The B-52's - Funplex
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Free Music Notes for Funplex
Free Music Review: Well Worth the Wait!
Hit: 5 Stars
If you were around when the B-52s first hit the music scene (like I was--man! I'm old!), you'll think you've been transported back to the '80s when you listen to this tour de force. But somehow it sounds as if it's coming through a time-warp from the future. Well, the B-52s ARE timeless. And happy, happy, happy!
These old friends of mine astonish me with this album. It's fresh, new, but very familiar. Cindy and Kate sound better and cuter than ever, and Fred still has that great white-nerd rap goin' on! Just try to keep from dancing all over the living room with this CD spinning! The mix is crisp and the electronic accents are great additions to the good old-time rock guitar from Keith Strickland.
This album's going to get worn out from too much play this summer! Yeah! Keep doin' what you're doin' 'cause it's what *I* like!
10 out of 10! Album of the year! Grammys all around! Thanks again, you fabulous four! Ricky would be so proud.
Free Music Review: Perfect party music, as usual!
Hit: 5 Stars
I have all the B-52's CDs and this newest one I have been playing (and drumming along with) almost constantly since I got it. Love it love it love it. They haven't changed their "formula", why should they? They still sound fresh and as usual it's impossible to sit still through the songs - and who would want to? "Funplex" will be playing in my car and in my home stereo throughout this upcoming summer!Free Music Review: I Don't Want To Clash. I Don't Want To Re-Hash The Past.
Hit: 3 Stars
I want to be fair about reviewing "Funplex", the B-52's first album in 16 years. I want to give both positive and negative information to those thinking about buying this disc.
I have all of the B-52's albums with my favorites being 1979's "The B-52's" through 1986's "Bouncing Off Satellites". Although, if pressed, I would offer up 1983's "Whammy" as my top favorite.
I am still sick of "Cosmic Thing" with "Love Shack" and "Roam" still feeling overplayed 19 years later.
I think 1992's "Good Stuff" is their worst effort.
All of this said, "Funplex" is three and a half stars for me. Like another reviewer said, it is somewhat bland overall, but there are really good songs here like "Pump" which totally reminded me of something from "The B-52's" or "Wild Planet". "Pump" really kicks things off in style, and it's a song that makes you glad to have the band back in action.
This is followed by "Hot Corner" which I found weak. One of the weakest tracks on the cd. "Ultraviolet" is slightly better.
"Juliet Of The Spirits" is great. It should be a hit. The title track, "Funplex" is also good. As is "Eyes Wide Open" and "Love In The Year 3000".
Then things begin to fall apart with the lame "Deviant Ingredient" and "Too Much To Think About". This is slightly recovered with the good "Dancing Now" and then rather weak "Keep This Party Going".
So, is the cd consistent, does it hold together as a whole? Yes. Are there some weak tracks that slightly derail the fun? Yes. Is this better than "Good Stuff"? Yes. Have the B-52's incorporated modern sounds into their own sound effectively? Sort of--I think if they do another album they might hit the jackpot, but "Funplex" is a step in the right direction, and like another reviewer said, it really is great to have them back so I won't complain that much! "Funplex is just slightly above average, and I know the band has one more great album in them.
Free Music Review: They are in top form!
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember being just a kid when I saw them on SNL doing "Rock Lobster," back in '79 or '80, and thinking at the time "they're really weird." I wasn't an instant fan, but felt oddly drawn to them. Over the years, I took notice of their more mainstream stuff (I was rather sheltered and never sought out music that I wasn't rather mundanely exposed to), such as I'd see on MTV, and as of "Cosmic Thing" I began to check out more of their older stuff and have considered myself a fan for a few years now.
However, nothing prepared me for what I'd feel with upon hearing this magnificent CD. I don't think I have ever loved an entire album so much upon the first listen, and "infectious" (to quote another reviewer) is an entirely appropriate adjective for this collection of songs.
I find it to be the perfect blend of their early, raw party sound, and the more highly-produced sound of their later years. This is classic, prime B-52s here, folks; it doesn't get any better than this. The songs from this CD stay with me even after I've stopped listening to them (which, I admit, can be maddening if one is in a circumstance--such as at work--where the CD can't be played).
I find that the best venue for this CD is in a car with a great stereo system, on a sunny-day highway. It is the ultimate road-trip music, and I can't help but crank it up so loud that I fear I'll blow out my speakers. And that is saying a lot: I'm about to turn 41 and I very rarely do that (or even feel like doing that). So thank you, B-52s, for staying the course and doing what you do best: making great, uplifting, bizarre and fun music that inevitably makes people move and smile. This is one of the rare bands that just keeps improving with age, and I can't help but wonder if or how they could top this terrific CD. BRAVO!!
Free Music Review: Ego-Free Vitality in an Age of Exhaustion and Angst
Hit: 5 Stars
The music of the B-52's, for me, has always been an acoustic narcotic. Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson have got to be the two most emotive singers I have ever heard (Mahalia Jackson comes in a pretty close second), and they contrast beautifully, the former being the tortured one (think "Hero Worship," "Give Me Back My Man," or "Ain't It A Shame") while the latter is all sunshine and positivity (think "Revolution Earth" or "Housework"). Fred Schneider is Fred Schneider; he can't sing and he can't dance, and he's brilliant at both.
Keith Strickland has the impossible job of compensating for the absence of Ricky Wilson, and it has to be said that he is the main brain behind the reinvention of the band. In his minimalism, Ricky Wilson was a fantastic guitarist. "Funplex" is the first post-Ricky album to capture the riff-happy playfulness of his style, and the album has a buoyancy and lift that "Cosmic Thing" and (especially) "Good Stuff" lack. It seems Strickland has learned from Ricky Wilson to keep it simple, straightforward, and energized.
There is nothing around today that sounds this exuberant. I'm thrilled that the B-52's are back, but it is something of a sad commentary that music nowadays, for the most part, simply isn't fun like this. Just because it's "party music" doesn't mean it isn't or can't be important (think Motown during the early 1960s). Yes, the B-52's are political (not that Amazon is the place to make that argument).
When I heard Steve Osborne was producing, I cringed a bit. He was ideal for New Order, but the B-52's sensibility seemed antithetical to the extremely polished tendencies of Osborne. I was totally wrong; Keith Strickland's choice to work with him was a stroke of genius (if only other vintage acts would make such a move). Osborne and the band really meet each other halfway, a truly inspired collaboration.
To really appreciate the production value of the album, you need to listen to it in full stereo on a more-than-decent system (it sounds muddy in my car and overly compressed on my mp3 player).
It amazes me how some people make their minds up so quickly, and have decided that the album is something of a letdown without really letting it grow on them. Remember, it took "Cosmic Thing" months to catch on. I have found that the more I've listened to it, the better it has gotten. The songs I initially didn't care for ("Dancing Now," "Deviant Ingredient") have become my favorites. Just no pleasing those dimestore critics out there, I guess.
I don't mean to sound greedy, but this can't be their last album...