European and American Music Pearls Record Recommendation (5): Ric Ocasek "Negative Theater"

• Singer: Ric Ocasek
• Release year: 1993
• Record style: New Wave Alternative Rock
• Band member: Ric Ocasek
• Year of establishment: 1968
• Place of incorporation: Ohio USA

Rick, lead singer of the veteran New Wave band The Car, made his solo work in 1993. This one was only released in a limited edition in Europe, and at the same time he also released another copy of Quick Change World, so this one received very little attention. The reason is that RIC wanted to release a double album, but the distributor did not agree. So I put together such a song with insufficient pop flavor. But on the contrary, whether from conceptual integrity to stylistic uniformity, this "Negative Theater" is much more high-end. The two albums have seven songs repeated, compared to the 15 songs in the whole album, in fact, the proportion is not large, not to mention that two of them are only more than 1 minute.

I remember the first time I listened, I still had a lot of criticism of Rick's half-talk and half-singing style, which is not to say that it was sung, and then the more I listened, the more I admired it.

The cover of the album is also worth playing, crying and laughing two impermanent faces, hiding behind the minus sign.

The last one is actually from "Quick Change World", which should be easy to hear the difference in mood with the previous songs, and be more positive. By the way, if the release at that time was really a double album, one Negative and one Positive, it would be too good.

He died of cardiovascular disease on September 15, 2019 at the age of 74.