Description
Japan press with OBI-strip and a 4 page booklet
Although the band would eventually make a comeback at the end of the 90’s this 1982 follow up album to Autoamerican didn’t find Blondie in a very good personal space. There were a number of reasons for that. Obviously Debbie Harry was beginning a solo career and the other members of the band were continuing to have confused feelings about her own personal success. Also fellow bandmate,often lover Chris Stein had begun to fall ill and soon he and Debbie would disappear from the public eye completely. Also something else was happening. The entire new wave scene that Blondie had helped jumpstart during the late 70’s was exploding in the early 80’s with everyone from The Police,Duran Duran and very soon Cyndi Lauper mining just about every path Blondie opened up to be explored. So where did that leave the band themselves? Well,honestly in a very confused place musically. In terms of production this is a very glossy album. Any rawer rock, jazz or funk elements heard in the bands music up to this point were very very smoothed out by this point and sometimes it served to rob more energy from the songs than they should have. Strong dance-funk style grooves such as Dragonfly,The Beast and Warchild would’ve achieved a fuller flower if the strong slickness of the sound had been substituted for strong production and,trust me there IS an important different. Orhid Club,Island Of Lose Souls and the closing cover of Smokey Robinson’s The Hunter Get’s Captured By The Came expand on a more brooding variation of the avante garde-ish Caribbean/reggae new wave hybrid that made itself present on the previous album;again,the glossiness of the sound doesn’t really bring out the spice in the music. It would seem that Blondie’s trouble here was their beginning to emphasize style over substance. They never had any problem with either but now that seemed to be changing. Little Caeser and the 60’s pop flavored Danceaway and English Boys are all strong enough songs but don’t really break any new ground. So if your a Blondie fan and want everything they ever did this will still be worth your while but if your just getting into them this isn’t exactly some lost classic you’ll need to start your collection.
Track list:
1. Orchid Club
2. Island Of Lost Souls
3. Dragonfly
4. For Your Eyes Only
5. The Beast
6. War Child
7. Little Caesar
8. Danceway
9. (Can I) Find The Right Words (To Say)
10. English Boys
11. The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game-Smokey Robinson cover