Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
We either fall into the category of being writers and observers who put pen to paper without a plan, through the persuasive power of the subconscious and narrative of the dreamer who wishes to bring joy and peace to the proceedings, and those who seek absolute dedication to the cause, the required belief, the no nonsense exploration of the just in terms of qualified and unadulterated…There is no in between, only the rigid and the fluid.
Except of course there is always the one player, the one with notes and the keenness of mind to see the daylight that flows through even the smallest crevice as the two sides fuse together to disallow dissention; the muscle of the tireless spirit, and in this case it is the one that they have notes but to whom the listener knows they are working on the blessed imagination that brings to the fore an album of unashamed pleasure and a beat of the infinite.
Graham Gouldman, one of the four masterminds behind the subtle arrangements and exposed art of 10cc, has returned to the solo excursion in his first studio album in four years, the beautifully sounding I Have Notes.
Perhaps it is sense of humility that has always been resoundingly open to the listener as they frame the ideas behind the songs, his live interpretation that were created for luminaries such as the Yardbirds which have been honed and crafted to suit his own voice over several decades, which now makes this latest journey such a desirable listen, an object of fascination.
Utilising the bounty of performance from the likes of Queen’s Brian May, Hank Marvin, Henry Priestman, Ringo Starr, and various illuminating performances by other tremendously skilled musicians, the album is boundless and plentiful, it reaches into the gap between stringent and complimentary, between rigorous and accommodating with the ease that Graham Gouldman has perfected and inspired by over the course of a hugely successful career.
Through tracks such as the openers Floating In Heaven and We’re Alive, the sense of cool is open and flourishing, and as Play Me (The Ukulele Song), Don’t Tell Lies, the brilliance of Celestial Light, Couldn’t Love You More, and the wonderful live addition of Heart Full Of Soul, Graham Gouldman testifies to the heavens and the essence of humanity once again that art maybe for art’s sake, but it is in the delivery that provides comfort and peace.
Ian D. Hall