Disc 2:
Summer Of Love—-At once, you notice a somewhat subdued sound. The soundof the band is much more electronic and the trademark guitar sound is just not quite the same The vocal harmonies are excellent as always, but the joy of the band seems to be missing. The chorus does have nice catchy moments. The song is just rather subdued. That would be a trend that continued for the band.
Ain’t It A Shame [New Edit]—-Again, the trend leans to a much more subdued and mellow sound that the die hard fan was not accustomed to. Glaringly absent, one wonders what Fred is doing. The song is very mellow and with a hurting tone. Not a favorite.
Theme For A Nude Beach [New Edit]—-The song takes a bit to get going, and you are shocked by the pop sensibilities of the song. Fred is reduced to a subtle refrained vocal, but the lyrical content is the usual hilarity. The sound of the song picks up in fun as it evolves and all the harmonies are beautiful and chart oriented.
Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland—-Now……this is classic wild and fun B52s. The music is hyped and dance floor ready…there is a noticeable guitar sound that has been missing. The song is layered with keyboards and electronics that play off the instruments well. This is fun!
Wig—-Nice…..funny and inane….just what the Dr. ordered. This ranks right up there with rock Lobster…it is that fun and quirky. The guitar is a jangly affair and the drums are great. This is truly like a step back in time.
She Brakes For Rainbows—-Beginning rather sedate, the bass beat kicks in and moves the song to a faster responsibility. The vocal is sublime and beautiful at times. The music swirls around the voice in perfect production. This is nice.
Cosmic Thing—-Wonderfully eccentric from the onset, we had not heard the band in this mood for quite sometime. This was n album that cemented the band in the history books and the minds of many people as they invaded US radio. The song is fun and a nice sunny return to the beach.Wonderful!
Deadbeat Club—-The song is driven by a nice bass beat…even though the basic elements of the song are rather sedate. The girls handle most of the vocals, but Fred makes his presence known and it is to a masterful effect. This is/was pop and pop done with class.
Love Shack—-The song that the band will be remembered for forever!!!! The song was played to death and I really don’t like it that much, but after not hearing it for a few years, it is rather fresh and addictive. All signs of a truly good song. The atmosphere of the song is fun and zany and the World embraced it at the right time.
Roam—-My favorite song off of this release, the single is fun and beautiful at the same time. The vocals are fantastic and the harmonies unforgettable. the song retains that fun surf sound but really reminds us that these girls can sing.The drum track is awesome on this song and really is mixed into the song really well. This is great!!!
Channel Z—-Zany and wonderful….Fred is at his vocal best. The vocal trade off returns on this song and it works as well as it ever did. This is magnificent and almost like a step back in time. The song reaches back in time and grabs a hold of the fun that this band used to have. Nice!
Junebug—-With all of the animal and bird noises at the onset of the song, you know this should be fun.The beat is contagious and helps to usher in the vocal of Schneider. The song is somewhat more settled, but the lyrics and the in your face tambourine makes the song irresistible.
Follow Your Bliss—-Wonderfully constructed and performed, this mostly instrumental track shows the wizardry and the talent of the group as an entity. This is lovely, a nice prelude or postlude to a movie…wow…really great…how did I miss this?
Good Stuff—-My second favorite B52s song of all time…not only do i love the fun and the energy, the vocal delivery of the girls is so strong and addictive it makes you play it to or three times before you are finished with it for awhile. The trade off vocals are back in a strong way, but the harmonies and urgency of the girls make this song a masterpiece.
Revolution Earth—-Beginning with lots of mood and atmosphere, instrumentation grows but remains sedate. The swirls of sound and he electronic hums give the song a large feel…the voice in fine effect, but the feel of the song is way to sedate for this band.
Is That You Mo-Dean? [Interdimension Mix/New Edit]—-Obviously built for the extended play dancefloor, the song is full of spacey computer effects and a constant 110 BPM recipe. Fred appears and disappears, the girls take over. This is a rather stripped down version of the things that made the band great. Just not a very give remix….I think.
Debbie—-Allegedly written as homage to Blondie vocalist Deborah Harry, the song has some really great elements that draws me in right away. The pace of the song is led by the percussion and computer generated beats, but it works so well with this song. Fred sings, but way in the backdrop. The song is huge and delivers a great time.
***1/2 out of 5
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