This album is seen by many as being the watershed point of Blyth Power, a mixture of old and new that would see an end to one direction and the band setting a new course of navigation. Back at Trinity Heights studios, where so much of their good work had been done in the past, the band finally began to be Blyth Power again, after several years' blundering. All of a sudden things went right. There was Fred again, Steve Maden's brilliant 3D artwork, which had been languishing since the album Karpov Crosses The Border got shelved, and most of all, there were no frustrated songwriters with hidden agendas trying to steer things in different directions. From beginning to end, Out From Under the King has the strength of its convictions. Released on CD only, the band finally worked out that cassettes were as big a waste of money as vinyl. The brief was Alnwick & Tyne with keyboards that was what main man Joseph Porter had been looking for. Trying to regain the sound of the early days, the Blyth heyday and reinvent it by bringing new girl Annie Hatchers keyboards to the fore. It is however often seen as the last truly Blyth Power sounding album that they made, from then on there was a lot of treading musical water with only a few brief flashes of their former genius. Long-standing Bassist Martin 'Protag" Neish was still firmly in place providing that telling intricate bass work that helped define the band. One guitar John Rutherford provided the raw power that retained their edge, but it was not to last, soon the spark would be gone, as well as half of the band and Out From Under a King remains the last firm foot hold on the Blyth Power path.
As soon as God's Orders starts it becomes obvious that some things will never change, Porters ability with the pen and the lyric sheet will never be in doubt. Rutherfords guitar sets the pace of the song with a great opening riff, reminiscent of earlier works such as General Winter, and the punk edge seems to have been replaced with a fatter rock sound, the keyboards waft through the back ground and tales of crusading knights doing their duty under the direction of the almighty fill the track.
"On God's orders to their sleepless desert lair
The knights from their commanderies bore
Cold Christian soldiers seasoned prepared
Standing guard behind me in the campfire glare
Until the gold dawn rose kneeling in prayer"
But this is not a song about the crusades and the Templars at all, this song is about being in Blyth Power. What do you mean you're impervious to metaphor? Porter writes in analogy and riddle and the story on the surface of the song often contains hidden meaning. In this case with his usual humour he is parodying himself and his undemocratic leadership style that has caused many a rift and departure. Lord Clay Cross carries on the hidden lyrical agendas and this upbeat medieval sounding story of a Lords troubles is more about relationships and smoothing over the ruffled feathers. What I love about Porters lyrics is his ability to mix up the past and the present, and the story reveals itself to be as much about a medieval marriage arrangement gone sour as a modern relationship on the skids as indicated by these finely wrought lines.
"I burned my bridges when you broke the news
Cast the sword aside I'd never learned to use
To search for quietude and prayer
No bleach marks on the bath towels no plugholes full of hair"
The original poll tax riots are dealt with in Westminster and Wandsworth, a theme covered by Porter in the excellent Animal Farm from The Guns of Castle Cary album and in his previous band The Mob with Hurling Time. This mid paced keeps the power on and the keyboards are by now becoming an obvious new toy for the band. They had been used before on previous albums, notably Pastor Skull but then in a far more subdued fashion, here they seem to be in the limelight maybe a bit too often for my liking, but do give the band a new lease of life, all bands need to grow and that often means changing your musical approach. One of the most upbeat numbers on the album, is also one of the lightest, Lambert Simnel is a very medieval flavoured dancy number that tells of a young mans scam to pass himself of as rightful heir to the throne during the Wars of the Roses, but as the song resolves the story it would seem that bearing a superficial resemblance to the late Earl of Warwick, is insufficient grounds for giving you the job. Again the keyboards carry this folk jaunt accompanied by some simple but prominent drumming, if Henry VI had commissioned a rave, this would have been the highlight of the evening. Also worth a mention Owens Tail is a strange mix of the medieval folk styling of the former song and a full on punk rock thrash, only Blyth could get away with such an eclectic mix. Some rapturous bass and guitar riffs mingle and imitate each other before tearing off at breakneck speed only to find the Annie's nimble finger work throwing the song in a completely a different direction.
Although I have mentioned in detail less than half the songs on the album. these are a fairly representative spread, if you like the sound of them then i will leave the rest of the work to the reader, go and buy it. It is not their finest moment, probably only by virtue of the fact that previous albums have set some pretty high standards for them to live up to and it still contains some great songs. Lyrically it is there most medieval themed collection, with one exception being about Bonaparte, but as stated earlier, you should listed to the songs with an open ear as the story are really well wrapped parallels of everyday life and situations.
As stated at the top, the remit was to recreate the bands heady days of Alnwick and Tyne and although I feel that they may have fallen slightly short they have still come up with a very original and thought provoking album with the usual wit, musicianship and downright Englishness that you have come to expect from this unusual band.
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