Album #143: Nik Kershaw - The Riddle

Nik Kershaw

The Riddle (1984)

Begin your reading of today's review by visiting this link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx9SLfXAudY.

You're welcome.

Anyway, Nik Kershaw is a fairly typical example of an 80s New Wave pop star - burst onto the scene with a big hit, followed it up with a couple of smaller hits, then......gone. He still knocks about making music but his glory days are long gone. The Riddle was his second album, and it's best known for its mystifying title track.

(I also remember seeing a scarf saying NIK KERSHAW - THE RIDDLE waved around at Live Aid....yep somebody had a NIK KERSHAW SCARF and waved it football style.)

It's today's review, though I'm not sure how serious I'll be given I've listened to a glorious piece of comedy prior to reviewing it....

The Album

The 1980s have a lot to answer for.

For example, allowing this to be successful.

The Riddle is 42 minutes of TRIPLE SYNTH MASTERY, where Kershaw may or may not be on a flat bed truck (you don't get this, do you? YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO THE LINK ABOVE, DID YOU?) There are sparing moments of quality, where it seems like Kershaw actually knows what he's doing, but on the whole it's horrible, dated crap.

Those few positive moments are specks of gold in a river of shit. The Riddle is a genuinely great New Wave pop song; a really catchy guitar/synth riff that repeats throughout the song's choruses, and a decent vocal from Kershaw, who is certainly a capable singer. The lyrics are nonsensical but deliberately so, and pleasingly there's no great mystery or hidden metaphor - it's a guide vocal that was never changed, and it goes well with the title. Roses features some classy tuned percussion work, and on the whole it's unusually minimalist and dark in its composition (bar some typical syrupy MEGA SYNTH moments here and there). You Might is also a genuinely good tune, an upbeat tempo helping it on its way, but it's the emphasis on guitar over synth that gives it a real edge, because the guitars have plenty of bite and underpin the song, while the synths act as a textural accompaniment.

Honourable mentions must also go to Easy and Wide Boy, both decent, catchy slices of synth pop with nice hooks and plenty of pep.

The stinkers though are deplorable. The worst by far is Save The Whale, a six minute treatise about (you guessed it) saving the whale (though I fail to see what good saving a single whale is - what about the rest, Kershaw? NAH FUCK THEM I GUESS.) Musically it's a dirge, with a plodding tempo and 'synth' whale song notes, while lyrically it contains such gold as, "In turquoise inner space/the giants live with grace", and "Jesus Christ Almighty/Save the whale/For all our sakes/Save the whale". City of Angels is dull and uninspired, sounding like a cheap show tune rip off that's been 'updated' to the 1980s, Wild Horses is cliche incarnate, Know How decides the key to WOWING US is with thirty-five WALLS OF SYNTHS all on top of each other (answer: it's not) and Don Quixote is poorly produced noise (I mean come on. I get you want TRIPLE SYNTH MASTERY but when you can't hear the vocals over all of your synths you're probably fucking up your production of the album.

The Verdict

Stay in the 1980s, Mr. Kershaw. That's where you belong. Avoid this album apart from a few tracks.

My rating: 4.2/10

Standout Tracks

The Riddle

You Might

Roses