Later than advertised, Ginger salutes the… “greatest album of the 80s”? Check out Ginger’s past Secret History Of Rock’n'Roll entries.
FISHBONE
Truth And Soul
Columbia Records, 1988

With more star quality than any number of 80s LA darlings, Fishbone, led by the insanely charismatic Angelo Moore, can still be seen playing live around the states to this day. They still rock and they still radiate an onstage presence that makes a mockery of most of their Californian counterparts who went on to bigger and more lucrative things.

Few people could argue with the fact that Fishbone were the best live band to come from LA since forming in the early 80s, but even fewer would argue that great live bands seldom capture their true live fury in a sterile studio environment.

Yet, in 1988, on only their second album, Fishbone grabbed this popular statistic, strapped a rocket to its ass and fired it into musical history.

Truth and Soul is the sound of a band effortlessly having and doing exactly what the critics would have you believe is nigh on impossible. They became the greatest live band in LA and then they made arguably the greatest album of the 80s.

From their reggae/ska roots, while an exhilarating live phenomenon Fishbone initially tread a fairly well worn trade in the kind of ska/dub that was already boring people in England, but by their second full length release their stock came to include funk, thrash metal, punk, pop, soul, psychedelia, rhythm & blues and sheer drop dead gorgeous balladry in such authentic style that it has yet to be matched, by themselves or anyone else.

A firework display of ingenious ideas played by master craftsmen, with their obvious love for every genre deftly blended, theirs was an alchemy that could have only been successfully attempted by a musical force whose record collections were as huge as their talents. And while slices of prime Suicidal Tendencies, Prince and Sly And The Family Stone/Funkadelic can be picked out as influential landmarks, its the melodic, funky insanity that fills up 80% of this trip into schizoid musical heaven. And why I’d state, with little reservation, that this is an album that is impossible to dislike.

Opening up with Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Freddie’s Dead’, there’s an almost Bad Brains tight/looseness to the approach of this introductory number, something levelled out, however, when Angelo Moore’s sweet, vibrant and soul-drenched voice muscles into the metallic opening bars. If Bad Brains HR were to scream into this opening track we’d have a very different animal in our room, but where Bad Brains openly terrify, Fishbone almost reassure, and it is this odd choice of an opener that lays Fishbone’s entire credo on the line.

Yes, this opener might sound like a funk/metal workout, but there are so many layers in their superior take on existing genres that one can only sit back and marvel at what they will attempt next. And while the funk/metal social commentary of ‘Freddie’s Dead’ leaves you thinking of how utterly wasteful the death of a junkie is, the next song ‘Ma And Pa’ bursts in, all shakin’ an’ a skankin’, with no less of an essential social statement, this time concerning domestic violence. And while the players groove with the assurance of seasoned pros, the lyrical weight is never undermined nor heavy handedly mixed to gain maximum attention. These stories from the street merely are.

‘Mighty Long Way’ follows these two seemingly conflicting styles with equal disregard for conformity. Using Allman Brothers swing and toe tapping southern flavour to devastating effect, this feel-good boogie monster sings of the brotherly bonds of friendship. And Hell, if you don’t wanna call up a mate for a beer after hearing this one then you’re tee total or seriously in need of a social life. The good news is that this song’ll probably fix both for you.

As various vocalists playfight for supremacy this full-on party number plays like the kind of night out you wish happened more often than not.  Life affirming and awesome, ‘Mighty Long Way’ is the sound of good times.

Things are brought way down for the loping ‘Pouring Rain’, its melancholic horn section creating a theatrical picture of desperation and resignation while Fishbone handle the lazy groove with expert finesse.

And then, almost typically, ‘Deep Inside’ batters the mood with 1:23 minutes of hardcore speed ska/funk, once again allowing the many voices of Fishbone to create a dizzying vision of unity.

Barely has the brain adjusted to the last sonic attack when the delightful summer breeze that is the fabulous ‘Question Of Life’ is upon us like the third cocktail of the party hitting just as the sun begins to lower into the water. Beach party brass blows a subtle and seductive wind as the feet refuse to behave, and Fishbone, once again, become easily the best band in the Universe.

No-one is better than Angelo Moore, seriously. Bellowing on his baritone sax, dancing (usually naked) like a rhythm driven sprite and singing his considerable lungs out, he comes off as equal parts Prince, Sly Stone and Dave Lee Roth. The ultimate ringleader and living spirit of the party, his infectious nature is unbeatable and entirely lovable.

‘I Like To Hide Behind My Glasses’ is an odd addition to European releases of the album, with its dinosaur stomping take on Chicago blues/jazz it sits uneasily with the rest of the material on offer, but, still, is played so well that its difficult not to love jazz. At least for a little while.

(However, if Columbia records had wanted to pad the album out with something awe inspiring they could have included the hard-to-find classic ‘Love And Bullshit’, a hardcore frenzy of schizophrenic intensity featured on an NME freebie at the time)

And if ‘….Glasses’ offers a brief but slight lull in (admittedly inhumanly high) standards then the next track, ‘Bonin’ In The Boneyard’, readdresses and super-sweetens the deal by being probably the best funk based song ever written.

Ladies and Gentlemen the quality presented to you in this perfect 4:45 of unfiltered, brass-fuelled joy may actually be too high for you to endure. You must approach this song with caution as the air-tight rhythm section of John Norwood Fisher and Philip “Fish” Fisher take you on a journey of untamed rhythmic dexterity, the likes of which will leave you spinning in stunned submission. As unbridled and astounding as any rhythm partnership who ever backed Frank Zappa or Prince, the brothers Fisher even share the audacity to break into a drum and bass solo section that is, to put it bluntly, fucking insane.

Worthy of the cost of this album alone, ‘Bonin’ In The Boneyard’ is a song you MUST own if you ever want to take any party to the kinetic heights that only a super host/DJ understands.

Just sayin’, that’s all.

Only the Steve Wonder stylings of ‘One Day’ could save us now. Gorgeous and groovesome, Fishbone almost mock us with their ability to make any style their own. There have been very few bands in history that slide between genres with such natural ease, and while the delicious Motown harmonies seep into your subconscious one second the arena rock solo section throws you completely off the path in another, leaving ‘Subliminal Fascism’ to derail you altogether with another hardcore runaround, shedding bizarre backing vocals, gospel hammond organ and breakneck riffing in its 1:27 wake.

It’s almost with a knowing wink that the jungle beat of ‘Slow Bus Moving (Howard Beach Party)’ shuffles merrily along with almost comical disregard for its message of towering racial tension. The message is there, if you’re inclined to listen; the groove is there if you only came to dance.

Social commentary with a sonic conscience? This is music with no colour and this is music with ALL colours.
This music is for everyone to love.

‘Ghetto Soundwave’ compounds this point with lyrics of police brutality and social frustration, but when cunningly placed, as it is, upon the sweetest musical magic carpet ride, sweeping the listener to places beyond the confines of political rhetoric, the respect for the message is deep and lasting. Music is the language of hope and unity. Always was, always will be.

Leaving only the beautiful ‘Change’ to allow the listener to consider what a breathtaking musical road trip has just gone before them. Yet while Angelo Moore pleads for change, accompanied by a plaintive acoustic guitar, it feels that he is singing with us, not at us. We all want what is right and, as always, we can use the beauty of music to help us understand how this is possible as a cultural reality.

Truth And Soul is a timely album for today’s opinions on the ideology of hope. Where this very recently, very fashionably hailed notion is already being criticized, and the belief in such challenged by impatience, it’s worth recalling this album, recorded over 20 years ago. The message is the same, the political climate is different and yet society still feels an almost natural leaning towards distrust.

If hope can be accepted then people must learn to believe. If belief begins within oneself then music is as good a teacher as any number of political manifestos.

And when the music is made by people to whom mixed race is the obvious place to begin all discussion then it helps to be able to listen to the music AND the message. Culturally this is the language of hope, if you truly believe.

If you haven’t heard this album yet then I am honestly envious of the rewards you are about to receive.
And you can believe that.

Check out Ginger’s past Secret History Of Rock’n'Roll entries.