Sparks go Adult Contemporary
Dario Western | Brisbane, QLD AUSTRALIA | 10/26/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Although this album received rave reviews in the Sparksound newsletter back in 1988, when first released on their own Fine Art label, attitudes to it have chilled.
Recorded at Russell's home studio "The Pentagon", this is considered to have been recorded during their 'dark' period. After the disturbing skewed avante-garde dance of 1986's "Music That You Can Dance To", Ron & Russ ditched their band and focused on their own sound, with the only outside musicians being Spencer Sercombe (Sharks guitarist), and second keyboardist John Thomas. Opening with the searing anthemic rock sounds of the single "So Important" (a Top 10 West Coast dance hit), the album showed Sparks flirting with the almost alien ideas to them of love and romance. "Just Got Back From Heaven" features UFOlogist Pamela Stonebrook on backing vocals and sounds like an advert for a department store. "You Got A Hold Of My Heart" has echoes of the old doo-wop/Tin Pan Alley days. You can just imagine someone like Michael Buble or George Michael covering this one. Sparks' attempt at funk on "Love O'Rama" features a grinding beat and the vocals hopping from one end of the stereo to the other. From here, the album slips into one big smoochfest with odes to unromantic girls ("The Toughest Girl In Town"), "Let's Make Love", even adultery on "Stop Me If You've Heard This Before". The closing cut "Madonna" is closer to the conventional Sparks reputation for satire featuring Russell's dream date with the platinum blonde with lots of platinum records.
About the only track on this album that Sparks fans and the general public will probably warm to is 'Lots Of Reasons' with some severely disjointed lyrics, and some Donna Summerish keyboards towards the end.
If your like your Sparks music ingenius with a quirky edge to it, this album will not appeal to your audio taste buds. However, if you want to introduce a lover to Sparks after a date with a glass of vino and a nice hot bath, then by all means get a copy of this album. It won't offend."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1