Futurama

#2 – Futurama by Be Bop Deluxe

Thanks to my old pal Bryan Hutchinson for this one! Bryan and I served together in Chelsea and Hounslow in the mid to late 90s and I’m glad that we reconnected in Facebook. Social media does have its very few upsides! 

I’m really, really surprised that I’d never heard of the band before, let alone this album. I suppose growing up that it could have been one I just missed but I’m 95% sure we never had this album, or any other by Be Bop Deluxe, in our collection. And that’s a surprise to me because everything about the way these guys sound screams at me that my Dad (especially, but my Mum also) would have really enjoyed this. I shall have to ask whether there’s some reason they never hit my radar as a kid.

I think you could call this a perfect contrast with last week’s album by the Wu-Tang Clan! This is British 70s prog rock. And every single one of those four words are apt. American bands didn’t sound like this in the 70s. At least none of the ones I heard. It also reeks of the 70s. The production isn’t top tier. This sounds more like Queen 2 than it does A Night at the Opera (if you want a Queen reference point) in that it’s good, but it’s not in that “holy shit, this sounds amazing!” range. There’s not a ton of bottom end in the mix so it feels slightly thin in places, but it doesn’t really sound unlike most records of the era, so it’s not distracting or detracting from the impact of the songs themselves. The Queen reference is apropos too, because this was produced by Roy Thomas Baker (who produced ANATO) and was recorded at Rockfield and Sarm studios, where Queen often recorded in their early days, as well as Abbey Road. 

From the fairly cursory reading I did, it seems that the band, and the songs are the brainchild of lead singer, guitarist, and keyboardist Bill Nelson. From what I’ve read, he folded the band after only 5 years to go off and make more experimental music and I can tell you right off, I will be checking out his work after this record!

First of all, I have to say that the musicianship on this record is top tier. Bill Nelson is an excellent composer and an excellent guitarist. His vocal is really good without being incredibly unique or distinctive. At times, you can feel a Bowie influence rubbing off on his delivery; specifically the Hunky Dory album. Nelson’s phrasing at times really reminds me of songs like Oh You Pretty Things and Queen Bitch. The drumming is absolutely top notch and I could happily sit and really just focus on what Simon Fox is doing throughout this album and enjoy it for that component alone. Bass duties are being handled by Kiwi Charlie Tumahai and his work is also excellent; adding in flavour and momentary distractions where needed but holding down the groove always. 

Onto the songs. Wow. This is a kaleidoscopic rollercoaster of inventiveness and ambition. Of the nine songs on the album, seven of them contain more musical ideas, phrases, and movements than most rock bands manage on two or three albums. Nelson flits restlessly from idea to idea without ever losing the central thread of what he’s doing with the song. When you have an A, B, C, D, E, and F section in a song, it can often feel like change for change’s sake or cobbled together. That never happens here as the songs flow through their arrangements fluidly and very, very naturally.

On Wikipedia, this is categorized under “progressive rock”, which is definitely the one place it fits, but it’s also atypical from most prog I listen to in that, within the furious onslaught of melodic and harmonic changes, we mainly stay in the 4/4 time signature. In this regard, I’d almost be inclined to call it art rock that has a light sprinkling of glam sauce sprinkled over it. In the cornerstone song, “Soundtrack”, we do get a movement in 3/4 time, but we don’t have any 6/4 or 7/8 sections etc. This gives the overall aesthetic an accessible feel while still exposing a less adventurous listener to more complex passages. While we’re on the subject of prog rock, once I’d listened through the album, I went back to see if it was a concept album with a consistent narrative because lyrically, there are recurring themes (the fleeting nature of relationships and the conflict between nostalgia and modernity) but there isn’t a central narrative or premise. To write something in the art rock/prog rock paradigm that feels this cohesive without having that strong central throughline only makes it more interesting and impressive to me.

Overall, this is squarely in my wheelhouse and within the first minute, I felt confident that this was going to be an album I’d enjoy. 

My favourite song, at this point, is “Soundtrack”, followed closely by “Swan Song” and it will come as no surprise to anyone that those are the two longest songs on the album and the most theatrically ambitious. 

Futurama by Be Bop Deluxe is an easy 5 out of 5 for me, meaning “I really enjoyed it and will probably check out more by this artist” and I’ll definitely be digging into the other four albums in this catalogue at some future point. I’ll also definitely be keeping my eye out for this on vinyl. I see it was repressed for Record Store Day in 2024 so it may not be too hard to find!

I spun my album selection wheel again once I’d listened to this and next week’s album is going to be Midnight Mauraders by A Tribe Called Quest, as recommended by Kiran Sthankiya.