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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Mark Edwards is a singer-songwriter from Cleveland (Ohio), whose
introverted and highly personal confessions display an adult tone that is
unusual in rock music.
Three albums,
My Dad Is Dead (St Valentine, 1986),
Peace Love And Murder (Birth, 1987) and
Let's Skip The Details (Homestead, 1988),
refined his formula: depressed (if not suicidal) lyrics, classic
(but not exuberant) melodies, sparse (and sometimes nightmarish)
accompaniment.
The Taller You Are (Homestead, 1989) marks a quantum leap forward,
both philosophical and artistic. On one hand, the lyrics stop analyzing
in detail his personal disadventures, and begin to reflect on the human
condition at large. On the other hand, the instruments charge with greater
awareness of musical genres.
The album's instrumental ouverture,
For Lack of a Better Word, is a masterpiece of
new-wave tension that bridges Cure and
Feelies, propelled by a middle-eastern
guitar phrase and tribal drumming. The trancey, soaring, raga-like chorus
climbs an imaginary ladder to nirvana with geometric precision and
increasing fervor.
The epic World on a String, one of the numerous propulsive numbers,
the rhythmic emphasis of early Talking Heads
and a deeply emotional refrain that harks back to the generational anthems of
the Animals.
To various degrees, the other songs elaborate on this theme, frequently adding
an eastern-spiritual element to the equation.
The six-minute The Big Picture unleashes a frantic, whirling, gypsy-like
dance, while the voice begins spinning its dejected tales in the neutral
tone of Brian Eno (another recurring motif
of the album).
The wedding of power-rock riffs and forceful singing is particularly effective
on Too Far Gone
songs that re-invent the science of neurosis in music first attempted by
Neil Young.
The tortured litany of What Can I Do borders on the
Television's neural disorders,
and Nothing Special has the quietly suicidal quality of
Edwards' early works (but enhanced by a serene, flamenco-like guitar prayer).
The threatening, syncopated riff and rhythm of The Only One, worthy of
a Sioux war dance, punctuates the psychological tension of the tale
with the mastery of a Hollywood soundtrack.
In a roaring display of eclectism,
Edwards dares to flirt with disco-music (Planes Crashing) and
limping blues-rock (Can't Get Started), and seals the album with
an exotic-surf instrumental, So Much to Lose, that links back to
the beginning.
Most songs are about five-minute long, the format of mature story-tellers
who do not need be confined to the classic song format anymore.
(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
The double EP Shine (Scat, 1990), reissued as Shine(r) (Emperor Jones, 1996) with some previously unreleased tracks from the same period for a total of twenty songs, revisits tracks from earlier records and includes a few rarities.
The progression toward a less dark and more accessible sound continues with Chopping Down The Family Tree (Scat, 1991), particularly with Without A Doubt and the title track, but also with some aggressive numbers (Deliver Me Home and Journey). Out Of Sight Out Of Mind (Scat, 1993) really feels like the album of a classic rock trio, with Edwards showcasing gems like She's In Love and the sweet You Are The One (perhaps his best song ever), as well as two driving instrumentals, Untitled and Racing Heart. The lyrics are a bit less sad than usual, although they still dwell in the recesses of an extremely fragile psyche, waiting only to be crushed by life. For Richer For Poorer (Trance Syndicate, 1995), with the now-tight accompaniment of Matt Swanson (bass) and Scott Pickering (drums, ex-Prisonshake), perhaps tries too hard to chase choruses and pop cadences (Evolution and Something More end up feeling more petulant than anything else), but the martial, slightly Japanese rhythm of Coat Of Armor, the effervescent, almost boogie energy of Play The Game, and even more so the driving and warlike Native American dance of Nasty Little Habit, forge a style that renews the glory of Warren Zevons existential romanticism; while the syncopated ballet of Crazy World and the semi-raga of Recharge present even more original structures.
The next album was Everyone Wants The Honey But Not The Sting (Emperor Jones, 1997), on which
Mark Edwards continued his trajectory toward a sound that was increasingly full-bodied, rocky, deafening, and commercial. Having abandoned the dark and spartan style of earlier times, Edwards sails toward rock singer-songwriter territory ā la Warren Zevon or even Bruce Springsteen. By his side remains Matt Swanson (bass), and Shayne Ivy has joined on drums.
The southern boogie of Don't Look Now and the rock and roll of Statistician's Day Off represent today's emphatic and agitated man. Traces of power-pop appear in Deer On The Highway, traces of garage-rock in Lesson #1, but nothing concrete. Perhaps the best song is the closing A Million Questions, seven minutes at the edge of Neil Young's more electric side. The obsessive pursuit of a catchy chorus (which is almost contradictory for someone like him) seriously undermines the coherence of the sound. Of the convoluted poetry of earlier times, only the lyrics remain, which, however, feel somewhat out of place within such violently rock structures.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Infected with the disease of the 1980s revival,
on The Engine Of Commerce (Vital Cog, 2003) Mark Edwards misses
the point of his own songs (such as All We Want) and deforms them
like plastic toys.
A Divided House (Unhinged, 2005), featuring again
Prisonshake's rhythm section of Scott Pickering and Chris Burgess,
is verbose and intellectual as usual, capturing the imagination with an
allegorical series of songs but then wasting the opportunity with half-baked
and largely unbalanced melodies. Edwards has remained a writer who does not
write but sings. He's like a sailor who does not sail but hikes.
A New Clear Route (2009) and And He's Still Taking It (2010)
were rather uneventful.
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