Published on Oct 22, 2003
“It’s story time, folks! Come one, come all! Mothers and
fathers, girls and boys, gather around. Mr. Brad ‘the wise guy’
Roberts has a few stories up his sleeve. Stories, fables, tales;
parables, each of which send out a message of their own – Messages
with a moral value, messages without a moral value, plain messages
which really aren’t supposed to mean anything at all!!”
Seriously,
God Shuffled His Feet is a very different album. It differs
from most of its kind in the way it is conceptualized and
presented. There is no doubt that this is just another ‘adult
alternative rock’ album, but, with a difference. The album proceeds
like a musical storybook, with each song contributing as a small
fable of some sort. Every song is written as a small tale,
describing the most unusual of situations, in a manner of a
parable, which one is supposed to read to their kids, hoping to
inculcate any slightest form of something known as a ‘moral value’,
in an attempt to make it (the child) a better person.
The opening title track is this very funny fragment of Brad’s
imagination of this situation, in which the almighty invites some
‘humans’ for a nice day out, for a picnic, in which the ‘humans’
ask god really weird questions about heaven. As an answer, god
tells them an equally warped story of this boy with ‘blue hair’,
which of course goes beyond the absorbing capacity of any of the
person trying to get a grip of what god was trying to say – A very
smart lyric-work by Brad, here. Also, the mandolin-solo at the end
of the song makes it one of the best in the album. “Afternoons And
Coffespoons”, is a very humorous take on why one should find a
hospital quite not the place to be in. “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”, is
definitely not an ‘erotic’ song, no, by no means, it isn’t. Like
“God Shuffled His Feet”, this song gives a glimpse of some very
unusual stories that Brad can bubble out with. The bass lines are
quite amazing, if listened to, with care, in this song. “In The
Days Of The Caveman”, is exactly, what the title says: beautiful
piano work by Ellen, here. Its time for a love song, with “Swimming
In Your Ocean”, and a very unconventional one, I should say. I like
the unusual humor in this unusual love song. “Here I Stand Before
Me”, is probably the worst song of this record. The lyrics are
good, though, with Brad singing about his proud x-ray of his
insides. “I Think I’ll Disappear Now”, is another not so good song:
not worth writing about.
“How Does A Duck Know?” is probably the best this album can
offer, and it is a lot! It is a fantastically produced song, one of
the reasons that make me glad that The Dummies have made an
appropriate choice by having Jerry Harrison as the main producer of
this CD. I once read Brad Roberts’ interview, somewhere, in which
he had stated a very amusing fact about “When I Go Out With The
Artists”: it was originally written as a promo for a scotch whisky
company. Strange? You betcha!! A very mellow song, with nothing
more than the sounds of the humble piano, “The Psychic”, is about,
well, a psychic; a cute number. “Two Knights And Maidens”, is an
absolute masterpiece. A beautifully short song, about two
mischievous knights and two really harassed and nasty maidens; the
plush production in this number does take a large part of the
listener’s attention. “Untitled”, is sheer beauty in simplicity.
This 2 – minute odd number is the most humble and melancholic of
all songs, of this L.P. This song is just a ‘piano-instrumental’,
written and performed by Brad Roberts, all by himself.
All in all,
God Shuffled His Feet gives for an absolutely fulfilling
listening pleasure. The music is mind-blowing, and isn’t very
complicated to understand. The lyrics are witty, cheeky and very
smart. An impressive effort, indeed!!