Sail Away

by

Randy Newman

Edit

Randy Newman is in a class all his own. That's not to say he's the BEST of the best, but he certainly is a raging iconoclast. I mean, a portly, curly-headed, Jewish-raised Californian who arranges for orchestra, writes for children's films, and sings songs about short people, L.A., good old boys, God, and dancing bears... what? Despite its unconventional exterior the music of Randy Newman is some of the funniest, most intelligent in the pantheon of rock/pop/whatever you want to call it.

Although not his earliest, Sail Away was Randy Newman's first album to generate a deal of noise - it remains a favourite of fan and critic alike and to this day his most consistent seller. There's probably a reason for that: namely the quality of this record. Newman has never given in to songwriting formulas or "conventions", staking out territory where his contemporaries seldom tread. So you don't get the archetypical "silly love songs" or teenage angst so common in rock & roll - you get self-deprecating ironies, tales of African slave recruiters, and Simon Smith and his Amazing Dancing Bear, among others.

This idiosyncrasy ranges from the dismal to the ribald and hilarious, and everywhere in-between. For instance, God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind) is a bleakly insightful take on religion; the equally incisive Political Science a side-splittingly funny slice of "foreign policy" courtesy one of Newman's trademark wackos. From a technical standpoint all the performances are outstanding, including the virtuosity of Ry Cooder and Randy Newman's own skills as a pianist among others. His voice may be limited, but he makes the best of it in his deadpan delivery. He's also always utilized orchestras in a unique way - you'd never be able to mistake one of his instrumental passages - and they blend totally naturally into the fabric of the music here. Not an easy task; just ask ELO's Jeff Lynne, one of the few songwriters out there whose orchestral arrangements complement the songs as perfectly as Randy Newman's.

As for the bonus tracks, the two original cuts (Let It Shine and Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong) are both excellent (albeit short), as are the alternate takes; the early version of Sail Away is particularly welcome.

Is Sail Away Randy Newman's best album? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But I can tell you what it IS: it's comical, it's perspicacious, and, most importantly, it's massively entertaining. So whether you're a newcomer, a longtime fan, or just somebody looking for a bit of good music, you can't go wrong.