Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Take a breath, and then another, be calm before you deliver those Fighting Words, for if you don’t mean them, if you are bluffing to the gallery and have no intention of following through with the warning, with upholding the principals to which you espouse, then those arguments and ready expressions of dispute won’t mean a thing.
Not every fighting stance has to be a confrontation, sometimes what comes across is the beauty of memory holding fast, holding back time, often it is the persuasion of the new release once again confirming the stature, the reputation, and the greatness of the individual.
In terms of the recognition of prominence in the field of music, there are few that can stand up to the music ability, or indeed history, of Ellen Foley, even just a reminder of what she has achieved in theatre is enough to set the musical saliva glands whispering of beauty; however, it is to the one seismic moment of working alongside Meat Loaf and the late, great Jim Steinman, that sets this woman and her voice apart from many of her peers and contemporaries.
If history repeats itself, then that can be seen as the musical gods and spirits wanting to revel in the glory of what once went before, to invoke the belief of creativity, and in Ms. Foley’s first album for eight years, Fighting Words, the gloves are off, the bell has rung, and Ms. Foley comes out opposing the thought of beige retirement, and instead, with the majestic help of songwriter Paul Foglino, boxes the ears of the impudent and uncaring with songs that are cutting, insightful, personal.
The album, which includes multi-instrumentalist C.P. Roth, Steve Goulding and long-time friend Ula Hedwig on backing vocals, sees the featured artist on one of the biggest selling, and indeed artistically phenomenal recordings of all time, Bat Out Of Hell, turn to her vision of the sublime, and in songs such as the album’s opener, Are You Good Enough, I’m Just Happy To Be Here, I Call My Pain By Your Name, which was also co-written by Tom Meltzer, I’ll Be True, Fill Your Cup, the superb This Won’t Last Forever, and the unexpected, but nonetheless absolutely tremendous feminine reading of Jim Steinman’s Heaven Can Wait, that sense of timeless class is given a name, that of Ellen Foley.
An album that encompasses the feminist statements, but also one that captivates in its completeness, Fighting Words is the rebellious prize worth the engagement of the battle. Calm, honest, scintillating, every note dripped in a substance that sends shivers down the spine, Ellen Foley returns with fighting words and a vision to back them up.
Ellen Foley releases Fighting Words on August 6th.
Ian D. Hall