MUSIC
"Writing the album was the easy part" RoB said in the CD booklet. There were lots of people that helped to get this first album off the ground but it was worth waiting for. The album features 13 tracks in total. Starting with the racey Go For It and My Heart Stops Beating you could be fooled into thinking the album is going to be pacey, but soon you run into some of the excellent ballads, especially highly-rated track 4, Your Last Goodbye. A huge mix of styles is excellently blended with some very different tracks like The Stripper.
ALL TIED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO
tRACK LISTING
1. Go For It
2. My Heart Stops Beating
3. Kinky
4. Your Last Goodbye
5. Mind in Mind
6. Robbed
7. En-Chanted
8. A Romance That Didn't Last
9. The Girl Next Door
10. The Stripper
11. Rub-a-Dub
12. I'm Not That Kind of Man
13. So Beautiful Together
Credits
All Tracks recorded at The Stables Studios, Burcombe, Wiltshire.
All lyrics by RoB Ward
All music by RoB Ward
Producers:
Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 & 12: Paul Gulliver & Simon Oxborrow
Track 7: RoB Ward, Paul Gulliver & Simon Oxborrow
Track 10: Atilla
Track 13: Paul Gulliver
Backing Vocals
Tracks 1, 2, 12: Sue Paramor, Paul Gulliver & Simon Oxborrow
Tracks 3 & 10: Sue Paramor
Tracks 5 & 8: Paul Gulliver & Simon Oxborrow
Track 6: Sue Paramor & Simon Oxborrow
STREAMING LINKS
All Tied Up And Nowhere To Go is not currently available to stream. All tracks that are available on streaming platforms can be accessed by clicking the links below:
VIDEO VAULT
Here is the video to RoB's track, The Girl Next Door.
Released 30th November 2024 on YouTube. Originally recorded 2006.
Filmed and produced by Wayne Jarvis.
REVIEW
Rarely in a debut album are found a pleasing mixture of styles and moods so evident in the new Christmas release album by upcoming star Rob. In All Tied Up and Nowhere To Go we are transported from the lively, rock rhythms of Go For It, through sentimental ballads such as A Romance That Didn't Last to the twenties-inspired The Stripper.
Masterfully compiled, the album never ceases to surprise the listener who is led down one mysterious lane after another (I want to take you places that you've never been) leading to new districts and yet never giving away the secrets of the ultimate destination, perhaps hinted at in the title of the album Nowhere to Go. The album, therefore, asks more questions than it answers, giving it an enigmatic fell which makes you want to listen again and again.
With such a diversity of melodies and themes it is hard to attribute to any one artist the influences of the original singer - hints of Madonna, Sinatra, Pet Shop Boys and even Aznavour succeed one another but ultimately Rob has created a unique and eclectic style which is his own.
The lyrics which are chiefly written by the singer himself cover all the great themes of humankind; good and evil, sin and forgiveness, love gained and lost, fun as well as sadness, raunchiness and fidelity, but all combine to give the overall message of the stoic determination to carry on despite what life throws at you: "I will grow strong, forever marching on."
The album cover reflects the diversity of the musical content - a mixture of evocative black and white images , jazzy lilac tones and an overall elegance which bespeaks class.
Be warned, once you have heard this album you too will inevitably be "All tied up" and "Robbed" in the sense of joining the increasing number of fans hooked on this inspiring and addictive singer.
LORENZO FARINA
