BBC Review
Like the wild-eyed bloke muttering next to you on the bus, John Cale refuses to go...
Chris Jones2003
Like the wild-eyed bloke muttering next to you on the bus, John Cale refuses to go gentle into that good night. No one's told him that 60 plus bona fide rock legends should either shut up or regurgitate their glory days. After his last loop-crazy album Hobo Sapiens comes this bludgeoning, bubbling, downright vivacious rant of a record.
Like a cross-section of his whole career layered with the funkiest contemporary electronica, Black Acetate is, in turns, startling (check the falsetto on opener ''Outta The Bag''), edgy, doomy and filled with rock 'n' roll thrills that really do hark back to his best work on Island records (''Sold Motel'', ''Turn The Lights On'').
What's most amazing is the fact that both his voice and his muse seem to be in tip top form. As he says on ''Brotherman'': 'I've got reams of this s**t.' Bring it on boyo...
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