Blopito

Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10

Thanks to Pat Benatar's unexpected hit singles "Love is a Battlefield" and "Lipstick Lies," she decided to axe that whole AOR scene and concentrate on songs more on that art-pop vein. Why not? Her two previous albums weren't that good anyway, so a change-up was very warranted.

It's pretty obvious she took a hint from Kate Bush, one of her idols (remember, she did a pretty bland cover version of "Wuthering Heights" ... and that cover of Get Nervous is very reminiscent of our pixie queen hero). Yes, to my happy surprise, Benatar and her husband begins to explore some of the quirky and artsy sides of pop music. I don't think any of these songs are better than those two singles, which kind of disappointed me, but at least this album is altogether one of Benatar's more respectable releases. There are no weak spots!! Unlike her first four (and more popular) albums, this one doesn't seem to have as much filler material or uninspired covers.

Naturally, if you're actually aiming to compare this stuff to Kate Bush, you're going to find that it comes quite a bit short. (Remember, we're talking about The Dreaming-era Bush!!!) The point is, she's trying pretty hard, and it comes off well most of the time. Heck, she sure comes off better than Tori Amos! (... Yeah, I'm being serious about that statement.) It's like Benatar is Bush's little sister. She's nowhere near as talented, but she gives it all she's got without really being a copy cat. So who's to hate it?

Besides, I like a lot of these melodies anyway. And remember, Benatar has a great guitarist (Neil Giraldo! Her husband!). Instead of giving us a rip-roaring power riff or a freakishly awesome guitar solo, he goes more for the contemplative background stuff. Well, that's sometimes the best thing about these songs.

Now it's time to mention the factor that disappointed all the fans. This is not a hard rock album. As far as any equivalents of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," there isn't one. Benatar sings rather calmly thoughout with the occasional 'powerful' chorus. You can almost sense the restraint of her voice. On that same note, she does take mighty command over these songs. She's like a passive queen who chooses not to exercise all her power... That's not a bad thing, you know.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this effort. It's a shame its reputation for being non-hard-rock (thus anti-Benatar) seems to have sort of obstructed it from view.

Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10 (Benatar alienates her fan-base, but turns out her most interesting album to date. Heck, give me this over any lame-o AOR schlock anytime.)

Average Song Score: 8.6 (Nice songs altogether. The boring songs aren't long enough to be tedious, and the misfired songs are too quirky to dislike.)

Album Tilt: 8.5 ("Ooh Ooh Song" throws a monkey wrench at it, but it's not like I have a personal vendetta against that out-of-place track.)

Artist Rating: 8.5 (Benatar's branching out, but she's no genius. Nobody suspected she was. But the creativity ended up making this her best album until this point ... in my opinion, that is. The real fan will never look past Crimes of Passion nor should they!!!)

Track Reviews

Diamond Field 8/10

...Drum roll please... (Yeah! This song starts with a drum roll!) What ensues is a rather complex pop song with a detached drum beat. The song is rather entertaining with some nice little production tricks and a lot of Kate Bush posturing. The production is interesting (even notice how the song ends) and it's overall a decent foray into art-pop. The general problem is the melody is rather toneless.

We Belong 9.5/10

Just about as "art-friendly" as the previous track except the melody is pretty catchy. The song has two distinct sections. The first is a rather quiet and contemplative section featuring some mesmerizing, calculated synths. The second is a rather thunderous chorus with some percussion that sounds like a perverted version of stadium rock. The result is pretty interesting and entertaining!

Painted Desert 9/10

Quite a bit more mainstream here, but Benatar's singing like a normal adult contemporary musician. The term "art-pop" won't describe this one, but I like this song anyway. It has a nice pace and the production could have come out of any decade. The melody is excellent; its only sin is it's not too infectious. (That stop in the final third wasn't a very good idea. They should have just kept that smooth flow... That's a minor point, though.)

Temporary Heroes 8/10

Back to more of the weirdness ... the percussions sound like a much less crazy version of "Sat in Your Lap." But at least they're trying for something like that. The melody isn't that great here, but it holds pretty well together. The chorus manages to pick up some steam. All that "quirk" in the instrumentation at least helps things out. There's a nice echo effect in a few spots (...difficult to describe...)

Love in the Ice Age 9.5/10

Now this is a pretty damn good song. She comes pretty close to having a great song here if there only weren't a few spots in which it seemed like it was falling apart. The production limits the "quirks," but it still contains some pretty neat 'artsy' guitar plucking here and there. There's even a somewhat off-color drum beat, and a (rather simply played) piano pipes in during the final third. The real appeal to this song is the chorus, which just taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakes off!!!!!!!!!!

Ooh Ooh Song 7.5/10

One thing Kate Bush never did was new wave. She might have been called new wave a few times, because she emerged in the era, but that's incorrect. That's not to say Pat Benatar shouldn't do it, but ... that's probably one reason this song seems pretty out of place. Don't think this was a bad effort at all. The fast paced beat is pretty fun (the drums are a little too intrusive, though). The melody is fine but much more derivitive than the other material on the album. The rock organ has a goofy Elvis Costello feel. Overall, it's fine, but it much more trashy than this new art-friendly image Pat Benatar was going for.

Outlaw Blues 8/10

Back to the non-basics! The song begins all quiet and contemplative-like!! In fact, I swear I hear some Windows sound effects in here. The shuffley drum beat seems a little too odd here ....... it seems too busy than it needed to be. The melody is OK and Mr. Pat Benatar delivers a few fun guitar lines in the background. Overall, this is one of the weaker entries.

Suburban King 8/10

Pretty boring this time. The only reason I don't trash it is because it's not even two minutes long. They try pretty hard developing the atmopshere with some space-age sound effects in the background and Geraldo's contemplative guitar work. The problem is there is no melody.

Crazy World Like This 9/10

Good! At least make your music danceable!!! This is another one of the better songs. There's a few really excellent chord changes here or there even though the melody seems pretty derivitive sometimes. The orchestration is pretty fun. The drums are pretty constructive and I like the rhythm guitar. There's some nice uses of rhythm-changes for the "bridge" and the "chorus." (Who knows if I'm correctly using these terms.) Anyway, I find this song to be pretty fun. The melody is about as good as a usual adult contemporary song, but the instrumentation is quirky enough to elevate it a few notches above that. (There's a mightily goofy guitar solo here ... very interesting. Almost early Roxy Music like.)

Takin' it Back 9/10

The percussion is pretty busy, but decent this time (it still seems like it could have been more "layered" if that makes sense). They're trying to develop a sort of atmospheric synthscape, but they're mostly amateurs. Heck, I love the creativity anyway even if it isn't too innovative. Most of all, I love the melody here, though. The chorus has a really deathly hook that they don't seem to exploit enough. Oh well... it's just that much more alluring.

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