5 comments about Bonk.

1. I bought this as a cassette when it first came out. i loved the heavy percussion sound with the harmonica and the sultry voice of the lead singer. To find it on CD even makes them better and the bonus tracks at the end are a nice extra.



2. i first heard this cd on the college radio station, and finally got it. It is a great cd, very diverse and full of thumping drums and melodies. it may have come out in the late eighties but still holds up today. it makes driving a better jouney.



3. The 3 drum kits, no guitars etc...format, is the result of Witer and Rosewarne banging heads together. Both very clever...highly gifted, but also, feeling the pinch of the old green eyed monster.
   
   The electric piano, at home in jazz fusion, sometimes was not as popular with listeners of rock as the electric guitar heroes of the 80's. Tim wanted some of the limelight...he was looking better than ever in the promotional shots. He was ready to be a star. Why fight with a guitarist for I am a true talent?
   
   Oleh is an exquisite painter. With a critical eye, ear and mouth. And a love of being in the spotlight. Image is everything to Oleh. Hence the slaughterhouse robes, all band members equal...no one standing out, except Oleh with his white hair and dead pan face and the DRUMS, which Oleh was in love with, but was not always as strong or experienced enough to carry the bass. He then knew two drum kits would show his weakness...three kits, well no one except those in the know could fathom the meaning that...!!!But I know...Oleh was known to be weak at drum rolls too.
   
   They couldn't find a female vocalist really deserving of their cleverness, such as a Souixie Souix...so there was Sherine, I guess...a marriage of convenience...very talented people gathered for the Big Pig attack and there was alot of energy in this record and power to them for that.
   
   What they needed though was true inspiration. Eventually Big Pig just stopped breathing. 3 stars for effort.
   
   Shreek



4. For years, I've been wishing for a reissue of this CD with the club mix of Breakway, which I personally find to be a much stronger, pumpin dance version than the messy 12" b-side, the Popper mix, which is already available on one of the Retro Active volumes by Hi-bias. Looks like the club mix will never surface on CD...



5. Bonk is full of catchy pop tunes, but unlike much pop, this stuff grows on you as you get to know it. The simple arrangements allow the vocals to really stand out. You can dance to it, you can groove to it or you can sing along. Try "Break Away", "Big Hotel" and "Money God" for starters. The latter could easily have come from the Eurythmics. Excellent, driven tunes.

5 comments about Beat the Retreat: Songs by Richard Thompson.

1. 
   Rolling Stone (3/9/95, p.64) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Over a nearly 30-year career...Richard Thompson has established himself as a guitar virtuoso and extraordinary songwriter. BEAT THE RETREAT contains some energized renditions of his material..."
   
   Q (11/94, p.126) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...The range of performers involved here underlines the reach of Thompson's art....BEAT THE RETREAT achieves a continuity of mood that places it above most `tribute' albums..."
   
   Dirty Linen (12/94-1/95, p.62) - "...BEAT THE RETREAT shows just how much a great song can ignite the creative spark within even the most mainstream artists..."
   
   Option (3-4/95, p.93) - "...does justice to a darkly masterful songwriter and guitarist..."



2. This gets my vote as my favorite tribute album of all time, and in my opinion it's one of the best ever put together. Richard Thompson, a founding member of Fairport Convention who has had a devoted cult following both here in the States and in his native Britain, is a formidable songwriter, not to mention one of the best folk and rock guitarists alive. He is one of those musical talents who has unjustifiably been denied large-scale commercial success. But he probably would consider the admiration of his peers more important than that anyway, and it's shown in abundance on this collection. Contrary to the track record of most tributes, this one hasn't a weak song on it. Packed with talent, it represents a variety of styles, from the crunchy rock of Dinosaur Jr., Bob Mould and X to the quiet folk of Martin Carthy and Maddy Prior (co-founders of another classic Brit folk-rock band, Steeleye Span). Everyone grafts their own style to these songs, and mostly they are quite successful. Graham Parker's "The Madness of Love" is a highlight, as is Bonnie Raitt's "When the Spell Is Broken" (backed by the gospel greats The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, who also do a goosebump-raising version of "Dimming of the Day"). Another Brit-folk great, June Tabor, turns in a fine rendition of the title track, and David Byrne gives a restrained but effective reading of "Just the Motion". National treasure Beausoleil does a "bontemps" version of "Valerie" (which was also a country hit for another artist whose name escapes me). The closest to missteps here are from two of my favorite bands. Los Lobos' "Down Where the Drunkards Roll" is so low-key as to be almost somnambulant; and in R.E.M.'s version of "Wall of Death", Michael Stipe's phrasing seems clumsy to me - I much prefer Nanci Griffith?s cover of that tune. Overall, though, this is an affectionate and well-conceived tribute to an artist who easily deserves it.



3. This kind of compilation CD tends to bring together elements of the music culture that listeners might not otherwise hear together. The duet by Shawn Colvin and Loudon Wainwright III on the song "A Heart Needs a Home" is a collaboration which belongs on an album like this more than anywhere. All the songs on "Beat The Retreat" are by Richard Thompson, so it can be assumed that the performers are his fans. I hardly qualify for that group. I was previously only aware of his song, "Dimming of the Day" from the Bonnie Raitt performance on the "Longing in Their Hearts" CD in 1993. "Beat the Retreat" came out in 1994, with Bonnie Raitt singing "When the Spell is Broken" and The Five Blind Boys of Alabama doing "Dimming Of The Day" in their own style.

   My opinion of music was much better in 1994 than it is today. That each of the musicians on this CD could find a song by Richard Thompson and learn it well enough to make it their own for a single performance shows some versatility that is beyond the common opinion of hit makers as people who are totally devoted to doing their own thing. In the case of Los Lobos doing a simple song like "Down Where the Drunkards Roll," it seems like the effort was to lower expectations: this is so much less than I expect from a song by Los Lobos. I don't know much of the work of some of the artists represented. The world might be full of female vocalists like June Tabor, that I don't know, who sounds great, but that I never heard before. When I go to a concert, I'm more likely to hear the guys, and I heard X once as an opening act without wanting much of that music. But this CD is more like real music to me, and even X does a good job.

   The great song for me was "Wall of Death" performed by R.E.M. with John Keane playing pedal steel guitar, so it didn't sound exactly like most R.E.M. songs. The first hint is Michael Stipe singing, "Oh no, no, . . . " It is all about a carnival, with a list of attractions, but the others don't measure up:

   On the wall of the death, all the world is far from me
   On the wall of death, it's the nearest to being free.

   You are going nowhere when you ride on the carousel,
   I may be strong, but what's the use of ringing a bell?
   Switchback will make you crazy,
   Where is the bearded lady?
   Oh, let my take my chances on the wall of death.




4. Back in 1994, when this album was released, we were in the midst of a short-lived vogue for tribute albums. A bunch of celebrity musicians would appear on these albums and offer their covers of a well-known artist's songs. As you might imagine, the results were usually mixed. Generally, though, the better the songs, the better the album turned out to be.

   This is certainly true in this case. Richard Thompson is among the very best songwriters around (and a fine guitarist to boot), and this album features some of his best songs. Almost every song here is at least pretty good, with the exception of "A Heart Needs a Home", which is utterly ruined by Shawn Colvin's Whitney-Houstonesque vocal pyrotechnics. That's a shame, since it's a really great song, and a more restrained style would have done it much greater justice.

   The good songs include "When the Spell is Broken", featuring some nice slide guitar by Bonnie Raitt; "The Madness of Love", in which Graham Parker sings with a spirit of tense longing typically found in Richard Thompson's music; "Turning of the Tide", in which Bob Mould sounds eerily like Richard Thompson himself; the Five Blind Boys of Alabama's cover of "Dimming of the Day"; June Tabor's version of "Beat the Retreat"; and Dinosaur Jr.'s searing rendition of "I Misunderstood", which is actually much, much better than the original, something almost unheard of in tribute albums. (Incidentally, J. Mascis seemed to appear on every single tribute album ever made, and whatever he performed, it was usually one of the highlights of the album.)

   The album closes with what I regard as its best track, Maddy Prior and Martin Carthy's "The Great Valerio", in which Maddy Prior actually outdoes Linda Thompson's singing (unimagineable!), and Martin Carthy completely reworks the song to fit his own style, making the song his own, almost as Jimi Hendrix once made "All Along the Watchtower" his own.

   This album didn't get a whole lot of attention when it came out, and it remains pretty unknown and underrated. That's a shame, since it is one of the best examples of its genre, and the artists generally perform Thompson's songs with a lot of feeling for their spirit, but without so much reverence that they become mere slavish imitations.




5. I don't usually like tribute albums because the songs are rarely as good as the originals. If you're a Thompson fan (I am) you'll be inclined to feel that way about this collection. Don't. Almost all of these songs are strong enough to hold up to the individual styles of the artists. R.E.M. is particularly good, then again they had one of Thompson's best songs to work with. Bottom line: this is one of the best tribute albums out there.

4 comments about Reasons to Be Cheerful: The Very Best of Ian Dury & the Blockheads.

1. This is a very good collection, good eclectic music, I own the LPs for some of the content but loading the CD into iTunes was much simpler than recording from the LP, and I really wanted the music in my library. Enjoy!



2. Ian Dury was a very popular item when i still lived in London over 20yrs ago. He half-talks his way through songs, backed by a hot funky-type band (with sax)So you get to hear the reasoning from his BIG deep wise heart, cynacism and the humour cockneys are re-known for. American's may find a poetry of its own in the distinctive cockney dialect.This man went through a crucible at one time as he was crippled by polio as a child (though not in a wheel-chair.) As quoted on the album, he was once asked if he felt he had missed out on life being a cripple. "Only a few buses" he said.Powerful music and not commercialised in the least.



3. This is the Ian Dury compilation to buy if you haven't got all the original albums. All the brilliant singles are here, along with the best of the album tracks together with some wonderful bonus material (such as the Kilburn & the High Roads stuff).
   
   Dury was a marvellously witty and perceptive lyric writer, and whilst his distinctive cockney drawl was hardly a great singing voice, it marked him as someone who was doing something completely different from everybody else. The Blockheads of course were also a great band, and again this marked Ian Dury out from the rest of the punk/new wave movement.
   
   This is a fabulous complilation, and at the moment its very cheap for a double CD. It'll cost you more to download all these tracks (legally that is!).



4. Blending elements of sly English music-hall badinage, Noel Coward wit and wordplay, warm jazz, and disco rhythms into a genre entirely and irresistibly his own, veteran 1970s pub-rocker Ian Dury was the most endearing musician to ever charm his way straight through your funny bone - and into your heart. Whether singing of the public embarrassment resulting from his youthful theft of a men's stroke magazine from a newsagent ("Razzle in My Pocket [A True Story]"), the demands of a morning hard-on ("Wake Up and Make Love With Me"), and the comic possibilities lurking just beneath the surface of history's creative geniuses ("There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards"), or rapping his way through the infectious dance beats of "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3," Dury had an unerring sense that not only could being naughty be great good fun, as well as an opportunity for verbal ingenuity - it could also get you on your feet and moving when enlisted with just the right dash of insouciant style. Favorite lyrics (from "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3"): "`Einshtein' can't be classed as witless/He said atoms are the littlest/When you do the bit o' split'liss/You frighten everybody shitless...There ain't half been some clever bastards (Chorus: "Lucky Peters, Lucky Peters")/There ain't half been some clever bas-tards...`Van Goff' did some eyeball pleazahs/He musta bean a pencil squeezah/He didn't do the Mona Leezhah/That was an Italian geezah!...There ain't half been some clever bastards..." I envy the uninitiated - you're about to wonder where Ian and his Blockheads have been all your life, while discovering your own latest "Reason to Be Cheerful (Pt. 3)." "Clever bastards," indeed!

5 comments about Test Pattern (CD & DVD).

1. Being blown away by a first time music video, TEST PATTERN, is in that class.
   
   The performance is a SONIA DADA experience.
   
   Sound, just be prepared. Everything is beyond the norm. It will push any system. I have a pretty good system, and it pushes it. I mean it pushes IT! It will make you want and want and want to listen over and over..............again.
   
   What more can you say?
   
   G



2. I discovered Sonia Dada by accident.... and that was a good thing... the DVD is excellent and the album as a whole just blows you away. 'Moons of Jupiter' is obviously the flagship of the album, but that doesn't mean that the other songs are any less.... 'Saturday' and 'Dark Visions' are ecellent tracks as well. 'Diggin On A Road' falls back to the roots of Sonia Dadas Chicago Blues sound, but the other songs are just as good. I am a serious Sonia Dada fan now, and have just bought all their earlier albums as well.
   
   I would recommend checking out www.soniadada.com to check out extras sounds and visions by the band.



3. I am a newer Sonia Dada fan (<3years). The music is top notch. It hosts thier normal talents (vocal and instruments). The reason I am writing this review is to showcase the DVD.
   
   The center piece of the DVD is a 30 minute video. The video has most of the songs from the CD. In and of itself, the video is artistic and of the quality you would expect from Sonia Dada. The highlight for me is; the music that accompanies the video has been remastered to 5.1 audio; (remastered NOT converted).
   
   The 5.1 remastered tracks makes this 30 minute segement the most impressive audio in a long time.
   
   If you have a surround system you should purchase this DVD/CD. It may cause you to upgrade your system to live up to the quality of this DVD. If you already have a surround system that can handle more then the normal movie sound track, then you should buy this and invite all of your fiends over to make them jelousy (and share this experience).
   
   Enjoy.



4. I found this band from a great compilation put together by an independent radio station in Bloomington, IN: www.wttsfm.com on their annual Collector's Edition CD. Old Bones is a great song. Great rhythms, harmonies, and cool lyrics. Got to love the free download!! I'll be buying this CD as a result. You can always count on WTTS to come up with new progressive sounds, and this is a keeper!!



5. I've been listening to this album almost non-stop since I got it. I was privileged to hear Sonia Dada do many of these songs at a festival in Chicago a few weeks ago, before this album was even available. I wasn't sure how the recorded sound would stack up next to the amazing live show they performed, but the production of this record is so good, you hear more every time you listen to it. I highly recommend this!

5 comments about Overnight Sensation.

1. This Motorhead album made my dad a fan.
   
   Despite being a lover of a lot of metal and hard rock (AD/DC, Metallica, Judas Priest etc.), every time I played some Motorhead for him, he certainly didn't hate it, but nothing ever really struck him as anything special.
   
   That is, until he heard "Crazy Like A Fox."
   
   That song made him jump around the living room, dancing and playing the air guitar. Yes, a dignified, 51 year old man did this. Such is the power of a good Motorhead song.
   
   He has since taken the album from me and won't give it back. He loves it.
   
   And its quite a good album too. It has nice production and is very heavy, with about 4/5ths of it being great, just like all the albums Motorhead has released since "March Or Die."
   
   Highlights include the absolutely rocking "Crazy Like A Fox" which just happens to include some of the funnier lyrics Lemmys written ("Don't you turn your back on me/You just make it worse/You look just as beautiful/When you're movin' in reverse"), the title track, with its unsual-for-Motorhead but surprisingly appropriate use of accoustic guitars, and (my personal album fav) "Love Can't Buy You Money," boasting a riff that literally gave my dad goosebumps. That riff is a stomper. It kinda reminds me of a much much much heavier Guns 'n' Roses.
   
   As always, there are just a few songs that just don't do it for me like the others ("Broken" is, uh, broken, and "Shake The World" doesn't really grab me, though my dad really likes it), but like I said, 4/5ths of it is good stuff. Fans will dig it, and those looking for an introduction to the later era of Motorhead will find this album to be about as good as anything else they've done since "Orgasmatron."
   
   So buy and enjoy, its business as usual with "Overnight Sensation" and business continues to be darn good.



2. Good worthy follow-up to their 'Sacrifice' effort. Some fans say this CD is Motorhead's most diverse work in years.Still a great catalog title from Lemmy and crew,that's a true keeper.Well,to MOST Motorhead fans it is.Tracks that I thought made the grade were the metal gems,"Civil War","Eat The Gun",the humorous "Crazy Like A Fox" and the steady rocker "Shake The World". Also liked "Love Can't Buy You Money". It's just that I've got SO much Motorhead and I still don't have every one of their releases. Maybe half of their repertoire. Still churning out that must-have British heavy metal after all these years.



3. This album is a little more diverse in style than a typical Motorhead album but it doesn't veer far from the proven path. Its a very solid effort by Lemmy and the gang and probably one of their five best albums.
   
   Choice cuts: "I Don't Believe a Word", "Broken", and "Shake the World".



4. Im a huge fan of Motorhead, and I hope to see them before I die. I own all there cds, and this cd is like any other album Motorhead releases. Its hard rocking and in the early 90's, each cd has a ballad. This cd has one amazing ballad, Dont belive a word. The rest are hard rocking numbers, as only Motorhead can do. Im so sick of hearing Ace of Spades is there finest hour and they havent done anything after the cd. Motorhead albums all are worth listening too, and none of them lose an edge from 75 to 05. Lemmy is 60 plus now and he still rocks harder then anyone else. Where is everyone's hero Ozzy? Oh right, retired. Maybe Lemmy is a robot, thats why he is damn durable and amazing.



5. Being very much into early Motorhead and the Fast Eddie period, I had ignored most of Motorheads albums after 1916, the album not the year. But this cd is honestly one of the bands best ever. Its both more thrashy and melodic...definitely more crafted in songsmanship than later albums like Sacrifice, but not as slick (a good thing to me) as Bastards. Its also got a very unified feel to it.
   
   The best compliment I can make about Overnight Sensation is that I now have to add at least four or five songs from it to my running list/cd compiliation of Motorheads best songs. And its a testament to this bands greatness that their best stuff will not even fit on two 80 minute cds anymore. Not that I am complaining.

5 comments about VH1: More of the Big 80's.

1. Just like watching an hour or so of MTV back in the good ol' days!! Very entertaining CD.



2. If you like the 80's then this cd is for you. Worth every cent I paid for it. Der Kommissar, Major Tom, Cry and A Flock of Seagulls... Great compilation. Only down was Major Tom. It wasn't long enough...



3. Well, this had a couple songs I wanted. It's a good cd. some of the songs are on just about every 80's compilation there is though. So, if you own one 80's compilation you probably already have 1 or 2 of the songs on this cd. but it's a good quality cd. The music is reproduced very good, I amvery pleased that I bought this.



4. Conceptually correct cover aside, VH1's Big 80s collection disappoints. That, or the title is completely misleading: nothing here has the dazzling, enormous-sounding production that has become a trademark eighties sound. Why? Nearly all are from the very early 80s, and nothing is from later 1986. Bombastic overproduction didn't emerge until about '87 or '88. Think Richard Marx, Def Leppard, Whitney Houston, Taylor Dayne, Bon Jovi. This difference is especially apparent because the early 80s offer sharp contrast by sounding very small, robotic, and claustrophobic. This should have been named something else. Big hits? Yes. Big-sounding? Not at all. Plus, the songs are overplayed already (except Cry), so you've probably heard them to death already or even flat-out own then.
   
   If you want to up the slickness, up the drums, and up the charisma, check out artists and compilations with music from 1987 to 1989.



5. but it does have my signature hit, "Come On Eileen". This is one of the few one hit wonders that I like on this album. There were a lot of other songs from the 80's that I would have picked over "I ran", "Words", "Tuff enuff.." Enough said, the first half of the album is very good, but then it just starts to lose steam. It's as if they were running out of ideas as to what to put on the album. I didn't like these songs back in the 80's so why should I like them now. I guess that is the price I pay to get the few songs I did want.
   I always loved the show, The big 80's on Vh1. And when this and the first c.d. came out, I bought them together. All in all, not such a terrible purchase. I like the first one much better, there are a better selection of songs.

5 comments about Love Life.

1. excellent quality, fair price, quick delivery, was extremely satisfied to receive this very hard to find cd, thanks!



2. I am sure that I was one of many teenage boys who picked this album up and absolutely fell in love with Terri Nunn.
   
   This album is sexy, fast, and exciting. Like driving with your girlfriend in a MGB convertible with the top down on a warm summer night.
   
   Terri's voice is the only instrument that you really hear (or remember). But if you go back and analyse the songs (which I do not suggest), the sound is New Wave formula but very original and clear compared to the next Berlin album, "Count, Three and Pray".
   
   This is the best Berlin album, period. But then I am quite partial to "Dancing in Berlin" as you would be if Terri had grabbed you to dance with her on stage to the song. During the concert Terri also sang a cover of "Suffragette City" which was incredible. I wish it was available somewhere.



3. With their second album, Berlin started to hit their stride. The production on "Love Life" has grown up a lot since "Pleasure Victim", and we are in full MTV-friendly territory. Now it may sound like a criticism when a band lose their edge and start sounding mainstream, but Berlin need to mature a bit from their first album, and this one does a fine job of it. The opening track "When We Make Love" is so good that it's almost too tough an act to follow. Soaring and swooping vocally, and with a strong rocky/synth backing, it sets a great energetic mood for the rest of the album. Sadly, the second track quickly became my least favourite as it sounded like a failed attempt to match the power of the opener. Luckily the third song "Beg Steal or Borrow" knows better and follows a slow tempo, with the result that this is much more fun. Then we come to "Now It's My Turn", which finally makes a fitting challenger to "When We Make Love", as it's a terrific rock song with a very bitter theme centered around revenge. But even this is topped, further down the list after a few light-weight tracks, by "In My Dreams", which to me is the most perfect Berlin pop-song - beautifully gloomy in mood and tune, and another dark theme lyrically.
   
   Terri Nunn once again excels at wringing anger and bitterness out of the lyrics, the songwriting of the group really suits her singing style, and her later solo album was diluted by it's absence. The albums hit single "No More Words" makes good use of her vocal prowess - it's another anger-tinged number, although the backing music is a bit lightweight compared to some of the stronger album tracks.
   
   This is a great album, and it's made even better by the inclusion of two B-sides that were not on the original vinyl - "Rumour of Love" (ok this is poor, and Terri does not sing on it) and "Lost in the Crowd" ( which is good - strong enough to stand beside the better album tracks). It's even got a great classy cover shot! So it looks and sounds wonderful in any collection.



4. Love Life finds Berlin honing their brand of upbeat synth New Wave into something more polished, and it's an improvement, although there aren't any songs that are risque as their notorious single from Pleasure Victim.

   The raciest song by far is the leading one, "When We Make Love," from the POV of a stripper or performer in a risque act, or maybe a starlet in a triple-X movie. If it's the latter, that's quite a twist, as she labels the viewer as her fantasy. I detect influences from Blondie's "Atomic" here.

   The extramarital affair on "Touch" tells it from the woman's POV, where she learns that her date's married, and asks him if he'll remember her, only not to hear from him. The casualness of the affair is given when she says "You can take me home and tear my clothes off." The rapid-fire synths and blaring guitar is something Quarterflash would appropriate on "Walking On Ice" on their Back Into Blue. One of the best songs here. A similar tempo and sound can be found on "Pictures Of You"

   "Beg, Steal Or Borrow" is notable for having a synth rhythm which may have been taken from "Boogie Shoes" with a rhythm guitar like "Every Breath you Take."

   Another standout tune comes with "Now It's My Turn." What does Nunn have to say about a lover who's deserted here: "Now it's my turn/You hurt me then/I'll never let you hurt me again." A further warning to the perpetrator: "Don't think you'll get away/The pain has just begun." This was included on their greatest hits album.

   Giorgio Moroder's association with Berlin began here, as he and Richie Zito produced two songs. The first is "Dancing In Berlin" on the divisions between mysterious Communist East Berlin and open and free-spirited West Berlin, including the line "Please, there's no wall in front of you." The other is the Top 30 single "No More Words" featuring a funky bass synth backbeat while louder keyboards and electric guitars snarl. The concept of all words but no action backing those words leads to the title being sung, followed by "you're telling me you love me while you're looking away." Nunn sings of "looking for a long romance/not a picture of passion or one time chance."

   "Rumor Of Love" is notable in its being sung by one of the male members of the band, and his delivery along with the rhythm section makes this like a Cars song.

   The shakiness of people in love is behind the bittersweet and cynical "For All Tomorrow's Lies." Although the song extols pairs to stay together as one, but things aren't that easy: "They tell you 'try to have hope.'/And fight for all you can/these words, you've heard them before/so easy to believe." The version included on their greatest hits is a ballad remix that matches the gloominess of the song, and not the upbeat synth version here.

   "Fall" is a low-tempo number of coming alive in love. The guitars here echo the sound Berlin would encompass in Count Three And Pray. The frantic, giddy tempo of "Lost In The Crowd" rounds out the album and it rivals the tempo of "Touch." It too, has the same hard guitar of "Fall" while remaining true to its New Wave sound.

   The definitive Berlin sound is demonstrated here, with the last two songs a hint of things to come. Before that, Berlin would emulate Genesis, read "And then there were three." Guitarists Dave Diamond and Ric Olsen would leave, as would keyboardist Matt Reid leaving behind original members Terri Nunn and John bassist/synth-man Crawford, and Robert Brill (drums). All they had to was count three and...pray.




5. After seeing Berlin on VH1's "Band's Reunited," I had to dig through my old tapes to see what I had on this great band. As it turns out, I had "Pleasure Victim" and this album, "Love Life."

   I put on "Love Life" and was amazed at how good the music still sounded. It's hard for me to believe this album and its predecesor were released 20+ years ago; it still sounds fresh! And Terri Nunn's voice... man, I was reminded what a great voice she had. On every song, from the pop hits ("No More Words") to the ballads ("Fall), her voice is picture perfect.

   Speaking of "Fall," I'd have to say this has become my favorite song on the album. It's not a song that many people single out on this album, but I feel it deserves merit. John Crawford's lyrics flow like poetry when sung by Terri Nun:

   "Colors all around;
   Smile, cry, then laugh out loud
   Feel the autumn breeze
   Come alive..."

   But now I see it's out of print??!! C'mon. Well, at least there are some good deals on Amazon.com out there as far as used CDs are concerned.

   If you've never heard Berlin before, this is a good album to start out with. You'll get hits like "No More Words," "For All Tomorrow's Lies," "Dancing in Berlin," and "When We Make Love," as well as hidden gems like "Fall." Whether you're in an 80's mood or just want something "new" to listen to, this is a great place to start.

5 comments about Nightmare Anatomy.

1. ...you find nothing good on TV so you flick through the music channels in five seconds flat...you get to scuzz and you stop...there's a guy with white make-up prancing about with a voice like a constipated cricket...this was the single "die romantic"...it was to an extreme everything the papers moaned about the stereotype of this genre...encouraged suicide (to an awkwardly cliched point) and they never seemed to leave a song alone without putting in a scream that felt unnaturally cut and pasted there...I think to myself "no...this will die soon...they won't get any praise for this"...
   
   ...a few weeks later people seem to be buying into it...comparing them to MCR as emo icons...and praising them at all...what the hell? Then they win a kerrang award (I know they mean nothing but still) for new international band (their acceptance speech kind of showed their bad sense of humour too)...so then I thought...ok...either the public are stupid or I'm just being narrow minded and not giving this a chance...
   
   ...and so I did...and I must say I wasn't expecting it to be this bad...there were times when the guitars had some interesting (vaguely) harmonics...but the drumming, production, and worse of all the singing were incredibly poor...that's when I thought that "no...they'll die now...they can't get a second album after this"...
   
   ...and guess what? They get a second album...with Q (idiots) saying they are "The most charismatic since Kurt Cobain"...firstly Q just compared a band to one person (idiots) and secondly ALL THE SONGS SOUND THE SAME!!! The build up to the chorusses always come from the singer singing so fast he can't keep a melody and when they do pace it out in the chorus he sounds the same on every single song (like a FOX!! YAY)...
   
   ...if you want good music...it isn't here...these musicians have no talent and were just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time...if you want talent that is supposedly "emo" then I would have recommend anything besides this (even funeral for a friend did better then these guys)...but yes if it's something heavy and shocking you want then try fall river...as those guys don't get enough reccomendation...



2. This cd is amazing!!!! I love the cd so much! I love the theme of Nightmares, and I swear Aiden is extremely talented...seriously.



3. They know how to play at a live show and they know how to rock the fans, leaving them wanting more. If you're going to sell this item 'used and new' you might as well get your money's worth (unless, of course, the disc is scratched). The album explains the horrors of their lives and tells kids going throught the same thing that they're not alone and that they shouldn't be. If you ever talk to wiL Francis(the frontman) i envy you. But if you do you will see his kind heart and even though bad memories drain from it in what some people would call horrific screamo songs, there is a meaning to it. And you should give it a chance. If not, go listen to Brittney Spears and consider yourself emo because you cry over the fact that she shaved her head. If you like Aiden, you're my new best friend. I say thank you on their behalf because if you went to one of their shows they, too, would thank you. From the bottom of their hearts because they only want to be doing what they're doing now.



4. Hey all scene kids, guess what? Its a new band called Aiden, and they bring you talentless generic crap that every other emo band does! My friend is convinced that these guys are "punk", but i can assure you, this is no punk band. Last I checked, real punk bands dont cake their faces with layers of make-up and sport emo trendy haircuts with girl pants. They are nothing more than Misfit-Wannabes. The drums are generic, the singer has that really annoying cliche wannabe punk voice that youre all too familiar with. And the guitars, good? Hah, i think not. If you want to listen to any bands with better lyrics, Vocals, and guitarwork, check out: Nevermore, Iced Earth, Death, Children of Bodom, Blind Guardian, or any other real metal band. Trust me, you will be FAR more satisfied.



5. Okay first off, Our Gang's Dark Oath was an amazing album I loved it, I still do. Then they moved to Victory Records and I, knowing that all of Victory's bands sound the same, was very skeptical as to what the change in the label would mean for this band. Nonetheless, I bought Nightmare Anatomy and me being skeptical was washed away when I heard Knife Blood Nightmare. I thought to myself, Aiden is back! All of those feelings of thinking Aiden is still making great music were soon washed away when I heard Die Romantic. This was probably the most generic emo songs I had ever heard. While I will admit, it was catchy, I was disgusted by the fact that Aiden had written it. From that moment of the CD on, my feelings did not change, every single song goes into this poppy attempt at having a catchy chorus and not only does it sound cheesy, it shows the band was quite simply running out of ideas. I was offended by the fact that this band had put this CD out. Did they think that their fans are a bunch of idiots and not realize that this is a sad attempt at becoming popular? Anyone who tries to correct me should listen to this: the big craze right now in music is emo. Aiden, a band that WAS NOT emo before they signed to Victory Records BECAME emo. A band that was not emo before becomes emo when the genre is popular. Hmmmmmm sellouts? Ummm yeah! The funny thing is Victory promotes this, which is why I say boycott Victory before they take yet another once-great band and turn them into every other band that is on their label. If not, you guys can watch your favorite band turn into My Chemical Romance Version 4572364578.

1 comments about Best Off.

1. Light a candle.Get out the lube and condoms.Get naked with your partner and play Lizzys version of Fire.OOOOOOOH la la !

5 comments about Human League - Greatest Hits.

1. This version of the Human League's "Greatest Hits" is the one to buy. You get 16 tracks, basically maxing out the CD's capacity with an assortment of New Wave classics from this pioneering band.
   
   Sure, Phil Oakey (note: NOT "Oakley") and the girls had a few misses that were somehow included here ("Being Boiled" and the very annoying - though chart topping - "Human"), but there is also a wealth of great tunes. "Don't You Want Me", "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", "The Lebanon", and my favorite, the wistful and beautiful "Together In Electric Dreams".
   
   Their 1994 hit "Tell Me When", from their comeback album "Octupus" is also included. The only notable absent song is 1990's "Heart Like A Wheel".
   
   Human League blended intricate synth soundscapes with great vocal performances to create some of the premier New Wave compositions of the 80s and 90s. This compilation is a great overview of their career to date. Five stars!
   
   P.S. The liner notes on "Greatest Hits" are copious and informative.



2. Human League fans in general tend to think that all HL's songs were greatest hits, and therefore all deserve to be on an album of the same name (hence the four). Whilst now this album is a very dated excursion into a time when music was really just beginning to find it's feet, Rock and roll, Sca, Punk, Mod, big band, new-wave, new-romance have all seen their day, and little, if any of those genres live on today. This album really is not meant to be a modern take on a once great band, but rather, a trip down memory lane for those of us who grew up with it. Of course, as with any album proclaiming to be the greatest hits, there are some mediocre songs, and at least one very poor one. Being Boiled was never a great song, and later attempts to make it so, failed mostly because those who remember the original remembered the sheer boredom of Phil Oakley's voice on the "song". No passion in this one. But then there are the hits. Don't you want me, (keep feeling) fascination and Human.
   My personal favourite however is the last song on the CD, Life on your own, this a real gem that will ring many emotions in many people.
   All in all, if you are looking for something wild and sexy, skip this album, however if you want something "different" that has a history of it's own... you could do worse.



3. I have had this greatest hits album by Human League for a couple of years now and still love it! All those hits from Don't You Want Me, to Human, to Fascination to Being Boiled are on here. Though some other compilations by them came later on, this is a good start for the unknown listener, 12 solid songs by this '80s group.



4. Strangely enough, The Human League actually has four completely different "Greatest Hits" compilations. The first was "Human League Greatest Hits" released in 1988 with 12 tracks. The second was "The Human League Greatest Hits" released in 1995 with 16 tracks. The third was "The Best Of The Human League" released in 1997 with 16 totally different tracks, and finally there's "The Very Best of The Human League" (hmm...yet another original title) released in 1998 with 13 tracks. What's even stranger, for Human League fans anyway, is that the song "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of" does not appear on any of these albums. So in addition to one of these compilations, you will still need to buy the League's signature album, "Dare!" to get this song, which IS one of their best songs ever.

   Besides "Don't You Want Me", "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", "Mirror Man", "Human" and "Tell Me When", the other songs will probably not be so familiar with people in the United States because they were actually U.K top ten hits. The song "Being Boiled" which appears on three of the "Greatest" albums is the only disappointment simply because it is not the revamped techno-punk version that appears on the "Travelogue" album, but rather the original (and very bland) version that was recorded in 1978 on the Fast Product independent label. Otherwise, this really is a chock full of goodies from The Human League, the undisputed pioneers of synth pop.




5. What a mixed bag after a few listens this album became. The Human League is a great new wave group that had a few really important records throughout the eighties and nineties. Not enough though to make this monstrous hits set. Let's get into the songs you most certainly know.

   There is the defining track of new wave and eighties that is "Don't You Want Me". A scenario of a man makes a star and her going it on her own. And she leaves him? The engaging dialogue really captures you and the techno savvy mix of keyboards is just legendary and catchy. "Keep Feeling Fascination" is a cute upbeat keyboard number with a touch of ska feel but without the horns. The things this group did with keyboards, I'll tell ya. "Human" is a sensitive love song and is a continue in the direction of new wave brilliance but this time R&B masters Jim Jam and Terry Lewis take a crack at the group. The production is a simple blend of drum machines and light touches of ivory. A classic of the big hair era and their second number 1 ("Don't You Want Me" being their first). Their next well known hit on here might be kind of obscure, but if you had an eye on MTV and VH1 for about a month or so in 1995 you got a listen to this clubby record with a retro feel. "Tell Me When" is very much like "Don't You Want Me" but the sound is updated for a Europe dance effort that is very catchy, but I don't know that it was a huge chart topper here.

   You might know and be fond of those four songs like I was and still am, but looked at the rest of the set and wondered "This Could Be Good". Well the truth is revealed in this set that The Human League really isn't that pop of a band, but more of an out their New Wave experiment that worked a few times. The rest of the songs are for the most part dark sounding accounts of love. "Mirror Man" is Motown like trip to "The Church Of a Poison Mind" (although this came first). No one asked for this, did they? Trippy desire comes off as scary in "Open Your Heart" and "Love Is All That Matters". These early efforts along with "The Sound Of The Crowd" are just plain dated and horrible. "The Lebanon" gets so much talk here that you think it was a great political song, but it's so dry and pop rocky that it feels stale.

   The non big hits aren't so bad, but a required taste that you don't expect on here. The fun pop hits on here, though, are quite essential and very danceable. For those hits, you might want to get this set, but the aging eighties synth arrangements drag the album down. Also, I know it odd that I have the import, but I found it on a trip and just had to get something musically different from the UK. Maybe next time I should go for something modern.