Sweet Deceiver
By Kevin Ayers
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Track listing
- 1 Observations 4:27
- 2 Guru Banana 2:48
- 3 City Waltz 3:34
- 4 Toujours La Voyage 8:00
- 5 Sweet Deceiver 2:49
- 6 Diminished But Not Finished 1:58
- 7 Circular Letter 4:27
- 8 Once Upon an Ocean 3:32
- 9 Farewell Again (Another Dawn) 3:18
- Bonus Tracks
- 10 Didn't Feel Lonely Til I Thought of You [Live] 5:21
- 11 Observations [Live] 5:31
- 12 Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes [Live] 4:51
- 13 Interview [Live] 6:03
- 14 Farewell Again [Live] 4:40
- Total length: 61:19
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5 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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Sweet Deceiver [p]
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2005 CD UICY-9532
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Sweet Deceiver Bonus Tracks, Remastered
1 Review
Six years ago EMI began a remastering and repackaging programme for the work of Kevin Ayers. His first four albums were lovingly restored and the mandatory bonus material added, the results of which were very well received. Sweet Deceiver represents part of the second tranche of releases to be given the treatment but this time the response is slightly more guarded – and understandably so. Whereas Ayers earlier work is reflective of a carefree, almost careless, attitude to what can loosely be termed psychedelic, progressive folk. Then, somewhere in the mid-seventies, Ayers found himself being managed by John Reid who decided his new acquisition should be marketed as the new heartthrob and his music tailored for a more mainstream audience. Hence Sweet Deceiver with its truly awful cover art and watered down content.
Listening to Sweet Deceiver today it's easy to imagine the strain of being manipulated into a position of discomfort can be heard throughout - particularly as Ayers would depart for the solitude of the continent soon after its release in order to avoid the bad reviews and the continuous pressure from his record company to push him in directions he felt uncomfortable with. Even though Ayers employs a number of distinct musical styles - calypso, psychedelic whimsy, lounge-core croon - none fit exactly. This is music you would hear at a concert venue pumping out of the speakers before the arrival of the main act. It's for building atmosphere when no-one's really listening.
The only exceptions are opener "Observations" whose strident rocky tones prove totally out of step with everything that follows, and "Toujours La Voyage" which contains scintillating guitar work by Ollie Halsall and a fabulous turn on piano by Elton John.
The bonus material includes a session recorded for Radio 1 and is a big mistake. Not because the performance is poor but rather because it includes versions of "Didn't Feel Lonely 'Til I Thought Of You", "Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes" and "Interview" the originals of which can be found on earlier albums and all of which are superior to the majority of the new material on Sweet Deceiver.
This is the worst Kevin Ayers album I own and I'm going to be interested to discover how he progressed from here. Unquestionably the man was a prodigious talent but one which needed careful handling rather than corralling in any other direction than his own.
Sweet Deceiver has moments but is more interesting as an example of a fretful artist pushed down an uncomfortable path and producing an awkward sub-standard album.
Listening to Sweet Deceiver today it's easy to imagine the strain of being manipulated into a position of discomfort can be heard throughout - particularly as Ayers would depart for the solitude of the continent soon after its release in order to avoid the bad reviews and the continuous pressure from his record company to push him in directions he felt uncomfortable with. Even though Ayers employs a number of distinct musical styles - calypso, psychedelic whimsy, lounge-core croon - none fit exactly. This is music you would hear at a concert venue pumping out of the speakers before the arrival of the main act. It's for building atmosphere when no-one's really listening.
The only exceptions are opener "Observations" whose strident rocky tones prove totally out of step with everything that follows, and "Toujours La Voyage" which contains scintillating guitar work by Ollie Halsall and a fabulous turn on piano by Elton John.
The bonus material includes a session recorded for Radio 1 and is a big mistake. Not because the performance is poor but rather because it includes versions of "Didn't Feel Lonely 'Til I Thought Of You", "Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes" and "Interview" the originals of which can be found on earlier albums and all of which are superior to the majority of the new material on Sweet Deceiver.
This is the worst Kevin Ayers album I own and I'm going to be interested to discover how he progressed from here. Unquestionably the man was a prodigious talent but one which needed careful handling rather than corralling in any other direction than his own.
Sweet Deceiver has moments but is more interesting as an example of a fretful artist pushed down an uncomfortable path and producing an awkward sub-standard album.
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