Tracks
- Child's Christmas in Wales
- Hanky Panky Nohow
- The Endless Plain of Fortune
- Andalucia
- Macbeth
- Paris 1919
- Graham Greene
- Half Past France
- Antarctica Starts Here
Paris 1919 is a cheerless album. The music is baroque pop, or pop with strings and horns. Despite the orchestration on many of the songs, this is a very straightforward and simple album musically.
I don't think it's possible for John Cale to sound more devoid of emotion or despondent than on this album. Even the opening song which seems to be upbeat gets the life sucked out of it when he starts singing. And by the time he gets to the final song he's got nothing left to give as is made abundantly clear by his whispering and it's abrupt end. It's true that Macbeth is lively and upbeat, but the life quickly dissipates. The music is great though. It's full of beautiful melodies which are good at concealing their sadness.
This album really grew on me. I certainly dreaded listening to it after hearing it for the first time, but now I find it to be beautifully sad. It's certainly worth listening to, but I'm not sure why it needs to be on the 1001 Albums list.
All the long songs are very good. The stand outs are Child's Christmas in Wales, Hanky Panky Nohow, The Endless Plain of Fortune, Andalucia, Paris 1919, Graham Greene and Half Past France.
★★★★★★★★★☆
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