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Album Details
- Artist: Goldfrapp
- Album: Black Cherry
- Label: Mute
- Year of Release: 2003
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-06-30
RecommendAllison Goldfrapp made her vocal debut on Tricky's amazing debut album, Maxinquaye. In 2000 she delivered her debut album with her partner and composer Will Gregory. They called it Felt Mountain and it went on to critical acclaim. The duo has now returned with their follow-up, Black Cherry and they have taken a bit of a different direction with it. Allison and Will venture down a little more of the hip electro-clash path than their previous poppy style. Black Cherry does have it's charm but seems to lose a little of what the duo had on Felt Mountain. Allison Goldfrapp's vocals are still the highlight here. Arrangements come second, but you can never put enough emphasis on the arrangements. This is what makes a diva shine. There are some tracks on Black Cherry that stand out but they seem to get lost in the mirk of the rest of the songs. I think Allison and Will need to regroup and come up with something that will blow us away. We all know they are capable and Black Cherry just isn't it. "Tiptoe" is a track that you should beg borrow or steal. It's the albums highlight and a direction that Goldfrapp should take. I can imagine this song being used in a James Bond film.
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on 2012-03-29 CharlesMartel Said:
Synth-Pop, as a genre, has left me rather cold since the end of the eighties. I am not sure why, but I cannot seem to work up the same enthusiasm for bands like Hot Chip, Cut Copy and Goldfrapp as I did for Ultravox, Depeche Mode and A Flock of Seagulls. Maybe it was the hair.
Goldfrapp's debut album, "Felt Mountain" received widespread critical acclaim but precious little in the way of sales. For some people I guess it was just too damn clever. So, what do Ms Goldfrapp and Mr Gregory do for a follow-up? They go completely the other direction. It is as if they felt that they needed to earn some cash after the commercial failure of " Felt Mountain" and therefore came out with a more commercially-oriented album.
"Black Cherry" is a cross between early-eighties electro-disco and Madonna. And that is being kind. The album has the stench of record company sell-out all over it. The rhythms are forced and very very artificial. The sound is cheesy and the grooves are repetitive in the extreme. Add to that the fact that the voice of Alison Goldfrapp, which is a good voice, don't get me wrong, is forced into grammatical and linguistic contortions which are as shameful as they are ridiculous.
Some of the songs, such as "Train" or " Twist" , are mildly fun and even energetic, but I overall the sort of cold dynamism which was a feature of " Felt Mountain" is lost here amongst a seemingly endless display of all that can go wrong in synth pop. The sound is tinny and grates after a while. There is a strong tendency to arouse the erotic rather than the intellectual in the music, which is a supreme example of bathos. Sure, they managed to achieve some of the commercial success which was desired, but at what cost? Any fans they had attraced with " Felt Mountain" would have been sorely put off by this effort. Well, I suppose there is something to be said for not trying to make the same record twice. But that is about the only positive thing I can say about this.
A conscious shift away from what they had been is evident. And it is sad. Critical acclaim is not going to pay the bills and anyone who says that music is not a business should listen to " Black Cherry " after " Felt Mountain " and try to say the same thing again with a straight face.
Rating: 2/10
