Music for Elevators

by

Anthony Stewart Head and George Sarah

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I'm beyond amazed. This album has a wide variety of song stylings, ranging from a song in French to more upbeat tracks, from lyrics about being apart from your children to reflecting on your past. Anthony Stewart Head (vocals, lyrics) and George Sarah (music, arrangements) have created an emotional and unique musical journey.

Track 1: "What Can You Tell Me?" starts the record off at a good pace, making your head bop along.

Track 2: "Babies (The In Between)" tugs at the heartstrings for anyone who misses their children, or even friends or family members - and remembers when they were young - and can't believe that they've grown up so quickly.

Track 3: "Owning My Mistakes" is about admitting what's past and dealing with what's present.

Track 4: [segue] An instrumental piece.

Track 5: "We Can Work It Out" is a remake of the classic tune written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, sung as a duet by Anthony and Holly Palmer. Holly's voice makes you take notice - and the modern take on the background music makes it all the more unique.

Track 6: "Qu'est Ce Que J'ai Fait" is in French. Voila.

Track 7: "All the Fun of the Fair" is incredibly catchy and is about revisiting something you did when you were younger, and seeing it with different eyes. Justina Machado is a featured vocalist. Amber Benson is also one of the vocalists on the track, singing the top line. Suzy Pradden provides the voice of the short speaking bit.

Track 8: "This Town in the Rain" describes Los Angeles during a rainstorm. Been there, lived that, strongly agree with the descriptions and emotions.

Track 9: "Talk to You" is beautiful, with strings and heartache. It's in the vein of Duncan Sheik. Pardon me as I put it on repeat. It may very well be my favorite overall track.

Track 10: "Mum's Song" is another delightful short instrumental piece.

Track 11: "Last Time" is the song which Joss Whedon wrote in full - music and lyrics. Amber Benson and Justine Machado are again featured on background vocals. You keep swearing it will be the last time, that you're done with that person, but you keep going back and you get your heart ripped out every single time.

Track 12: "One Man's Rain" includes Tony on the piano, as does the opening track, "What Can You Tell Me." It reminds me of Sting for some reason - and that's a very good thing in my book. Colleen Fitzpatrick, Camille Saviola and Justina Machado provide background vocals.

Track 13: [segue] Something to sleep to, indeed. You are getting very sleepy. . . Immensely relaxing instrumental piece.

Track 14: "Change" - The first beats of this song like "Back 2 Life" from the 1990s. Just as quickly as you remember that song, the melody kicks in and changes things around - no pun intended. You may be afraid to break free, but it's time. Move on. Be strong. Change.

Track 15: "Staring at the Sun" is another piece discussing the views of a child. It makes me remember a science moment in grammar school when they had us stare at the sun, then look at a piece of paper. That was safe and smart to teach children, wasn't it?

Track 16: "End Game" is a hidden track. Shhh. . . Here's where Alyson Hannigan comes in, talking over the music at a point. This song is all about pain and unanswered questions.

Once "End Game" has struck its final chord, keep the CD playing. There's another hidden surprise. About twelve minutes later, you'll hear a verse from "Owning My Mistakes," as a spoken by James Marsters.

The CD is a delight from beginning to end. I applaud not only Tony and George, but the various guest singers, artists and speakers as well. This is a CD I can listen to from beginning to end, skip no tracks, and have on repeat all day long as I'm working. Five stars, hands down.

There's no question that Anthony Stewart Head has a terrific voice. Anyone who's heard him sing on Buffy the Vampire Slayer would have certain expectations of this album. Unfortunately in this production somebody evidently thought that completely drowning his voice with ornate electronic curlicues would be a good idea. Trying to groove on the lyrics gives me a serious headache, it's like listening for bird song off in the distance while working on a metal lathe. I'd thought that by now we had gotten past that whole 'let's see how many different kinds of loud noises we can make with this here new-fangled electronic keyboard gadget'?

Before I got the CD I'd been wondering if it was going to be in the nature of low-rent lounge music, but mercifully the songs themselves probably were better than that, from what I could tell, although they would have been sedate. I doubt that anything I say is going to change anyone's mind about buying `Giles' record'; but be forewarned that unless you love oomph-pah-pah electronic music you may be disappointed. As for the much-touted guest voices from Amber Benson, Alyson Hannigan, and James Marsters, their contributions are miniscule to begin with, and cannot be picked out of the layers of bombastic cacophony. Let's hope Mr. Head some day puts out an album that will showcase and do justice to his voice.