Call the Comet is the third studio album by English musician Johnny Marr. It was released on 15 June 2018 by New Voodoo and Warner Bros. Records.
Critical reception[edit]
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Call the Comet received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album scored an average rating of 78, based on 16 reviews.[1] Writing for the Associated Press, Mark Kennedy opined that it was 'easily his best as a solo artist, deep and rich both musically and lyrically' before concluding, 'So feel free to stay in bed, Morrissey. Marr is who we need now.'[12] Writing for Hot Press, Edwin McFee rated the album 8 out of 10.[13]MusicOMH contributor Neil Dowden awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars, calling it Marr's 'most ambitious and interesting work under his own name.'[14]Creative Loafing contributor Gabe Echazabal rated it 4.5 out of 5, writing, 'Call the Comet is, simply put, Marr's strongest solo effort. It's a magnificent piece of work that serves as a true testament to the idea that Marr has plenty to offer musically at this stage of his career, and it clearly showcases his continued and ever-present vitality.'[15]Clash Music contributor Will Rosebury rated the album 7/10 and called it 'easily Johnny Marr’s most confident solo album.'[16]
Robert Steiner of The Boston Globe, however, disagreed with those other critics, starting his review by writing that Marr's time with the Smiths cemented his legacy as one of rock's greatest sidemen, '[b]ut that's the key word: sidemen.' He went on to write that Marr is at his best working with other creative minds and all he does as a solo artist is 'produce groggy rehashes of old Brit-rock tropes he helped create three decades ago.' He concluded his review by stating Call the Comet could be a passable album if it was the work of a young band rather than someone 'who inspired guitarists in some of those bands to pick up their instruments in the first place.'[17]
Writing for Pitchfork, contributor Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave a more mixed rating of 6/10, writing that after spending 'a quarter-century as a hired gun, roaming from project to project', Marr 'is starting to slow down in his middle age.'[18]
Track listing[edit]
All tracks written by Johnny Marr.
Personnel[edit]
Musicians
Production and additional personnel
Single releases[edit]
'Hi Hello' was released as a single on 7', with the new B-side 'Jeopardy'. 'Jeopardy' was also released on the Japanese edition of 'Call The Comet' as a bonus track and is available as a single download.
'Spiral Cities' was later also released as a single on iTunes and 7', along with the new B-side 'Spectral Eyes'.
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Videos were made for both of these singles as well as album tracks 'The Tracers' and 'Walk Into The Sea'.
Charts[edit]
References[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Call_the_Comet&oldid=900623962'
There’s always an elephant in the room with Johnny Marr, a lumbering old elephant Marr last worked with 31 years ago. Ahead of the release of Marr’s third solo album, said elephant had been trumpeting on about Anne Marie Waters and Tommy Robinson, but this may, oddly, be to Marr’s benefit. The dismay Morrissey has caused appears to have led some people to take the view of Marr – whose every public utterance displays a man of empathy and grace – as “the good one” in the Smiths, and concentrated attention on his music in its own right, music that is now substantially more interesting than Morrissey’s. Call the Comet is an album to take advantage of that goodwill. It’s the best of Marr’s solo albums, and while he may not have the lyrical dexterity or vocal charisma of some of his former collaborators, age shows no sign of withering his facility with melody, or that gorgeous, liquid guitar playing. Call the Comet ends with a song that embodies both Marr’s humaneness and his musicality: A Different Gun was written about the Nice attack of 2016 and was being recorded the night of the Manchester Arena bombing last year. But it’s not angry; it does not seethe or condemn.
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Instead, it demands empathy with the victims and a commitment that life be lived (the “stay and come out tonight” refrain comes from Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew persuading Marr to appear with the band in Manchester the night after the bombing). It’s set to a skyscraping, luscious melody, a kind of Marr redux, that yearns and soars like the emotions the lyric tries to evoke. Elsewhere, there music is less conciliatory: New Dominions, Actor Attractor and My Eternal have a chilly, mechanised post-punk feel; on Rise and Hey Angel, Marr’s guitar is purposely unbeautiful, seething and squalling. Those who want jangles and arpeggios need not fear: they’re present and correct on Day In Day Out and Hi Hello, songs that sound as though they have existed in Marr’s head since 1985. Call the Comet is a terrific album in its own right. In context, it’s a triumph.
Working once again with producer Doviak for 2018's Call the Comet, Johnny Marr adheres to the meticulously sculpted soundscapes he patented on his 2013 solo debut, The Messenger, but the guitarist's perspective has shifted. Faced with the political tumult of the late 2010s, Marr concentrates on essential humanist traits, crafting songs that aren't so much protests as wishes for a better, kinder world. Empathy is the engine of Call the Comet and the characteristic that separates the album from its two predecessors, The Messenger and Playland. Take away these open-hearted pleas and Call the Comet is virtually identical to its cousins, a gleaming collection of old-fashioned college rock that fuses the skyscraping six-string theatrics of the Smiths with the cool, stylish affectations of Electronic. Marr doesn't disguise the skill fueling his craft, so Call the Comet is more accomplished than compelling, but there is pleasure in hearing how all the parts fit together so tidily.
Johnny Marr has remained admirably prolific in his post-Smiths career and this Summer looks to pad his impressive resume with another new solo album. Titled Call The Comet, Marr’s latest effort was inspired by his country, Great Britain’s choice to separate from the rest of the European Union earlier this year. To give fans a bit of a preview into its darker themes and sonic structure, today he’s also revealed the record’s ferocious lead single “The Tracers.”
According to Marr, Call The Comet was recorded in his hometown of Manchester and, “Is my own magic realism. It’s set in the not-too-distant future and is mostly concerned with the idea of an alternative society. The characters in the songs are searching for a new idealism, although there are some personal songs in there too. It’s something that people like me can relate to.”
Call The Comet is set to drop later this Summer on June 15. You can check out the cover and a full tracklist for the record below, and listen to the first single “The Tracers” above.
Johnny Marr
1. “Rise”
2. “The Tracers” 3. “Hey Angel” 4. “Hi Hello” 5. “New Dominations” 6. “Day In Day Out” 7. “Walk Into The Sea” 8. “Bug” 9. “Actor Attractor” 10. “Spiral Cities” 11. “My Eternal” 12. “A Different Gun” Comments are closed.
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