Guitar and tasteful piano launch Kow Kow, and while the lyrics are nonsense - seriously, Miller’s never likely to threaten anyone’s position in the list of Rock’s Thousand Greatest Lyricists - but there’s a wonderful little touch in the turn on your love-light middle break that leads into a nicely ranting conclusion before a piano and organ play-out from Hopkins and Sidran that’s nicely restrained. A great track, lyrical nonsense notwithstanding. Seasons isn’t the greatest philosophical statement you’ve heard either, but there’s bright acoustic guitar prominent in the mix
Arguably the closest to a potential hit single on the album, Space Cowboy is another classy track, nicely put together with plenty of interesting touches bubbling under the surface. There’s a strong beat from drummer Davis and a buzzing bass line from Turner-and the main guitar riff has a touch of the Lady Madonnas about it.
The quirky lyrics are back for bassist Lonnie Turner’s LT’s Midnight Dream, along with some tasteful acoustic slide picking and the high harmonies back in the mix. Solid. There’s a fairly funky drum intro to My Dark Hour, quite possibly the work of a certain Mr McCartney, who’s credited as contributing bass, drums and vocals - that’s certainly him in the scream over the play-out, no one else in rock at the time had quite the same scream - and the riff turned up gain on Fly Like An Eagle a few years later.
All in all, Brave New World is another solid album of classy rock-tinged pop music, and it’s the third in a line of albums that seemed to offer a little more as each one slipped out into the market. The band is tight, the writing credits are shared around (three to Miller, four to Miller/Sidran, one each to Turner and Davis) and the production work (from Glyn Johns) adds a pleasing veneer over the top of the mix.
Given the fact that the core trio of Miller, Turner and Davis had been together for getting on to three years, you’d expect them to have their act together, and you’d have thought that success was a matter of time, yet, somehow the release of the fourth album Your Saving Grace passed unnoticed.
Arguably, the fourth album is the pick of Miller’s early work. Listening to it again after a gap of a good ten years it’s astounding how good it is. A fair bit of that is the much more prominent role occupied by Hopkins’ piano, but it’s the work of a band that’s really hitting its straps.
And, until a call to the local radio station for some phone-in competition, or whatever, until the source from which my mates and I had picked up a number of very reasonably priced albums, I was completely unaware of its existence.