'Therapy' by James Whild Lea
Reviewed for The Slade Archive by Ian Edmundson.

This album has been eagerly anticipated by Slade fans for a few years now.
Has it been worth the excessively long wait?

The first track, 'Heaven can wait (for those who pray)' is a gentle introduction to the album. The vocal sound is pure Jim, though it's also reminiscent of Robbie Williams. I doubt it's deliberate. The song has a Beach Boys 'God only knows' feel to it, which again I doubt is deliberate.

'Big Family' features Jim on slightly low-in-the-mix treated vocals. A great little melodic little rock song, which strecthes his voice to its limits - a good performance. He could have done with getting a crowd in to do the background noise, rather than doing it all himself, but that's not a criticism. The strongest candidate for a single.

'The Smile of Elvis' shows that Jim is probably another of these people who believes in the old Elvis myth. He lists a series of old time stars and wishes he was like them to 'become someone'. The vocal is pure David Essex. (Think of 'If I could') The strings hark back to those on old Clifford T Ward albums and are beautiful. Very tasteful.

The list of deceased musos that is 'Deadrock UK' is a stomping song, once it gets going. I'm not sure why he goes on about the UK quite as much as he does, seeing as Jimi Hendrix was an American (though he did die over here). The vocal is mainly spoken word and there are a few cornball rhymes in there (Ghostest / Mostest), but the song ploughs away neatly - carrying a very strong anti-drug message. Subtle mellotron-played Beatles references fill out the verses and give a nice period feel.

'Could God be a woman' sounds like imagine in the first few bars, but that soon changes to Jim's very own sound, with a slightly awkward spoken vocal on the verses. The chorus sounds very similar to 'Universe'. Jim goes into deep thought mode and obviously couldn't find a way to sing the words on the verses. The overall feel is orchestral. This is probably the track which will confuse Slade fans the most.

'Go out in style' is the track most reminscent of Jim's Slade past, as he has largely ditched that style for this album. The 'Wild wild wild' chorus is pure Slade. The song drives along in a similar fashion to some of the early Who singles and is one that Jim has previously given a live airing to. I have no dout that this song is hugely inspired by The Who - as certain guitar riffs, drum breaks and chord sequences (think 'I can see for miles') are pure Townshend. One of the very best things on the album.

'Universe' is played far lighter and quieter than Slade's version (which largely used elements of Jim's original recording) and this more restrained version sounds like it would fit nicely into the soundtrack of a 'Riverdance' show which is by no means an insult.

'Time and emotion' starts with some nice guitar playing from Jim, with an extremely similar melody to 'We won't give in'. This is the solitary track where Jim makes his bass feature strongly in the background at a couple of points, which shows how Jim probably doesn't think of himself primarily as a bassist any longer. Quite repetitive in its 3.30 time span..

'Your Cine world' is another Jim song in the style of Oasis. Musically and vocally. It simply belongs on an Oasis album. He wouldn't have got away with this on a Slade album. Features the word 'masturbation'. Be warned.

'Valley of the Kings' is nothing at all to do with Egypt. The lyrics are quite light and just deal with moving on from the past and living in the NOW, so the music really does the talking. The melody is great and the song is really well played. If you just let it play you'll enjoy it. The slipped-in reference to 'wondering why' doesn't go on-noticed. The end section of the song is lovely.

'Why is youth always wasted on the young' is the musical masterpiece of the album. The 'group arrangement' is fantastic. A slow, restrained arrangement and very deliberate pace really makes this song potent. The lyrics, backing vocals and string arrangement are possibly the best on the album. The slipped-in reference to 'on the outside looking in' doesn't go on-noticed either. The spoken ending is as corny as hell, but with everything else that's gone before it really does work fine. A masterpiece.

'Notice'.
Jim deals with the past and, via a treated, sometimes Dylanesque vocal, lets us know how his wife Louise apparently tried to dump him years ago, but they did stay together and eventually DID get married. Reading the lyrics doesn't make things a lot clearer, but....

'Let me be your therapy' rounds off the album. A slow, chugging song in which Jim basically demands to be the centre of the listener's universe in a whole string of ways. Impressively arranged guitar work. Great chorus, too. Great false endings and a killer last line, too.

This album is not the pretentious package that Jim's occasional announcements made fans fear that they would end up with. It is a really well defined collection of great little rock songs. It in no way tries to be a Slade album at any time, which is the greatest relief. If someone else came up with this it would possibly be hailed as a triumph.

Well worth the wait.

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