Before they had I’m Not in Love to rely on as a bankable song which would see reunion shows and anniversary tours line their pockets for decades to come, 10cc had to make something of themselves. They tried to do so with Sheet Music, a second album from a band whose best works were still a ways off. There are moments of sheer brilliance to be heard on Sheet Music here, but they are clouded by some of the most miserable songwriting you will hear from this period. 10cc take themselves too seriously and view themselves as cultural deities whose fingers are on the pulse of society at a time when, it would seem, they thought nobody else was doing so. It’s pretty pathetic and does undermine the purpose of the album. But even without that attitude presiding over the more enjoyable instrumental sections, the heavier guitar work of The Wall Street Shuffle for instance, the writing is utterly horrific. Yes-levels of nonsense, just without the prog rock style.
The Wall Street Shuffle is exactly the problem 10cc fails to deal with. Here is an instrumentally rich experience, filled with wonder and tension in equal measure. Ruined by the far too obvious commentaries on Wall Street and those who work on that money-lined street. Hardly Proust in motion, more like stating the obvious and expecting people to applaud for observing a problem rather than cutting away at it with a solution in one hand and a guidebook on how to sound like Pink Floyd without the instrumental sophistication in the other. 10cc does well to avoid the practical pitfalls which would’ve made Sheet Music considerably better. Following that miserably obvious track with The Worst Band in the World is levels of self-awareness that transcend noticing the problem at hand. 10cc comes full circle and instead of mocking the title, makes good on it. 10cc begins to grate, which is a shame given the brilliant work that would soon follow.
But The Worst Band in the World cements them as such and follow-up Hotel is a holiday-making nightmare which makes even the coconuts feel redundant. Ghosts of Tarzan, comically poor observations of what the world around 10cc could offer. Much of Sheet Music falls flat, but with this attitude of thinking they’re the next hot topic, it becomes comical, especially when you hear the group still coasting off of the hits to follow on from this album. Sharp instrumental work across this album is wasted on trivial songwriting that tries to put 10cc well ahead of everyone by gaslighting a listener into believing it, rather than proving they have what it takes to lead genre revolutions. Sheet Music proves The Beach Boys were perhaps a bit reserved when it came to Kokomo.
Old Wild Men has some astonishing guitar work, but with the people waiting for miracles, presumably that only 10cc can deliver, it becomes a bit of a rough listen. Better than anything preceding it, but still lacking that killer instinct the band would never quite show they had. Sounds as though it influenced the best parts of Ratatat, though, so for that we can remain thankful. When the band can get that upbeat intensity going for themselves, rare it may be, but it features well on Silly Love, that’s where the band comes to life. No track is as funny as 10cc makes it out to be, nor thinks it is. That’s the death knell for Sheet Music. You can innovate instrumentally as much as you like but the very core of songs like The Worst Band in the World and The Sacro-Iliac has mistaken sarcasm for satire, book smarts for a burning, important comment to pass. 10cc has none of that here, but they would get some perspective on the releases to follow.
