Search - Modern English :: Pillow Lips

Look mom, a shiny new frisbee

Josh | Boston, NY USA | 06/16/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I'm usually not one to write bad reviews unless I find something so bad I find it necessary to warn others. Enjoying their earlier material (especially the early postpunk/new wave classic After The Snow), I was excited to find this album used in a store for only a buck. After listening to it, I felt completely ripped off.The opening track, a well-done remake of their classic "I Melt With You", can easily lure you in. However, it's setting you up for a big fall. The album's other 9 tracks seem like filler.. Horrible, sugary, repetitive pop songs with no substance, each based primarily on 2 chord melodies. Most amateur songwriters I know could probably write the last 9 tracks on this album in about a day...and I can't think of anyone that would want to listen to any one of those songs more than once. In fact, I have to admit to writing this review without listening to the whole album all the way through myself because there were a few tracks I still haven't been able to make it all the way through. Basically, the album is almost entirely glossy production with no substance whatsoever. Then, to top it all off, the album clocks in at under 33 minutes! Apparently they only had the ability to write and record half an hour of horrible filler...go figure... Of course, on the other hand, the quality of the songs does give the album the interesting ability make those 33 short minutes seem like an eternity...If you really like glossy, mindless, totally generic pop, then you should listen to the samples and make up your own mind. Who knows, you might love this album even though I can't even fathom that possibility at the moment. Otherwise, there are only 3 reasons I can think of to buy this CD: 1. You only want the CD to put "I Melt With You" on repeat play (in which case After The Snow would still be a better purchase) 2. You want a really shiny frisbee to play with 3. You're a very sadistic interrogator in need of an effective new torture device.Definitely check out the band's earlier material, though. This album is very uncharacteristic of the quality of their work overall...chalk it up to lineup changes, an attempt to make a comeback and go mainstream, whatever...this one falls flat on its face."

Fade out

loteq | Regensburg | 07/26/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

""Pillow lips" was not the comeback it should have been. The line-up here is slightly different than on ME's first three albums, but that's not the main reason why this 33-minute disc is such an utterly disappointing affair. The songs are the weakest in ME's career and the overly slick production cuts off any edge. Also, the plastic drum machines and outdated synth sounds recall '80s pop music at its least inspired and have few in common with ME's once tasteful musicianship; much of "Pillow lips" is simply lifeless. I really wonder where the band which wrote such gems as "Gathering dust" or "Chapter 12" has gone. The only song that really stands out among the fair amount of undistinguished tracks is "I melt with you", a remake of ME's 1982 stateside hit single which comes up with new-recorded vocals. "Beautiful people" was also released on CD-single, however, both items failed to enhace the album's commercial appeal in Europe - it proved to be a serious flop. ME's first three albums, "Mesh and lace", "After the snow", and "Ricochet days", come highly recommended..."

Contrary to popular belief...

J. Reynolds | Houston, TX United States | 03/13/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This album was NOT a tribute to actress Barbara Hershey, who got collagen-inflated lips for her role in the chick-flick of all chick-flicks, "Beaches.""