Do Not Bend [Import]

do not bend [import]

Track Listings

1. You Cant Take It With You

2. A Friend In Need

3. The Gods Are Smiling

4. Fred And Dis Audrey

5. I Will Love You Tomorrow

6. Sleeping With The Ghosts

7. Rappin With Yves

8. Norman Conquest II

9. No No Nettie

10. Mr Decadent

11. Do The Books

12. Set In Blancmange

13. A Human Being

14. You Are Not Me

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
2003 solo album from the ex-10CC singer/guitarist featuring 14 tracks. The UK edition includes a bonus disc with five extra tracks, 'I'm Not In Love (Latino)', 'Stars Didn't Show', 'Tek Dis A Woman', 'A Code Of Silence', & 'Shine'. Strawberry Soundtracks.

Do Not Bend,Eric Stewart,Rock/Pop

Do Not Bend [Import]

Average customer rating:

a great return from the ex-10cc man, Eric Stewart
Melodic return from 10cc vocalist/guitarist/songwriter
A long overdue return

Do Not Bend

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000B00I1
Release Date: 2003-08-12

Tracks:

You Cant Take It With You
A Friend In Need
The Gods Are Smiling
Fred And Dis Audrey
I Will Love You Tomorrow
Sleeping With The Ghosts
Rappin With Yves
Norman Conquest II
No No Nettie
Mr Decadent
Do The Books
Set In Blancmange
A Human Being
You Are Not Me

Album Description

2003 solo album from the ex-10CC singer/guitarist featuring 14 tracks. The UK edition includes a bonus disc with five extra tracks, 'I'm Not In Love (Latino)', 'Stars Didn't Show', 'Tek Dis A Woman', 'A Code Of Silence', & 'Shine'. Strawberry Soundtracks.

Customer Reviews:

a great return from the ex-10cc man, Eric Stewart.......2004-12-16

10cc released "Mirror Mirror", their final studio album to date, in 1995, & as far as Eric Stewart is concerned, 10cc are truly finished. He clearly has no interest at this point in milking the band's name any longer (Graham Gouldman is a different story).

However, all major 10cc fans should be ecstatic that Eric has made a return & offered us this solo album "Do Not Bend", released in April of 2003. This is his first solo album since 1982's "Frooty Rooties", & if you`re afraid this album is going to reveal Eric to be washed up, you can breathe a sigh of relief, because this is a heck of an album with many of the tracks ranking among the best work of his long career (including his 10cc work, of course).

Eric got help on background vocals, but otherwise, he does all the vocals & plays all the instruments on "Do Not Bend" in addition to writing all of the material himself, & the one-man-band approach works gloriously here, proving conclusively how brilliant Eric is.

Eric took his time making "Do Not Bend" at his own studio in France--he said the album was basically 5 years in the making--and it's quite clear he did it mostly, if not entirely, for his own enjoyment. He's said not to overanalyze the album to death, and that he's just "having some fun".

Indeed, a bunch of the tracks here are a BLAST. The brilliant album opening cautionary tale "You Can't Take It With You" has an infectious, sly synth-brass hook, great guitar breaks, & terrific female harmony vocals in addition to Eric`s own fun, spirited delivery (it's like a more rousing version of "Everything Is Not Enough"). The slow-paced, casually funky "Rappin` With Yves" has a super-fun gibberish-spiked chorus. The defiant "A Human, Being" is an uncanny anti-prejudice song, and it's massively funky & infectious with a deathless, unforgettable chorus. The 'steel drums'-laden "Norman Conquest II", a song with ultra-witty lyrics about family that flies aeroplanes, is deliriously fun with a jaw-droppingly catchy chorus--one of the most insanely catchy sing-along choruses EVER--plus an ADDITIONAL ultra-catchy refrain.

A bunch of the other tracks also feature those 'steel drums' (of which Eric displayed his affection for on a couple of the "Mirror Mirror" tracks). "I Will Love You Tomorrow" is catchy, with moody verses & a feel-good singalong chorus. Also really strong is "The Gods Are Smiling" which interestingly matches lyrics about the current happiness of Eric's life with a downbeat minor-keyed tune, and it has a really pretty, bittersweet chorus.

The bluesy, lively "Fred And Dis-Audrey" is solidly fun, and the amusing "No No Nettie" is an enthusiastic rockabilly tune.

There are a number of ballads here. The soaring "Sleeping With the Ghosts" is about a woman seemingly unable to get over a former lover (presumably the same woman he sings about on "Code Of Silence"), and it's another one of his heart-wrenching, deeply moving songs. "A Friend In Need" is nicely tuneful & charming with a feel-good chorus that's a bit hokey, but fun. Eric ends the album in nicely contemplative fashion with "You Are Not Me" which has something of a "can't we all just get along" theme to it.

On the relative downside, there`s "Do the Books", another one of the `tropical-flavored' tracks; it's not without catchiness, but it suffers from Eric's toothless, choppy vocals--it kinda feels as if he was reading the lyrics off a cue card for the first time. He goes for a relatively straight ahead blues sound on "Mr. Decadent"--it's pleasant, but could use some livening up. And he goes overboard on "Set In Blancmange", which is exhausting with its excessively-repeated anthemic chorus. Eric uses long fade-outs and/ or heavily repetitive codas on a lot of the tracks, & it's eye-roll inducing at times, as on "Set In Blancmange" & "Do the Books".

So, the sailing is occasionally a bit rough, but still though, this is an album that's absolutely brimming with ideas. Even the album's weakest tracks aren't disasters, and the positives of the album FAR outweigh the negatives. The album has a generous 14-song, 60+ minute running time, & there's a load of terrific stuff to be found. It's truly a joy to see Eric Stewart, one of the great geniuses in music history, come out with such a highly enjoyable album at this point in his musical career. "Do Not Bend" blows away latter-day albums from Eric's pal Paul McCartney such as "Flaming Pie" & "Driving Rain". I love how Eric clearly doesn't give a damn about staying "current"--this album seriously sounds like it could have been recorded in the '80s. Plus, for the most part, Eric's still in fantastic form vocally.

On top of all of this, I haven't even mentioned yet the 5 track bonus CD. Reportedly, the bonus disc was only included in the `first edition' of the album's release, although the copy I received thankfully does include it, because it's extremely interesting. It starts off with the "Latino" remake of "I'm Not In Love", and quite surprisingly, it works marvelously--it more heavily incorporates the "wait a long time" portion of the song which sounds incredibly great in this context; as brilliant as the original version of "I'm Not In Love" is, there's no denying that it's received endless airplay over the years, and the "Latino" version truly gives this classic song a 'new lease on life', so to speak (unlike the "Rework of Art Mix" from "Mirror Mirror"). There's also a great version of "The Stars Didn't Show" which is clearly superior to the version on 10cc's 1992 album "...Meanwhile". Tracks 3 & 4 of the bonus disc are alternate versions of songs from "Mirror Mirror" including a really interesting version of "Code Of Silence". The bonus disc ends with "Shine", which is a feel-good pop tune, and although it's kind of dull and has a sugar-coated gloss that's atypical for Eric, it does have a radiant, undeniably catchy chorus.

The album also comes with a booklet with touching, sincere quotes from Sir George Martin and Alan Parsons. There's also C. Brian Jasper's essay about his following of Eric`s music through the years, and though it's eye-rollingly pompous in spots, it's still amusing and interesting.

If you haven't already, definitely try to track down the version of this album that contains the bonus disc. The quality of the main album portion, plus the addition of the bonus disc make this a hands-down must-have. This is a splendid package that any true 10cc lover will simply adore. Stewart has declared recently that he's more excited about his music now than he has been for a long time, & indeed, "Do Not Bend" really does sound like something of a rebirth for him. He manages to tap into the unhinged glee of early 10cc that's often associated with Godley & Creme and mix it with his own keen, intelligent observations and taste for different styles, resulting in some extremely unique music.

It's great to hear that Eric has already made solid progress for a new album--hopefully he will continue to follow his muse as he has done here--but until that sees the light of day, don't miss "Do Not Bend".

Melodic return from 10cc vocalist/guitarist/songwriter.......2004-07-27

Eric Stewart's latest album (entitled "Do Not Bend" not "Untitled" as Amazon.com has it listed), features his melodic songwriting, warm tenor and supple guitar playing. The songs are terrific the full of strong hooks and the production is also top notch. The only draw back to the album is the fact that he didn't use a real rhythm section on many tracks. Stewart plays all the songs himself and uses programmed drums and sythsizers. The sythesizer horn section isn't a fav of mine and it does mar a couple of really strong tracks. Stewart's songwriting is in top form throughout the album. It's bluesy vocal delivery and sharp, melodic but cutting guitar highlight more than a few of these tracks. How does this sound? It has more in common with the last couple of 10cc releases than it does with stuff he did with the original line up of 10cc but there's also clearly been a continuing progressive as a songwriter.

The bonus disc featuring 3 tracks written for various 10cc albums with a fascinating latin tinged version of "I'm Not in Love". "The Stars Didn't Show" sounds like a rough demo for the version that Kevin Godley sang on the 10cc album "Meanwhile".

Although it's pretty unlikely 10cc will ever reunite (unless they get voted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame where we could see them perform a couple of songs. Keep in mind that's popularity and politically driven not based completely on merit alone), I'd love to see some of his former band members guest on his next release (particularly from the original line up).

A long overdue return.......2003-09-08

Overproduced? Yes of course, Eric Stewarts music has always been overproduced, eversince he started his career as a studio wizzard in Strawberry Studio's. Man, does he love that equipment. Perhaps the most distinctive example of his production skills is 10cc's "I'm not in love". You must remember that one, even if you'd forgotten long ago who Eric Stewart is. To remind you: he was in the Mindbenders (singing on their smash hit "Groovy kind of love", he was one of the creators of 10 cc and he did session work with people like Alan Parsons and Paul McCartney.
But apart from being overproduced "Do not bend" is also a lot of other things. Most of all, it's fun. "Do not bend" is a very upbeat, lightweight affair. Don't expect lyrics that delve deep into the human soul or anything like that. But do expect enthousiastic singing, the odd in-joke or two in the lyrics and of course the beautiful and exciting guitar riffs that have always been Eric's trademark. If you liked his older music, you can safely buy this record unheard without being dissappointed. And if he's new to you, "Do not bend" is a very good way of getting acquainted with a man who's been around since the sixties and who was in one of the very few bends that kept the dissapointing secenties alive.

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