10cc Album: “Look Hear? [UK Bonus Tracks]”

March of 1980 saw the release of "Look Hear?", 10cc's seventh album and the follow up to 1978's "Bloody Tourists". 10cc were still officially the same six piece band as they were on the previous album, consisting of Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Rick Fenn, Duncan Mackay, Paul Burgess, & Stuart Tosh. Unfortunately, Eric Stewart suffered a major automobile accident in early 1979, and this resulted in him no longer mixing 10cc albums alone--it was difficult for him to listen at loud volume for extended periods. For the most part, "Look Hear?" finds Stewart & Gouldman still handling most of the songwriting together with each of them getting one solo composition apiece. Despite the lukewarm commercial reception, it's a damn good album--"One Two Five" is a fun, amusing look at the disco craze; "Lovers Anonymous" is a catchy, uptempo pop-rock tune (with a few twists) that mixes a yearning quality with gentle humor; Graham's tender "I Hate To Eat Alone" is an affecting, splendidly melodic ballad; "Strange Lover" is a brilliantly crafted, hook-filled tune with seamless incorporation of different musical segments, one of 10cc's trademarks; the album closer "L.A. Inflatable" finds Stewart indulging in his love for rockabilly to cool effect. Additionally, guitarist Rick Fenn wrote/ co-wrote three quality tracks--"Welcome To The World", co-written by keyboardist Duncan Mackay, has an usually strong progressive rock flavor for 10cc; the highly amusing "How'm I Ever Gonna Say Goodbye", co-written by Gouldman, is a super mellow, reggae-flavored tune with amusing vocals and obsessive-compulsive-themed lyrics--it's solid 'dumb' fun; Fenn's solo composition "Don't Send We Back" is uptempo and ultra catchy with witty lyrics and irresistible, ingenious lead guitar licks played by Eric Stewart. Unfortunately, the original album's middle tracks are disappointing. There are a pair of tracks that put Stewart's obsession with lovelessness and sex on full display, but to tentative effect--Stewart's solo composition "I Took You Home" is a reflective song seemingly about a first sexual encounter, and it's a stately ballad, but it's rather dull, tedious, & suffers from weak lyrics; the next song, "It Doesn't Matter At All" is credited to Stewart/ Gouldman, but feels like a Stewart composition all the way--this time it's about someone (Stewart?) wanting to take a chance with a woman that they're obsessed with, figuring that they may as well because "it doesn't matter at all"--it's kind of a pretty song, but again, it's on the dull side. Also, "Dressed To Kill" is a respectably crafted funk-rocker, but it's desperately lacking energy & force. So, it's clear that "Look Hear?" isn't one of 10cc's very best albums, but it's still a really good one that no serious fan should be without.

This long overdue CD re-release of the album contains two bonus tracks--the single edit of "One Two Five" and its non-LP b-side "Only Child", the latter of which features Gouldman on lead vocals and is quite forgettable. Still, for collectors, the bonus tracks are a blessing.

This is one 10cc album that I waited to buy on CD for a very long time. It was never a favorite of mine and while it has a handful of good songs, the production and performances always sounded a bit uninspired compared to the other post-split 10cc albums (for those unaware original members Lol Creme and Kevin Godley left the band establishing their own recording career with Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman remaining and retaining the 10cc moniker). "Look Hear?" is less consistent than "Bloody Tourists" and lacks the hook filled songwriting that made the best Stewart/Gouldman collaborations on that album so memorable.

This features the original album plus two bonus tracks the single edit of of "One Two Five" and its b-side "Only Child". Ironically, "Only Child" has more energy than most of the material on the album lacking only a solid chorus and development to have made it a contender for the final album. For me the album really only picks up during the last couple of tracks "Strange Lover" and "L.A. Inflatable" and "Dressed to Kill". "Lovers Anonymous" sounds like an outtake from "Bloody Tourists" and would have fit quite well on that album as well. It's a well written track that is a highlight of this set as well. I do find it curious that "One Two Five" was chosen as the single since it is the least likely single to my ears from the album.

Still, even a half hearted 10cc album is better than none at all.

Eric Stewart's in fine voice throughout and the playing by the six piece version of 10cc (Duncan MacKay, Rick Fenn, Paul Burgess and Stuart Tosh were added to the line up after the recording of "Deceptive Bends" and play on the Live album as well as "Bloody Tourists" and this one)is quite adept.

The remastering by Tim Turan sounds really good. The packaging for the album is extremely good although it lacks credits as to who plays on what (song credits are listed on the back on the bottom of the CD package).

The cover reflects the more popular U.S. one with the "Are You Normal?" on the back of the booklet and the picture on the sheep lounging in a chair on the beach on the cover. The notes are brief but do provide fans with an idea of the challenges the band faced recording this album (Eric Stewart was in a horrible car accident in 1979 and it took some time for him to recover. He ended up having to have another engineer work with him in the recording of the album because of this).

I'd recommend "Deceptive Bends" "Ten Out of 10", "Windows in the Jungle", "Bloody Tourists" and "Meanwhile" ahead of this album. It should be noted that while "Meanwhile" isn't a "reunion" album, it does feature original members Lol Creme on backing vocals on a number of tracks, Kevin Godley on a few and a stunning lead vocal by Kevin on one track "The Stars Didn't Show" written about the passing of Roy Orbison. It has also been remastered and re-released with the main drawback being a lack of credits for which musicians played on which tracks.

Is it worth it for 10cc fans? Absolutely but this isn't the place to start listening to this terrific 70's band.

Recommended Listening: (currently in print) The Original Soundtrack, Sheet Music, How Dare You!, Deceptive Bends, Mirror Mirror, Bloody Tourists

This is quite a rare album, only recently released on CD. It does not deserve its obscure status. It is unusual for 10cc, in that, while Gouldman and Stewart are still dominating the songwriting, there are contributions from other members of the band, and a couple that Stewart and Gouldman were not invlved in at all. To mention a couple of the really strong tracks 'It doesn't matter at all' is a really nice ballad, with charming harmony vocals and a good melody. Gouldman chimes in with two excellent ballads, 'I hate to eat at home' is a lovely acoustic ballad and 'How am I ever gonna say goodbye' is a little reggae lite with a melodic ballad side to it. There are a couple of weaker tracks towards the end, but it is definitely an album worth purchasing, particularly if you like the latter 10cc sound in 'Bloody Tourists'.

March of 1980 saw the release of "Look Hear?", 10cc's seventh album and the follow up to 1978's "Bloody Tourists". 10cc were still officially the same six piece band as they were on the previous album, consisting of Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Rick Fenn, Duncan Mackay, Paul Burgess, & Stuart Tosh. Unfortunately, Eric Stewart suffered a major automobile accident in early 1979, and this resulted in him no longer mixing 10cc albums alone--it was difficult for him to listen at loud volume for extended periods. For the most part, "Look Hear?" finds Stewart & Gouldman still handling most of the songwriting together with each of them getting one solo composition apiece. Despite the lukewarm commercial reception, it's a damn good album--"One Two Five" is a fun, amusing look at the disco craze; "Lovers Anonymous" is a catchy, uptempo pop-rock tune (with a few twists) that mixes a yearning quality with gentle humor; Graham's tender "I Hate To Eat Alone" is an affecting, splendidly melodic ballad; "Strange Lover" is a brilliantly crafted, hook-filled tune with seamless incorporation of different musical segments, one of 10cc's trademarks; the album closer "L.A. Inflatable" finds Stewart indulging in his love for rockabilly to cool effect. Additionally, guitarist Rick Fenn wrote/ co-wrote three quality tracks--"Welcome To The World", co-written by keyboardist Duncan Mackay, has an usually strong progressive rock flavor for 10cc; the highly amusing "How'm I Ever Gonna Say Goodbye", co-written by Gouldman, is a super mellow, reggae-flavored tune with amusing vocals and obsessive-compulsive-themed lyrics--it's solid 'dumb' fun; Fenn's solo composition "Don't Send We Back" is uptempo and ultra catchy with witty lyrics and irresistible, ingenious lead guitar licks played by Eric Stewart. Unfortunately, the album's middle tracks are disappointing. There are a pair of tracks that put Stewart's obsession with lovelessness and sex on full display, but to tentative effect--Stewart's solo composition "I Took You Home" is a reflective song seemingly about a first sexual encounter, and it's a stately ballad, but it's rather dull, tedious, & suffers from weak lyrics; the next song, "It Doesn't Matter At All" is credited to Stewart/ Gouldman, but feels like a Stewart composition all the way--this time it's about someone (Stewart?) wanting to take a chance with a woman that they're obsessed with, figuring that they may as well because "it doesn't matter at all"--it's kind of a pretty song, but again, it's on the dull side. Also, "Dressed To Kill" is a respectably crafted funk-rocker, but it's desperately lacking energy & force. So, it's clear that "Look Hear?" isn't one of 10cc's very best albums, but it's still a really good one that no serious fan should be without.

This album is probably the first one by 10cc that did not hit the charts big time, and did not produce a decent size hit single. "125" was pretty good as a release but did not chart for some reason. This was a pretty good line up of 10cc, and Duncan McKay on keyboards gave them an extra dimension at that time, although did not make up for the loss of Godley and Creme.

As often happens decades later, an album that was not considered great at the time, contains a number of hidden gems that were perhaps not fully appreciated at the time.

There is no doubt 10cc were an innovative band, and this album contains songs that qualify for the "clever clogs" tag that they had. "Strange Lover" is a standout track for me. Who else but 10cc would come up with a song about a vampire lover! Clever "Hammer horror" type organ rif and other effects make this a very clever piece. 125 itself was a very catchy track, and i never quite understood why it did not chart at the time. Possibly it was too long and a bit complex in the middle section. Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman remain as magnificent songwriters who do not get the credit today that they deserve. Eric Stewart always had such a good voice, and of course will always be remembered as being the "voice" behind "I'm not in love". A worthwhile piece of history for officiandos.