- Steve Wynn: Dazzling
Display (Prima Records, SID012)
- Prima's second release from Steve Wynn is no less
than an 18 track Deluxe Edition, adding six bonus
tracks to the original 12 from Wynn's 1992 solo
effort. Wynn is joined on various tracks by some
notable luminaries from the Paisley Underground
days - Chris Cacavas, Russ Tolman and Vicki
Peterson all make an appearance as does Peter
Buck.
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- This is an immediately more accessible album than
Kerosene Man, straight from the opening bars of
Drag with its catchy brass section adding the
necessary oomph in just the right places. Tuesday
is another track which fair rolls along at a
merry old pace and features John Wesley Harding's
harmonica to great effect. When She Comes Around
is more laid back but again has an infectious
refrain. The title track, co-written with Peter
Buck is a little harder overall. Against the
searing guitars, Buck's mandolin can just about
be heard plucking away in the background, and
Wynn's vocals have an edge to them which makes
this one of the best tracks on the album.
-
- After the initial onslaught of the first four
tracks, the pace lessens a little with Halo
having a very melodic and calming effect. The
terrific Dandy In Disguise is more upbeat again
with backing vocals from Tolman and Cacavas
helping it out. The acoustic As It Should Be is
again Wynn at his best, with him holding off back
the guitars and letting his vocal delivery do the
work for the song.
-
- A cover of Serge Gainsbourg's Bonnie And Clyde
doesn't quite work for me, though not being
familiar with the original I can't make any
comparisons. 405 is perhaps closer to what I
would expect from Steve Wynn having seen him live
on a couple of occasions, with sizzling guitars
and a driving drum and bass sound powering the
song along. Close Your Eyes is a gently paced
almost pop song, whilst Light Of Hope, written by
Matthew Wynn (Steve's grandfather?) is sung as
though it were an old family favourite recited
every Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, which of
course it might be.
-
- The 6 bonus tracks are all live tracks recorded
mainly for radio broadcast, split 3 and 3 between
recordings from Europe and the USA. The European
tracks are Sonic Youth's Kool Thing, Paul Simon's
Boy In The Bubble, which comes over very well,
despite not being of the best quality, and Wynn's
own Conspiracy Of The Heart (from Kerosene Man)
which is great. The songs recorded in the US are
Dylan's Watching The River Flow, Lou Reed's Crazy
Feeling (the better of the 2 covers) and finally
Wynn's The Long Goodbye which ends the album and
the gig from which it was recorded on a typically
wild note.
-
- As usual from Prima, a more than standard
re-issue, Dazzling Display shows Wynn's
flexibility as a song-writer, mixing his styles
and pace to produce an album that could appeal to
a wide range of fans. Calling on old friends and
colleagues Dazzling Display shows him growing in
confidence and this Prima re-issue can only add
to his reputation.
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