Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Gizmodrome
Label: Ear Music Records
Release: 2017
Length: 46:26
Rating: 4.5/5
Gizmodrome is a new international art rock supergroup made up of American drummer Stewart Copeland (The Police, ex-Curved Air), American guitarist and singer Adrian Belew (ex-King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Talking Heads, David Bowie), English singer and bassist Mark King (Level 42) and Italian keyboardist Vittorio Cosma (ex-Premiata Forneria Marconi). Their self-titled debut is an utterly fascinating and seriously fun conglomerate of different musical styles and influences from everything these guys have done before, which means four musical masters boldly and very successfully throw art rock, ska, funk, jazz rock fusion and pop rock into one big pot. Of all those bands, Copeland’s The Police left the biggest mark, but all in all, while recording in Milan, the quartet came up with one of the wittiest art rock achievements of the last few years.
You can hear on every single track that they had an endless amount of fun making and playing it. King and Copeland handled most of the vocals, while Cosma and Belew, who is actually an excellent singer, took on backing vocal duties. Copeland’s deliberately nasal vocals are an acquired taste and some may find them annoying, but they still blend in nicely with the humorous approach of most of the music on Gizmodrome. Belew’s distinctive guitar style is there at every turn, which will thrill plenty of King Crimson fans, especially those of the eighties era, while Copeland and King forged a splendid rhythm partnership.
Now, some of the songs on the album aren’t entirely new but were rebuilt from Copeland’s earlier compositions, and that’s the only minor minus you can find on this otherwise excellent record. The opening fusion romp »Zombies in the Mall« grew out of a piece called »Louis«, which Copeland wrote as accompanying music for the PlayStation 1 video game ‘Sypro the Dragon’. Its playful atmosphere honestly does sound like the soundtrack of some bouncy platformer where assorted comical critters roll toward you as enemies. »Stay Ready« and »Strange Things Happen« came out in quite different arrangements on the album »Kollected Works« (1995), released under Copeland’s solo project Klark Kent.
The reggae-soaked »Man in the Mountain« and »Summer’s Coming«, which, like most of the songs on »Gizmodrome«, feature excellent vocal harmonies, at times veer right into The Police territory. In its original form, »Strange Things Happen« even showed up in 1986 as part of the soundtrack to the horror flick ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’. »Sweet Angels (Rule the World)«, which Frank Zappa would have approved of too, is a somewhat more romantic number with its lovely chorus, while »Amaka Pipa«, with Belew’s mouthwatering guitar soloing, is pure fusion hooliganism. On »Zubbata Cheve«, Cosma’s buddy Elio from the Italian band Elio e le Storie Tese guests as lead singer. With its jazzy fusion rhythm changes and goofy ‘hey-hey’ chorus, »Spin This« is undoubtedly one of the most colorful moments on »Gizmodrome«. The closing instrumental »Stark Naked« was originally a Curved Air track, which you can hear on their live album »Live at the BBC« (1995), but the new version is a whole lot different from the one Copeland’s former band once played.
Gizmodrome is a brilliant new supergroup project that every art rock gourmet will devour, especially anyone who treasures musical perfectionism, virtuoso spontaneity, witty arrangements and cheeky, mischievous lyrics. The instrumental chops of all the musicians, who can’t make it through a single song without goofing around, shine beautifully, the production is first-rate and every track is a perfect little chapter of its own. All of this means the good times never run out. That was the main point of the project all along, not cranking out new pop rock hits or ultra-complex prog rock epics. You can hear at every turn that this project came together completely spontaneously and that good ideas just kept coming on their own, while Copeland threw in a few of his old pieces and gave them a total airing-out for Gizmodrome. The end result is one of the most fun art rock albums of recent times.
Line-up
Stewart Copeland – drums, lead and backing vocals
Adrian Belew – guitar, backing vocals
Mark King – bass guitar, backing vocals
Vittorio Cosma – keyboards, backing vocals
Production
Claudio Dentes and Stewart Copeland
Track list
1. Zombies in the Mall
2. Stay Ready
3. Man in the Mountain
4. Summer’s Coming
5. Sweet Angels (Rule the World)
6. Amaka Pipa
7. Strange Things Happen
8. Ride Your Life
9. Zubatha Cheve
10. Spin This
11. I Know Too Much
12. Stark Naked
