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| From | "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: Sparks! |
| Date | Sat, 02 Dec 2006 22:16:45 -0600 |
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I'd quibble with the description of Angst In My Pants and Whomp That Sucker
as synth-pop -- Ron and Russell Mael were backed by a full band (they
recruited the band Bates Motel, who later put out some fun records of their
own under the name Gleaming Spires) -- this was Sparks' new wave phase.
Here's my album by album description:
Sparks (Halfnelson) -- The debut is wiggy psychedelic pop, with Todd
Rundgren doing a good job approximating the sound of guitarist Earle
Mankey's demo recordings.
A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing -- Pushing the elements of the debut even
further, adding some operatic touches - Russell really becomes Russell on
this album.
Kimono My House -- One of their three smash LPs in England, they fit in with
Roxy Music on the fringes of the glam movement. Great record.
Propaganda -- They up the ante creatively again, Ron Mael seeing how many
words he can cram into a song to see how high Russell will be forced to sing
them.
Indiscreet -- Queen's Jazz was their attempt to ape the Mael's collaboration
with Tony Visconti, with lots of horns and strings and more creative
songwriting.
Big Beat -- New band, new label, an attempt at hard rock...with Rupert
Holmes producing (?!?). Apparently the Mick Ronson demos are better -- I
can understand why Bill Holmes holds this near and dear, it's just a shame
that Holmes's production is so off -- the album has an odd sound - a live
boot from this tour confirms the quality of the songs.
Introducing Sparks -- This time, they used session musicians, which
diminishes the character of the album. But the songs are still quite good.
Number One In Heaven -- Rejected by Arista (after being dropped by
Columbia), the brothers hear Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", ring up Giorgio
Moroder, and simultaneously invent the synth-pop duo (thank you, say
Erasure, Soft Cell, Yaz, Pet Shop Boys, and so on) and Hi-NRG dance music.
The most influential LP that no one in the U.S knows about. Revivied them
as a commercial force in Europe.
Terminal Jive -- Moroder hands reins to Harold Faltermeyer, blandness
reigns, one great single, dull musically.
Whomp That Sucker -- New wave time. Mostly straight forward rock, lots of
hooks, all is good.
Angst In My Pants -- Outstanding new wave pop record. Mack's production is
as stylized as Ron's keyboards. Some of Ron's best lyrics ever.
Sparks In Outer Space -- Yielded "Cool Places". Ron and Russ produce --
this verges closer to synth-pop, and it's fun, but they were aching badly
for a U.S. hit, and this seemed to take something away from the band.
Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat -- Very dated by the '80s production, last real
shot for U.S. success. Has its moments.
Music That You Can Dance To -- As the title indicates, some moves back to
the dance floor. Also shows the band first dabbling in repetition, which
they really didn't nail for over a decade. Features "Change", one of their
best singles ever. (Note: Curb Records reissued this on CD as The Best Of
Sparks. ?????)
Interior Design -- First LP recorded in their home studio. Almost as bland
as Terminal Jive.
Gratuitous Sax And Violins -- Another return to the UK charts, as they
finally dove back into dance music. The songwriting is much better, too.
Plagarism -- Was intended as a tribute album, but became a mix of duets with
folks like Erasure, Faith No More and Jimmy Sommerville, and some tracks
with orchestral backing, Tony Visconti doing all the charts and
arrangements. As inconsistent as can be expected, but has its moments.
Balls -- The real follow up to Gratuitous Sax, which confirms that when they
try to write songs for the charts, they dumb their music down, and aren't
that good.
Lil' Beethoven -- In casting aside a lot of pop music conventions (not
totally, of course) and relying repetition, synth-strings and operatic
backing vocals, Sparks reinvents itself, and creates one of the freshest
albums by anyone in years. Ranks up their with their best.
Hello Young Lovers -- The album builds on the ideas of Beethoven, but moves
in a couple of other areas. Clearly, their creative batteries are
recharged, and 34 years after they debut, they have made yet another great
record.
Mike Bennett
Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/mrhonorama
Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
Find out about Chicago shows:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/
>From: "Aaron Milenski" <amilenski@hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: audities@smoe.org
>To: audities@smoe.org
>Subject: Re: Sparks!
>Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2006 22:53:31 -0500
>
>I am a huge Sparks fan and probably own more albums by them
>than any other artist.
>
>I'll start by saying the video of them playing "Something For The
>Girl With Everything" back in 1974 is the funniest thing on YouTube.
>Just great stuff.
>
>Here's my take on their best work:
>
>My personal favorite is A WOOFER IN TWEETER'S CLOTHING, which
>is just plain weird..full of hooks and oddness. Weird but really catchy
>too. the debut is similar but not quite as good.
>
>Next best is probably KIMONO MY HOUSE. By this album, their style
>changed quite a bit--more poppy and straighforward, but still
>veyr weird and wonderful lyrically. The following PROPOGANDA is
>nearly as good and also essential.
>
>I like but don't love most of the albums in the next period--all of them
>have some great songs but are much more inconsistent than WOOFER,
>KIMONO and PROPAGANDA.
>
>In the 80s they started maing synth-pop, and WHOMP THAT SUCKER
>is excellent, as good as INDISCREET, which was the album after
>PROPAGANDA (it is good--but was defnitely a step down from the
>previous three.) Like INDISCREET, about half of it is only OK, but the
>other half is absolutely ace. WHOMP was followed by ANGST IN MY PANTS,
>which I think is the best synth-pop album ever (the best album in a genre
>I hate!!), all of the promise of WHOMP fulfilled.
>
>The next batch of albums were similar to those in the late 70s...all
>had moments but overall none were up with their best work.
>
>A lot of the 90s stuff is very techy, which I don't like, but still there
>are cool songs on every album. The two most recent albums, which
>replace the tech sound for a weird kind of symphonic rock, with
>catchy but very repetitive melodies, are really great---both are up
>there, in my opinion, with stuff like PROPAGANDA and ANGST, if only
>a step down from WOOFER and KIMONO. Bear in mind, though, they
>are quite different.
>
>Also--you need to see them live or on video. They have just plain the
>strangest sene of humor ever.
>
>Anyway, I'd say to get the first 4, the two great synth-pop ones, and
>the two most recent ones...and then you can start thinking about others
>if you love all those.
>
>In approximate order of preference:
>WOOFER
>KIMONO
>ANGST
>PROPAGANDA
>LIL BEETHOVEN
>SPARKS
>HELLO YOUNG LOVERS
>WHOMP THAT SUCKER
>
>etc...
>
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