FM – Indiscreet
Its thirty years (yes, you heard me, THIRTY!)
since FM released their most beloved (and debut) album 'Indiscreet'. Apparently
they have been asked many times in the past about re-recording their classic
album, and that day is now here. From my very early days in seeing them on the
'Tough It Out' tour, I always said that some of these songs sound under-produced,
especially when some of the live versions had a certain amount of ‘welly’ to
them. As a massive FM fan, I’ve been saying that ‘Indiscreet’ missed some 'oomph'
since '89/90 as it lacked some of the ‘punch’ that was being achieved at their live gigs and also on
albums on the other side of the Atlantic
So I step forward with a bit of (dreaded?)
anticipation of what they have done. Why mess with their definitive album? Well,
for one, modern techniques should put the expansive sound in, and it’s also
quite cheap to re-record what FM would have spent a small fortune on with
Portrait back in 86.
Apparently the seed was sown whilst
recording the follow up to 'Heroes & Villains', where they decided to put
down a backing track to ‘That Girl’ to see how it would sound with the apparent
huge sounds they were achieving. It gave the song a new dynamic that was not
possible in the 80s. This is what has led them to give these classic songs a
new lease of life. Thankfully, FM themselves realize that they cant just
re-create the original which is sacred in many of the eyes and ears of their
faithful fans. It’s the 2016 FM (still brilliant) with the sound of 2016
2016 paints a different picture. The line
up is now very well established with Jim Kirkpatrick on guitar, who has given
FM a fresh new injection of energy, and, despite the desire to re-record, none
of this would not be at all possible if it weren’t for one thing – that ‘thing’
being Steve Overland’s voice. It’s as good today as it was back in the mid 80s
when I heard Wildlife, few singers still have ‘the voice’ and SO is one of
them.
After just one quick listen, nothing much
has been changed, subtle differences, the odd slight intro difference, but
mainly the solos, bridges and general excellence of Indiscreet have remained on
‘I-30’. For ‘That Girl’, ‘Love Lies
Dying’ and ‘Hot Wired’ I expected a little more that what we get. There’s not
much wrong, but a spark is missing a tad. New is ‘good’, but not quite up to
the 86 versions. The ‘reasons to buy’ for me come in the shape of ‘The Other
Side Of Midnight’, which is punchy and polished, ‘American Girls’, a song that
should have catapulted them to the US market is fresh as a daisy, and ‘I Belong
To The Night’ has some added depth and bass. Also the last three – ‘Face To
Face’, ‘Frozen Heart’ and ‘Heart Of The Matter’ further add weight to the whole
concept. Seven bonus tracks round out ‘I-30’, and the ‘biggie’ and real bonus
for me is a song that never made it onto Indiscreet, but is of that era, and
they have pulled out an absolutely storming version of ‘Let Love Be The
Leader’. Also FM have recorded a brand new song for this, and that is ‘Running
On Empty’ a now typical 21st century FM type song, an upbeat and all
round feel good track that FM fans will lap up. ‘Shot In The Dark’ is the song
that made its way to Ozzy via Phil Soussan (and no doubt made a shit-load on
the back of it) and this gives a feel for the alternate (but equally
enthralling) FM version had it have made it at the time. The final track ‘That
Girl’ (Acoustic) is one of the best covers they have ever done, very soulful
and is a personal fave of closet FM fan, Mrs. Chesworth.
There may be a few ‘naysayers’ proclaiming
that FM shouldn’t have re-done it, but I for one am very happy, as some of
these songs sound fresh and lively as they did when I first heard them on
cassette, only now with added ‘oomph ‘ where it belongs.
Indiscreet 30 isn’t pointless. The songs
have been given the love, care and attention they deserve with a more ‘modern’
sound and twist, and ‘I30’ sits perfectly as a companion piece to the original.
I can’t give it more praise than that.
What started out as trepidation and
caution, ended in praise and jubilation.
FM
Steve Overland – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Merv Goldsworthy – Bass, Backing Vocals
Pete Jupp – Drums, Backing Vocals
Jem Davis – Keyboards
Jim Kirkpatrick – Lead Guitar, Backing
Vocals
Tracklisting
That Girl
Other Side Of Midnight
Love Lies Dying
I Belong To The Night
American Girls
Hot Wired
Face To Face
Frozen Heart
Heart Of The Matter
(Bonus tracks)
Let Love Be The leader
Running On Empty
Rainbow’s End
Shot In The Dark
Bad That’s Good In You
Love And Hate
That Girl (Acoustic Version)
