New Wave music reviews

With this album, Elvis Costello shrugged off the mantle of "angry young man" and became a mature song writer. Every song is tuneful and interesting. The lyrics are by turns clever ("Pidging English and "...And In Every Home") and as sad as any country song ("The Long Honeymoon"). From what I can tell, this album is out of print. I am so glad I have the Rykodisk version...I'd hate to have missed on this...yes, I'll say it...this masterpiece. The best EC album in a career of great stuff, perhaps his last great work. Best line: "She only thirty-five going on seventeen".

This is Elvis Costello at the peak of his powers. At the time he made this album, his drug-addled days of breathless anger had long since passed but could still be remembered, and he had not yet entirely turned the corner from pop artist to "artiste." The record (it was a record, after all!) was part of a natural progression for those of us who grew up more or less along with Elvis, and who had bought into the Elvis thing in its early days. Not all of us have enjoyed watching him become the Paul McCartney of our age, as Paul became the Perry Como of his own, Rick!

I don't know where Rickey Wright(?) is coming from, what with his comparing _Imperial Bedroom_ to _Painted from Memory_. The Costello/Bacharach collaboration is indeed wonderful, but nowhere near the experimental forcefulness of _IB_. As for the _King of America_ comparison...well, that's a call, but if I had to take the ol' island test, and had to have only one with me, I'd opt for _IB_ (esp. if it was the Rykodisk edition). But then again, tastes are like...well...some of you know where I'm going. If I actually thought more than two people would read this, I would substantiate my opinions. Just one man's opinion...man name-a Smith.

No band I know transformed themselves as completely as Talk Talk. Many, such as Genesis, changed themselves from from progressive to commercial as the financial demands of alimony and palimony mounted up. But very few, save Talk Talk, went in the opposite direction, from commercial pop to seriously serious rock.

This album charts the beginning of that transformation. Curiously, it's currently only available on import, like the rest of the band's original albums except for LAUGHING STOCK, which is definitely their most obscure but possibly their masterpiece.

With such outstanding tracks as 'Such a Shame' and 'Renee', it was a crossover album that would appeal both to progressive fans who sought the next Roxy Music and to the New Romantic movement (where Talk Talk was originally positioned by their label).

It is extraordinary that Talk Talk started in precisely the same segment as Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, but here's the evidence. If you like this, then you should be wonderfully overwhelmed by the two albums that followed it, COLOUR OF SPRING and SPIRIT OF EDEN.

An album's greatness has a lot to do with what space you are in when you first hear it. This disc takes me back to 1984 when my life couldn't go wrong. But, I have to say that even if life had sucked back then, this would have pulled me out. I can't say enough about how great it is. I know that all of you philosophical self appointed music critics out there go for this band's last two albums but the feel good electro pop of their first three are truly a lot of fun. Isn't that what music should be anyway? My advice would be to wait until you're having the best day ever and then buy this to celebrate with.

Talk Talk is one of my favorite bands of the 1980s, and this album makes my "Top Five" from that decade, along with Simple Minds' "New Gold Dream" and "Sparkle in the Rain"; Chris Isaak's self-titled LP, and Prefab Sprouts' "Two Wheels Good." I was hooked from the very start with "It's My Life," mesmerized by the lush production, energy and emotion of the songs. Of course, there is Mark Hollis' melancholy and introspective voice to pull you in further. Ironically, I still can't make out many of the words he sings. Liner notes would have been a help. However, if you accept his voice as just another instrument, as I did, not much is lost. It is beautiful music nevertheless. Where this band went after this recording is a disappointment. They seemed peaked for greatness, then they took a left turn in their style and lost me and many others, I'm sure. I always wondered if drugs or contracts had anything to do with it, or just lack of interest. What ever the reason, it's too bad. "Colour of Spring" was only marginally coherent and sold dismally. If you're looking for the best from this band and a solid '80s europop classic, "It's My Life" is it.

This wonderful album from 1978 was one of that year's best offerings and still remains a classic. The music covers a wide variety of pop and rock styles but every song is blessed with a catchy tune and witty, intelligent lyrics. In addition, the album has a sharp punk edge to it that made it stand out then and keeps it relevant now. The only other artist doing the same thing back then was Elvis Costello.

So It Goes is a bouncy little pop tune, whilst I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass has an eerie air of desperation about it, like it was the answer to David Bowie's Breaking Glass on his Low album from 1977. Tonight is beautiful melodic pop and Marie Provost is a weird tale of the silent screen actress who fell into obscurity when the talkies came in and how she was nibbled on by her lapdog before they found her body. If it weren't for the engaging melody and lyrical twists the song would have been rather macabre.

Heart Of The City is heavy rock, whilst Little Hitler (co-written by Dave Edmunds) is a quirky little pop song in the same vein as Elvis Costello's Two Little Hitlers on his Armed forces album from around the same time. Nutted By Reality is another witty, humorous pop song with a great melody whilst Music For Money ends this masterpiece of an album on a pounding rock note.

I think Nick Lowe was a member of a UK pub-rock band Rockpile before he went solo with this classic album, which was released under different titles in the UK and USA. The other version was called Pure Pop For Now People. I subsequently rediscovered Nick Lowe in the 1990s when I heard his brilliant work The Impossible Bird, an album of totally unique country music containing some of that decade's most memorable and well crafted songs. You just cannot keep a genuine genius down!

Lowe's 1978 solo debut glorious new phase in his career started in the wake of his departure from the pub rock band, Brinsley Schwarz. As part of the pub rock Lowe had demonstrated his songwriting prowess, but in the mid-70s he moved away from Brinsley's country rock sound and towards a leaner, quirkier pop style. A pair of pre-Jesus singles (credited to The Tartan Horde and The Disco Brothers) turned out to be a lot more than vehicles for breaking his contract with United Artists.

In contrast to the staccato material he produced for Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, The Damned and others, Lowe's early singles and solo debut featured finely crafted pop songs whose melodies and production styles had more in common with the Brill Building than the then-burgeoning punk-rock scene. Still, even as he was crafting maddeningly catchy pop melodies, Lowe's quirky lyrical content (e.g., the untidy demise of a faded silent film star in "Marie Provost" and scathing rebukes of the music industry) wasn't exactly Ronettes material.

Demon's CD reissue adds two bonus tracks to the original UK album's eleven: "They Called It Rock" is a lyric rewrite of "Shake and Pop," and "Rollers Show" is the A-side of the earlier Tartan Horde single. Both of these tracks appeared on the U.S. edition of this album (which was retitled "Pure Pop for Now People"). All that's missing is the studio version of "Heart of the City" that appeared on the U.S. release. No matter - the original album was worthy of five stars all by itself.

After performing with Brinsley Schwarz during the early 70s, Lowe breaks out of the country-influenced BS albums and recorded this album more faithful to the general rock genre. Most interesting about this album is that it is very eclectic - no song really sounds like the previous or the next so it is difficult to define a 'Nick Lowe sound.' Although parts of the album may seem odd or grating at first, upon enough listenings they will definitely grow on you.

It's difficult to pick any particular song as being the best, but "Marie Provost" is probably the best known (and funniest) on the album and a true story to boot. "Rollers Show" ridicules the fans of the Bay City Rollers, a 70s version of modern boy bands like N'Sync. "Shake and Pop" and its fraternal twin song are the best songs about one-hit wonders and the fickleness of the music industry.

Although it lacks the emotional intensity of the early Elvis Costello albums (produced by Lowe), this is definitely a must-have for any devotee of English music in the late 1970s.

I still have the home tape that I recorded off the radio when this show played on a Sunday night,on a very worn down BASF brand cassette.Now thanks to King Biscuit releasing the entire gig on CD,I can happily put the cassette out of it's misery.This seventeen track/70 minute disc is a must-have for all Iggy/Stooges fans.Needless to even have to mention it,but the sound quality is top notch.The gig took place at The Channel in Boston sometime in 1988.Best tunes would be "Kill City","1969","Five Foot One",the timeless ass-kicker "Search And Destroy",the '80's punk-metal gem "Cold Metal" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog".Just an all around great sounding high-energy show of pure classic punk.

I saw 2 live shows from the "Instinct" tour back in 1988. This cd is a great live document from that tour. The KBFH show has a great set list and an extremely spirited performance from Iggy. While the instrumental mix is not great, Iggy wails though the set with a wild abandon. The lead guitarist for this tour was Andy McCoy from Hanoi Rocks. Andy's playing here rocks hard & slays anything done he's done with own band. Although the guitar is a bit low in the mix, the lead fills are as good as any of Iggy's previous guitarists. If you need to add on live Iggy cd to your collection, you can not go wrong by starting here.

I had only heard about Iggy Pop before I bought this album. I think the only song I knew was 'Lust for Life' at the time, and that's not even on this disk. There are a bunch of good tunes on this CD... Instinct, Search & Destroy, Penetration, etc. And my favorite, Johanna.

The energy of the show translates well on this album. If you like listening to music to psych you up while exercising/working out, there aren't to many better choices than this. It is constantly in my changer while I'm 'sweatin' to the oldies'.

This disk may have the best quote in Rock & Roll history... "This song is about a girlfriend I used to have. She spent all my money on heroin. I loved her for it." Now, I don't condone heroin use, but ROCK ON IGGY!!!!!!!!!!!

This record is so vital to those of us that heard it when it came out that Eurythmics was never more than a trendy synth-pop bandwagon jump that got Annie & Dave on the map when immediate $$$ Didn't swallow them in the early 80s. If you can find this, buy it. If you have the power to get it released on CD, DO IT!!

I first bought this record when I was a wee lad, blowing a weeks worth of lunch money on an unknown band whose album had somehow found its way to the local, small-town five-and-dime. From the moment I dropped the needle on this platter, I was transfixed. The songs were all laced with sublime guitars, with hooks that have a way of sneaking up on you, and a trade-off of male/female vocals that kept things interestingly intriguing. I pictured a white blues/rock combo in 1960's Britain playing a smoky club filled with hipsters of the day, dressed in mini skirts and Beatle boots, dancing their collective {behinds} off, like a scene out of "Blow Up".

My particular favorites were then and, to this day, still are "Week Days", "Walls And Foundations" and "Let's Take A Walk", which is the best song the Yardbirds never wrote. Of course, Annie's vocal turn on "One Step Nearer The Edge" is a great display of her vocal talents at the time.

Pop music this intelligent and well-crafted often goes unnoticed by the masses, but the fact that Dave and Annie went on to worldwide success with Eurythmics is at least proof that not all worthy artists go unnoticed. Coombes may have lacked the egotistical bravado and showmanship of most pop stars of the day, but his talent was undeniable.

Do yourself a favor and drop the {money} necessary to own this album. You'll thank me later.

I was into the Tourists before the Eurythmics came about. But this LP and the OOP Reality Effect made me sure Annie Lennox was going to be a major star. My favorite is "One step over the edge"

If you like itelligent psychedelic pop played with upbeat enthusiasm. then get this album!

It's unfortunate that The Vapors' second album didn't have greater success. It's a much better album than the average debut album New Clear Days. David Fenton, (guitarist, vocalist, songwriter), had really fine tuned his songs into attractive, melodic numbers with smart Pop sensibilities while expanding on the creativity the New Wave era seemed to bring in abundance.

"Jimmie Jones" was the second single released from the album, and only had a brief chart life in the UK. It makes no sense to me because the first time I heard it back in 1994, (yes, I was a late comer), I instantly loved it. The band was changing their image somewhat, including headbands and other New Wave-related clothing, as seen in the video for "Jimmie Jones". At least the song had a minor bit of public acknowledgement in the UK, because the U.S. had no clue about it. Thankfully, I managed to get the video in very light rotation on VH1 Classic several years ago, and I still think it makes an occasional appearance, giving the opportunity for a new generation to discover this lost classic.
"Spiders" was the first single released, and failed to chart at all. It's a very odd and wonderful song, and a very bold choice to release as a single. In it's full length album version, the song tends to go on just a little bit too long; although the single version was a slight edit and minor remix, making that version a much better listen. The single version is on the "Turning Japanese - The Best of the Vapors" CD.
"Isolated Case" was the only song in the bands recorded output that was written by other members of the band, and it's just as good as anything else on the album.
"Civic hall" has another of those classic mid-tempo hooks that could have made for a great third single, if there was to be one.
The last half of the album is only slightly weaker than the first half, but there's not one song I'd skip.

Two of the bonus tracks are redundant, due to a mastering error. Though the excellent B side "Galleries for guns" is a must have bonus, even including a little extra at the beginning that was not pressed into the 7" version, the single versions of "Jimmie Jones" and "Daylight Titans" are identical to what is on the original album. I have the 7" of "Jimmie Jones", and it is a noticeably different mix of the song, which unfortunately remains unreleased on CD; though truthfully the album version is the better version.

Another thing is that the CD cover is printed extremely dark, muting many of the colors that were clear and bright on the LP sleeve.

Though the band was set to make a third album, EMI pulled the plug and that was that. "Magnets" could have been the first in a string a truly great albums, though with many great bands the public doesn't take too much interest and the band splits up.

Magnets is an album that at first sounds like it is not a good follow up to New Clear Days. However, after listing to it the 2nd time (back in 1984 haha), I was stunned to find out that every single song was not just great, but incredible!!!! This was one record, that I could say had not one bad song. Song writing, great guitar sounds, incredible bass playing (and sound) and of course, Dave's unique voice and song writing make this a 10 star album!! I only wished that more people could have listened to it at my age, I tried to promote it myself on my nu-wave radio show in NY, so I know that may have helped sales(a little)....but by that time the vapors were no longer :( Favorite songs: Daylight Titans, Johnnie's in love (again), Jimmy Jones, Isolated Case, Civic Hall, Silver Machines.

OK, here is the gag. Back in 1981 when I bought my second Vapors record, Magnets, I was emotionally and physically stunned by the sheer brilliance of the band. And, 23 years later, as I am playing this album in the CD format on my $15,000+ esoteric system it once again has stunned me emotionally and physically. The kids, all 4 of them, join in when dad is raising the roof with high sound pressure levels and jamming to the Vapors! God Bless the 80's!!!

P.S. If you were to endure cruel and unusual punishment by being sentenced to only getting to listen to 1 Vapors Album for the rest of your life...I would have to pick MAGNETS.

Let's be honest- you've missed new wave. You might have denied it, might have said, "I like my male rock stars macho, scruffy, and atonal," or "I love me some coy, hyper-sexualized girlie pop stars!" But why not go back to 80's- when you could get both affected masculinity and unabashedly feminine romance from your musicians, all at once! Men sang yearning ballads about women (Duran Duran's "Rio," for example), while wearing eyeliner. And talk about your pop hooks! Just because they're layered with synthesizers doesn't mean they're not incredibly catchy (like "You Might Think," by the Cars). You say you were never really into the genre, huh? Did you ever see an 80's movie? Even one? These are all classic songs, and even if you don't recognize the titles- "She Blinded Me With Science," and "I Melt With You," for starters- you'll recognize the music.

You could argue that this collection isn't complete without the Police, or the Talking Heads, but the songs listed here fit with the role MTV played in new wave music. But hey, dude, no need to have a cow. Put on this awesome cd and enjoy some classic pop. Hairspray optional.

This is one of the greatest 80's New Wave colections i have. Although Im only 13 me and my friends enjoy this CD so much. I listen to it every day and never get sick of it. Takes on me and blinds me with science, i ran so far away so ooo hold me now hold my hole entire heart. I can't wait to bring it to Rock 'n' Roll high school!

If you like good music, this cd is definatly for you. My favorite is "How soon is now" by the Smiths. That is a really great song, any fan of the 80's will love that song, as well as many of the other great songs on this album. "True is a really good one, as are Duran Duran, Howard Jones, A-Ha and many of the other artists. fans of 80's music: Get this cd!

This is the 1st comment that I have EVER placed on a merchant's site!!

I believe the CD is probably a good product; however, I never had a chance to find out for myself. My comment does not concern the quality of the CD; but rather I feel compelled to comment the poor quality of Amazon.com's service. This is the 3rd time in a few months that I have ordered something from Amazon (in this case the Party Time cd) that was critical to be delivered, yet it was not delivered or available for whatever reason. In the future, I will make every effort to direct my business towards other online merchants who deliver the merchandise they promise.

I had ordered this box set and to my surprise, volume 5 was included for free!! I was thrilled with just about all of the music, and what a bargain! All original artists! My co-workers now want to buy these CDs for themselves. The best part was the shipping was free! I wish I could give this set 6 stars!

A 5 CD set that will become one of your favorites...

All by the original artists, the hits cover the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's...

I never leave home without it! It was probably the bet $30 I ever spent! BUY IT. You won't regret it.

the lifetime album/cd wasnt released until 1990, not 1998.
i have been a fan since the first release of Heartland, i have partied with the band in Chicago in 1998 on the "Happy" tour.
I keep in contact with the lead singer David Sterry which is the last remaining remember of the original Real life, if you can find the album "down comes the hammer" its very very good and shows the true talent, as for imperfection.........just like the title says, imperfection was the correct choice, it basically sounds like a HAPPY 2 release. come on dave get back to the REAL music!!!!!!!

...The 21st Century. Previously I'd only heard two other Real Life albums (Best Of and Lifetime). Lifetime was put out in 1998 but the sound was rooted in the band's 80s sound. Witht his album they have arrived in the 21st cenrutry and while they sound like the same band they also have a "new" sound that is faithful to their roots and contemporary. The songs are very sold sounds that compare to other synthpop bands of today and the bonus disc or remixes is very club friendly and catchy. If you're a fan of synthpop, Real Life or club music this album is for you.

Im glad theyre back with a great cd.This one is more elaborated than the last one "Happy".Im crazy about synth music and better if its into electronic sounds and I think that one fill my needs.I hope that they keep going making music for us.

So I'll make it brief. This is a hidden gem of the late 90's, and it contains the Holy Grail: Dead Man Walking. David Bowies acoustic version of a techno experiment is quite possibly the most chillingly beautiful song ever written by the Glam God of Rock and Roll. In addition "Do Ya" is awesome as is Edwyn Collin's "Girl Like You". Mostly every track is enjoyable.

This album has a ecletic collection of live performances from a wide variety of bands that were popular in the late 90's. Seems like such a long time ago already!
The two performances that were lacking though were, 1. Cake. Not that they were bad but there was some sort of technical problem that set their sound "off". And 2. an unusual song by that annoying band from "there's something about Mary" Maybe I just didn't care for the sound of his vocals.
But otherwise a great live album with humor and dignity! David Bowies song was a masterpiece of professionalism.

Conan pretty much took up where Letterman left off at NBC: cutting edge comedy and under-the-radar musical acts that don't get a lot of TV time elsewhere. So, for nearly 20 years now, Late Night has "introduced" a lot of acts to a national TV audience. The artists on this compilation aren't nearly as obscure as some of the acts you'll see on a nightly basis on Conan, but it's a pretty interesting mix. From well-respected stars (Bowie and Costello) to indie acts with loyal followings (Sweet, DiFranco, Richman, Soul Coughing, SNZ) to artists who've had a modern rock hit or two in the 90s (Bjork, Cake, Jamiroquai, Edwyn Collins, 311). The highlights for me include Bowie's acoustic version of his "Dead Man Walking," Matthew Sweet's torrid soundcheck cover of The Move's "Do Ya," Costello's exquisite "All This Useless Beauty," Cake's driving "The Distance," and Jonathan Richman's slinky smooth "Let Her Go Into The Darkness." I'm not a fan of Jamiroquai or 311 (maybe you do) but they don't take away from the CD at all. Besides, it's hard to like EVERY band on compilations like this. It's still a great collection.