Sex, Age & Death

Bob Geldof has made the best John Lennon album ever. OK, in places this album sounds a lot like Lennon, but Geldof has taken Sex, Age & Death further than any solo album Lennon ever made. This album draws influences from everywhere. In the middle of the album, on Mudslide, there's an almost spoken introduction, and Roger Waters style darkness in the verses, sitting alongside poppy Beatlesque choruses. Immediately after this there's Mind In Pocket, which draws on the same influences as Beck (and probably Beck himself), featuring a hip-hop beat, funky-almost-INXS-style guitars and vocals that chant and hum. OK, I think I now see where that was going...

Sex, Age & Death was written and recorded following experiences that few people have to live through. Geldof's wife Paula Yates left him for INXS singer Michael Hutchence. Yates took custody of her and Geldof's children and, as part of the divorce settlement, also took their house. After a couple of years Hutchence died alone in a Sydney hotel room and a few years later Yates died of a drug overdose. Geldof has never spoken publicly about these events. This album is his outlet for his grief and he has succeeded in exposing a disturbing amount of these feelings. The deep range of emotions on display here are something that is rarely seen on a rock music album.

Anyway, not only is this album musically interesting and well performed but, as you might expect, the lyrics are extremely expressive. The opening track One For Me is a reasonably obvious attack on Yates and her fall into drug addiction. The New Routine seems to be about depression and alcoholism. My Birthday Suit, a sparse ballad - featuring some incredibly evocative vocals, backed by piano and synthesiser - is simply about losing something you care a lot about. Inside Your Head is an absolutely scathing critique of Hutchence and his role in Geldof's bad fortunes. It doesn't get much more depressing that this...

Like a Hollywood movie, the album finishes on a surprisingly positive note. The final track 10:15 is love song for Geldof's new partner Jeanne. This isn't just standard sop: the images are quite stark and there are obvious mentions of Geldof's grief in there. Given the depression that pervades the rest of the album, this is a fitting ending - recognising what has gone before, but also offering some hope.

This is an excellent album. However, Sex, Age & Death is not an album that can you can party along with or cope with if you're feeling depressed. Listen to this when you want to be moved.