Tuesday morning I was watching the same performance on the TV after having recorded it in the early hours. It looked just as good the second time around. You can't have failed to notice how excited the violinist was over Bruce's left shoulder and you just have to smile at her Bruuuuucing at the end.
As always there were some naysayers on Greasy Lake but I thought the man did good.
So then we are on to a press conference in Paris. Sony treated us to highlights and enticing snippets of some tracks from the album.
All I can say is wow! - loved them.
And whilst Bruce was in Paris he bumped into Cecile - one of our Greasy Lake friends
Following on from the press event we had a plethora of reviews of the album. There's this from the Irish Times, this in The Independent and the review from the Guardian is here. These all followed pretty much the same format but The Telegraph decided to go for a blow by blow account of each track. Whether or not the music critics like the album will have no bearing on my opinion. Well let's face it I'm not exactly objective when it comes to Bruce's music and I'm gonna like it anyway.
Well we are going to be able to hear the album, by way of a track a day, on Absolute Radio. This puts me in a dilemma. I like the anticipation of a new album almost as much as the actual thing. It's a bit like Christmas. No matter how wonderful your presents are you can't beat the thrill of seeing them for the first time. As a child I didn't go looking to see where mum and dad had hidden my presents and even now I don't squidge and squash the gifts under the tree to see if I can guess what's inside. I would just hate to know what they were before I opened them.
So once I've heard the album for the first time the surprise has gone. That wonderful feeling when I first open the CD put it on the stereo and hear those first few seconds only happens once. Historically, Mike and I have always set aside a couple of hours to listen to the album for the first time. We open a bottle of wine, lock the door, turn off the phone and settle down. I love that frisson of excitement when I hear a song for the first time. We sit in silence, with just the odd look exchanged and, at the end, perhaps pick our favourite track. Then we listen again - possibly discussing each track as we hear it. This is the only time we just sit and listen to an album and we only do it with Bruce. Normally music is on in the background in our house.
The flip side of this is that many of my Bruce buddies will be discussing the album before I have even heard it and there will be endless threads on Greasy Lake. I like to be in the know so I'll find it really difficult to be out of the loop. Do I really want to be listening to the album for the first time when lots of other folks already know all the words? Oh! and am I depriving myself of two weeks enjoyment? What If I die in the next two weeks? Well, if I do, Mike says he'll play the album at my wake!
Hmmmm it's a toughie but after due consideration I've made my decision. I don't want to hear any more tracks until I get the cd in my hot little hands. Roll on March 5th.
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