Donna Summer - Bad Girls (Dlx) (Dig)

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Music reviews of Bad Girls (Dlx) (Dig)

Music Review: One of the best albums ever, period.
Rating: 5 Stars

Now, Universal Chronicles has rereleased "Bad Girls"; an installment in their wonderful Deluxe Edition series, it is a double-disc set that lavishes the record with the respect it deserves.

Disc One contains the original album, remastered with 24-bit technology. The record's opening salvo is the brilliant one-two punch of Hot Stuff (#1 pop) and Bad Girls (#1 pop). Unlike much of Donna's earlier material, these perennial tracks cannot be merely classified as disco; they are incredible dance songs, yes, but they also signalled tremendous musical growth for Summer, who decided to incorporate rock elements into Hot Stuff, and flamenco guitar/ R&B influences into Bad Girls. Indeed, it is her willingness to experiment that has led to such career longeivity. And she was never a producer's pawn -- she coproduces several tracks here, and cowrites eight of them; later, she would take even more control.

"Love Will Always Find You" extends the theme of tawdry sex and cheap love (Bad Girls was envisioned as a concept album about prostitution), adding a throbbing brass section in for good measure. Its ballad-ready title belies its addictive beat. The downbeat "Walk Away" (#36 pop) and the celebratory "Dim All The Lights" (#2 pop) follow in quick succession; both are classic dance tracks that benefit from Donna's incredible performance and propitious sequencing. As she 'walks away' from love, heartbroken, we segue into the hope that new love brings on "Dim All The Lights". But these songs would be nothing without her incredible delivery -- listen to her exquisite intonation and the emotion she injects into her sonic story.

"Journey To The Centre Of Your Heart" (reminiscent of "Love Will Always Find You"), "One Night In A Lifetime", and the hopelessly addictive - and very sexy - "Can't Get To Sleep At Night" are shimmering mid-tempo dance cuts about sexual and emotional infatuation. But if you thought that Donna could only do disco and dance, witness the tender beauty of the piano ballad "On My Honor", the slightly operatic "There Will Always Be A You", and the jazzy "My Baby Understands". These tracks showcase Donna's vocal abilities and stylistic versatility (there are even country influences in "On My Honor") and they rank among my favorite Summer album tracks.

And now we arrive at the electronica section of the album -- "Our Love", "Lucky" and the haunting closer "Sunset People". These tracks are bathed in synthesizers and electronic quirks, and are perhaps the most beautiful (and influential) on the album. "Our Love" is absolutely stunning, an obvious forerunner of the Eurythmics "Love Is A Stranger" and New Order's seminal "Blue Monday" (in fact, "Blue Monday" steals a hook directly from "Our Love"). It falls into the "why was this not released as a single?" category, and its abrupt ending has been replicated countless times. "Lucky" is incredibly sensual, one of the best things she's ever recorded. And "Sunset People", a song that details the seedy nightlife of the sunset strip, is a perfect end coda to the emotional and sexual odyssey that is "Bad Girls".

If this is where the record had stopped, I wouldn't have minded. But the suits at Universal have also bestowed a gorgeous set of remastered bonus tracks on us. First up is a soulful take on Bad Girls (it's the much-talked-about demo version). Disc Two is devoted entirely to 12-inch versions of Donna's best songs. We get "I Feel Love", "Last Dance", the superb 17-minute "MacArthur Park Suite", "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "Walk Away", "Dim All The Lights", as well as the rare extended editions of "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (available only on the Casablanca box set) and "On The Radio" (heretofor unavailable on a Summer collection). Combine this with beautiful liner notes, all the original LP art faithfully replicated, and a gorgeous fold-out four-panel digipack case, and you truly have a Deluxe Edition to treasure.

This album is a classic tribute to Donna's artistry and longeivity. Remastered and expanded, this is the definitve version -- worth buying all over again.

Description of Bad Girls (Dlx) (Dig)

Blues CDs

• Music > Styles
• Dance & Electronic
• Pop
• R&B