Word: soundness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...music that backs all this up is energetic, hypnotic, metallic, and impressive. It's also very reminiscent of the sound of Talking Heads. Not surprisingly, Devo's album was produced by Brian Eno, the same artist who produced that groups' most recent album. Eno has almost single-handedly brought innovation and creative excitement back into '70s rock; for Devo he's created a tight, technological sound that perfectly complements the band's ideas...
Casale shouts out "Are we not men?" like the enraged leader of a fanatical sect; the band answers with voices that are indescribable--but if de-evolution does exist, this is what it must sound like. The song moves through a section that sounds like a patriotic anthem, then builds into a frenzied repetition of question-and-response, Casale varying his emphasis in every possible way--"Are WE not MEN?" "ARE we not MEN?" "Are we NOT men?" The chorus mirrors his emphasis each time...
...whole thing would be laughable if Devo didn't sound so sincere. In their psychotic way, they do, unlike so many of the already-stereotyped razor-and-chain punks. But the system that governs the way popular music gets distributed in America has already latched onto the most unpleasant, alienated side of Devo in a futile and self-defeating shot at record sales through novelty. The band's appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live only gave the folks in Peoria a superficial look at Devo, and probably left them shaking their heads at the decadence of today's wasted...
...hard pressed to identify Dean Reed. But in the Soviet Union, the Denver-born country-and-western singer is more popular than Frank Sinatra. His frequent concert tours of Communist countries draw S.R.O. crowds; his songs, which frequently blend Marxist-inspired lyrics with twanging strains of the Nashville sound (one big hit: War Goes On), sell in the millions. Last week the 40-year-old singer gained a new notoriety in his homeland; he turned up as the focus of the Kremlin's latest effort to get back at the U.S. for Jimmy Carter's criticism...
...brought in other stars and, more important, other investors. But now, reported one of his friends, Agent Jay Kanter, Brando felt he should play Jor-El "like a green suitcase." "A green suitcase?" asked Donner. "Yes," said the friend. "Marlon wants to put a green suitcase on the sound stage and let his voice come...