Blondie

Blondie - Blondie

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Category: Music CD
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CD Details

Artist: Blondie
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2001-09-11
Music Label: Capitol / Chrysalis
Soundtracks:

X Offender
Little Girl Lies
In The Flesh
Look Good In Blue
In The Sun
A Shark In Jets Clothing
Man Overboard
Rip Her to Shreds
Rifle Range
Kung Fu Girls
The Attack Of The Giant Ants
Out in The Streets (demo)
The Thin Line (demo)
Platinum Blonde (demo)
X Offender (single version)
In The Sun (single version)

Music reviews of Blondie

Music Review: Begging To Be Rediscovered
Rating: 5 Stars

It took me 30 years to discover that Blondie's self-titled debut album from 1976, along with it's follow-up "Plastic Letters" are arguably as good as their critically-acclaimed "Parallel Lines" which sold 20 million copies.

Thankfully, I took another Amazon reviewer's recommendations seriously and picked both these CDs up and instantly fell in love with them.

Blondie's first album is an amazing mix of '60s girl group pop, new wave, and rock and sounds nothing like what was being played on Top-40 radio in 1976. The material has a built-in retro kitsch factor that doesn't really date it.

Tongue-in-cheek lyrics prove that Blondie, (like another of my favorite bands, The B-52's) never took themselves too seriously and were always in on the joke.

"X-Offender" (the record company was scared of the original title "Sex Offender") is a great opener and has Debbie assuming the role of a hooker being attracted to her arresting police officer. The spoken intro is quite reminiscent of The Angels' "My Boyfriend's Back" with Clem Burke's drumming subsituting for handclaps. Prominent organ and tambourine make this track sound very much like it was recorded for a 1966-67 period piece film.

The girl-group sound continues in the uptempo "Little Girl Lies" (in which handclaps DO make an effective appearance), then in the slow number "In the Flesh".

"Look Good in Blue" has Debbie singing "I could give you some head and shoulders to lie on" and features memorable piano and synth backup.

Debbie shouts "Surf's up!" to open "In the Sun", which could have been at home on any beach-party movie soundtrack (if it had been directed by John Waters maybe). Clem Burke's drumming makes this track one of the better offerings.

"A Shark in Jet's Clothing" conjures up visions of New York gangs or something out of "West Side Story". Again, the synth keyboards make this one memorable (it comes as no surprise Jimmy Destri wrote this).

"Man Overboard" is a somewhat funkier track with great backup vocals and guitar solo.

"Rip Her to Shreds" is another winner. Debbie sounds so sassy on this track, with her cutting remarks and put-downs, and the band really shines as a unit. It has great drums, guitar, keyboards and background vocals.

I detected a slight Jefferson Airplane influence on "Rifle Range", another enjoyable track.

Though not one of the better songs, "Kung Fu Girls" is a rollicking number that showcases Burke's amazing drum skills.

Perhaps the biggest oddity on the album is the closer "Attack of the Giant Ants" which opens with a tribal, conga-like beat before the memorable keyboard riff kicks in (it will stick in your head all day). A fake-out ending and bizarre '50s horror-movie sounds fill the middle section before the song resumes. It strangely ends with random piano-bar music.

Having this gem on CD would be good enough, but there are 5 bonus tracks included here. There are alternate takes of "X Offender" and "In the Sun" as well as demo recordings of "Out In the Streets", "The Thin Line" and "Platinum Blonde" (which is the best of these IMO). None of these are outstanding but it is nice that the studio included some bonus material.

For those less-than-diehard Blondie fans like myself who never paid this release much attention due to the absence of hit singles, I strongly recommend it.

More Blondie free music reviews:
1 2 3

Description of Blondie

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