| Poetic Justice | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 26 August 1996 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 51:43 | |||
| Label | Transatlantic | |||
| Producer | Steve Harley | |||
| Steve Harley chronology | ||||
| ||||
Poetic Justice is the fourth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released by Transatlantic on 26 August 1996. [1]
Harley wrote much of the new material for Poetic Justice while on tour with his band Cockney Rebel, which he reformed and began touring with again in 1989. [2] As his first album since 1992's Yes You Can, Harley recorded Poetic Justice at Berry House Studios in Ardingly, Sussex, with a number of musicians, including Nick Pynn, Phil Beer, Thomas Arnold, Ian Nice, Andrew Brown and Paul Francis. He told the Stockport Times in 1996, "It's my first album for four years so it's like a new beginning. It has blue and dark moments but then so has my life. Some of the songs may appear quite gloomy but I find it optimistic. It's my most confident set of lyrics ever. I've never made a record like this, where I can come away and I genuinely want to sing and play it live." [3]
Speaking of his songwriting during this period of his career, Harley told The Birmingham Post in 1998, "In the Cockney Rebel days I was perhaps more detached as a songwriter than I am now. When you've had kids you change, but I'm still a terribly romantic animal. What I'm finding as I get older is that the songs allow me to express my sense of romance. Those who come to the concerts don't seem to mind, in fact many of them say Poetic Justice is their favourite album." [4]
In 2002, Harley spoke of songwriting and Poetic Justice in an interview with Perfect Sound Forever. He said,
"Songwriting is one of the few jobs even in the world of creative art that we do where you don't get better with age. It's also true perhaps with novelists: that their best work is often left behind in their twenties and up to their mid thirties, when you're truly inspired and think you can rule the world. In '96, I released Poetic Justice and I do five or six songs from that most nights on tour and I would say they might just be the best songs I've ever written and they touch people as though they're the best songs I've ever written and they go down as though they were big hits." [5]
Poetic Justice features seven new songs, three covers, and a 'live in the studio' re-recording of "Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)", a song which originally appeared on Harley's 1978 debut solo album Hobo with a Grin . "That's My Life in Your Hands" was written by Harley and Hugh Nicholson. The song originated as "Starlight Jingles", which was first recorded by Nicholson's band Blue during their sessions at Los Angeles between 1979–82, [6] and later by Radio Heart for their self-titled 1987 album. [7] Harley approached Nicholson to rewrite the lyrics and record his own version of the song. [8]
"The Last Time I Saw You" received its debut live performance on 29 April 1994 at the Mick Ronson Memorial Concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. This live version, along with a performance of "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)", later appeared on the 2001 compilation The Mick Ronson Memorial Concert. [9]
The album's three covers include Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?", Bob Dylan's "Love Minus Zero-No Limit" and Van Morrison's "Crazy Love". [10] In a 1997 interview with Smiler, Harley commented of the covers on Poetic Justice, "There's a lot of people who are quite unhappy with the covers that I've done on my new album, so I'm thinking I won't bother doing any again. My audience think I've run out of ideas if I only write eight [songs] out of eleven." [11]
Poetic Justice was released on CD by Transatlantic Records, a division of Castle Communications, on 26 August 1996. [1]
No singles were released from the album, despite Harley's interest in releasing "That's My Life in Your Hands", "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?" and "The Last Time I Saw You". [11] In his interview with Smiler, Harley commented, "They should have released 'The Last Time I Saw You' or 'That's My Life in Your Hands' – they would have got a lot of airplay – not Radio One – but a good plugger these days gets people like me on all those "gold" stations or Virgin – they'll all play it, and even if it was only a turntable hit, I'd have liked that, but record companies now are run by accountants. It's hard to get anyone to talk sense." [11] In response to Robson & Jerome reaching the UK number one spot in 1996 with their own version of "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?", Harley added, "I'd recorded it long before they turned up. We were saying to the record company, I'd done this as a single, and they hadn't got a bloody clue. Three months later it was being played by them." [11]
A re-issue of the album was released by Castle Music Ltd on 7 October 2002. [12] [13] Another re-issue, as a digi-pack CD, followed on 20 September 2010 by Repertoire Records, under license from Comeuppance Ltd. [14] In 2010–11, Sanctuary Fontana made the album available as a digital download on sites such as iTunes. [13] [15]
In September and October 1996, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel embarked on the UK 19-date Poetic Justice Tour. [16] The album was also advertised in various music magazines, including Mojo and Q . [1] Harley was disappointed in Transatlantic's lack of promotion for Poetic Justice and the album's failure to reach a wide audience. He told The Birmingham Post in 1998, "You can only do your best. When you are someone like me who spends two years writing the songs and they come from the heart and then you find there's no serious marketing campaign for the product it's pretty depressing. My manager is in the process of discussing buying it back so we can re-release it." [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [17] |
| The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music | [18] |
On its release, High Fidelity News and Record Review wrote, "Something about Harley has him classified, historically, with rock's assholes, but this latest solo almost redeems him. His first in five years contains a cluster of originals and three seemingly out-of-place covers which actually work in the context of his own songs." [19] Simon Evans of The Birmingham Post noted Harley's voice was "less mannered" and the arrangements "less grandiose" than in his Cockney Rebel days, but felt there are "flashes of the old Harley" in the "aching, regretful" "Two Damn'd Lies" and "All in a Life's Work". He believed Cockney Rebel's "faded bohemianism" was "best captured" on the "sumptuous" version of "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and described the "lovely" "The Last Time I Saw You" as a song which "ranks alongside Harley's very best". Evans also noted the influence of Bob Dylan across the album, writing, "Dylan's presence hangs heavy, not just in Harley's poetic conceits but also on the Blonde on Blonde sound of a song like 'Loveless'. Harley however is too much of an original to get trapped in mere imitation." [20]
Thom Jurek of AllMusic described Poetic Justice as "a very solid and subdued set for Harley" and "fine work top to bottom" which "should be owned by any fan, or investigated by the curious". Jurek wrote, "He's in fine voice here, and his own songs are pretty much top of the heap for having been some '20 years past his prime' as some jive Brit journo called him. It's nonsense, of course, since Harley may not have had the hits in the '90s, but certainly had the requisite taste, musicianship and elegance to put a collection of songs together like this one." [17]
All tracks are written by Steve Harley except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "That's My Life in Your Hands" | Harley, Hugh Nicholson | 3:50 |
| 2. | "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?" | James Dean, Paul Riser, William Weatherspoon | 4:13 |
| 3. | "Two Damn'd Lies" | 5:07 | |
| 4. | "Loveless" | 4:47 | |
| 5. | "Strange Communications" | 4:06 | |
| 6. | "All in a Life's Work" | 4:57 | |
| 7. | "Love Minus Zero-No Limit" | Bob Dylan | 6:08 |
| 8. | "Safe" | 3:43 | |
| 9. | "The Last Time I Saw You" | 5:12 | |
| 10. | "Crazy Love" | Van Morrison | 3:24 |
| 11. | "Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)" | 6:08 |
Credits are adapted from the Poetic Justice CD album booklet. [21]
Production
Other
Steve Harley is an English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still tours, albeit with frequent and significant personnel changes.
The Human Menagerie is the debut studio album by Cockney Rebel, which was released by EMI in 1973. It was produced by Neil Harrison.
The Best Years of Our Lives is the third studio album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released by EMI in 1975. It was the first album to feature Harley's name ahead of the band's. The album was produced by Harley and Alan Parsons, and contains the band's only UK number one, the million-selling "Make Me Smile ".
Face to Face: A Live Recording is a live album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released by EMI in 1977. It was produced by Steve Harley and Tony Clark.
Hobo with a Grin is the debut solo album by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released by EMI in 1978. The album was produced by Harley, except for "Roll the Dice", which was produced by Michael J. Jackson. Jackson also acted as additional producer on the album.
"The Last Goodbye" is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 2006 as a single from their 2005 studio album The Quality of Mercy. The song was written by Harley and ex-Cockney Rebel guitarist Jim Cregan, and produced by Harley.
The Quality of Mercy is the sixth studio album by English rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released by Gott Discs in 2005. The album was Steve Harley's first studio album in 9 years and the first in 29 years to be released under the Cockney Rebel name. The album was produced entirely by Harley, with Jim Cregan co-producing the track "A Friend for Life". The album's title is based on the Shakespearean phrase.
"Star for a Week (Dino)" is a pop-rock song by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released as a promotional single in 1993 from his third solo album Yes You Can. The single coincided with the UK release of the album that year. It was the second single to be released from the album, following "Irresistible" as a European single in 1992. "Star for a Week (Dino)" was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Matt Butler.
"Irresistible" is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley. It was released three times as a single; the first being in 1985 as a non-album single under his band's name Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel In 1986, a remixed version of the song was released by Harley as a solo single in the UK, and in 1992, he re-released this version as a single in Europe from his solo album Yes You Can. "Irresistible" was written by Harley and produced by English producer Mickie Most.
"Psychomodo" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. It was released in 1974 as the lead single from their second studio album The Psychomodo. "Psychomodo" was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons.
"Tumbling Down" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. It was released in 1975 as the third and final single from the band's second studio album The Psychomodo (1974). The song was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons.
"(Love) Compared with You" is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 1976 as the third and final single from the band's fifth studio album Love's a Prima Donna. Released as a single in America only, the song was written and produced by Harley.
"A Friend for Life" is a song by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released by Intrinsic Records in 2001 as a non-album single. The song was written by Harley and former Cockney Rebel guitarist Jim Cregan, and produced by Cregan. Harley's first release of new material since his 1996 album Poetic Justice, "A Friend for Life" was later included on Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's sixth studio album The Quality of Mercy (2005).
More Than Somewhat – The Very Best of Steve Harley is a compilation album by Steve Harley, which was released by EMI in 1998. It features sixteen tracks recorded by Cockney Rebel, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and Harley as a solo artist, spanning from Cockney Rebel's 1973 debut album The Human Menagerie to Harley's 1996 solo album Poetic Justice. At least one song from each studio album is included, with the exception of Harley's 1979 album The Candidate.
"Judy Teen" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. It was released as a non-album single in 1974, and became the band's first UK hit, after their debut single, "Sebastian", was only a hit in continental Europe. "Judy Teen" was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons.
"Mr. Soft" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley, which was released in 1974 as the second single from their second studio album The Psychomodo. The song was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons. "Mr. Soft" peaked at number 8 in the UK Singles Chart.
Stripped to the Bare Bones is a 1999 live acoustic album by English musician and songwriter Steve Harley. The album was produced by Harley and features Nick Pynn.
"Sebastian" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. It was released as the band's debut single in 1973 from their album The Human Menagerie. The song was written by Harley and produced by Neil Harrison.
"When I'm with You" is a song by the British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released as a non-album single in 1989. It was written and produced by Harley, ex-Cockney Rebel guitarist Jim Cregan and drummer Stuart Elliott.
"Hideaway" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. Released as the opening track on the band's 1973 debut album The Human Menagerie, "Hideaway" was released in 1974 as a single in Denmark only. It was written by Harley and produced by Neil Harrison.
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