Word: synthes
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...that there is nothing good to be said about these records. Given the typical boring synth-pop drivel that pours forth from both radio and television these days, at least these bands try to deviate a little from the norm...
...Million Miles from Happiness" discusses love, faith, disappointment, and heroin. In addition to the nine original cuts on the album, the opening track, "I Want You Back," is a cover of a song originally written by Dave Faulkner, of the Australian band Hoodoo Gurus. Simon provides an interesting synth-pop adaptation of this wild tune, but the more driving and sincere Gurus version remains vastly superior...
Afterburner (Warner Brothers) by ZZ Top: ZZ Top has actually managed to make a fun danceable record out of the lumbering mess of the Southern metal, triple guitar/dual drum threat, hard boogie, whisky and chaw genre. The addition of synth drums and poppin' bass help carry the weight of ZZ's infantile subject matter, making it fun instead of sexist. "Velcro Fly" and "Planet of Women" are keg party anthems, inspiring the attitude: "Don't worry, I'll clean up tommorrow." Basically, Afterburner is the party platter the Rolling Stones have been trying to make for the past eight years...
...record itself is permeated with gross misuse and abuse of synthesizers. The fervent pounding of ex-drummer Topper Headon has been replaced on many tracks by ineptly programmed drum machines. The rhythm tracks as a whole are little more than another inept rehash of mainstream British synth-pop. Even Strummer's sharp-edged guitar which figured so prominently on the band's early works, has lost its character, now grinding like a Husker Du album played into a feather pillow. It is generally accepted that Strummer has no vocal talent, and this record provides precious little evidence to the contrary...
Side two is as banal, both lyrically and musically, as side one. More grating guitars, more monotonous synth-pop, and more droning dub. "This is England" tries to incite some national spirit; "Three Card Trick" advocates teen rebellion: "You won't fall for that just like your mummy and your daddy did." "Play to Win," "Fingerpoppin," "North and South," and "Life is Wild" offer more of the same pathetic drivel that permeates the entire disk...