Rick Springfield Walks through Songs of Alienation

By Claude Flowers

For several years now, rock vocalist Rick Springfield has performed at the Emerald Queen Casino, first at its riverboat location, now at its I- five show room.

From his home in California , the soft spoken Springfield laughed, “I remember that place, definitely.  It was on a boat at first. That scared me!  Actually, we've played their quite a bit, probably more than pretty much any other place I can think of.  It makes it a little easier at times when you know the (venue)."

Like most touring musicians, Springfield hasn't done much sightseeing while he's been in Washington to perform.  Nor will he had an opportunity to relax this weekend.

"It's pretty much a full-time thing," he explained.  "People are amazed.  They say, ‘Why don't you come play tennis with us?’ We don't have time.  Truly, we fly everywhere, we get in in the morning, unload the gear right away, sometimes I'll take a nap or get something to eat, then do sound check, get ready, do the show and go to bed.  There's not a lot of downtime on the road.  The only downtime is in the actual traveling, and you can do anything during that."

He's counted songwriting among the tasks he's unable to accomplish away from home.

"Solitude is the best thing for me.  I get some ideas on the road, but (for) most of it, I've got to sit down and thrash it out, you know?"

A worthy addition
Springfield ’s latest album "shock/denial/anger/acceptance," is a rich, layered work that rewards careful listening.  Although the heavier than previous studio recording, the mellow "Karma," and miles removed from his pop rock breakthrough "Working Class Dog," it's a worthy addition to his CD catalog, mature in focus and meticulously arranged.  Springfield contributes lead and harmony vocals, guitars, keyboards, and percussions.  His three-piece backing band fills out the sound.  Melodies are plentiful and potent.

Thematically, the focus is alienation: the petty slights that cause estrangement, reactions to it ranging from kindness to cruelty, and the impossible expectations individuals can place among loved ones, hoping others might cure their own deep-seated personal problems.

The songs are bolstered by a variety of sonic effects that ad intriguing elements of distortion to melodies, and make voices sometimes sound like there being spoken through a walkie-talkie.  Springfield explained, "I wanted it to sound very strong and fat, just to make everything fit through the mix."

Replicating the elaborate guitar parts on stage has not been difficult.

"You get the main things.  A couple of lines you may leave out now and then but it's actually been great to re-create live.  (The songs) sound just as good as live, and it's really jacked up the energy of the set, jacked up the energy of the old stuff.

"I'm a guitar player first.  I mean, I write on keyboards, but this is definitely a guitar (based) album.  I was working up in Vegas, I had my whole set up in a house there.  All I had was time.  It was great.  With (modern technology) you can experiment at home.  It's really been a blessing for me because I can work out some intricate stuff, let it sit, then come back and see if I like it.  If I like it, then I'll be old a song around it.  It's great to able to do things like that."

"Shock/denial/anger/acceptance" does lose focus near the end.  Four consecutive songs ("Angels of the Disappeared," " Eden ," "The Invisible Girl," and "My Depression") offer moments of wit but don't stand up as well the rest of the tracks.  Happily, the disc recovers and winds up on a strong note with the passionate "Every Night I Wake up Screaming" and the spiritual lament "Open My Eyes," a sort of latter-day psalm that reconciles the emotional turmoil that dominates the rest of the CD.

Influences
Incredibly, much of "s/d/a/a" recalls nothing so much as the Motley Crew song "Afraid," bassist Nikki Sixx's brilliant, raging commentary about tumult in his own marriage.  The record also echoes bits and pieces of various U2 songs from the 1990s.

Asked about the similarities, Springfield said, "As far as influences, I've certainly been keeping up on a bunch of current stuff.  My sons keep me up on that.  I like new music.  I was listening to a lot of current rock stuff.  I like a lot of that.  I'm sure that influenced me to a degree, but I also wanted to get back to a "Working Class Dog" kind of thing where it's just guitar, bass and drums.  It's the first album I've played all the guitar all in a while.  It was a very experimental thing all the way along."