Sobre el álbum
El segundo álbum de estudio, Deltics, de 1979, muestra a un Chris Rea que intenta tomar un mayor control sobre su dirección artística, aunque todavía dentro de los parámetros del soft rock. Este trabajo presenta un sonido que, si bien sigue siendo pulido, tiene un aire ligeramente más personal y menos orquestal que su debut. De hecho, el título hace referencia a una clase de locomotoras británicas, introduciendo la temática de los viajes y la carretera que sería recurrente en su obra.
La producción del álbum sigue siendo de una alta calidad, pero Chris Rea comienza a imprimir con más fuerza su sello como guitarrista, con su característico sonido de slide ganando protagonismo. Las canciones, aunque melódicas, a menudo tienen un trasfondo de blues y una mayor energía rítmica.
El álbum contiene la canción que le da título, una pieza atmosférica, y el exitoso sencillo "Diamonds", que funcionó muy bien en las listas europeas. 'Deltics' fue un paso importante en la consolidación de su carrera, especialmente en Europa, donde su popularidad comenzaba a crecer de manera sólida.
Sin embargo, el gran éxito en el Reino Unido todavía se le resistía. Pese a ello, el disco es un trabajo de gran calidad que muestra a un artista en plena evolución, buscando pacientemente el camino para reconciliar sus raíces de blues con las demandas del pop-rock comercial. Es una obra de transición muy disfrutable.
Listado de Canciones
- Twisted Wheel5:12
Letra
I can see him now, standing on a street corner Pastel shades and a candy stripe parallel Good time love, oh that I'd been much older Go messing with the boys from the incrowd But all I could do was wish them farewell What's that strange music What's that fully rhythm They call it Blue Beat, but you can call it young love You can call it tamla dream Down at your local Motown machine I need to be loved Down at your Twisted Wheel And I can see that little stage All the hands up in the air Bombers and blues gonna see us through Got my new lime suit mohair With a single vent sixteen inch Got my two-stroke wheels outside We only need the High Numbers now And anything on stateside Down at your Twisted Wheel - The Things Lovers Should Do3:30
Letra
Standing in the half light, wondering if you can There stands the priest of sinners, consolation in his hands Though he prays he won't need it, he keeps it by his side Waiting for the face up and the answer in her eyes All while the music's playing a backdrop serenade There's only one point of view To be doing the things, things that lovers should do Disco-queens in dancestep, moving face to face All tangled up in neon don't think it's some disgrace The blue western denim, the East Coats razor edge The European fashion, the leathers and re-threads All while the music's playing a backdrop serenade There's only one point of view To be doing the things, things that lovers should do - Dance! (Don't Think)3:44
- Raincoats and a Rose4:05
- Cenotaph/Letter from Amsterdam5:47
- Deltics5:23
Letra
Burlington Zephyrs and Kenworths that pass in the night Deltics and Steamers and F88's in full flight Old train take me back again To the one that I love Deltics - Diamonds4:52
Letra
Oh getaway and don't come back Who do you think you're fooling with lies like that? You have dreams that set the rain on fire Burning with a cheap desire And it's plain as grey that what you say Have meanings of their own My love, she don't need diamonds My love's more than a sweet dream And she don't need diamonds She shakes her hip to the tambourine And she don't need diamonds If you can't love me for nothing They you can't love me at all And it's plain as grey that what you say Have meanings of their own We all got to dance, take a chance? But babe you should have stayed at home My love, my love, she don't need diamonds - She Gave It Away3:57
Letra
She gave away all her love No reason to keep it She'd saved it for only one But he didn't need it And downtown the midnight circus Hypnotised like a spinning top Offering dreams, like the gloss magazines She had so much to give so she gave it away And all of the loves you've known There must have been someone Who gave you that starry night And whose gonna point the finger Only those who never known She lost and she cried, the tears run dry She had so much to give so she gave it away Mary was like you and I She remembers how she lay with him But to the world she's just a drunken cheap trick Red light side kick, an angel downtown The priest calls her Wednesdays And shows her a wooden cross He tells of the love he's found She thinks of the one she lost And downtown the midnight circus Hypnotised like a spinning top So easy to choose when there's nothing to lose She had so much to give so she gave it away - Don't Want Your Best Friends3:42
- No Qualifications2:17
Letra
Now he wanted to fly all those big aeroplanes Trans-continental and back home again But his brain, it was grounded His head could not cope No qualifications, no reasons for hope They told him the right way to fasten his tie Beat him for laughing and never said why They left his for dead when the results came through And still never asked what he wanted to do No qualifications so late in the day We've screwed you up, well, now you make your own way Now to label your trousers and label your shoes If you don't wear nothing then label that too No qualifications, you are the time born If you wanna succeed you better get some qualifications So late in the day We've screwed you up, well, now you make your own way - Seabird2:53
Letra
I can't run In your eyes there's no place left to hide You've seen my every mystery just show itself and die So I will fly before you And all is all to see Take my hand, understand, there're no more foolish dreams So many things we just can't share Are standing in between So I will fly before you And all is all to see I will always want you near in the shallow lights of day No-one else will share my nights is all that I can say And I will always want you But I will always fly like a seabird And I will always love you But I will always fly