Motels - Shock
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Artist: MotelsEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1990-10-25
Music Label: Capitol
Free Music Notes for Shock
Free Music Review: "Shock" deserves a little more love than that!
Hit: 5 Stars
The Motels: "Shock" (1985). Their fifth and last album.
I'm a HUGE Motels fan. I have all of their albums on CD (including "Anthologyland" and Martha's solo album "Policy"), a bunch of odd items (like the "Moscow on the Hudson" soundtrack), and some bootlegs too. I think I'm one of the few people who's figured out that guitarist Tim McGovern (also of the bands The Pop and Burning Sensations) was their secret weapon circa 1980-1982--they ROCKED and also got somewhat experimental when he was with them. There's definitely more to this band than "Only the Lonely", "Suddenly Last Summer" and "Total Control", that's for sure. Anyway, I fought long and hard for a CD copy of "Shock" and the best I could do was a pirated version, but that works for me.
Now, first off, I agree that "Shock" is probably the Motels' least great album. It sounds every inch like its period and producer Richie Zito (of Giorgio Moroder fame) is definitely in firm control here, as he was on Martha's "Policy" album which followed this. But if you like keyboardy 80's pop music, you will at least find it tolerable and not be too embarassed when you listen to it. They center the keyboardiness around Martha's songwriting and voice and stay away from cheesy, shallow effects ("Shaka Kahn, Shaka-Shaka-Shaka Kahn..."). "Shock" and "Shame" are great tunes that speak very vividly and in the first person about rape and adultery, respectively (the videos are great too--pull 'em up on YouTube). "Icy Red" is a bit of a hodgepodge, but like Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", at least it's an interesting one. I wasn't crazy about "Hungry" originally, but now I love it and I can't expain why--not that it was ever a bad song to begin with.
Two of the best songs here are ones you'll NEVER hear on ANY compilation--"New York Times" and "Night by Night". "New York Times" swells with emotion like a Genesis or My Bloody Valentine song. "Night by Night" has a sneaky, whispery feel that makes it an appropriate closer for the album.
The Motels' truly atrocious music is the soundtrack work they did that shows up on Disc 2 of "Anthologyland" (think aerobics and Jazzercise here), but thankfully their albums (including "Policy") never went that direction. If you are new to the Motels, definitely start with one of the other albums (start with the remastered "All For One" with the "Apocalypso" tracks!), but once you get to "Shock", I think you'll find a lot to appreciate, assuming that you like (or don't mind) the keyboardy sounds of the period.
P.S. If you like Quarterflash's "Back into Blue" (which I also have), you should like this album too, although "Shock" is definitely not as effeminate sounding as "Back Into Blue" is.
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