BILL NELSON- “FANCY PLANETS” (2009) CD

CHARLIE TUMAHAI & BILL NELSON OF BE BOP DELUXE PERFORMING IN SPOKANE, WA. ON 11-19-76. PHOTO BY BEN UPHAM.

BILL NELSON-
“FANCY PLANETS” CD

Studio Album, released in 2009

Songs / Tracks Listing:
1. Fancy Planets.
2. The Golden Days Of Radio (Compact Mix).
3. Kiss Me Goodnight, Captain Marvel.
4. The Land Of Dreams Is Closed.
5. This Leads To That Leads To This.
6. Where Are We Now.
7. Twice In A Blue Moon.
8. Everyday Now Is Forever Again.
9. She Dreams Of Fires.
10. I Hear Electricity.
11. Mysterious Object Overhead.
12. Dream Cities Of The Heart.
13. Mystery Engine.
14. The Golden Days Of Radio (Hypermix).

Line-up / Musicians:
Bill Nelson all instruments
Releases information:
Released on Sonoluxe CD013 July 2009

REVIEWS:
#1-
BY STATGRUBBY-
NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Full vocals on this one. Edgy and perfect. IT has great melodies and hooks hooks hooks. If you love Bill..this is a classic!

#2-
BY STEPHEN B. GRIGGS – MuzikReviews.com Contributor
FEBRUARY 23, 2010

With Fancy Planets, prolific recording artist and revered experimental rocker Bill Nelson creates his own, rather well removed, sonic universe. The cover art depicts a buxom damsel distraught in the arms of a soaring space villain. Rest assured, the music is a trip too. Between lyrics on dream-space-and-time travel, super heroes (“Kiss Me Goodnight, Captain Marvel”), and super beauties (“The Land of Dreams Is Closed”) and fantastically over the top production, even the casual listener can’t help be entertained.

What Nelson creates on Fancy Planets is his own show, his own framework for his music, which makes it very hard for him to go wrong. Cheating? Maybe, but it’s arguably the same idea behind what we hear on commercial radio. The rules don’t apply; this isn’t for people who like the rules. And with that, Nelson bathes you in chimes before zapping you with synth lasers and phaser beam guitars, all the while spouting off something or other about time traveling cowboys and lucid dreams. If it weren’t all so tongue-in-cheek, it’d be cheesy, but lines like “Me oh my, oh how that dress becomes you / me oh my, and here it comes again” induce smiles rather than cringes.

Despite all the wise cracks and techie noodling, the songs on Fancy Planets make for good rock ‘n’ roll, with plenty of guitar work and a few considerable hooks that manage to get nestled in the mix. “The Golden Days of Radio” is an easy standout choice, replete with BBC Radio vocal samples and guitar tones that change at the drop of a name. Albeit, Fancy Planets would sound like more of a guitar record, but the MIDI-heavy orchestration often pushes Nelson’s fret play to the back of the mix. You can tell he’s having fun, and that enjoyment transmits, but if there’s any detractor on Fancy Planets it’s over-saturation. The carnival only comes to town for a limited time, and fourteen songs—none shorter than two and a half minutes—stuffed full of production and flippancy are likely to tire out all but the most devoted Nelson fans. A healthy tasting might include “The Golden Days of Radio,” a catalog of the man’s guitar heroes; “Kiss Me Goodnight, Captain Marvel” with its tasty refrain; “Where Are We Now” a nice ambient interlude; and “I Hear Electricity.”

Often times an artist’s prolificacy necessitates a sacrifice of quality for quantity, and ultimately, Fancy Planets—a fifth release for 2009—is another exercise of Nelson’s productive muscles. The end result is an entertaining listen, offering the odd song that earns its own despite the company.

#3-
BY BEN UPHAM
12-31-2011
I have been a fan of Bill Nelson for 36 years now. I was initially exposed to his Music at a Concert by Be Bop Deluxe in Spokane, Wa. on 11-19-76 as they were the opening act for Ted Nugent.

It was a brilliant performance that had the entire audience stomping and lighting their lighters for a full 10 minutes to get them back for a lengthy encore! This was a Ted Nugent crowd in late 1976 mind you…

After seeing that show I went out and purchased a couple of Be Bop Deluxe’s albums, “Axe Victim” and “Sunburst Finish”. The Music was fantastic and I was on my way to becoming a huge fan of this band. I was disappointed to hear that the group had disbanded in 1978. Nelson released “Red Noise” in 1979 and I remember listening to it and not appreciating it at all.
He had gone into a new realm that sounded nothing like the Rock stylings of his Be Bop Deluxe days…Almost no audible guitar could be heard…

Flash forward about 20 years and I started to give some of Bill’s later releases a chance.

The CD’s that I wound up finding were quite good….”Practically Wired….Or How I Became Guitar-Boy”, “Blue Moons and Laughing Guitars”, and “Whimsey” were among my favorites. They were fresh and found Bill exploring many new Musical Worlds…But still…For me at least they were not as intense and satisfying as the Be Bop Deluxe material from the 1970’s…

Then a few months ago I was turned on to “Fancy Planets”…

I’ve got to say that for my ears and Musical tastes this is the BEST Bill Nelson Music since Be Bop Deluxe! It’s not that it’s retro, or goes back to that Be Bop sound either…More like it has transported much of the Be Bop Space and Energy forward in Time from the 1970’s to receive a 2009 treatment….

It is a Magical, Shining open door to fresh and new ideas and lots of excitement in Bill’s singing and playing….It sounds to me like his finest work to date…The production is fantastic. The guitar work is everywhere in the mix….lots of great power chords and spacey riffs along with golden soloing and even a few Be Bop surprise licks!
I am hoping that anyone reading this that hasn’t given this CD a listen will at least sample it from the links that I’m attaching…It is a beautiful addition to anyones collection if you have any respect for this man’s gift…Thank You Bill…………..

BE-BOP DELUXE DISCOGRAPHY:
1974 Axe Victim
1975 Futurama
1976 Sunburst Finish
1976 Modern Music
1977 Live in the Air Age
1978 Drastic Plastic
1978 The Best of and the Rest of
1981 Singles A’s and B’s
1987 Raiding the Divine Archive
1994 Radioland- BBC Radio One Live in Concert
1997 Air Age Anthology
1998 Tramcar to Tomorrow
2002 Tremulous Antennae
2002 Postcards from the Future

BILL NELSON (SOLO) DISCOGRAPHY:
Northern Dream (1971)
Sound – On – Sound (1979) (Bill Nelson’s Red Noise)
Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam (1981) Mercury
Sounding The Ritual Echo (Atmospheres for Dreaming) (1981)
Das Kabinet (The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari) (1981)
The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart) (1982)
La Belle Et La Bete (1982)
Chimera (1983)
Savage Gestures For Charm’s Sake (1983)
The Two-Fold Aspect of Everything (1984)
Trial By Intimacy – The Summer Of God’s Piano (1985)
Trial By Intimacy – Chamber Of Dreams (Music from the Invisibility Exhibition) (1985)
Trial By Intimacy – Pavilions Of The Heart And Soul (1985)
Trial By Intimacy – A Catalogue Of Obsessions (1985)
Chameleon (The Music Of Bill Nelson) (1985)
Getting The Holy Ghost Across (1986)
Iconography (1986) [Orchestra Arcana]
Map Of Dreams (1987)
Chance Encounters In The Garden Of Lights – The Angel At The Western Window (1987)
Chance Encounters In The Garden Of Lights – The Book Of Inward Conversation (1987)
Optimism (1988) [Orchestra Arcana]
Demonstrations Of Affection – Chimes And Rings (1989)
Demonstrations Of Affection – Nudity (1989)
Demonstrations Of Affection – Heartbreakland (1989)
Demonstrations Of Affection – Details (1989)
Simplex (1990)
Raiding the Divine Archive – [Be-Bop Deluxe] (1990)
Altar Pieces (1990)
Luminous (1991)
Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars (1992)
Automatic (1994) [Channel Light Vessel]
Radioland – [Be-Bop Deluxe] (1994) BBC Radio 1 live in concert 1976
Crimsworth (Flowers, Stones, Fountains And Flames) (1995)
Practically Wired or how I became…Guitarboy! (1995)
My Secret Studio Volume I – Buddha Head (1995)
My Secret Studio Volume I – Electricity Made Us Angels (1995)
My Secret Studio Volume I – Deep Dream Decoder (1995)
My Secret Studio Volume I – Juke Box For Jet Boy (1995)
After The Satellite Sings (1996)
Excellent Spirits (1996) [Channel Light Vessel]
Confessions Of A Hyperdreamer: My Secret Studio Volume II – Weird Critters (1997)
Confessions Of A Hyperdreamer: My Secret Studio Volume II – Magnificent Dream People (1997)
Atom Shop (1998)
Whistling While The World Turns (2000)
Noise Candy – Old Man Future Blows The Blues (2002)
Noise Candy – Stargazing With Ranger Bill (2002)
Noise Candy – Sunflower Dairy Product (2002)
Noise Candy – King Frankenstein (2002)
Noise Candy – Console (2002)
Noise Candy – Playtime (2002)
Caliban And Chrome Harmonium (2002)
Astral Motel (2002)
Whimsy (2003)
Whimsy Two (A Garage Full Of Clouds) (2003)
The Romance Of Sustain Volume One: Painting With Guitars (2003)
Luxury Lodge (2003)
Plaything (2003)
Dreamland To Starboard (2004)
Custom Deluxe (2004)
Satellite Songs (2004)
Wah-Wah Galaxy (2004)
Rosewood: Ornaments And Graces For Acoustic Guitar Volume One (2005)
Rosewood: Ornaments And Graces For Acoustic Guitar Volume Two (2005)
Orpheus In Ultraland (2005)
The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill (2005)
Neptune’s Galaxy (2006)
Return To Jazz Of Lights (2006)
Arcadian Salon (2006)
Gleaming Without Lights (2006)
Secret Club For Members Only (2007)
And We Fell Into A Dream (2007)
Silvertone Fountains (2008)
Illuminated At Dusk (2008)
Mazda Kaleidoscope (2008)
Clocks & Dials (2008)
Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow (2008)
Fancy Planets (2009)
Here Comes Mr Mercury (2009)
Theatre Of Falling Leaves (2009)
The Dream Transmission Pavilion (2009)
Non-Stop Mystery Action (2009)
Picture Post (2010)
Modern Moods For Mighty Atoms (2010)
Captain Future’s Psychotronic Circus (2010)
Fables And Dreamsongs (2010)
Fantasmatron (2011)
Signals From Realms Of Light (2011)
Model Village (2011)

CLICK THE LINKS BELOW FOR BE BOP DELUXE PHOTOS AND MORE:
BE BOP DELUXE FINE ART AMERICA IMAGES BY BEN UPHAM
AND
BE BOP DELUXE PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
AND
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