Search - Men Without Hats :: No Hats Beyond This Point

Welcome Back, MWH!

Justin Waters | Los Angeles, CA United States | 01/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There have been several 80s artists that I had completely given up on because I didn't like the direction their music had been going in the 90s; as examples Erasure, OMD, Human League and Camouflage. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, they came out with albums that just knocked me over and totally won me back ("Cowboy", "Sugar Tax", "Secrets" and "Sensor"). This is another one of those groups.



"Pop Goes The World" is one of my Top 10 favorite albums. Then with their "The Adventures of Women & Men Without Hate in the 21st Century" album, they started to lose me. I dug a couple of songs off it, though I was on the fence about the entire album and eventually just decided to trade it in for credit at a record store. I sampled "Sideways" and saw that they pretty much traded in their keyboards for guitars and tried being a rock band. It completely didn't work for me. And neither did Ivan's solo album "The Spell", though one song on there, "Forever", is one great, very catchy song (and may have been a sign that Ivan may have wanted to get back into the Synth realm). However, regarding other songs on that album, I have a piece of advice for Ivan. In the future, please - NO rapping on your albums. Don't lower yourself by trying to appeal to American Top 40 radio - you're better than having to resort to having "Mush-mouth" rappers spit lame lyrics like "Let's funk to this flow and flow to this funk" in your songs. "Funk" and anything related to Men Without Hats are two things that don't belong in the same thought process.



With that, I resorted to just listening to their glory days with the "Collection" album, which also is a great example of what every 'greatest hits' collection should be, with a history of the band, discography of every release, when it was released and how high it charted, photos, etc.



Then I found out that MWH had a new album (at least it was new in 2003), so I checked out their website and sampled a couple of the songs. I was surprised! I thought, "...hmmm...they're back into heavy keyboards!" I finally picked up the album. My initial reaction to the first track ("Dancing In the Moonlight") was very similar to when I heard the first track ("All I Ever Wanted") from Human League's very welcomed "comeback" album "Secrets." Heavy stabbing synths and completely electronic. Also it was nice to hear Ivan's familiar voice, sounding exactly the same as it did on "Antarctica."



I wasn't blown away with the album the first time I heard it, however I knew from that first listen that it was an album that would grow on me very quickly and that I would end up really loving it. And it has in a big way. My favorite songs are "How Does It Feel" (you think it's going to be a nice slow song, but surprisingly it changes pace about half way through), "Dreaming" (if they have the ability to produce an upbeat, happy, poppy song, hey - why not?), "Telepathy" (updating things a bit with the chant "Internet killed the video star") and I love the wordplay in "In California." And I defy anyone to listen to the mellow song "Roses" once and not have the melody of the song in your head for the rest of the day!



I've probably listened to this album over 6 times within the first week of owning it, which is pretty easy to do as it's a short album - it clocks in at a little over 37 minutes. And that's good because as much as I love Synth-Pop, which this album is, and as much as I really love every song, a 50 or 60 minute album of this probably would have been too much. As it is, it's the perfect length.



What I find mostly refreshing is if you take a look at the current state of music on the radio, you'll find that so much of everything in R&B/Rap, Top 40 or "Modern Rock/Alternative" sounds exactly like everything else. Everybody is struggling and falling all over themselves to sound just like Nelly/Beyonce, Ashlee Simpson or Blink-182 to the point where there's just this complete lack of diversity. With this album, Men Without Hats don't care about being trendy - they get right up in your face and say, "We don't care if you think synthesizers are passe - we're going to do our own thing, we're going to do it with confidence and how do ya like that?!" And they've managed to straddle the line between sounding like the album was produced in 1984, yet at the same time sounding current.



This is a very welcomed return to form by Men Without Hats. I don't know what that other reviewer meant about this album being a "disappointment", unless the expectation was wanting to hear yet another version of or reference to "Safety Dance." Great song, but this band has much more to offer than that one timeless hit. MWH started out as a Synth band, and though I didn't follow them through their Rock period, I applaud them for at least expanding their horizons a bit and trying something new. And now they are back in their original form; more mature, yet still fun, so if you liked them in the 80s, you'll like this.



While this album may not be as satisfying as their concept album "Pop Goes The World", I'm sure they weren't trying to top it either. They simply have achieved what they set out to do - win over their old fans (which they've done with me), as well as attract any new Synth Pop fans by creating a great, positive, catchy album."

Mixed review beyond this point

Stephen Dyer | seattle, WA USA | 11/17/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"MWH used to be one of my two all-time most favorite bands when I was a teenager (The other being the Eurythmics), and I can still listen to "Rhythm of Youth" or "Folk of the 80's (Part's I and III) and love what I am hearing.



Allot of time has passed since then and my tastes have expanded or 'moved on' since the heydays of synth-pop, evolving into the darker, more aggressive and dance-oriented Industrial and Goth music that filled my world in late 80's and early 90's. (People familiar with the genre would probably understand this....MWH as a group doesn't exactly "mesh" with such bands as Skinny Puppy, Front 242, KMFDM, Ministry or Nitzer Ebb :-) )



Curiosity won over though and I picked up a copy. The first listen through seemed to confirm everything the AMC reviewer had said. The meager 10 song selection was a 100% regression to MHW's earliest days, only without even a real percussion backup or guitar support (the guitar "riff" in Telepathy sounds like it was sampled straight off of Rhythm of Youth) I will admit I did find it kind of cool that they pulled the old Synth used in Folk of the 80's and Rhythm out of mothballs.



The similarity however ends there. The 10 song selection seemed to be a simplistic mockery of the songs from the early days of the band that they were emulating. I also couldn't help but wince at the simplicity and repetitive nature of Ivan's lyrics. (Basically we're all dancing again, talking about rainbows and pushing that button "love") Having become used to rather more pointed and relevant lyrics in recent years it was almost embarrassing to listen too. The low point lyrically for me anyway was in first track where Ivan goes suddenly goes totally off the "topic" of the song and starts singing "There comes a time you must admit....hey these guys are pretty clever...they got us wanting more and more"



(Yeah...ok Ivan....sorry to disappoint but I bought your CD used so not so clever after all)



Some of the songs are real stinkers. "How does it feel" does not do Ivan's nominally stern sounding voice any favors while the accompanying vocals for 'Dreaming' are an off key grating of the senses. "Body" rivals "Dancing in the Moonlight" lyrically in terms of irrelevance.



Musically, despite Stefan's proud boasts on how he crafted all the music with brother Ivan at their own personal studio, is much more limited than in the early MWH's releases. I'm sorry, but as much of a fan as I am for 'synth' whether classic synth pop or it's black sheep offspring, 'Goth/industrial' NHBTP in my opinion suffers from a lack of range of instrumentation. The new synths Stefan uses are almost "Too" tinker-toy sounding and although some of fake percussion sounds decent in other sounds it's simply no substitute for the real thing, nor does the inclusion of their ex-moth-balled Syth machine fully save the day.



Doesn't sound like a review made by a former MWH nut who once wrote a fan-letter to the band does it?



That was the bad combined with the initial impression which was to reiterate....BAD.



Now on to the good. After all but throwing the CD out after the first couple of listens I gave it more chances and as I listened to it more and more, my attitude softened a bit. On the plus side, as another reviewer stated, the CD was a nice return to the 'heady days' of Synth pop which in of itself is not a bad thing. I remember raging at my other favorite band (Eurythmics) after they abruptly abandoned their Synth-pop roots in favor of Hard Rockin R&B (Be Yourself tonight) and then worse...slipping towards Adult contemporary with only a slight detour back to their roots with "Savage" (ironically an album that was similarly panned as is this one)



The difference there though was that after giving "those" records a 2nd chance, I realized that even if they weren't playing to my specific genre that the songs were never-the-less well crafted and quite sophisticated showing a growing maturity in their songwriting.



Well I can't say that for NHBTP but I can say that if you're an active or former MWH fan, this CD can be worth it as an amusement. Christina's World, California, Telepathy, Hey Superstar and Dancing in the Moonlight (sans the self serving lyrical detour) turned out to be ok, even good syth pieces who's chorus lines will stick in your memory like butter after a few short listens. The surprise of the CD may be the last track. A criminally short stroll down "memory lane" that not only evokes a fondness for things past in each of our lives but also evokes a memory that Ivan can craft more sophisticated lyrics when he puts his mind to it.



Listening to my older MWH's tapes to compare seemed to confirm it for me. NHBTP is not a complete stinker after all, but it certainly doesn't rank among their best either. Folk of the 80's (the original EP), Rhythm of Youth and Folk Part III are all clearly superior pieces of Synth Pop while Pop Goes the World is a classic that showed to the world that MWH was capable of crafting sophisticated, even lush song work combined with great storytelling. I can't exactly say whether NHBTP is better than Adventures of Women/men. Its certainly not as droll or weighted down as the former (which after 'Pop' turned out to be my first major "disappointment" with the band's work) but it's also not as sophisticated. The former also contained more of Ivan's solo piano work, something he was always very very good at. I've not yet listened to Sideways, but i'm curious. (MWH a grunge band??!!)



Overall i'd recommend the CD to fans of the band but i'd also recommend buying it used, especially if importing. While ultimately being happy with the purchase I can't escape the thought that for Ivan and Stefan, this CD was only a half effort on their part and a quick way to make a buck. I know they can do better than that."

Typical Hats

CNute | United States | 12/16/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD comes from a band not afraid to do what they will and again Stefan and Ivan did what they wanted, then delivered. It may be synth overload for some as its more than just a taste of Synth Pop, its a whole damn meal. Catchy tunes, fun lyrics, just what you would expect from MWH. I would not rate it as high as Pop Goes the World, as I don't think the music is as varied. Then again, these albums represent different times and places. Listeners will be happy to hear the music is still anchored to Ivans voice, as it should be. Check out www.menwithouthats.com . Be sure to leave a message or two on the Cyboard, just ignore Gruff. Check your hats at the door."