return to review menuBaterz "Out Of Hell"
format: album, released: 2000
review by James Andean
Out of Hell is Baterz' first solo album, and is a slightly different beast
than his work with Bedridden. By necessity, the collective sensibility of
the band is replaced here by straight songwriting, furthering the trend heard
on I Told You It Wouldn't Work. As a result the songs on Out of Hell tend to
be straight, three-and-a-half minutes long, with traditional verse/chorus
song structures. The other main transformation concerns the content. Where
Bedridden's songs may be very funny, it is usually by virtue of being absurd,
sometimes ridiculous; Baterz is very deliberately crossing a line here, from
writing songs that are funny to writing Funny Songs - in other words,
deliberately moving towards comedy. The risk in such a move would be that
the songs may sink into mere novelty; thankfully, Baterz soars far beyond
any such failings, and has produced a fantastic - and yes, a very, very
funny - album. (Starting with the brilliant title - Baterz Out of Hell,
spoofing the eminently spoofable Meat Loaf album.)
Baterz sounds like he has pushed his limits here, and has evolved wonderfully
on a number of fronts. For one thing, his sense of melody is fantastic; the
songs here are without exception catchy, memorable, and extraordinarily well-
crafted, displaying a remarkable talent for songwriting, and a strong, unique
melodic approach. Also impressive is his production work here. The album is,
with very few exceptions, entirely written, performed, and recorded by Baterz
himself, and he has truly worked wonders with limited resources. He has a very
clear idea of his abilities as well as his limitations, and on Out of Hell does
a superb job of stretching the former to their maximum without ever overstepping
the latter. This is true of his singing, his guitar work, and all other elements
of the work, but nowhere is it as apparent as regarding the production. The
album is extremely well-recorded, and amazes constantly in how full, rich, and
varied a collection of sounds and textures he is able to build out of such simple
materials. Witness the pulsing density of the chorus of "Zombie Girl", with belting
percussion, howling backing voices, and swirling, unidentifiable instrumental touches;
the lovely harmonies of "Butterfly", with its multitude of hilarious backing vocals
and sound effects; the brilliant "Darling", which builds a full, professional
studio recording out of the simplest of parts, including perfect, almost
imperceptible details such as the wandering high-pitched synth (?) whine of the
'chorus'; the brilliant 'horn section' of "Haemophiliac", built out of multiple
tracks of Baterz himself on clarinets and trumpet; or, perhaps the master stroke,
the closing triumph of "Valiant", with another clarinet-based horn section, bounding
percussion, and a terrific violin solo, which together make for what is probably the
highlight of the album.
The songs are also mixed beautifully well, without exception, perfectly balancing
numerous contrasting instruments and effects, and working wonders with subtleties
and barely-audible details; take, for example, the perfect balance between guitars,
percussion, barely-present synth, and particularly the backing vocals of "Darling";
or the full pop orchestration of "Babysitter", a full, controlled mix of guitars,
piano, and backing harmonies. Again, considering the limited resources with which
he is working, Out of Hell shows a sure, deft, and masterful touch that does not falter.
Lyrically, much of the black humour, the obsession with illness and injury, already
commented upon in the Bedridden reviews, are fully visible here. (Baterz himself is
a hemophiliac who contracted HIV at a relatively young age through his blood
transfusions; it is tempting to read into this irreverence and defiance towards
illness and death a coming-to-terms with mortality and physical limitations,
extending maybe as far as being the source of the same themes throughout Bedridden's
output - but this may very well be entirely spurious.) For example, the album opens
with the line "The day my girlfriend died..." - but not to worry, she comes back as a
zombie; "Butterfly" starts with "I was riding my bicycle one warm spring afternoon..."
and proceeds through accident and injury, through mishap after mishap, to more or less
utter ruin... Even the hilarious "Spidermother" (in which the singer's mother, obviously,
turns into a spider) can be read as belonging to this same theme as physical transformation/
degradation/ alienation.
Some tracks deal more directly - and less humourously - with affliction. "Haemophiliac"
is a very direct, but still very funny, presumably self-satirizing account of life with
hemophilia. "Morning After" is even more direct and honest, an account of some of the
bitter realities of, and people's attitudes towards, sexual relations and HIV. The song
is all the more sobering as it is the only completely serious track on the album, a role
it handles remarkably well - it is somewhat understated, and the more powerful for it.
But while one can discuss the production merits, melodic writing, or content of the songs
as much as one wants, the bottom line is that these are simple, straightforward songs, and
they are (for the most part) mountains of fun. The songs are, indeed, very funny, which is
enough in itself to ensure their success; but the songs are terrific on their own, with or
without the comedy. These are songs to which you will listen again and again, which stay
in your head the rest of the day, and which you catch yourself singing on the bus or at
the grocery store. (There is a dangerous side to all of this: my five-year-old nephew
once made me endure a full hour of the song "Giant Squids", played again and again, to
his endless delight and my growing desperation.) Personal faves include "Spidermother",
"Darling", and "Valiant", as well as the hidden track: a slow, strolling guitar-driven
number, filled with samples from countless American television advertisements, along with
clips of dogs barking and other nonsense, some of which makes for some truly funny moments
- "Ladies, gentlemen, Idaho potatoes..." or "Who WROTE this?? Barbara Streisand!!" But
all the songs are great here, and everyone will find their own favourites. A terrific
album; we await more from Baterz with avid anticipation.