Be Bop Deluxe - Modern Music (1976) {2008 Harvest Japan Mini LP TOCP-70361}

Things had changed for Be Bop Deluxe by the time of the group's fourth album. The band that turned up in glam rock regalia on its 1974 debut, Axe Victim, was in suit and tie on the cover of Modern Music in 1976. Inside, the band's transformation into a sophisticated pop group seemed complete. Arrangements were still ornate, but the songs were dominated by their highly imagistic lyrics, and as often as not, Nelson was borrowing ideas from the Beatles. It didn't quite work, despite pleasant numbers such as "Orphans of Babylon" and "Kiss of Light," perhaps because a true pop sensibility requires a gift for simplicity that Nelson has never exhibited. The album charted high in England and made the Top 100 in the U.S., but it was Be Bop's peak, not its breakthrough.

tracklist:
01 - Orphans Of Babylon
02 - Twilight Capers
03 - Kiss Of Light
04 - The Bird Charmers Destiny
05 - The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow
06 - Bring Back The Spark
07 - Modern Music
08 - Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone)
09 - Honeymoon On Mars
10 - Lost In The Neon World
11 - Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids
12 - Modern Music (Reprise)
13 - Forbidden Lovers
14 - Down On Terminal Street
15 - Make The Music Magic
16 - Futurist Manifesto (bonus track)
17 - Quest For The Harvest Of The Stars (bonus track)
18 - Autosexual (bonus track)

Bill Nelson ***** for me…