The thing about Boom Crash Opera is that they had a hellova lotta hits. When you play `Dancing On The Storm`, you will be amazed how many songs you know.
‘Dancing In The Storm’ is the latest release from the Liberation Blue acoustic series.
The timing for the recording of this album was somewhat bizarre. It occurred across the Black Saturday bushfire weekend at Richard Pleasance’s Hepburn Springs studio. The day the band regrouped was a 40 degree day. They were on fire alert, but luckily, the Daylesford region of Victoria was spared the horror that surfaced elsewhere in the region.
The importance of the album is that this is the original Boom Crash Opera, with Richard Pleasance not only producing but performing back in the band. Pleasance left the group in 1992 after he was diagnosed with Tinnitus, a ringing in the ear in the absence of external sound.
He was replaced by Ian Tilley on bass and both bass players feature on this album. The lineup is Dale Ryder on vocals, Pete Farnan on guitar, Maz on drums, Greg O’Connor on piano and mandolin and Pleasance on bass, guitar, mandolin, sitar and Oud.
The Boom Crash Opera of the 80s and 90s were loud. Trimming back the sound for ‘Dancing In The Storm’ brings a whole new dimension to the songs.
I’ll simple list the ones that will be immediately recognizable when you play the album. ‘The Best Thing’, ‘Onion Skin’, ‘Great Wall’, ‘Dancing In The Storm’, ‘Hands Up In The Air’, ‘Get Out Of The House’ and ‘Bettadaze’ are the ones you will go “oh yeah” too.
The mandolin in ‘Hands Up In The Air’ is a complete contrast to the original electric studio version. That is very much the appeal of this album. Boom Crash Opera have not chosen to create carbon copies of the old songs, instead, choosing to reinvent them.
However, it is the lesser known Boom Crash Opera tracks that really bring the brilliance of this band to the surface. The haunting piano driven ‘Talk About You’ is mesmerizing. ‘Caught Between Two Towns’ highlights Dale Ryder’s vocals and the bands harmonies. Its tasty stuff.
It has been more than a decade since the last Boom Crash Opera studio album ‘Gizmo’. Who knows, maybe this is all they need to get excited about going back into the studio again.
‘Dancing In The Storm’ also includes the bonus DVD ‘MTV Unplugged’, filmed in June 1993 in Melbourne.
Tracklisting:
CD:
The Best Thing
Onion Skin
Great Wall
Dancing In The Storm
Hands Up In The Air
Love Me To Death
Get Out Of The House
In The Morning
You Wouldn’t Want To Know
Bettadaze
Ordinary Heaven
Talk About It
Caught Between Two Towns
DVD:
Get Out Of The House
Talk About It
This Isn’t Love
The Last Place On Earth
What A Goodnight
Don’t Let On
In The Morning
Bettadaze
Dancing In The Storm
Onion Skin
