Obscure 80's Albums (Part 100) David Reilly "Life On Earth" [1982]

There are records you pick up because you know the artist, records you buy because someone recommends them, and then there are records you find at downtown Vancouver’s Beat Street Records bin because the cover practically demands that you take it home. Life On Earth is very much the third kind. And honestly, now that's an '80s album cover. Bright colours, geometric shapes, a skinny tie, red pants, and David Reilly looking less like a rock star than an insurance broker who somehow wandered into an MCA photo session. Flip the record over and there's Reilly, armed with a red Stratocaster, looking as though he's ready to make his bid to become the next big thing. The cover gives you one impression. The record gives you another. Released by MCA and produced by Nick Tauber, Life On Earth was recorded in England with a strong collection of British players, including Alan Murphy, Phil Spalding and Tony Beard. Tauber's later work with artists such as Toyah and Marillion might lead you to expect something leaning heavily toward progressive or art rock, but Reilly doesn't really settle into any one camp. Instead, the album wanders. There are moments of new-wave pop (Life On Earth, Firing Line), polished AOR(Complications), straightforward rock(Fool to Love), surprisingly effective ballads(Racing Cars, Strange Stories), and some excellent guitar work. What makes the album particularly interesting, though, is what isn't there. Reilly doesn't seem particularly interested in constructing an obvious Billboard hit or chasing whatever commercial formula might have given him a bigger single. In that respect, Life On Earth feels strangely personal. You get the impression that Reilly was making this album for himself and his soul, rather than trying to manufacture a career-defining hit. There's no desperate attempt to sound fashionable. No obvious effort to imitate the biggest acts of 1982. Life On Earth isn't a perfect album, and it doesn't have the kind of immediately identifiable sound that makes some obscure '80s records instant classics. But it has personality, musicianship and enough stylistic twists to keep revealing little surprises with repeated listens. As he remained so obscure, one may wonder if Reilly was indeed an insurance broker? 0:00 Life On Earth 4:10 Complications 7:45 Racing Cars 11:47 Living On Love Alone 15:06 Strange Stories 19:30 Firing Line 22:43 Space Music 26:33 Fool To Love 30:22 Set The Wheels In Motion 33:47 Wings Over America Personnel: • Tony Beard — drums • Alan Murphy — guitars • Phil Spalding — bass • Adrian Lee / Andy Clarke — synthesizers • Jodi Linscott — percussion • Colin Townes — piano • David Reilly — vocals/background vocals and acoustic guitar