Paul Haig - Chain

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 31 / 1 / 2008

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Review

‘Chain’ was originally released by Virgin back in 1989 and is infamous for it sleeve of Audrey Hepburn if nothing else. Paul Haig was the original frontman of Scotland's Josef K who produced a few singles and had just one album, ‘The Only Fun in Town’, which was released in 1981 on the famous Postcard label, the label that influenced Creation records to start up. ‘Something Good’ opens up this remastered CD. It is a catchy pop number with a big synth texture. Paul vocally sounds something like Lloyd Cole or Julian Cope or even Iggy Pop at his most commercial. ‘True Blue’ has a commanding vocal and slow paced backing and recalls Scott Walker in its sound. ‘Communication’ is different in its direction. It has a big 80’s and dreaded 12 inch remix sound. It starts off sounding like a Japan number and finishes off sounding like a Julian Cope track. ‘Swinging for You’ is acoustic and piano based with a soft Iggy-like croon of a vocal. ‘Time of Her Life’ is a rocking number with some Prince-style funky guitar sound to it. ‘Faithless’ is more spacey and has a lonesome piano sound to it. It sounds huge and has a vocal Scott Walker would be proud of. ‘Times Can Change’ again has an 80’s remix feel, and is quite poppy in a kids Saturday morning TV show style. ‘Turn the Vision’ recalls the David Bowie of ‘Let's Dance’, while ‘Sooner or Later ‘ has a commercial sound and brass added to it. ‘Chained’ is the only cover. Written by Billy MacKenzie of the Associates, it has a dancey, chunky sound and funk beats. ‘Ideal of Living’ is an instrumental with a Happy Mondays/’Wrote for Luck’ groove. This ends the original album, but the remaster adds a few extra tracks. The 10" mix of ‘Something Good’ was originally unreleased, and has a bigger cleaner sound. ‘Over You’ is poppy with great rhythm and has an Iggy-style photo, while ‘Free to Go (Public)’ is very sample based sounding like Paul Hardcastle's '19'. The remix of ‘Ideal of Living’, has a vocal version, while ‘The Last Kiss’ which ends this CD sounds like a Cure soundscape or a short Japan instrumental.

Track Listing:-

1 Something Good
2 True Blue
3 Communication
4 Swinging For You
5 Time Of Her Time
6 Faithless
7 Times Can Change
8 Turn The Vision
9 Sooner Or Later
10 Chained
11 Ideal Of Living
12 Something Good (10'' Mix)
13 Over You
14 Free To Go (Public)
15 Ideal Of Living (Remix)
16 The Last Kiss

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