Great rocking music, docked a bit for sound quality
James Zinn | Kansas City, MO | 02/25/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
""In Heat" is one of my favorite rock albums from my college days, when I was a college radio DJ at Kansas State, where I played it on the radio when first released. Even saw them live in the center of the 1st row of a show on the In Heat tour at The Uptown in Kansas City. Great ROCKING show with the band at the TOP of their game. Saw them October 2006 at the Double Door in Chicago, and they were pretty good and rocking then, too. Still a great band! Check them out if they play near you.
Anyway, I waited until a modern remaster of this album to come out to buy it. I have never owned nor heard the album Strictly Personal, so I can't judge it as well for sound. I am familiar with a few cuts of it just from the compilation CD's that are out. Those compilations pretty much suck for sound quality in today's terms; at least they are lacking in dynamics and are compressed. Great tunes, but I feel none of the currently available compilations tell the whole story in the best way. yadayada
I compared this version of this CD to my old well-played original vinyl LP of In Heat, and this CD is a disappointment. The vinyl actually sounds better. This CD is lacking in dynamics and sounds compressed. It seems this version has NOT been remastered, or at least with any surprises with sound. I used a good turntable and equipment to compare.
That is not to say this is not great music; In Heat was one of the great pop-rock albums of the mid-1980's. Played on the radio and elsewhere in its day.
If you want a BETTER representation of The Romantics, check out the live one from King Biscuit Flower Hour. NOW THAT ROCKS! Recorded just 2 weeks in San Antonio in 1983 before I saw them in KC, it presents the band at its peak and rocking hard!"
Personal Heat
Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 04/20/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The fourth and third albums from the great Detroit powerpop punks The Romantics were made by a band in transition. For "Strictly Personal," it shows. Changing producers from Pete Solley to Mike Stone (of Queen fame), SP sounds rushed and noisy, songs looking for refinement and not getting any. Mike Skill was out over the usual artistic difs, and his songwriting is missed. That is not to say the songs aren't any good, both "In The Nighttime" and "She's Hot" display The Romantics' custom flair for Merseybeat meets Detroit rock, and follow in the footsteps of What I Like About You. Stone's production is still a mismatch, though. Making "No One Like You" sound like the band was copping from The Scorpions was just wrong.
Everyone kissed and made up for the follow-up. Mike Skill rejoined the band for "In Heat," and Solley was called back to man the boards. The final result was the best album the band made since The Romantics and their greatest commercial success. Most of the credit there comes from "Talking In Your Sleep," one of the most perfect singles of the 80's. Combining a killer pop guitar riff with a Motown melody, "Talking In Your Sleep" hit number three on Billboard and ingrained itself visually as a video.
Solley reined back SP's excesses to make the sound more punky than metal. "Rock You Up" is a piece of party nonsense that sounds a little too much like "What I Like About You 2" for its own good, but it's better than anything on its predecessor. The Anglo-Influence echoes on the Dave Clark 5 sound-alike "Do Me Anyway You Wanna." "One In a Million" is prime skinny-tie new wave, and the cover closer "Shake a Tail Feather" is brilliant.
"In Heat" was the sound of a band that had hit its stride, even poking a little fun at it ("I'm Hip"). The Romantics pretty much derailed commercially after this (Rhythm Romance shed founding member Jimmy Marinos and much of the band's energy, then legal issues blocked The Romantics from doing anything for almost a decade). What holds my rating of this double set down is the sound quality, there's nothing to suggest that any kind of sonic upgrade has been made. Given that The Romantics are really due for a comprehensive Best Of, maybe someone will go in and give these tracks the respect they deserve."
Track Listings (21) - Disc #1