Taking a sidestep from his earliest solo efforts into an exploration of his classical training and influences -- thus the title --
John Cale
on
Academy
creates a set of songs that probably bemused more than one listener at the time of release. The predominantly instrumental release, which finds him working with
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
on two tracks, steers away from the more grotesque classical/rock fusions at the time to find an unexpectedly happy and often compelling balance between the two sides. Opening track "The Philosopher" signals this well, with a low-key acoustic guitar/drums rhythm accompanied by separate horn, string, and keyboard lines. The sound is at once thick and remarkably spare, a rejection of flash for mood setting without aiming toward the drones so prevalent in much of
Cale
's initial work. Restrained humor crops up throughout, a smart way to undercut any fusty claims of pretension. "Legs Larry at Television Centre" has
acting like a very uptight, controlling TV technical director "directing" the string quartet performance at the center of the song. "King Harry," the only song with lyrics, is a memorably whispered zinger at the dying figure of
King Henry VIII
, with Spanish and calypso touches on top of everything else. Much of the time the mood is, quite simply, serene and beautiful, an exercise of
's skills that impresses both technically and emotionally. When things are more quick in mood, as in
"Faust,"
one of
"3 Orchestral Pieces,"
has good fun applying rock arrangement and production tricks: compression, gentle flanging, drum rhythms, and so forth. ~ Ned Raggett