Review:

on 2011-02-20 CharlesMartel Said:

My flirtation with the mainstream in the mid-eighties took me to some odd places. None was odder than this strange little one off from Dutch combo, the Art Company. I doubt I would have even heard of this had I been living in the UK at the time, but as I was abroad, and English language song which was commercial enough would find its way onto the radio or down in the clubs. And it was this which brought itself to my attention and led me to go out and buy the album.

The song in question was "Susannah" which was a minor hit for the band. It is a catchy number without being too taxing. Hardly a dance number, in spite of the stomping beat, it was the sad tale of a young man who had invited over a girl he was going to chat up, and then just at the crucial moment when he was about to make his move, the phone rang and killed the atmosphere. We have all been there.

What made "Susannah" interesting was that it had this pseudo live feel where the studio crew joined in and made it feel like there was an audience there when it was recorded. It was probably recorded largely in one take, with a few minor additions later. Whatever! It sounds like they all had a pretty good time making it. Whether you will have anything like as a good a time listening to it is entirely another matter. However, I did, and I bought the album on the strength of it, singles being unobtainable.

As for the rest of the album, all nine other tracks, I find it hard to say anything positive about any of them. The remainder of the album is indescribably bland. Imagine this: you make an album where one track is backed by nine tracks of filler. Well if you want to know what that sounds like, then listen to this. It is as if the rest of the album was just put there simply to provide something else to accompany the leading track, "Susannah". Frankly much of this is wallpaper music - you only notice it when it is not there. I doubt you could remember any of the other tracks on it within hours after you have played it. I know I could not. That is hardly a glowing recommendation for any sort of pop album. It is years since I heard any of them. It will probably be years before I ever hear them again, if ever.

As for the band itself, I know almost nothing about them. As a result, I can only go by my impressions. I know they are Dutch, but that is about it. The album strikes me as having been the work of a bunch of session musicians who have tried to produce perfect pop and came up with this. The presumption is not unreasonable. Playing backing tracks to countless talentless pop acts would have given these guys an indication of what are the essential elements in good pop music. They have then set out to recreate them and unfortunately, failed. Now the Pet Shop Boys did this, but with startlingly greater success. The difference I think lies in the nature of the music. The Pet Shop Boys is dance music - without that it is nothing. This is nothing of the sort. Unlike the Pet Shop Boys, this lot do not really believe in what they are doing, and the shallow emptiness comes across strong in most of the tracks on this album.
Rating: 3/10