Lennon, Sean - Friendly Fire


Year of Release: 2006
Label: EMI
Catalog Number: 0946 3 71949 2 8
Format: CD
Total Time: 37:49:00

By means of tons of reference books and documentaries, by now we all know that John Lennon was more than a musician. In fact, his big wish has always been to be a well-known graphic artist. His love for Yoko Ono was mainly derived from his love for her avant-garde art. Need we say more about the fact that their only child together, Sean Lennon, is an all-round man? After his first timid attempt in the domain of music with his Into The Sun album in 1998, eight years later the guy delivers an incredible album that removes all prejudice in one single go. When I listened to this Friendly Fire for the very first time it was as if I was listening to some unreleased John Lennon material that was only recently found in a dusty attic somewhere. Or maybe John had left his 'cloud nine' in order to sit around the piano with Sean and guide him through a lot of ideas in order to come up with the perfect collection of new material? Composition as well as arrangement as well as production as well as Sean's timbre all get ever so close to the typical Lennon/Beatles tradition, you'd think some of these songs were written by the Fab Four themselves. Listen to the nice acoustic "Wait For Me" as ultimate example.

Just like his dad, Sean has this incredible feel and talent for melody which has most of the songs stick to your mind after only one listen. They are all uncomplicated and ideal material to be played on the radio day in and day out, as well as your hi-fi and personal mp3 player, of course! On top of that, it's the kind of music that gives you a happy, floating feeling, as if you live life as a "smiley" icon. Mainly acoustic in nature, the mix is perfect and sees Sean's voice melt together nicely with the rest of the arrangement. "Spectacle" is a nice example of this, which even sees the vocals being supported by a classical ensemble. Without turning into bombastic tones or overproduction for even one second, the music keeps lingering on for a long time without losing its impact and quality for the entire duration of the album.

"Tomorrow" sounds like an old recording that was written in the same atmosphere as the well-known "When I'm Sixty Four," thus resulting in yet another authentic Beatles/Lennon quality track. Although the voice of Sean might sound a little naïve (even when he recently turned 31), it is melodic enough not to sound boring at all. Contrary to a lot of contemporary recordings, the approach often sounds very sixties with even some Burt Bacharach references in "Would I Be The One" including a nice string ensemble and even an "antique" Farfisa organ! This is musical heaven! Just like his father, whom at one time got involved with Yoko Ono far beyond their amorous relationship, so is Sean Lennon involved in an artistic love affair with Yuka Honda who is also known from her band Cibo Matto as well as being a talented composer and producer. Needless to say Yuka stands firmly by Sean's side on this album, too.

The accompanying DVD gives us the music yet with added footage. Sean Lennon wrote the entire story, which has been filmed with great detail. Amongst others, Bijou Philips, Lindsay Lohan and Carrie Fisher all share with us their cinematographic expertise in order to add a container-load of quality to the result of the film.

Sean Lennon might not be a "working class hero" but he surely does both his dad and mom proud by delivering what I dare to call the "best album ever to be released outside of the Beatles legacy by a Beatles relative." So make place in between your Beatles collection and those John Lennon, Wings, Macca, Ringo Starr and George Harrison releases as this Friendly Fire album deserves all the thumbs up it can get! No doubt my "album of the year" by a long mile!

DVD: 43:35


Tracklisting:
Dead Meat / Wait For Me / Parachute / Friendly Fire / Spectacle / Tomorrow / On Again Off Again / Headlights / Would I Be The One / Falling Out Of Love

Musicians:
Sean Lennon - vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums
Harper Simon - guitar
Yuka Honda - piano, keyboards
Matt Chamberlin - drums

Discography:
Into The Sun (1998)
Friendly Fire (2006)

Genre: Rock

Origin UK

Added: November 19th 2006
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg
Score:
Artist website: www.seanlennon.com
Hits: 2923
Language: english

  

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