Nowhere (Andy Summers/David Hentschel) (4:35)
B3. XYZ (Andy Summers/David Hentschel/Charlotte Caffey) (2:46)
B4. The Only Road (3:40)
B5. Hold Me (Andy Summers/David Hentschel) (4:48)
All songs written by Andy Summers unless noted.
The Players
Andy Summers (guitar, bass, vocals), David Hentschel (keyboards, drum programs) with Chris Childs (bass on A4), Michael G. Fisher (percussion on A1/A3/B2), Greta Gold (additional backing vocals on A4), Abraham Laboriel (bass on B1), Rik May (bass on B5), Nan Vernon (accompanying vocals on A1/A2/A3, backing vocals on A4), Oren, Julia & Maxine Waters (backing vocals on A2/B2/B5). Produced by David Hentschel and Andy Summers; mixed by David Hentschel and Bob Casale, recording engineered by Bob Casale, technical assistance by Dennis Smith.
The Pictures
Photography by Anton Corbijn. Art direction by Andrew Ellis and Richard Evans, Icon.
The Plastic
Released on elpee, cassette and compact disc in 1987 in the US (MCA, MCA/MCAC/MCAD-42007) and Japan (MCA, P-13539).
