Disbanding Cure

IN the space of a month, three singers from stellar bands are releasing solo albums.

The Eraser, by Radiohead's Thom Yorke, came out two weeks ago and is being followed by the British release next week of The Great Western, from Manic Street Preachers' James Dean Bradfield, and My Secret is My Silence, by Idlewild's Roddy Woomble.

Solo albums are so effective at restoring functionality to dysfunctional bands that they should be prescribed to any group that seems to be losing its way. Coldplay are always talking about the need to reinvent themselves: gentlemen, may I suggest solo albums as the perfect way out of a rut? Just to clarify, none of these singers is going solo. All of their bands are still operational, which raises the question: why would a singer in a band need to make a solo album?

We can better understand the motivations of the overlooked sideman who does so in a bid to get more attention. But why would the person who stands in the spotlight, who is already the focus of most of the attention that comes the band's way, need to make an album under his own name?

Bradfield says he made The Great Western because he was bored. On the face of it, this is a reasonable claim. His band had taken a year off and, no doubt having done all those little jobs that needed doing at his rock star's mansion, Bradfield found time hanging heavy.

But bands are not that simple and the powerful internal dynamics that exist in any band of long standing were revealed when the Manics' bassist, Nicky Wire, learned of Bradfield's solo plans and immediately realised that he was bored too and, rather than take up a hobby or attend some evening classes, would be able to assuage the boredom only by making his own album. (Wire's I Killed the Zeitgeist will be released in September.)

The conspiracy theorist's interpretation of these events would be this: Bradfield is getting a little tired of having to put the music to Wire's lyrics, especially as the latter tends to find song titles in the speeches of 19th-century British prime minister William Gladstone and reckons that the Spanish Civil War will form the basis of a hit.

Fed up with Wire saying things such as, "It's called If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, turn it into an upbeat, radio-friendly singalong, could you?", Bradfield is using The Great Western as his pitch to contribute a greater share of lyrics to his group's albums.

If The Great Western does represent a power play by Bradfield, Wire is wise to react quickly; a similar ploy by Depeche Mode's singer, Dave Gahan, proved very effective.

For the best part of two decades, all of the Mode's songs were written by their keyboard player, Martin Gore. This increasingly irked Gahan, so the singer released a solo album, Paper Monsters, in 2003.

The acclaim that greeted Paper Monsters strengthened Gahan's position in the group and their next album, Playing the Angel, featured several Gahan compositions. It was also regarded as a return to form for the band after a couple of so-so efforts.

That The Great Western has already been hailed by one music magazine as "an absolute belter" suggests Manics fans can look forward to the band, when it regroups, releasing songs with a few less historical references and many less syllables per line.

The reasons behind Yorke and Woomble making solo albums are, in one sense, identical and, in another sense, could hardly be more different. Identical because both singers have developed a fondness for a musical genre that doesn't necessarily sit happily with their bandmates and may even adversely affect the commercial potential of their bands.

Different because Yorke is heading off into the futuristic world of avant-garde bleepy electronica and Woomble is retreating to the melodic world of traditional Scottish folk music. Both have succeeded in moving their bands towards these musical destinations.

Across four albums, Idlewild have gradually softened from their punkish beginnings, while Radiohead's experimental Kid A album and its follow-ups have famously divided their fan base, shrunk their sales and - it is widely assumed - left Yorke's bandmates feeling at best frustrated, at worst unwanted.

In both cases, the solo album is a chance for the singer to get it out of his system. The rest of Radiohead will be hoping that, having sat alone with his laptop making The Eraser, Yorke may be more amenable to making guitar-based music with them.

Idlewild's musical progression has been more gentle than Radiohead's sudden dive into the avant-garde, but even so Woomble admits the songs on My Secret is My Silence "would never have lived with Idlewild".

He talks of "feeling free to describe myself in a way that I've wanted to for a long time", a sentiment similar to, but not as sulkily expressed, Yorke's claim that The Eraser is about "freeing yourself from a routine that's become stifling".

Yorke tells the music magazine Mojo that "I want to take that feeling back to (Radiohead)". This bodes well for the band's future and highlights how important solo albums can be in resolving problems within bands and maintaining the delicate chemistry that makes them function. Yorke has hinted that Radiohead more or less split up after their last tour, and The Eraser has helped reduce tensions and bring the band back together.

There are two interested parties who want bands to stay together: their fans, who want more of their music, and their record companies, who want more profits. Pressure from both sides can motivate bands to stay together long after the gang mentality that formed them has dissipated. The solo album can be a vital outlet that allows band members, who now have little in common, to continue to coexist in relative harmony.

The most famous instance must be the wrangling in the middle of the Rolling Stones' career. In the early 1980s, Mick Jagger made a concerted effort to update the band's sound, then announced that he would be making a solo album. Neither of these acts went down well with Keith Richards and, by 1987, it was widely assumed that the band had broken up, though no announcement was made.

In the end, Jagger and Richards were able to use their respective solo albums to act out their power struggle.

Jagger's efforts, aiming at a modern, funky sound, were poorly received. Harking back to the more relaxed Stones vibe of the early 1970s, Richards's Talk is Cheap was a fine example of a solo album that was better than the work of the band. One critic heralded it as "the best Rolling Stones album in 17 years", a pointed swipe that would not have been lost on Jagger. The solo albums restored the Stones' power balance, allowing them to continue to this day.

A more recent example of solo albums keeping a big band on an even keel has been the career of John Frusciante, guitarist with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Frusciante's ability to conjure melodic riffs is a vital element of the Chili Peppers' stadium-conquering sound, but only a tiny part of what Frusciante wants to do. Fortunately, the man's obsessive need to make music can be catered for through the simple act of releasing solo albums. (Astonishingly, he once released five in one year.)

Solo albums are so effective at restoring functionality to dysfunctional bands that they should be prescribed to any group that seems to be losing its way. Coldplay are always talking about the need to reinvent themselves: gentlemen, may I suggest solo albums as the perfect way out of a rut?

But the prime candidate for a dose of solos must be REM. Since the loss of drummer Bill Berry nine years ago, the band has wobbled along like a table missing a leg. There is only one solution: solo albums all around.

Source: Entertainment News