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Delusions of Grandeur
Cathy Richardson
A CD Review |
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Upon my first listen to "Delusions of Grandeur," the
follow-up CD to Cathy Richardson’s Grammy nominated "Road to
Bliss," my first thoughts went along the lines of "Maybe I
missed something, but I think I prefer my Cathy rockin’ a
little bit more. This CD seems a little bit more melancholy,
laid-back. I’m not really sure if I’m liking it." So I
listened to the CD again, paying a little more attention
since I was stuck in the dude-mobile on my way to Ohio, but
I was still kind of daydreaming. Then the song "Things Are
Different" started, the bridge of the song hit, and I was
snapped back into my liking most everything by Ms.
Richardson, rockin’ or laid-back. I finished the song,
bounced back to the first track, and paid a lot bit more
attention, still stuck in the dude-mobile, somewhere in
Indiana, and began to like the CD a little more and more
with each listen.
So listening to "Delusions of Grandeur" a few more times,
I have begun to recognize many gems of songs that I missed
that first time through. Of course there is the song,
"Things Are Different," the song that snapped me back into
Cathy Richardson reality. It’s a ballad-styled song, with a
great line in the bridge – "Time erases faces, changes
hearts and minds and dreams," and is sort of reflective song
at someone you remember from your past whom you’d like to
show how your life is now, and how they might have fit into
it. Another is "Overwhelmed," a nice love song which kicks
ass as the song wraps up. "I Don’t Want Anything" is a song
that starts off slow, and at first had me patiently waiting
for it to turn into a rocking number, but it didn’t, and you
know what, after a few listens I didn’t care anymore,
because the song worked perfectly into a section of the
lyrics – "And I’m turning off my phone, ‘cuz when I sit here
all alone I don’t want hear how many times you didn’t call."
Cathy did this one right because it ends up being a nice,
bluesy, reflection at a busted relationship.
The other song infecting my head sort of confuses me a
little, because I have absolutely no idea why you might be
growing a garden in your closet. The song is called "Closet
Cultivator" and it sort of tells the story of a next-door
neighbor in an apartment complex who seems to grow a nice
garden, in a closet no less. It’s got a slight reggae beat,
which I think is also supposed to mean something, I just
can’t wrap my lips and breath around it. The neighbor seems
to know what to do with a good seed, and the person in the
song, who seems to have writer’s block, seems to think that
by visiting her neighbor emitting a fragrant aroma, it will
help break the block. I think there is more to this song,
I’ll just have to study the lyrics a little more, I think.
Sadly, or maybe happily, me and my neighbors don't share a
common vent in our townhouse walls. Enough bad
innuendo on my part, Cathy Richardson does a much better job
with the innuendo in the song, and dammit, that bouncing
beat is catchy.
But Cathy does do something else on this CD which I found
just fantastic, and that is on the song "Two Questions." She
took two questions, formed into lyrics, simply "Why are you
such a drag? And why do you fuck me up every time you come
around here?" and by repeating them differently, made a
full-length song out of those questions. And it so works.
Cathy Richardson, for "Delusions of Grandeur," slips away
from her rocker style and keeps things in a bluesy mode,
almost gospelly at times, and seems to have gotten a jazz
bug a little up her butt. I have to admit that I am not
really a fan of jazz, which her song "The Sacred
Relationship Between Humans & Plants" reminds me of, but I
do understand where she is going with it, but I just didn’t
like it.
A couple of listens in I realized that I’m really liking
this new Cathy Richardson CD, even if the rockin’ isn’t
there. And once again she has teamed with Bill Dolan to
create some great CD packaging outside of your standard
"jewel box" when you buy the CD. My only recommendation is
don’t try to get the CD out of the packaging while you are
driving, and I’m not talking about the shrink-wrap. Buy it,
you’ll understand.
The CD comes packaged as a theatrical performance, with
each song being a scene in a play on a grand stage.
Explanations abound for each song, in the little playbill
booklet included with the CD, the lyrics are there as well,
and some of the songs make a little more sense with the
stories that preface them. I have to admit that I didn’t pay
that much attention to the stories (I’m sorry Cathy) in the
booklet because I’m not a reader type of person.
Anyway, for this review, I’m going to kick the "Bonus
Material" out of the equation, it’s five tracks of the same
songs on the CD that have been re-done for language or
editing purposes, and will ignore the first track, because
it’s an "Overture" and I didn’t like it. With that I’m
giving "Delusions of Grandeur" from Cathy Richardson an 82%
on the Entertainment Ave! listenability scale. I’m not a fan
of "A Fool’s Regret" and "The Sacred Relationship" song, so
I’ll leave it at that. But the rest have grown on me like a
fungus, and it’s a good fungus.
Though not being rockin’ as much, this CD will probably
grow on you if you give it a couple of listens. Sometimes
you need to do that. I did, and I’m glad.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!!
L8R!!! |
