Bob Geldof - Great Songs Of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001 (2005) 4 CD Box Set [Re-Up]

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Bob Geldof - Great Songs Of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001 (2005) 4 CD Box Set [Re-Up]

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Bob Geldof formed the punk group Boomtown Rats in 1975. During the band's existence, it moved from the pure energy and aggression of hits like "Looking After No. 1" to the more sophisticated but still provocative "I Don't Like Mondays" (its title derived from the answer given by a San Diego schoolgirl when asked why she'd killed her classmates). The band became a moderate success in the U.K., though it never really broke through in the U.S.

In the fall of 1984, Geldof watched a BBC documentary on Ethiopian poverty and was inspired to co-write, with Ultravox frontman Midge Ure, the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" It featured a large number of British pop stars performing under the name Band Aid and became the best-selling single in U.K. history. Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie repeated the feat the following year in the U.S. with "We Are the World." By then Geldof was involved in plans for a massive charity concert that eventually became Live Aid, two marathon shows held July 13, 1985, at Wembley Stadium in London and at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, featuring a who's who of pop/rock talent. Millions were raised and distributed to the African poor. Geldof was nominated for a Nobel Prize and knighted, and his autobiography Is That All? became a U.K. best-seller.

In 1986, the Rats split and Geldof launched a solo career, again with greater success in England than in the U.S. Deep in the Heart of Nowhere appeared that same year; however, Geldof's signature lyrical intellect wasn't up to par. He fared a bit better on 1990's The Vegetarians of Love. Instead of using an all-star cast found on his previous two albums, Geldof put a band together for the solid 1993 release Happy Club. For the rest of the decade, Geldof continued his fight against world hunger, specifically African famine. He joined Wyclef Jean, Bono, and others such as Bryan Ferry, Jimmy Page, Stereophonics, and Sean "Puffy" Combs for NetAid in October 1999. Three stadium concerts, which took place in New York, London, and Geneva, were simulcasted live on the Internet, radio, and television, staging a multimedia event that aimed to help end world poverty.

In the new millennium, Geldof returned to music for 2002's Sex, Age & Death. In 2004 he was asked to participate in DMC Records' Under the Influence series, a project that compiles songs that influenced the chosen performer's career, with extensive liner notes from the artists themselves. During the mid-2000s, Geldof devoted himself to charity work, most prominently re-teaming with Midge Ure for 2005's Live 8 concerts, which were designed to showcase the various social ills affecting Africa. Geldof did not return to pop music until 2011, when he released the full-length How to Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell in February.

Review by William Ruhlmann, Allmusic.com

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Bob Geldof - Great Songs Of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001 (2005) 4 CD Box Set [Re-Up]

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Bob Geldof - Great Songs Of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001 (2005) 4 CD Box Set [Re-Up]

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A year removed from his work organizing the Live Aid concerts to raise money and awareness concerning famine in Africa, ex-Boomtown Rat lead singer Bob Geldof released his solo debut. Deep in the Heart of Nowhere features a host of name performers ranging from Midge Ure (Ultravox) to Brian Setzer (Stray Cats) to Eric Clapton lending a hand. The lyrics are a bit self-conscious and overreaching at moments, but, with all of the talent on board, the album does have some winning tracks. The single, This Is the World Calling, barely scraped into the charts, but is an anthemic plea to the cosmos with a heavenly background vocal trio of Maria Mckee, Annie Lennox, and Alison Moyet. "August Was a Heavy Month" and "Love Like a Rocket" both contain fluid, melodic guitar work from Clapton, with the latter being an infectiously catchy lyrical take-off on the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset." Unfortunately, the second half begins to waver and the album, overall, is unfocused and less than the sum of some pretty spectacular parts.

Tom Demalon, Allmusic.com

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Bob Geldof - Great Songs Of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001 (2005) 4 CD Box Set [Re-Up]

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Geldof returns after a four-year absence with his second solo release, The Vegetarians of Love. Again, there are some high-profile guests including Paul Carrack, Kevin Godley, and Dave Stewart, but this Rupert Hine-produced affair has a low-key feel to it. Geldof applies his Dylanesque croak to a set that is very heavy on Irish-folk influences with rich results.

"A Gospel Song" is a gorgeous, organ-driven track that leads things off. Dave Stewart lends his guitar work to the catchy pop/rock of "Love Or Something." "The Great Song of Indifference," is a wry, tongue-in-cheek stomp fueled by pennywhistles, accordion and violin. There's even the appearance of former Boomtown Rat bandmate Pete Briquette playing bass and keyboards and co-writing the pleasant, albeit meandering, "Thinking Voyager 2 Type Things." A commercial flop on both sides of the Atlantic, this album is, nonetheless, a joyous romp from start to finish.

Tom Demalon, Allmusic.com

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Bob Geldof - Great Songs Of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001 (2005) 4 CD Box Set [Re-Up]

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Irish singer Bob Geldof's third solo set, The Happy Club, finds him again being produced by Rupert Hine, although he and Pete Briquette lend a hand. Geldof eschews the guest star-laden turns of his prior albums and settles with a set band line-up, with World Party's Karl Wallinger the only name guest. While not quite the triumph of his previous outing, The Happy Club is still an engaging release through and through. Drawing on his love for Motown, the album is an often upbeat, ebullient affair starting with the lead track "Room 19," complete with "sha la las, " hand claps, and comical lyrics about cryogenics. Other standouts include the gentle, lovely "The Soft Soil," the singalong slice of neo-psychedelic pop "My Hippy Angel," and the catchy title track. Thought-provoking lyrics wrapped in some great melodies, The Happy Club is mature, adult pop/rock that doesn't forget to have a good time.

Tom Demalon, Allmusic.com

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Bob Geldof - Great Songs Of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001 (2005) 4 CD Box Set [Re-Up]

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There's no evidence here that political beatification has mellowed Bob Geldof. If anything, his message has grown more apocalyptic, even as his music broadens to a degree unprecedented in his own catalog. The title gives a pretty clear picture of what this is all about. Whether viciously dismembering some withered media icon on "One for Me" or desiccating a relationship addiction that borders on necrophilia in "Pale White Girls," Geldof maintains the highest pop standards of lyrical expression and musical setting. A punk energy, broken down at times to techno/tribal components or filtered through shimmering electronica, permeates each performance. The rhythm track to "Scream in Vain" deserves special mention, with its segues from a pumping house-style synth bass drum through various atmospheric moments and, for a moment, some Clash-like fist pumping. Geldof refers to other works – a Dylan paraphrase, a sampled fragment from "Get Off of My Cloud" – not to distract from any weaknesses in his vision, but to fit into its strengths. All this finesse serves a righteous, primal anger. Dramatic contrasts in dynamics, and a vocal that veers from beatnik poetry to a searing shout that somehow recalls both Prince and John Lennon, convey a bleak picture in "Mudslide," built on a metaphor of bugs being burned in an electric trap. This song, like everything else on this album, is about rage and resistance against those who succumb too easily to life's suffocations. Perhaps the essence of the album lies in the almost incoherent fury of "Inside Your Head," in which he throws subtlety against the wall and screams, "What the f**k's going on inside your head?" With its blunt scatology set against what sounds like a roomful of oblivious chowhounds in a café, Geldof goes eyeball to eyeball with his real enemy: all among us who nestle ourselves into the bosom of mendacity. Sex, Age & Death bashes at the door and demands attention; only fear keeps us from letting it in.

Robert L. Doerschuk, Allmusic.com

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Bob Geldof - Great Songs Of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001 (2005) 4 CD Box Set [Re-Up]

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