Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
In September 2003, a small corner of Paris announced the news that Robert Palmer, vocalist of Vinegar Joe, an enigmatic solo performer, who had fronted the supergroup The Power Station, the Yorkshire born star, had passed away at the age of only 54.
That much is known, so to his near phenomenal output from his humble beginnings in the late 60s and through to the turn of a new century, but how many of his fans and newcomers to his back catalogue are able to sit in luxury and rediscover, perhaps arguably, the momentous music he created whilst being one of the celebrated reasons that Island Records became the force it did? How many can sit down and listen through a nine album presentation and allow the sense of time to wash over them, to reveal the sense of not only a continuing musical story unfold, but of a life itself grow and flower, each song a passing of a moment caught in the lights, the excess, the intimacy, the drama, and the beauty of a performer taken far too soon.
When a retrospective is released it can often be tacky, a money grab from the fans desperate to retain fading memories, gauged of money the resulting affair is akin to a half nod, a gesture…but not for Robert Palmer and who the CD box set release of Robert Palmer: The Island Record Years is as stunning, as smooth, as polished as the man himself.
This is not gloss for gloss sake, this is a memorial, a ceremony of all the vocalist gave to the world during the first part of his solo career, and it is an extraordinary release to which the listener and the fan alike will not see as filler, but fittingly because it is Island Records, treasure. X marks the spot, the music captures the soul.
From Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley to Riptide, through tracks and songs such as A Whisper To A Scream, Hey Julia, Pressure Drop, Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor Doctor), the superb Johnny And Mary, and to the sometimes labelled controversial but brilliant Addicted To Love, this is a box set curated with love…not just love, absolute respect.
Robert Palmer: The Island record Years is a must for any collector, for the uninitiated, for the fan, a presentation of assured phenomenal elegance. Some may have monument erected to their endeavour, in this incredible piece of retrospective memory, Robert Palmer’s work is enshrined for all in their homes.
Ian D. Hall