Darren Hayes - Homosexual

Actually really enjoyed it on first listen. Probably his best since The Tension & The Spark. :o

Yes it's too long and there are some truly cringe lyrics, but it hangs together really nicely.
 
Midweek #19

Given how front-loaded his sales are likely to be, that’s not great…
 
He'll be lucky to remain top 40 with that initial placing.

Just like Bros, more homophobia.

Perhaps I'll stream it with the volume off.
 
Missed the top 50 in Australia :bruised: although physical copies are not out until the 21st

Not sure yet what it’s actual position is (maybe not top 100?), but it’s at 16 on the Australian-artist-only album chart, just below the best of The Wiggles :bruised::bruised:
 
OUCH

I’ve given it a few spins and I’m still really liking it, but the streaming figures are a complete disaster.

Weird that the physical was delayed, it’s definitely out here. (On CD, not sure about vinyl)
 
OUCH

I’ve given it a few spins and I’m still really liking it, but the streaming figures are a complete disaster.

Weird that the physical was delayed, it’s definitely out here. (On CD, not sure about vinyl)

Yeah I'm not sure what the reason is but the physical copies are still listed as pre-orders or out of stock at stores here

I guess demand was just so high they figured they'd focus on the UK first :eyes:
 
I managed a full listen this week and it sounded decent enough, although of course it was too long and I felt like the melodies were somewhat lacking when compared to his earlier work

The only time he's ever truly disappointed me in his entire career was with Spin, and even that had 3 great singles, so I'm sure I just need a few more listens and I'll be stanning
 
That's pretty grim considering how ok-ish his last few albums did here. :shock:
He hasn't released an album in over a decade. Or had a hit or done any promotion of note.

He was #13 on sales only. His last album got to #29. I'd say he's performed about as well as anyone could reasonably expect.
 
As he didn't enter top 75, Music Week didn't give his sales in the rundown.

But Courtney Marie Andrews sold 1,569 at #74, and The Snuts sold 1,348 at #105, so 1500 seems a reasonable guess.
 
Yeah considering he’s self-releasing and there’s nothing on this album that’s ever going to get significant radio play, I’d say this was inevitable.
 
It’s dangerously close to Madonna’s Mother & Father territory with the weird vocal effect - and given what a fan he is I’m sure that’s intentional - but Music Video is really quite lovely in a bittersweet kind of way.

 
Well I did my duty and finally bought this on CD (at 20% off - as if I’m paying the regular price of $31 for a single album that isn’t even very good)

My favourite part of the lyric booklet is as follows:

It’s homosexual
It’s homosexual
It’s homosexual
It’s homosexual
It’s homosexual
It’s homosexual
It’s homosexual
It’s homosexual
It’s homosexual
It’s homosexual
 
I got a VERY (VERY) cheap ticket to see Darren on his latest tour recently and it really was quite...something :D

I'm not a huge fan of Darren OR Savage Garden, but I do obviously adore the trilogy of I Want You/To The Moon And Back/Crash And Burn.
To his credit Darren was GREAT, he's very engaging when speaking and the Savage Garden songs in particular which were generally sung with a band and mic-stand were all really strong and he was super strong vocally.
I really think he should consider "An evening with Darren Hayes" style TOUR, he clearly has a lot of stories to tell and in generally I found the parts where he was telling anecdotes and WASN'T SINGING some of the most engaging/interesting parts of the whole show :D

The solo material though...good GOD. I haven't really followed his solo career as the albums all seem to be two hours long MINIMUM, and I'm just not a big enough fan to commit. The difference between Savage Garden and solo was quite noticeable.
The new album material he literally had to prefix with a "I'm about to play several songs from the new album, please be supportive and don't all rush to the bar" spoken word statement :D and to the audience's credit they did TRY for the first couple of songs, but by the the time the song where he just repeats "IT'S HOMOSEXUAL IT'S HOMOSEXUAL" x infinity started I don't think I've EVER seen so many people rush to the bar/toilet at once at a show :D A genuine mass exodus.

And I'm sorry Darren, but a lot of the presentation was really truly just giving Mr G The Musical.
There was particular moment where Darren performed at the top if some stairs song draped entirely in red fabric SWOOSHING AROUND for 4 minutes that really was just this but in real life:
cd39896e6448d171d999927df56a3498.gif


and sort of similar to when Jack Garrett and Bright Light Bright Light decided they suddenly wanted to DANCE there was a lot of very poorly done choreo (often with a backing singer who was completely out of step with Darren), that truly was giving:

summer-heights.gif


But bless him, he truly seemed overwhelmed to be out there performing again, and he seems to have gone through some utterly DARK TIMES in both his general life and recent years, and as much as I may jest on this show it is meant with AFFECTION.

Truly Madly Deeply really did go off too. It's easy to forget just HOW BIG that song was worldwide, and there was quite a sizeable portion of the audience that had clearly sat through the entire show just to hear it.
 
When I saw him he got so tangled in the sheets that he dropped the microphone down the flight of stairs :D

Omg SCREAM!

There was so much FABRIC being used on stage for ALL SORTS OF THINGS?
On one solo song he used a banana yellow sheet of material that was meant to represent his sisters YELLOW CAR that featured prominently in one of his solo songs, but it kept falling down during the choreo so kind of lost all intended DRAMATIC EFFECT.

At another point he used the same sheet of entangling red fabric to represent the highs and lows of FAME during the rendition of Popular, lashing his backing singer with it as she ran up the stairs to push him off his perch :D

Not to mention the on-stage curtains constantly being tied up then SET FREE!

I'm so glad I saw this show. I see a lot of live music and it was certainly UTTERLY MEMORABLE.
 
Sorry final thought on the Darren Hayes ARENA SPECTACULAR, but I guess the main thing I got from it was that he really didn't NEED the paper-thin on stage concepts and bad choreo?
He was at his best by far when stood with a mic singing the songs with his band, noticeably so. He's strong enough vocally, and magnetic enough as a performer to not need any of it.

I did read in a Guardian interview that a lot of it is tied up to him not being able to mention his sexuality at the height of his fame, and he feels sad and jealous these days seeing artists like Years And Years and Sam Smith being able to freely express themselves (he may have even said this during the show), and the Homosexual album and tour is an extension of how he feels and his reponse to it.

Essentially the entire thing was a form of on-stage therapy for him I think :D
 
I feel for him. He must have lost a small fortune on HOMOSEXUAL - THE ALBUM. I imagine the sales figures must be low 5 figures worldwide AT BEST.

Must be dispiriting to really put yourself out there and for it to basically tank.
 
I feel for him. He must have lost a small fortune on HOMOSEXUAL - THE ALBUM. I imagine the sales figures must be low 5 figures worldwide AT BEST.

Must be dispiriting to really put yourself out there and for it to basically tank.

But financially it doesn’t really matter when you have Truly, Madly, Deeply in your back catalogue.

Surely it can be written off as marketing for the tour, which seems to have done ok.
 
Omg SCREAM!

There was so much FABRIC being used on stage for ALL SORTS OF THINGS?
On one solo song he used a banana yellow sheet of material that was meant to represent his sisters YELLOW CAR that featured prominently in one of his solo songs, but it kept falling down during the choreo so kind of lost all intended DRAMATIC EFFECT.

At another point he used the same sheet of entangling red fabric to represent the highs and lows of FAME during the rendition of Popular, lashing his backing singer with it as she ran up the stairs to push him off his perch :D

Not to mention the on-stage curtains constantly being tied up then SET FREE!

I'm so glad I saw this show. I see a lot of live music and it was certainly UTTERLY MEMORABLE.

I sent my friend who was on the other side of the crowd that Mr. G bedsheet gif in the middle of the show

It was his hometown show (I flew up to Brisbane and saw it with my mum which was actually lovely) and it was in an ARENA which was absolutely not the venue for this level of production. It’s insane how quickly the atmosphere in the crowd veered from electric (anything Savage Garden) to silence (everything else)

I mean at certain points I was actually CRYING because some of this music means so much to me and at other times I was cackling and texting mean gifs
 
It’s insane how quickly the atmosphere in the crowd veered from electric (anything Savage Garden) to silence (everything else)

Darren's quite a strange proposition in that the two biggest bits (Truly Madly Deeply and I Knew I Loved You) were both basically FORCED out of the band by the record company weren't they?
It feels like a lot of the people that are there for that material naturally won't connect with a lot of Darren's solo as it's really quite different and much denser.
The other Savage Garden hits sort of sit alongside the two big ballads Roxette-style.

The only other song I'm aware of in his catalogue that really sits with the two big ballads is Insatiable, of which he performed that bizarre ELECTRO-DISCO version :D The original Insatiable has been completely ruined for me anyway due to Kath and Kim. :D
EUqNRfMUUAAJmVy.jpg


Two Beds And A Coffee Machine really is not the same sort of ballad tonally.

Imagine having written Truly Madly Deeply though :disco: yes it's gloop, but up there with the likes of My Heart Will Go On as gloop of the HIGHEST ORDER! :disco:
(I Knew I Loved you I care for NOT AT ALL!)
 
Last edited:
I love his solo stuff, but I haven’t bothered with Homosexual as the singles were kinda bland.

Secret Codes and Battleships is a great album.
 
I didn’t like Savage Garden but did like solo albums 3 & 4. Lost patience with the latest. The song ‘Who Would Have Thought’ is kinda epic.
 
I love his solo stuff, but I haven’t bothered with Homosexual as the singles were kinda bland.

Secret Codes and Battleships is a great album.

Talk Talk Talk was an excellent single and I love Bloodstained Heart and Taken By The Sea too. My pick of his albums anyway.
 
Didn't @Rachey see him? She didn't post any of this HOT SHIT on Facebook!
:D

I only posted the stuff I liked. To be fair I thought when he was singing his Savage Garden songs he was incredible. His voice really is beautiful live, and obviously I'm a huge fan of all the SG songs, especially some of the lesser known ones like Two Beds and a Coffee Machine.

I liked a couple of his older solo songs. But did t really enjoy the newer stuff.

When he was stood still singing, I absolutely loved it. But some of the "performance" bits like the curtains and the dancing, it was a bit cringy. But overall, a great concert. And he genuinely seemed overwhelmed being able to perform again.
 
I'm listening to the audiobook and there's a nice balance between tortured childhood trauma description and career stuff. Only gossip bit so far is that Kylie Minogue's stylist WILLY BAKER tried to fuck him knowing he was married at the time.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom