I have been a Status Quo fan since the mid-1980s, eventually becoming a die-hard fan when I started exploring their back catalogue. My starting point wasn’t the “frantic four” (their most classic 1970s era/line-up). The first Quo that I totally fell for was their 1960s incarnation.
Initially, I caught Pictures of Matchstick Men on an all-night 1960s music video show some 30 years ago. This being pre-internet, I saw (and heard) many of those songs for the first time, and Matchstick Men was one of them. I immediately loved it, and was fascinated with how much harder it was for me to connect with their newer material like In the Army Now. That got me started, and I promptly ordered all of their 1960s albums and took it from there.
As I proceeded onto their 1970s output, yet another world opened. The “frantic four” era of the band produced some of my favourite songs ever. I was just gobsmacked at how good they were – so intense, totally slamming it on stage, yet retaining such a melodic sensibility at their core. That was their calling card – mixing a pop sensibility with really intense, tough playing. Despite that intensity, I loved that they always also found time for those catchier, lighter moments and could mix them up in that Quo way. That was (and is) the duality of Quo, from the very beginning and all the way up till now.
There is no denying that the band went through some horribly lean years – in the 1990s in particular. Many bands were in the same situation in that decade – music tastes changed, and bands from the 1960s/70s (and even 80s) were now considered “old hat.” Quo took bad advice from their management, who told them that the record company did not want new original Quo product. They advised them to record cover albums. They begrudgingly recorded several over a number of years, and while that did keep them afloat, those albums also positioned them horribly and nearly dragged them down to a novelty level.
In the 2000s, with new management, they started afresh. The album Heavy Traffic (2002) was an incredible return to form, and easily my favourite Quo album since the late 1970s. All albums from that point on would be of good quality, even great from time to time – especially Bula Quo (2013), which also doubled as the soundtrack to the better-than-you’d-think feature film starring the Quo guys as themselves.
Right before Christmas 2016, Rick Parfitt died of an infection after a year of health troubles. Quo had always been “those two guys” and it was definitely the end of an era. Rick was dearly missed by band and fans alike, and Francis Rossi has rarely been more emotional in public than in his heartfelt tribute to his friend, which both began and ended with the sentence “I am not ready for this”.
The band would however not be stopped. Parfitt had already stepped down from active touring with the band, and when I bought a ticket in October 2016 to see them April 2017, I knew that it would be with new guitar player Richie Malone in Rick’s place. With Rick passing in the interim the show did of course become more poignant, but it was a rock solid performance from a band was clearly was looking ahead.
In 2019 the band released Backbone – the first album of the Rick-less line-up. In fact, it is the first Quo album ever to not feature Rick. It is the 33rd studio album by the band, and I was able to pick it up brand new on vinyl in Liverpool on the week of release, thus contributing to it debuting at #6 on the UK albums chart. This makes the album their 25th top ten and their highest-charting album of original material since 1982.
Rossi was very cautious about releasing a new album at this stage. “This new material had to be seriously good. Quo have achieved so much and meant so much to too many people for the quality to slip now. […] Losing Rick was hard to bear but, through Richie Malone, who was inspired to pick up a guitar by him, we can not only keep going but actually pick up the pace. The energy that he and drummer Leon Cave bring to Quo can’t be underestimated. I wasn’t sure I had another album in me but I couldn’t be more proud of Backbone. Hopefully the fans love it, but you can’t please everyone and I’m not going to start trying to now.”
I am certainly very excited about the album, despite initially thinking that the first single and title track Backbone was a bit “Quo by numbers.” Today I feel I was probably a bit harsh, but it came out of an intense desire to see the album be something more than yet another good Quo album. I wanted it to be great. This track is a steady rocker with the familiar Quo boogie swagger intact, filled with catchy vocal lines. It is probably just the right track to come back with in terms of signalling that Quo were back and still sounded like Quo. At the same time, the band had some serious aces up their sleeves.
The next single Liberty Lane is probably my biggest single earworm of the year. It wasn’t love at first listen, but I did like it immediately and just kept going back to it. Today I consider it one of the strongest tracks on the album. It is über-catchy, upbeat, opens with guitar and cowbell, and is an overall solid melodic pop song containing a lot of their 1960s pop sensibilities. Not the old psychedelic guitar lines, but in terms of the straight, in-your-ear melody of the vocals. I also feel there is a somewhat nostalgic whist of the lyrics.
I was taking a walk down Liberty Lane today
Thinking how the time has slipped away
But it’s really not so bad
You don’t miss what you never had
I still sing the songs of yesterday
Rossi has never been one for regret, and the reason may be hidden in this song which ultimately encourage people to go ahead and seize the day. Waiting for some kind of divine intervention is a waste of time. But as he also says in the song, “we all make mistakes along the way.” Liberty Lane is a celebration, and such a great, upbeat pick-me-up. It’s certainly picked me up a lot this year.
As we get deeper into the album, it is like travelling through the history of Quo as musically they stop a bit here and there, yet they sound like the Quo of 2019. Self-referencing yourself can be interesting and very cool when it’s done right.
Album opener Waiting For A Woman builds into a solid, percussive rocker. This is one of three co-writes between Rossi and old 1970s Quo collaborator Robert Young, and it is great to hear songs from this particular partnership again. If anything, the song reminds me a bit of Blues And Rhythm which opened the great Heavy Traffic (2002) album.
I See You’re In Some Trouble is another Rossi/Young collaboration, and very classic Quo in style and quality. Backing Off is another solid track, with so many melodic hooks mixed with a quiet urgency and a cool riff.
For another slide of irresistible Quo-rock with boogie swagger, look no further than Better Take Care which is another earworm of immediate quality. The layered vocals in the chorus are so tight that you’d forget it’s not a single voice if you don’t pay attention.
Better Take Care is written by John David. His songs have been covered by the Quo many times before (Rolling Home, Red Sky, I Didn’t Mean It, The Party Ain’t Over Yet and All That Counts Is Love). This may be my favourite song of his that Quo ever attempted, and the Quo do an amazing version. Again showing their innate ability to be catchy as it is only possible for them to be, while adding tight harmony vocals and cool percussive start-stop rhythm guitars. The song is irresistible and should come with an earworm warning.
Everybody in the band has contributed on this album, which Rossi has said was key to how well the band functions now. “I’m knocked out about how everyone played and contributed. There’s a sense of unity about the whole collection and about the band in itself. This album is about change as well as unity.”
The newfound levels of contribution are best illustrated by drummer Leon Cave contributing the first song ever from a Quo drummer (Falling Off the World). New guitarist Richie Malone also contributes Face the Music and Get Out of My Head. These are all strong numbers with a definite Quo sound to them. The latter is a rocker with a touch of intensity, reminding me of tracks like Big Fat Mama from Piledriver (1972).
A late-album highlight appears in the form of Running Out of Time. Here, the more typical humorous lyrics are replaced with environmental concerns. The song is full of hooks and contains more elaborate layers of backing vocals than any other song on the album.
Released in the band’s 52nd year as recording artists. I challenge any band with that longevity to record an album that sounds as vital, fresh, and of such immediate quality as Backbone.
Is it their best album ever? Rossi may say ‘yes’ and even make a convincing case for it, but that would honestly take some doing. It also needs to be evaluated further down the road. It is one of their better ones? Yes, definitely.
As much of a fan of the Quo as I am, it cannot be denied that they truly have made albums that land all over the quality spectrum. Most of them are however quote good. This belongs among the dozen or so that can be labelled “really great.” And being able to say that feels… really great!
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