4 Non Blondes
Bigger, Better, Faster, More!

THE REVIEW

The year was 1992; here a band was completing what would become an international success, the first and last work of the 4 Non Blondes. The world was changing at that time; Music was progressively changing. And so, while the great Kurt Cobain was climbing the charts around the world with Smells Like Teen Spirit, a small group of young friends was just debuting in their career, probably unaware of unleashing a quick dart of innovation, a great shake to the international musical scene.

It's an incredible album, almost perfect, that should be listened to in its entirety and immediately, without the external world distracting you from that Masterpiece; it's a shout, this album, and let it shout in peace, you won't regret it. It's also a very varied album, talking about genres: the predominant one is undoubtedly Rock, but you certainly can't say that "Bigger, Better, Faster, More!" is just rock; there's also a strong trace of blues, especially in the first two tracks, like dance, in the latter part... It's a very sweet conjunction (we could also say a very tasty medley!) of genres that, for every song, for every melody and for every note, perfectly and masterfully build the body of the work; the solid voice of Linda Perry leads unchallenged to talk about various subjects: sex, drugs, anger, regret, despair... but beware, don't be too influenced by the words: it's a shout, remember! And you have to take it as such.

As I mentioned before, the album starts with a strong blues charge: the magnificent "Train" opens the parade, and already Perry's fascinating shouts and the complexity of the melodic structure put you on alert. Then, from better to best, it moves to "Superfly"; you feel half-dazed and ecstatic by the elegance of the beginning and then, upon hearing the third song, you can't take it anymore: here lies not perhaps the most beautiful, but yet the most fitting and, moreover, the most famous song of the entire work: "What's Up?", the one whose irresistible little tune goes heyheyhey et cetera. This one wears you out; in a positive sense, of course. Then, after the beautiful "Pleasantly Blue" in which blues is still the undisputed protagonist, it moves on to "Morphine & Chocolate": here's the best, and don't say no; it imparts such a charge that you can't even find it in "Strange Kind of Woman" (and consider that I'm an unimaginable Deep Purple fan), such emotion that you don't even find in "Dream On" by Aerosmith (and whoever has heard "Dream On" by Aerosmith will struggle to believe me); try it to believe it. Proceeding, we arrive at "Spaceman", a great song, the so-called 'romantic' of the moment, which would be perfect if the chorus continued with one more verse: this certainly doesn't excessively damage the entire track, which for me is still one of my favorites, but I bet anyone would be impelled to take pen and paper to adjust the lyrics and call Perry, even demanding to sing "Spaceman" again, immediately!, or else they're screwed.
Then we go through the magnificent "Old Mr. Heffer", and here we notice with utmost pleasure a bit of blues and a bit of jazz, present in the exquisite and immediate alternation between the wild and shouted chorus and brief pieces where the words are barely whispered in a rather mischievous way; from here the very danceable "Calling All The People" that feels like Prince, Michael Jackson, dazzling lights, and the '80s; and here, enough said. Even now, as in "Spaceman", but to a greater extent, a sort of anger comes over you: again, the chorus is too short and stops too abruptly, ugh! The result? Another phone call to Linda Perry.
We then move on to the touching and calm "Dear Mr. President", the more lively "Drifting" which carries an almost unreal atmosphere and, finally, the rock-laden "No Place Like Home"