Review of Words & Music

The West Australian - 08/05/98
By Ray Purvis

Submitted by Andrew Wilson - WilsonA@kalg.curtin.edu.au

With the added muscle of three guitars (Shane O'Mara, Spencer Jones and Kelly himself) behind him, this collection of songs - recorded mainly before the release of his bes-selling Songs From The South compliation - has been constructed around rocking and driving rythms rather than lyrics.

That is not to say that Kelly's insightful lyrics are anything less than spellbinding. The title track Words and Music and Charlie Owen's Slide Guitar are about his overwhelming faith in the power of music - whether listening as a teenager to Highway 61 lying on his bedroom floor or being transfixed by the wizardry of Charlie Owen in a St Kilda pub.

These and other songs, such as concert favourites I'll Be Your Lover and I'd Rather Go Blind, both about the ebb and flow of love, speak from the depths of Kelly's soul. The now familiar Tease Me, It Started With A Kiss and Melting (all available on the bonus disc to Songs From The South) and Little Kings (that came out last year as the B-side to the re-released single Before Too Long) are included here in the company of songs written around the same time.

The steamy Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, about a torrid affair with a woman who is described as "my sticky treat" and "a volcano under snow" is Kelly in top form.