Search - Boy George :: High Hat

Perhaps George's best solo

Travis | 11/24/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"High Hat was one in a trio of variations of some of the same material. High Hat was basically released as Tense Nervous Headache in the UK, but that version had around a half a dozen songs that High Hat doesn't have, and vice versa. In other various countries, TNH was released as Boyfriend, but with fewer tracks. High Hat was a US-only album. Which ever way it is looked at, this album is pretty good. Of course, George had not fully recovered from his drug problems when this was recorded; he had stopped using heroin, but cocaine and prescription drugs were big on his list. But unlike George's first solo album, Sold, his drug use is not quite as apparent on this recording. But the song You Are My Heroin is blunt about George and drugs, and actually was shocking to me when i first heard it. Don't Take My Mind On A Trip, a single, is a great dance track, and the video was one of the first where Boy George was not wearing lipstick. I'm Not Sleeping Anymore goes back to George's more soulful upbringing, rivaling some work with Culture Club such as the 1982 single Time (Clock Of The Heart). Kipsy, with MC Kinky rapping, is another song about George and drugs, with mentions of Marylebone Court and "Ecstasy". The Jamaican vibe is another style that George is no stranger to; see also Everything I Own and Do You Really Want To Hurt Me. Don't Cry, perhaps the best song on the album and yet another single, lacks the ambitiously excessful sound of some of the other tracks. George sings in a Roy Orbison style voice, something that took a while to get used to. Other noteworthy songs are the tale of a mixed female dating a black man Girl With Combination Skin, and the gentle Something Strange Called Love. The only real downside to this album are 3 tracks on the first side: the slow-paced Whisper, the ridiculous Whether They Like It Or Not (which George himself has said that it was his "worst record ever"), and the single You Found Another Guy, probably the best of those three. This album probably will not be in print much longer; i'm actually surprised it is now. This is probably George's best solo effort, so i suggest all George fans get this."

5 stars go to ONE track,the rest barely deserve my effort.

Terry Fisher | yee-haw! | 10/13/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got this when it was new.in retrospect i think it was just that"too many cooks spoil the soup".Boy was listening to too many voices,real or imagined."you are my heroin"is the one saving grace.it is worth the purchase price alone.nuff said."