MOG

If John Cale's 1970 debut solo album does not constitute as a forgotten masterpiece, than I don't know what does. Vintage Violence is the sound of John Cale rejecting the avant-garde stylings of his work with The Velvet Underground (for the most part). This is John Cale sitting down and writing pop songs. Incredible pop songs. This is no understatement.

The albums busts out of the gate with the grooving “Hello, There", led by Cale's driving piano. I must give credit to the spot-on rhythm section, which includes session great Harvey Brooks. They support as well as contribute to the tightly-construced arrangements, driving the performance on. We have "Gideon's Bible" next. It's as if John Cale was attempting to write a Brian Wilson song. He may have failed at that, but he succeded in writing a different sort of tune. Cale's heavy Welsh accent is one of the things that make this album really stand out. It really is an interesting compliment to a country-rock romp such as "Bring It On Up". While it may feel out of place at first, you soon realize that it couldn’t be any other way. Cale's trademark viola is present on the beautiful, spacey "Big White Cloud". It also returns on a bonus track included on the remastered CD. A six-minute viola drone, "Wall", is the strongest connection to Cale's experimentalist work. Alternately electrifying and terrifying, "Wall" feels like the sound of the brain molecules in your head being cleared out. I now come to my biggest question regarding this album. Why was "Cleo" not a #1 smash hit? I guess too "out-there" for mainstream pop radio? Well, that's often the way it goes with greatness. John Cale created a pop-rock masterpiece with this bouncy jaunt. A great arrangement, the killer piano break, Cale's quirky lyrics, everything about it just works.

Another album lost in the mad-rush of the music scene, deprived of the recognition it deserves. You owe it to yourself to spin this buried treasure.