Search - Bucks Fizz :: Are You Ready

"ABBA-like", but not quite.........

S. Fennell | Somewhere out there.....beneath the pale moon ligh | 01/15/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Evidently, I am something of a rarity; an American fan of Bucks Fizz. (Anytime I have mentioned their records to friends, the initial reaction has been, "Who???") Oh well, it's their loss. Bucks Fizz was unfairly denied success in this country, even though they tried twice to release a recording over here. (1982's self-titled album on RCA, and 1986's "New Beginning" on Polydor, both of them compilation albums.) Whatever the reason, lack of promotion or lack of radio airplay, the albums went unnoticed. I, myself, would never have heard of them if it had not been for a couple of overseas vacations with my parents in the early 80's. Bucks Fizz was all over the charts in England at the time, and I came back to this country with every record of theirs I could find. This particular album, their 2nd, contains several chart toppers, including "My Camera Never Lies", "Land of Make Believe", and "Now Those Days are Gone", which has a beautiful acappella intro. (Even my friends who don't like Bucks Fizz, like this song.) Bucks Fizz has a sound very reminiscent of ABBA, although the sound is where the comparision stops, as Bucks Fizz wrote very few of their own songs. They were pretty much a manufactured group, put together as an entry in the Eurovision song contest, which they actually won in 1981 with the tune, "Making Your Mind Up". (It's on their first album.) Manufactured group or not, they have a great, although slightly-dated sound,(it just screams "80's"), and is great fun for the most part. An infuriating thing about their records is that most of the original singles have non-LP "B-sides", leaving a slew of tracks that are now unavailable, except for places like "ebay" where you can still find old 45's. Even though the group hasn't had a top 10 hit since 1986's "New Beginning", (at least not to my knowledge), I still recommend them to people unfamiliar with their music."

Ready, willing and able

T. Kavanagh | Ireland | 07/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The curse of the 'difficult second album' didn't actually materialise for Bucks Fizz. Rather than simply take up where their debut left off, they took several steps up the evolutionary ladder and produced some of the finest work of their career. The two UK #1 singles, "The Land Of Make-Believe" and its superior follow-up, "My Camera Never Lies," emphatically identified the group as a pop force to be reckoned with. And, crucially, the rest of the album met equally high standards. This was a stylistic giant step forward and the set was rich in potential hits. "Now Those Days Are Gone," with its intricate harmonies and graceful arrangement showed that there was a more adult edge to their sound and it became one of the group's best loved singles. The shimmering disco track, "Easy Love," the excellent ballad "Love Dies Hard" and the smart bounce of "20th Century Hero" could easily have made waves in the singles chart too. Only the title-track and "Another Night" harked back to the fluffiness of their first album. Bucks Fizz had moved on in a very determined fashion. None of the eight bonus tracks lovingly tagged on to this release really challenge the quality of the original album - although "Taking Me Higher," a B-side written by the band, could well have justified its place as an 11th track on the original release."

Bucks Fizz

Wayne N. Hawkins | Australia | 09/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is Bucks Fizz second album and a lot more mature sound than their first with such tracks as My camera never lies, are you ready Land of make believe and the brillant Now those days are gone, along with the rare trcls and live out takes.It seems with every album Bucks Fizz kept on getting better up to their brillant last album Wrriting on the wall this album a must for Buckls Fizz Fans"