Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Atomic Rooster
Label: Eagle Records
Released: 1983
Rating: 2.5/5
»Headline News« was the seventh and final studio album by the legendary heavy prog rock band Atomic Rooster. Cult keyboardist and main songwriter Vincent Crane (1943-1989) was, as so many times before in his turbulent, tragedy-scarred career, forced to assemble a completely different crew around him before recording than the one that played on its predecessor »Atomic Rooster« (1980), because his ‘best friend’, guitarist/vocalist John Du Cann, had walked out on him in 1982 without any explanation or warning.
Crane and returning drummer Paul Hammond (1942-1992) were forced to lean on guest guitarists for »Headline News«, the most prominent of them the legendary David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), while Bernie Torme (Gillan) and John Mizarolli were certainly no slouches either. Jon Field (Jade Warrior) watched over the extra percussion, while backing vocals came from Vincent’s wife Jean Crane and Tareena Craze. Mrs. Crane also helped her unlucky husband write the lyrics for the songs »Metal Minds«, »Time« and »Watch Out/Reaching Out«. The most drastic changes, though, were the arrival of synthesizers and Crane’s new role as lead singer, even though he was never blessed with any great vocal talent. Sadly, he had no other choice at the time, which is why »Headline News« is, vocally at least, easily their weakest album, and most of the songwriting ideas weren’t exactly inspired either. The album was further hobbled by a weak production, the result of a tiny budget.
The logical consequence of all these lineup upheavals was yet another sonic mutation, which was nothing new for Atomic Rooster. On the previous album they’d managed to establish themselves as a heavy rock band that stepped successfully into a new era and caught the attention of the NWOBHM scene’s followers. That was over on »Headline News«, since thanks to the synthesizers they morphed into a rather odd and not especially successful hybrid of hard rock, melodic rock and new wave. The only thing that still reminded you of the Atomic Rooster of old was Crane’s distinctive, virtuosic Hammond organ playing, the one constant of their entire career.
The pacifist opening anthem »Hold Your Fire«, with its melodramatic synth textures, shows vividly where they stood stylistically at that moment. It could have been a thoroughly successful piece, but it’s dragged down a bit by Crane’s technically limited vocal range. The legendary organist had a melodic but thin voice, which worked best on slower-tempo songs with a calmer atmosphere. Gilmour’s ‘weeping’, utterly characteristic guitar solo is unmistakable, and it blends superbly with the melodramatic mood. The title track is one of the more bizarre experiments, and not in a good way, since it’s a veritable collage of sonic elements slapped together in a hurry, by far the best of which are Crane’s solo organ masterpieces. Everything else is forgettable, whether it’s the unconvincing female vocal harmonies, the repetitive rhythm or the boring guitar riff, never mind Crane’s ‘tortured’ singing.
The melodic rocker »Taking A Chance« is a solid piece that, with a proper lead vocalist, could even have had real commercial potential, thanks to a lovely chorus, melodic harmonies on organ and guitar, and a cheeky-optimistic vibe. »Metal Minds« is a rather feeble, slow-tempo hard rocker with a somewhat cheap sci-fi lyric about intelligent robots, where only the spirited organ and guitar bits are worth your attention. »Land Of Freedom«, steeped in a bright atmosphere, where the female vocal harmonies and delicate use of piano are for once used convincingly, also came out as a single, but it drew absolutely no commercial response. Crane’s singing is once again really weak, and at times it seems he’d have been better off releasing a fully instrumental album, though in the eighties that would have meant complete commercial suicide.
The schizophrenic »Machine« is a hopeless achievement vocally, but on the other hand it contains a brilliant instrumental section with a proper organ orgy, complex piano arrangements and splendidly branching drum fills. At times it feels like it embodies Crane’s inner conflict. The slow-paced »Dance Of Death«, with its gloomy mood and occult lyrics, even leans a little toward classic Atomic Rooster, which makes it in many ways the best moment on »Headline News«. Along with »Time«, it’s the only track on the album where Crane’s vocal comes off well, as he uses an altered, lower-pitched, ‘storyteller’ style of singing that fits superbly with the waves of synth textures, enigmatic piano arrangements and dramatic use of percussion.
»Carnival«, a bizarre hybrid of hard rock and new wave with a pinch of prog rock eclecticism, is on the other hand yet another rather chaotic song with a dark mood, where Crane’s vocal eccentricity doesn’t impress, but the ethereal female vocal harmonies are that much more convincing. The melodic rocker »Time« makes for a decent closer to the album, with delicate piano arrangements, a few melodramatic guitar passages and a melodic chorus, creating an uplifting, positive atmosphere that’s totally atypical for Atomic Rooster. Crane’s vocal, surprisingly, comes off convincingly this time, owing a lot to the good backing vocal harmonies, while on piano and organ he proves one last time why he was one of the greatest keyboard talents of all time.
The reissued CD adds two bonus tracks: the hard-rocking »Future Shock«, written by guitarist Mizarolli, and the final prog rock experiment »Watch Out/Reaching Out«. It’s a bit ironic that both of these compositions would rank among the better »Headline News« achievements, had Crane put them on the regular part of the album.
Mr. Crane surely wouldn’t have been proud of »Headline News«, had he still been alive today, but with a low production budget, a trio of guitar ‘hired guns’ who got their job done as fast as humanly possible, and his own vocal contribution, which was never made for big projects, he still pulled through in the end and made yet another album that’s interesting in many ways and totally different from all its predecessors. All of this has to be taken into account when listening to this farewell effort from the ‘atomic roosters’, to understand what kind of disarray this legendary band was in at the time. After the release of »Headline News«, Crane went out on tour one last time, with drummer Hammond joined by Torme and Mizarelli (the latter only for the British leg of the tour), after which he disbanded Atomic Rooster at the end of 1983.
Over the next three years he worked with Peter Green (ex-Fleetwood Mac) and Ray Dorset (ex-Mungo Jerry) on the Katmandu project and with the pop group Dexys Midnight Runners. In 1987 he decided to revive Atomic Rooster together with Du Cann, with whom he had miraculously made up again. A German tour was supposed to start in 1989. Sadly, Crane’s insidious mental illness got in the way first, and the legendary keyboardist tragically ended a life marked by countless bitter disappointments through an overdose of anesthetics, while his Atomic Rooster legacy lives on.
Lineup
Vincent Crane – Hammond organ, piano, synthesizers, percussion, bass guitar, vocals
Paul Hammond – drums, percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Bernie Tormé – guitar
David Gilmour – guitar
John Mizarolli – guitar
Jon Field – percussion
Jean Crane and Tareena Craze – backing vocals
Production
Vincent Crane
Track List
1. Hold Your Fire
2. Headline News
3. Taking a Chance
4. Metal Minds
5. Land of Freedom
6. Machine
7. Dance of Death
8. Carnival
9. Time
