Ric Ocasek – Troublizing – 1997
four tracks produced by….
Billy Corgan?
Really?
The first thing I noticed on the very first track is that this sounds like a heavy, 90s era Cars tribute band. “The Next Right Moment” would have fit perfectly on Shake it Up, albeit without the gritty, fuzzboxed guitars. It doesn’t take too long, the next song, “Hang On Tight”, actually, to get back to that minimalist Cars basics, but something else happens between the notes: Edge. With that bass pushed way up front and the floating guitar/key work dancing in the background, Ocasek’s voice and paranoiac sound is given time to shine. The same happens later on the fun but slightly pedestrian “Not Shocked”.
I think the heart of the album is the title track. A creeping and moody piece that, put in a minor key, might have appealed to Black Album era Metallica. Then again, maybe not. But, when the guitars and drums and, well, real instruments don’t just take backseat on an Ocasek track but, rather, sit side by side and flesh out the song together, you know Ric has had a change of his synth-loving heart. Perhaps Weezer’s influence was showing. After all, this album comes out 3 years after he produced the blue album and brought that band it’s first success, galvanizing and helping shape the burgeoning Alternative movement. So, it’s not really a surprise that “Situation” sounds like an outtake from the Brian Bell chord progression songbook.
Of course, the beat poet in Ocasek can’t just stop himself and rears his ugly head on the Cormac McCarthy world “Society Trance”, which is just…ugly.
Just as weird, the last track, “Asia Minor” is not by Ric, rather it was written by Billy Corgan. So…Smashing Pumpkins version of The Cars, I guess.
All told, Troublizing shows growth on Ocasek’s part and, more importantly, a willingness to relinquish control. It’s no Quick Change World or Fireball Zone, though.
Grade: C
ASide: The Next Right Moment, Hang On Tight
BlindSide: Troublizing
DownSide: Here We Go, Society Trance, Asia Minor
