From: dave@bradley.bradley.edu (David Vessell)
Subject: Reviews: EBN, Sparks
Organization: Bradley University
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 02:27:07 GMT
Followup-To: rec.music.misc


Something new, something old....

EMERGENCY BROADCAST NETWORK  "Behavior Modification/We Will Rock you"
	b/w "Psychoactive Drugs"  [1992, CD5]  (TVT)

EBN are cut-up video artists from New England who recently received
attention by having their video featured in the U2 "Zoo TV" tour, but I
hope you won't hold that against them.  This single, taken directly from
the soundtrack of the video, only faintly suggests the mayhem EBN have
constructed for your VCRs, but that's okay.  It's good, dense, cut-up
industrial with lots of samples and stolen beats.

"Behavior Modification/We Will Rock You" is built on a fairly prominent
Queen sample and consists primarily of George Bush rearranged to be
espousing the virtues of rocking out.  Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and Dan
Rather all find their ways into the mix as well.  Three mixes appear on the
single:  the longest is lifted straight from the video.  The other two are
slightly shorter edits suitable for radio, more or less.

There are two mixes of "Psychoactive Drugs".  The longer contains the
introduction to the video in its entirety along with the song segment from
the video, the shorter is a nice to-the-point edit.  The entirety of the
lyrics are drug references (surprise surprise) juxtaposed in suitably
humourous fashions.  Bush, Clinton, et al. all make an appearance here as
well.

Without the benefit of the video, the tracks are entertaining and, well,
adequate.  I don't think any of this would blow you away or surprise you.
It's when they're heard along with the sights and sounds of the EBN video
that they truly come to life.  The TVT video is much shorter than the
original self-produced version (most likely because of copyright
considerations, I'd guess) but well worth getting.  However, if you're
nervious about slapping $20 down for it, or don't have a VCR (poor you),
the single will at least give you a taste of what you're missing.

davE rating: +2


SPARKS  _Sparks_in_Outer_Space_  [1983]  (Atlantic)

I remember hearing this album in high school, and even had a copy at one
time, but I lost it, but this southern Cal duo, brothers Ron and Russell
Mael, left an impression on me.  So while in a used record store in
Columbus this weekend I stumbled across a vinyl copy in the dollar bin and
jumped on it.

They've been around forever, with 15 albums on 8 record labels, this being
their 11th.  Discovered by Todd Rundgren in 1970, they started out as glam
rock, then morphed into a weird light art rock swing group by the latter
'70s, then used disco producer Giorgio Moroder to skip over disco entirely
and become hideously influential in the new wave movement.  Influential,
but never popular.  Their biggest selling album, _Terminal_Jive_ from 1980,
was never even released in the U.S.  IN 1982 they merged with the trio
Gleaming Spires ("Are You Ready for the Sex, Girls?" from Revenge of
the Nerds) and with the modest success of the single "I Predict", they
looked like they were finally hitting their American stride.

_SiOS_ marks the height of their popularity in the States.  The album opens
with their biggest U.S. hit, "Cool Places" a duet with Jane Wiedlin of the
Go-Gos.  The song bounces along with coy energy and sets up the rest of the
album, a lesson on how to make a flawless new wave album.  Bizarrely
humourous lyrics over Ron Mael's synth-driven arrangements.  The
appropriately bubble-headed "Popularity", "Praying for a Party" (which
bears more than a passing resemblance to "I Predict"), and "All You Ever
Think About is Sex" (the completely ignored second single) are all just
plain great, though the side ends with the rather mundane "Please Baby
Please" causes a bit of an energy loss.

Side two regains momentum with "Rockin' Girls" and the lyrically-perfect "I
Wish I Looked a Little Better", an ode to being butt-ugly:  "Dress for
success / That's what they said / Give me some clothes to slap over my
head."  The other Wiedlin duo, "Lucky Me, Lucky You", isn't quite so
memorable.  Slower songs have never been Sparks' strong suit.  The album
coasts from there, "A Fun Bunch of Guys From Outer Space" and "Dance
Goddammit" having just enough momentum to not spoil the mood.

For most people, Sparks is an acquired taste.  Russell Mael had pretty much
given up the ear-splitting falsetto he indulged in on their early albums.
The most interesting feature here is Ron Mael's tastefully sparse keyboards
and arrangements.  Beyond this album, Sparks went back to doing what they
do best, being artful, catchy, and obscure, but for awhile they flirted
with real success.  The album is still in print on cassette, and vinyl
copies will be easy to find in used record stores, so there's not much risk
in trying this album out.  Hell, you might even like them, and if you do,
you might want to check out their 1991 double-album career retrospective
_Profile_, on Rhino Records.  Sure, it's cheesy and is starting to sound a
little dated, but they're no less fun a decade later.  Buy it.  Learn to
love it.

davE rating:  +3

-- 
*davE*   Making the world safe for intelligent dance music.  dave@bradley.edu.
########## David L. Vessell -- Bradley University Computing Services #########
Your shame is neverending. Just one psychological drama after another.-Erasure
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews,rec.music.industrial,rec.music.misc