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Ozzy covered 'Staying Alive'?
I'm not sure what makes 'Comfortably Numb' a novelty single any more than any other cover version which doesn't slavishly ape the original. It could be that people just aren't prepared to something that blends rock and disco seriously - 'Danger! High Voltage!' was also called a novelty record, again erroneously IMHO. Anyway, it doesn't sound much like anything else on the album, but I don't blame them for giving it a wider release - it's too good not to be heard by as many people as possible.
The album, then. Well it's great, obviously. Scattered thoughts on individual tracks:
'Laura' sounds better than ever (the added sax really, really helps).
'Take Your Mama' is indeed as stated above, the best song ever, possibly the song on here most likely to win over doubters (unless they have an insane aversion to melody, which does happen). There's something about it that reminds me of the best of Suede post-Bernard Butler: when they managed to knock out classic three-minute pop songs that begged to be all over radio but had a sneaky little streak of queerness/glorifying the outsider in there. Think 'The Beautiful Ones'. If I can get really muso for a moment, I also really appreciate the way that they put in that "Do it! Take your mama out all night!" bit right after the first chorus, whereas I suspect many bands would save that until the end. There's no restraint here, they're just piling on the hooks with a kind of reckless indulgence (see also: New Pornographers). Go on then, gimme some more sugar (after all, I am your neighbour).
'Lovers In The Backseat' - begins with the most sublime into and then briefly turns into 'Ashes To Ashes' before settling into its own groove. Verrry nice. Chorus reminds me of something I cannot place for the life of me - helpful, aren't I?
'Filthy/Gorgeous' almost fills the gap left by the absence of 'Electrobix' - almost. Crazy 808 sounds. This ought to KILL PEOPLE in the clubs. Ddancefloor devastation!
'Better Luck Next Time' - they've taken Robbie Williams' best (or least bad) song, and replaced all the annoying shitty Robbie-isms with great lines about being a detective without a case and the priceless "Will the fun disappear? Is the binding coming undone?" Then there's a completely unexpected 'Octopus' Garden' guitar wig-out. This has gone from being my least favourite track on the album to my ideal next single after 'Take Your Mama'.
I really wish they'd kept in the banter between Jake and Ana on 'Music Is The Victim', but you can't have everything. This is still a great party tune, with more hilariously good lyrics. The line about "the girls all doin' 'Tina" is, unless I'm very mistaken, a reference to Ecstasy by way of Cristina Aguilera's alter-ego 'X-Tina'. I love this band.
‘It Can’t Come Quickly Enough’ – gorgeous, just gorgeous. Evocative of everything from ‘Careless Whispers’ to Pet Shop Boys, maybe a tiny bit of Depeche Mode in there too… If there’s one song on the album that really proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Scissor Sisters are a band to love, and not just a fun, trashy, pissed-up shag (nowt wrong with that, obviously), this it it. If there’s is any justice, this one will achieve anthem status.
Some reviewers have called 'Return To Oz' prog, but I'm not sure it's prog just because it's, uh, conceptual. Songs as extended metaphors has been done by others, of course - a better comparison here might be the Magnetic Fields. It really works here, too - it's clever, but not distractingly so. (And the spectre of Fairuza Balk looks large. I mean shit, does everyone else remember how fucked-up that movie is, and how much more fucked-up and terrifying it seemed at the time?)
The message from Ana Matronic at the end of the album cracks me up - it's all about the horse noise. Those talking book things were cool - I had an A-Team one and a Spiderman one.
'The Skins' might just be the best thing on here, though. Production reminiscent of the DFA (the only time this is the case on the album really, except maybe 'Filthy/Gorgeous', so I don't know what James Dudley is on about). Another one to fill floors.
"Have you been kissed by a computer?
Are you able to move your hips?" |
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