Duncan Browne - Wild Places (1978) plus Bonus Single

 (U.K 1967 - 1993)

In the 1970s, Duncan Browne formed the band Metro with Peter Godwin and released some records in the US on the Sire label. He released two solo albums: The Wild Places and Streets of Fire. The song "The Wild Places" was a hit single in the Netherlands. From the same period, "Criminal World", co-written by Browne with Peter Godwin, was recorded by David Bowie on his 1983 Let's Dance album.

The Wild Places was released in 1978 through Logo and Sire Records and features contributions from session musicians Tony Hymas, John Giblin and Simon Phillips. In contrast to his previous self-titled solo record in 1977, the sound of the album is fully electric and ranges from progressive rock to straightforward rock music and synthpop.

The Wild Places isn't much like his Immediate album Give Me, Take You -- indeed, it's more like a lost Roxy Music album, or perhaps a lost Bryan Ferry record. It's electric, and the music has a sense of drama as well as beautiful melodies that were even better realised, with lush contributions on the synthesizer and related keyboards by Tony Hymas and a fierce guitar sound courtesy of Browne himself, aided by the upfront presence of John Giblin and Simon Phillips on bass and drums, respectively. 

The music runs the gamut from edgy progressive rock to straight-ahead rock & roll (the latter highlighted by "The Crash"), though Browne was at the top of his game, as both a singer and
composer, working in an introspective, romantic vein, as on the catchy title cut and numbers like
"Roman Vecu" and "Kisarazu."

Rolling Stone Review:

Duncan Browne, ‘The Wild Places’ (07/12/79)

From the pushed-up sleeves of his jacket to the strings-and-keyboards lushness of his music, Englishman Duncan Browne is effete, banal, precious, contrived, and arty. If you’re in a receptive mood, though, he can also be quite seductive: The title song of this album is more than catchy: floating off the radio, sneaking up before it registers, it’s like a dream with interesting nightmare edges, and you can easily lose yourself in its wanderings. “The wild places” is a pretty good idea; you play along, focusing on the hard blips of a fretless bass, and see where Browne can take you.

Even the hilariously “Roman Vecu” (I ask you, what sort of title is that for a rock & roll song?) can get under your skin, if you happen to be feeling especially passive. The music is so lulling and remote you simply don’t hear lines like “But who knows which of us will be the last to remember/That you don’t live in Paris/You don’t live in Paris anymore?,” lines that are surely so far beyond parody as to exist in an alternate universe.

This is not to say that The Wild Places is a trite schlock-perverse masterpiece, as Browne’s first record, the more-than-ten-year-old Give Me Take You remains to this day. To call Browne’s Aubrey Beardsley variations on Donovan themes lightweight would have been to belabor the point, but somehow this earlier LP was insinuating, odd, spooky: John Smothers, who reviewed it in these page, called it “a beautiful corpse,” and he was right on the mark.

Browne might have won himself a more honourable place in pop history if he’d emulated Smothers’
metaphor, or anyway disappeared: The Wild Places doesn’t suggest such intense, decadent pointlessness. “Camino Real” is a rather long waste of time, “Samurai” and “Kisarazu” are unhearable (as opposed to unlistenable) and “The Crash,” so pretentiously titled, is merely bouncy when it wants to be wistful. There isn’t a really irritating moment on the album, but that’s mainly because Browne never dares to come on strong.

Still, Duncan Browne is one singer I never expected to hear from again, and somehow having his debut LP  'Give Me, Take You' sit on my shelves for a decade as hundreds of other LPs have come and gone seems justified every time I hear “The Wild Places.” [Review: Rolling Stone, July 12, 1979]

This post consists of FLACs taken from my LOGO Vinyl, purchased during my Uni days when New Romantic music was just starting to hit the streets and paved the way for the early 80's era typified by bands like Visage, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Culture Club.  I think I bought the album from the Melbourne Uni Bookshop and probably heard the title track being played on the radio, as I also have the single.

I have included full album artwork (although my copy doesn't have the insert sleeve) and label scans.  As a bonus, I have chosen to include the single as both sides are edited versions making them unique.

When listening to"Wild Places" I tend to have a flood of wonderful memories from my University days and some of the wild times I had after hours.  But that's another story !

Tracklist

01 The Wild Places 6:00
02 Roman Vécu 4:43
03 Camino Real (Parts 1, 2 & 3) 8:27
04 Samurai 4:31
05 Kisarazu 7:11
06 The Crash 3:54
07 Planet Earth 6:29
[Bonus Tracks]
08 Wild Places (Single Edit)  4:20
09 Camino Real [Parts 2 & 3] (Single Edit)  3:00

Band Members:
Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, 

Percussion – Duncan Browne

Backing Vocals – Duncan Browne, Ray Hendriksen
Bass – John Giblin
Drums, Percussion – Simon Phillips
Synthesizer – Tony Hymas
Keyboards – Duncan Browne (tracks: B2)
Piano – Simon Phillips (tracks: A3)

Duncan Browne FLAC Link (281Mb)