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Rating: Sometimes They Come Back.
Who would have ever thought of the return of one of the most seminal and often underrated rock bands of the last forty years? 32 years after the band's last and second album, and especially after the death of three-fifths of the group?
Let's immediately state that the album is as enjoyable and skillful as a Rolling Stones album could be in the last twenty years: no surprises, few sharp guitars like in the '70s, a wise balance between rougher rock'n'roll songs and slow, melodic ones. For a couple of years, the surviving members, DAVID JOHANSEN and SYLVAIN SYLVAIN, have gotten the show back on the road with famous (the former HANOI ROCKS, SAMI YAFFA) and less famous unknowns, to once again tour the world performing their old songs live.
Now, whether for fun or for mere money?! here comes the band's recording comeback, which in the '70s simultaneously anticipated two musical movements: the eighties Glam street and the seventies punk rock. Certainly, one might wonder, for hours, what purpose is served by a lineup missing its key members who have passed on: JOHNNY THUNDERS, JERRY NOLAN, and ARTHUR DANE were difficult to replace. Thus, this reunion becomes a sort of two-man project in which JOHANSEN dominates with his voice, roughened by time and something else. It starts well with two good rock'n'roll tracks, WE'RE ALL IN LOVE with its harmonica inserts and RUNNIN' AROUND with the refrain that instantly gets stuck in your head.
By the third song, PLENTY OF MUSIC, the pace slows with a slow and romantic ballad. DANCE LIKE A MONKEY is the catchy track chosen as a single. PUNISHING WORLD, FISHNETS & CIGARETTES, GOTTA GET AWAY FROM TOMMY are a nice old-school rock trio, punctuated by MAIMED HAPPINESS, a ballad in which JOHANSEN sings with a Dylan-esque voice. The first guest is MICHAEL STIPE from REM, who duets on the beautiful DANCING ON THE LIP OF A VULCANO, followed by the mainstream I AIN'T GOT NOTHIN'.
There's still time for the punkish rock'n'roll of RAINBOW STORE and GIMME LUV & TURN ON THAKE E LIGHTAKE A GOOD LOOK AT MY GOOD LOOKS where the second guest, the old friend IGGY POP, appears. It all closes with T and the bonus track SEVENTEEN available in the limited edition of the CD along with a DVD showcasing the "Making of the ALBUM". Far from the self-destructive times of the '70s, this album brings back a band capable of still writing fun songs, far from the provocation of the good old days, but hopefully able to encourage younger generations to explore the two hidden treasures recorded more than thirty years ago and to restore importance and prestige to a band that deserved more.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
06 Maimed Happiness (03:02)
It's a maimed happiness
I keep trying to acquiesce
It's like a tempestuous child
You play with and humor to keep
Quiet as you possibly can
Til finally it goes to sleep
Life takes a lot of finesse
It's a maimed happiness
Keep myself to every way
Both refined and uncouth
Then maybe once in a while
I can be with the truth
Don't know if there's that much to be said
For this world, or the time that we spend
I doubt that I'd wanna live
This wasted life over again
Yeah I been to the doctor
Said there ain't much he can do
"You got the human condition
Boy, I feel sorry for you."
There's a sorrowful joy
I known since hours ago
Joyful sorrow, I guess
It's a maimed happiness.
11 Rainbow Store (02:58)
Seen you rocking the Rainbow store
That pretty little doll that I`d seen before
Stayed too long with the borderline
My emotional landscape one street mind
Was lifting my heart to not cause a stir
She knew I was watching her
Looking like the lover that gave all things for
Starting getting glad that I was born
She walked right up to me
Said "What`s it gonna be?"
At the Rainbow Store
She came over and she pulled my hair
Said hey boy What cha doing here?
Just shopping for my sister, it`s a birthday suit
She knew it wasn`t true but whe was cool.
Pushed my neck up against the elevevator door
Kissed me like I`ve never been kissed before
Made a face so sweet in me,
I went down like a submarine
She walked right up to me
Said What`s it gonna be?
At the Rainbow Store
Went all the way down to New York this (?)
It felt like almost happiness
Never thought I`d find myself here
Without guilt and without fear
I never knew it could be all right
I never knew bliss that could be all night
You never know ___ spare all the language says
Was a lifteing complete was an illusion to me
She walked right up to me
Said What`s it gonna be?
At the Rainbow Store
She walked right up to me
There went my ennui
At the Rainbow Store
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