John Cale - Paris 1919 (Deluxe Edition) (2024) [Hi-Res]

If John Cale's post-Velvets output saw him delving further and further into his avant-garde leanings with every release, one would have expected the follow-up to 1972's The Academy in Peril to be even more dissonant and arcane. Paris 1919, released just seven months after that challenging and largely song-free exploration—which had far more to do with modern composition than rock 'n' roll—was neither. To be sure, Cale's approach here is still quite considered, but instead of embracing intellectual art music, he indulges in stylized chamber pop that's influenced as much by the rockers employed as session musicians (Little Feat's Lowell George and Richie Hayward, for instance) as the warm, lush strings of the UCLA Chamber Orchestra that are featured throughout. Although symphonic pop was a few years past its Pet Sounds heyday of the late '60s by this point, Cale still finds plenty of room for innovation, making Paris 1919 sound a bit like a cross between Colin Blunstone's gorgeously orchestrated and emotionally intense One Year (1971) and late-period Canterbury Scene prog-pop. With highly literate lyrics referencing everything from Macbeth and Dylan Thomas to Sunset Boulevard, postcolonialism, and Graham Greene, Cale packs a ton of information into these nine songs. You'd be forgiven for not noticing, since each of those songs is so melodically appealing. Arranged in a way that heightens their accessibility while also showcasing their structural ingenuity—there's no reason why "The Endless Plain of Fortune" should be so beguiling, but it manages to be both gentle, cinematic, and melodramatic at the same time—these songs collectively represent a creative pinnacle not just for Cale, but for the idea of "smart" pop music. The sweeping string sections and other orchestral elements employed throughout the album are integral to its success, making it feel otherworldly and "important," while the rock 'n' roll bona fides that undergird the more traditional bits help keep it from sounding too self-serious. It's a tough balance, but Cale pulls it off flawlessly, making Paris 1919 perhaps the best album of his entire career. This expanded edition includes outtakes that demonstrate Cale navigating this balancing act; the dronier version of "Hanky Panky Nohow" would have made Paris 1919 a very different album. However, the inclusion of a brand-new song ("Fever Dream 2024: You’re a Ghost") is a questionable decision; it's decent-enough, of course, but nonetheless odd to include on reissue of an album that's more than a half-century old. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz