Search - Village People :: Renaissance

JUMPING ON THE NEW WAVE TREND? HMM, LET'S THINK ABOUT IT...

Claude Bouchard Jr. | Frederick, MD | 01/03/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Definitely NOT your typical Village People album...the word "surreal" comes to mind. Originally released about a year after their film "Can't Stop The Music" bombed royally at the box office, and after disco had officially "died", this album shows what happens when a producer latches onto a musical trend with no prior experience in the field. The cover photo alone is enough to scare anyone away with the outlandish makeup and the pseudo-New Romantic clothes. Other than for a couple of excellent tracks, the rest is mere New Wave-wannabe music that teeters on the edge between Devo and completely ridiculous. The album starts with the two best tracks: "5 O'Clock In The Morning" and "(Do You Wanna) Spend The Night". Both of these are mid-tempo disco/pop and are presented here in their original extended album versions. The sound isn't typical VP disco but the album *is* worth buying for these two tracks alone. Play them loud and play them often because it's all downhill from there. "Fireman" is a passable attempt at funk. It's fairly catchy and I suppose we should be grateful it isn't as bad as the putrid funk tracks on the "In The Street" album that would follow a year later. "Jungle City" can best be described as dance rock VP-style. "Action Man" is a carbon copy of Devo's "Whip It". I suppose it had a few people doing the pogo back in 1981, but it's otherwise nondescript. The last three tracks are about food. They are so immensely ridiculous that you'll stare at your CD player in amazement at the sounds coming from it. Even the songs' themes are at odds with each other. "Big Mac" is, simply, a McDonald's commercial about the joys of eating at the Golden Arches. "Diet" is an ode to dieting (no, I'm not kidding). As much as I dislike it, I find myself hitting the repeat button a few times because, darn it, it's catchy. One of those stupid awful songs you love to hate. And finally, "Food Fight" is an insane pseudo-punk song that has none other than David Hodo screeching his lungs out to lyrics about hitting a teacher with apples, bananas, and pies. Truly juvenile and downright insulting to the VP's longtime fans.I'm very ambivalent about this album because I want to condemn it and the VP so much for foisting this garbage on us. True fans of this group deserve *much* better. On the other hand, the first two tracks are excellent and, while they don't exactly redeem the whole thing, they do make this a must-have if you're a VP fan. Without these two songs, the album would rate one star."

For fans only

Peter | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | 09/21/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a huge Village People fan, and my friend sent me a video tape of every video they have ever done. I saw the two videos from this cd: Do You Wanna Spend The Night, and Five O Clock In The Morning. Both songs are excellent, but the videos are cheese at its best. You'll find it hard not to laugh. What perplexes me most about this cd is why the crazy change in direction? I heard that the guy who played the cowboy dropped out of the group when their manager decided on this weird direction. The cowboy wanted no part in the hideous makeup and Shakespearian costumes and so he smartly left. As for the music, the first five tracks are great, and the rest of the tracks are just unbelieveably bad. McDonalds should be paying them royalties for their song about Big Macs. That song, and the songs called Diet and Foodfight are bad writing at its most juvenile. I doubt any of the Village People wrote those songs. It's hard to believe that the group that put out such great songs as YMCA and In The Navy ended up with what is on the second half of this cd. It's so bad it's worth owning this cd just for the cheese factor alone. The first two songs are the best on the whole cd. I don't know why Do You Wanna Spend The Night wasn't promoted more as a single because it's a solid track and is as catchy and great as any of their other hits. That song, and Five O Clock In The Morning are the only two reasons to buy this cd. I'm rating this cd 3 stars for those songs alone. I'd actually rate them much higher. The rest of the cd is all downhill. It's too bad that this cd is what officially killed their career and popularity. No, actually i think it was the movie called Can't Stop The Music that killed them. WHich is too bad because they are a very entertaining novelty act."