The B-52s’ most overlooked good album. I like all but one track — something I can say for a precious few albums. I don't understand reviewers' disappointment with it. The newer electronica sounds great, not forced.
Most memorable tracks: "Legal Tender" -- a sweet song about merrily counterfeiting in the basement; "Butter Bean" a *very* danceable track that brings back those high-pitched wobbly screams like those found on "Rock Lobster." It's a recipe in song -- "Pick 'em, hull 'em, put on the steam. That's how we fix butter beans!"
The electronica and lyrics on these songs sometimes channel a science fiction vibe: "Song for a Future Generation" and "Trism" which predicts a future form of public transportation that sounds like a cross between the Jetsons’ vehicles and Star Trek’s teleporter.
"Work that Skirt" is an instrumental that has power to get you up and moving on the floor, even if you're just getting out of bed.
Early versions of “Whammy” contained a Yoko Ono composition, “Don’t Worry”. Later versions don’t (Copyright dispute.)
I bought Whammy shortly after it came out so I got to hear, “Don’t Worry”. My evaluation? It’s repetitive. Don’t worry. You’re not missing much.
Please give these tracks a listen, especially if you've only heard the B-52s' first eponymous album &/or “Love Shack”.
Here are my additions: This is the only Chicago album to make generous use of slide guitar on a few deep tracks -- "Flight 602" and "What Else Can I Say?"
The former provides a stunning, lush demonstration of what these guys could do with vocal harmonizing and acoustic guitar (no brass on the track).
The latter reveals a nascent Peter Cetera honing his newfound songwriting chops -- only his second song composed for Chicago. There are faint rumblings of his talent that would eventually emerge and grow to be Chicago's powerhouse balladeer and eventual "voice of Chicago."
Both songs make generous use of slide guitar in a way that had to have been influenced by similar sounds that emerged from Crosby, Stills & Nash around this time.
This is also the only Chicago album where you’ll hear a toilet flush (side 4).
Then there’s Terry Kath’s crown jewel — a five-part suite called “An Hour in the Shower.” As the title hints, the lyrics are mundane – about an average Joe’s workday that starts with a shower. But the mundane merges with the musically sublime here — lots of major key, up-tempo twists and turns, blues guitar riffs, majestic yearning, and even a spot where (I swear to God) Chicago’s singers harmonize like the Lettermen or guys on the Lawrence Welk Show. The lyrics that describe the ordinary, blend with music joyously sublime and also subtly humorous that will leave you with a smirk like Terry Kath’s. It’s like he’s saying, “Take my chops seriously! But not too seriously, because I’m just a regular guy.”
Compared to their other work, this is a somewhat overlooked album, maybe because it did not produce any top 10 hits. But it’s every bit as good as (and more experimental than) Chicago II.
When I first heard the shortened radio single of “Autobahn” on my AM bedside radio, I was a teenager…walking on shag carpet in the hall of my parents house…about to enter my bedroom. It was spring, drizzling and overcast outside. I lived in SW Michigan.
I remember the moment that well.
The song was so different and it mesmerized me so much that I actually sat on the edge of my bed and concentrated on listening to Autobahn for its entire length.
I knew I had to have it.
Bought the album and I was hooked on Kraftwerk for life. My two younger brothers soon followed.
Second fave cut: “Kometenmelodie 2”. So electronically joyful. A product of the times, the comet songs here were inspired by Comet Kohutek — discovered by and named after Luboš Kohoutek at the Hamburg Observatory on 18 March 1973, the year it was visible from earth.
When I first heard this shortened single on my AM bedside radio, I was a teenager…walking on shag carpet in the hall of my parents house…about to enter my bedroom. It was spring, drizzling and overcast outside. I lived in SW Michigan.
I remember the moment that well.
The song was so different and it mesmerized me so much that I actually sat on the edge of my bed and concentrated on listening to Autobahn for its entire length.
I knew I had to have it.
Bought the album and I was hooked on Kraftwerk for life. My two younger brothers soon followed.
Our grandparents were Austro-Hungarian on one side, German on the other, so culturally Kraftwerk had special meaning for us as well.
Finally a Lenny Kravitz greatest hits! I'm less likely to buy it though because "Stand" isn't on it. Sure, it wasn't so much of a hit that it's etched in the public mind, but it *was* a single & his video for it is a groovy throwback to the old "Let's Make a Deal" game show. Without "Stand" this collection is like Lenny minus his jewelry.